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Before work horses are littered down for the night they should 

 be again thoroughly cleaned if necessary. 



AVhenever the horse comes into the stable from the plow or 

 wagon, for the day, he should be thoroughly cleaned ivhen dry 

 enough, and if sweating or otherwise wet should be thoroughly 

 scraped at once. The scraper is a thin, flexible piece of wood ; 

 a section of barrel hoop makes a good one. 



XII. Care of the Feet. 



The feet are half the horse, in fact a horse with bad feet, is as 

 near a worthless animal as possible. Attention to the feet is 

 therefore of the first importance. In this connection shoeino- is 

 to be attended to. Know that the blacksmith understands his 

 business. The horse's foot should be a study, and every horse- 

 man should understand the anatomy of the foot. When tlie 

 horse is brought in from work, each foot should be lifted, cleaned, 

 and examined with the picker to see that no gravel or otlier 

 hard substance has found lodgment between tlie shoe and hoof, 

 or about the frog. Examine the frog to see that no substance 

 is wedged therein, and that no nail oi- other sharp object has 

 pierced the sole. If the hoofs are inclined to be hard and 

 dry, fill them with a mixture of cow-dung and clay, or with 

 oakum saturated with tar and petroleum. Watch them for 

 contraction of the hoof, caused by allowing the shoe to remain 

 on too long, or from bad shoeing. If the frog gets torn and 

 ragged, cut the ragged edges but leave the frog intact. If the 

 hoof be found pierced with a nail, and you are not perfectly 

 sure you have pulled out every bit, cut it out at whatever labor 

 it may be to you, or pain to the animal. Then dress the wound 

 with tow saturated with tar. If the hoofs are inclined to be hard 

 and brittle, oil them occasionally, or let the horse stand, say for 

 an hour or two, or for a half a da}^ on Sunday, in a box-stall of 

 soft clay and cow-manure, coming pretty well up the hoofs. 



XIII. Blanketing— When Necessary. 



A blanket is always necessary when a horse is standing in the 

 stable in Winter. A light sheet is about as necessary in Summer, 

 during fly time A blanket should always be thrown over the 



