Management and Feeding of Heavy Horses 1 3 3 



breakfast. It is wonderful how the grooming and harnessing helps 

 the appetite; the horse seems to know that he has to go to work, 

 and he sets to with renewed vigour to clear the manger. 



When the horses come in at night their legs require first atten- 

 tion ; probably they are in mud up to the knees. If a running stream 

 is available a wade in it for a few minutes helps to get rid of a lot 

 of the dirt; but it is important that the legs be well rubbed dry as 

 soon as possible after they get into the stable and have their food 

 given them. For this purpose nothing is better than a firmly 

 wrapped wisp of straw; with a wisp in each hand, coat off and 

 shirt-sleeves rolled up, the wagoner must vigorously rub each of the 

 legs up and down, applying plenty of elbow grease, till he gets them 

 dry. By the time he gets the eight legs dry he is probably not 

 very dry himself. The rubbing with the straw, however, causes an 

 improved circulation of the blood, prevents chill from the cold 

 water, and cleans the legs. When suppering the horses last thing 

 at night the wagoner should again give them a good dressing with 

 currycomb and brush, removing all traces of perspiration and mud 

 or dust. The horses will rest all the better for this finishing touch. 



The harness must also be attended to with care. Collars should 

 be well fitting, and when soaked with perspiration should be hung 

 for an hour in the midday sun. The leather should be kept soft 

 and pliable by occasional oiling. Wagoners should be encouraged 

 by prizes or bonuses to take care of the harness, and to turn out 

 their teams in a tidy, workman-like style, without too much osten- 

 tatious display of brass and ribbon. There are many recipes for 

 making harness compositions; these may be bought ready-made, 

 or may be made at home more cheaply. If properly made they 

 give a nice polish to the harness, and help to preserve the leather. 



The style of making harness for heavy horses varies greatly 

 over the kingdom. Some of it is unnecessarily heavy, with no 

 addition of strength at the wearing parts. A farmer may prefer 

 one style before any other; but he is almost at the mercy of his 

 local saddler, who will pertinaciously adhere to the local type. It 

 is a difficult task to change local customs in country districts. The 

 useless and pernicious bearing-rein sticks to us in many districts 

 just because saddlers will not make a bridle for a cart horse with- 

 out one. But whatever style is in fashion in the district, the farmer 

 must see that the collar is not only well fitting but well stuffed, 

 until it is quite round and hard. A badly stuffed collar is a frequent 

 cause of sore shoulders. One may appreciate the difference it 

 makes to the horse by carrying a round pole on the shoulder and 

 then carry a flat-sided pole. The excellent galvanized-iron collars, 



