CLEANLINESS 83 



When a horse has had a very hard day, I have 

 found the following treatment safe and effectual in 

 bringing him round again quickly. 



There is a cleanliness in not letting a hunter be taken 

 into his stable until the rough dirt which hangs about 

 him is removed ; for which purpose he should be taken 

 under a shed or into another stable ; and the quickest 

 method of removing it is by the means of a birch 

 broom. Three minutes will accomplish this. He 

 should then be taken into his own stable, have two 

 or three quarts of tepid gruel, and his feet and legs 

 above his knees and hocks should be well washed in 

 water nearly hot.^ When sponged well with strained 

 sponges, one set of bandages should be swathed 

 around them. His head and body should be well 

 dried, which, if he is full of hard meat, will not occupy 

 more than an hour, when he should be shut up in a 

 loose house, well littered down, and a small feed of 

 corn allowed him. In about two hours his groom 

 should come to him again ; his bandages should be 

 taken off, his legs well wisped and hand-rubbed, his 

 head and body lightly brushed over, and a dry set of 

 bandages put on, A luke-warm mash, with a feed 

 of oats in it, and three parts of a pail of tepid water, 

 with a very small quantity of hay, will make him 

 comfortable for the night ; and on the following 

 morning he should go to exercise as soon as it is light, 

 and be walked for an hour with an extra cloth and a 

 hood. He should have tepid water aU that day, and 



^ If the legs are washed it is necessary to dry them thoroughly, 

 otherwise this practice is liable to bring on cracked heels. — Editor. 



