EXERCISE. 391 



be readily ascertained whether a horse has been well dressed by 

 mbbing him with one of the fingers. A greasy stain will detect 

 the idleness oi" the groom When, however, tiie horse is chang- 

 ing his coat, both the curry-comb and the brush should be ;"ised 

 as lightly as possible. 



Whoever would be convinced of the benefit of friction to the 

 horse's skin, and to the horse generally, needs only to observe the 

 efiects produced by well hand-rubbing the legs of a tired horse. 

 While every enlargement subsides, and the painful stiffness dis- 

 appears, and the legs attain their natural warmth, and become 

 fine, the animal is evidently and rapidly reviving ; he attacks his 

 food with appetite, and then quietly lies down to rest. 



EXERCISE. 



Our observations on this important branch of stable-manage 

 ment must have only a slight reference to the agricultural horse. 

 His work is usually regular, and not exhausting. He is neither 

 predisposed to disease by idleness, nor worn out by excessive ex- 

 ertion. He, like his master, has enough to do to keep him in 

 health, and not enough to distress or injure him : on the contrary, 

 the regularity of his work prolongs life to an extent rarely wit- 

 nessed in the stable of the gentleman. Our remarks on exercise, 

 then, must have a general bearing, or have principal reference to 

 those persons who are in the middle stations oi" liie, and who con- 

 trive to keep a horse for business or pleasure, but cannot afford to 

 maintain a servant for the express purpose of looking after it. The 

 first rule we would lay down is, that every horse should have 

 daily exercise. The animal that, with the usual stable feeding 

 stands idle for three or four days, as is the case in many establish 

 ments, must suffer. He is predisposed to fever-, or to grease, oi 

 most of all, diseases of the foot ; and if, after three or four day& 

 of inactivity, he is ridden far and fast, he is almost sure to have 

 inflammation of the lungs or of the feet. 



A gentleman's or a tradesman's horse suffers a great dealmoTe 

 from idleness than he does from work. A stable-fed horse should 

 have two hours' exercise every day, if he is to be kept free from 

 disease. Nothing of extraordinary, or even of ordinary labor, can 

 be effected on the road or in the field, without sufficient and reg- 

 ular exercise. It is this alone which can give energy to the sys- 

 tem, or develope the powers of any animal. 



In training the hunter and the race-horse, regular exercise is 

 the most important of all considerations, however it may be for- 

 gotten in the usual management of the stable. The exercised 

 horse will discharge his task, and sometimes a severe one, with 

 ease and pleasure ; while the idle and neglected one will be 



