122 THE HORSE AND HIS STABLE. [CHAP. 



that there is not a speck on the outside insensible horn ; 

 and perhaps that is oiled and blacked (!) when the horse 

 is brought out, while inside, the soft frog is left night 

 and day soaked and saturated with the most frightful 

 horrors. Hence the most fetid thrushes, and hence the 

 contracted heel ; for the contracted heel is the conse- 

 quence, not the cause of the rotted frog. 



The clay should not be mixed up with any of the 

 horrors which grooms are so fond of. Besides defending 

 the frog from the highly injurious juices of the stall this 

 gives a natural support to the interior of the foot which 

 the artificial shoe deprives it of. 

 The sore Every joint of the backbone or spinal bone is sur- 



ridge. 



mounted by a spine. These are sharp and topped with 

 gristle, and will not support weight, still less attrition. 

 Hence the necessity of the wooden tree of a saddle, and 

 ^ even of a terret-pad to bridge the ridge. The old plan 



of fastening the horse's clothing, taken from the Persians, 

 was by rolling a long strip loosely round and round him ; 

 hence our name of roller for the stable surcingle. This 



