GROOMS AND OWNERS. 281 



stable. Now, the uneducated c] asses are, as a rule, 

 absolutely ignorant of the value of ventilation in 

 their own houses, and therefore can hardly be ex- 

 pected to trouble themselves about a constant supply 

 of fresh air in the stable. 



In order to obtain enough air for its enormous 

 lungs, the horse is obliged to breathe rapidly. Then 

 the skin comes to the rescue of the lungs, the func- 

 tions of the skin and lungs being co-ordinate, and a 

 'copious perspiration is the result, no matter what 

 the length of the hair may be. But, in the morning, 

 the groom finds that to clean and dry the long-haired 

 horse is a tedious business, and so he induces his 

 employer to have the horse clipped or singed. So 

 universal is this custom that as a rule the owners of 

 horses would as soon have their hoofs unshod as 

 their coats undipped. 



Another ' reason ' which grooms advance for 

 clipping is, that the horse moves much more freely 

 after than before the operation, because it is relieved 

 of the weight of superfluous hair. Mayhew (p. 235), 

 with all the caution of a man of science, does not 

 actually deny that such an effect may be produced 

 by clipping, but he very emphatically says that he 

 never saw it. 



Indeed, if the hair which is removed by clipping 

 were put into the scales, its weight would prove to 



