XL] THE HORSE AND HIS STABLE. 121 



them to shiver in the stall inadequately clothed, to say 

 nothing of the frightful figures which result. 



Fear not your horse suffering from cold because he is No fear of 



cold from 



stripped to work. Do not labourers strip to work ? If fine coats - 

 a horse had a coat thick enough to keep him warm when 

 at rest in winter, he could not hunt in this without 

 being sweated to death any more than he could with 

 four or five blankets on him. 



Fire and water are equally disastrous to the horse's 

 skin. Allow neither singeing nor washing above the 

 hoof, and even this only for appearance. For there is no 

 more reason for washing the horse's foot when he is 

 kept in a stable, than there is when he is kept in a 

 paddock. But there are good reasons for keeping his 

 foot full of dirt in the form of clay in the stable. 

 Without it he fills his foot with the contents of the stall, stop foot 



with clay. 



which the shoe holds there. Now, which is worst for 

 the foot, dirt or dung ? Nothing can be more injurious 

 to the frog than this. 



But, alas ! all is right, even with the master, provided 



