CO A T— CO CAT J IL 



not only possess a perfect knowledge of stable craft and 

 horses, but he must be a conscientious, sober man. 



Coat — A horse begins to get his winter coat about the 

 end of September, and sheds it for his summer one in the 

 spring, the precise times being influenced by the warmth, 

 or the reverse, of the weather. Animals which are out at 

 grass develop coats of quite remarkable density which 

 provide ample protection from the weather unless it is 

 unusually severe, and if the hand is placed under a coat the 

 outside of which is saturated by rain, the skin will usually 

 be found to be quite dry and warm owing to the closeness 

 of the underjacket through which the water cannot penetrate 

 excepting in exceptional cases. Under-bred horses usually 

 carry far more coat and of a coarser texture than well-bred 

 ones, but it is nevertheless an unusual practice to clip or 

 singe cart-horses. The latter are not often clothed in the 

 stables, and hence their natural disposition to carry a heavy 

 coat is encouraged, as the warmer a horse is kept the less 

 jacket he grows. This is, of course, well known to stable 

 servants, and hence their partiality to plenty of rugs on their 

 horses. (See Casting Coat, Clipping, Shaving, Singeing.) 



Cob- — The term applied to animals of the intermediate 

 height between the horse and the pony — that is, from 14 

 hands 2 inches to 15 hands at the shoulder. 



Cock Horse. — An expression denoting the spare horse 

 which is used to assist a four-horse team in cases of emergency. 

 The cock horse usually is ridden behind the coach, and carries 

 the necessary traces and bar, so that there need be no delay 

 in attaching him to the end of the pole by the means of a 

 rope connected with the bar and passing between the leaders. 

 In hilly countries the assistance of a cock horse is invaluable. 



Cocktail. — An old expression designating a horse which 

 is nearly, but not quite clean-bred. 



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