298 HOESE AND MAN. 



stituted the whole of their liquid nourishment. No 

 wonder that so many broke down under the process 

 of ' going through the mill ' as it was called, and that 

 their constitutions were permanently injured. 



But, when horses are concerned, the training is 

 very little improved, the trainers, as a rule, being 

 illiterate men, and therefore clinging to the traditions 

 of their forefathers. Grooms and others who are in 

 charge of horses naturally look up to the managers 

 of racing stables as superior beings, and accept un- 

 conditionally any of their dicta as necessarily in- 

 fallible. 



It is time, however, that we should fling aside all 

 those traditions, and that in England, as in America, 

 a horse shall no longer be tortured with thirst during 

 his work. 



In many large establishments the horses are 

 allowed to drink whenever they like and as much as 

 they like. One notable example is to be found in 

 the stables of Messrs. Barclay and Perkins. 



When a horse wishes to drink, he rattles his 

 halter in a peculiar manner which the horses learn 

 from each other. The groom in attendance knows 

 the signal, and lets the horse loose. The animal goes 

 of his own accord to the water-troughs, drinks as 

 much as he wants, and then returns to his stable, 

 without requiring an attendant. 



