34 



HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



panies this state of constant sweat, and it 

 will be lucky for the owner of a horse so 

 treated if it does not become acute and 

 put an end to the miserable existence of 

 the poor, ill-treated brute. The case is 

 not always fairly put, as for instance by 

 Stewart in his Stable Economy, where he 

 says, " A long coat takes up a deal of 

 moisture, and is difficult to dry; but 

 whether wet or dry it affords some de- 

 fence for the skin, which is laid bare to 

 every breath of air when deprived of its 

 natural covering. Every one must know 

 from himself whether wet clothing and a 

 wet skin, or no clothing and a wet skin, 

 is the most disagreeable and dangerous. 

 It is true that clipping saves the groom a 

 great deal of labor. He can dry the 

 horse in half the time, and with less than 

 half of the exertion which a long coat 

 requires ; but it makes his attention and 

 activity more necessary, for the horse is 

 almost sure to catch cold, if not dried im- 

 mediately. When well clothed with hair 

 he is in less danger, and not so much de- 

 pendent on the care of his groom." 

 Now, we maintain that this passage is full 

 of fallacies and misstatements. The 

 comparison is not between wet clothing 

 and a wet -skin, and no clothing and a wet 

 skin ; but, as we have before observed, 

 between a wet long coat and a dry short 

 one. The clipping removes the tenden- 

 cy to sweat, or if its secretion is poured 

 out it ceases directly the exercise which 

 produced it is stopped. But taking Mr. 

 Stewart on his own terms, who has not 

 •experienced the relief which is afforded 

 by taking off wet gloves and exposing 

 the naked hands to the same amount of 

 ■wind and cold ? This is exactly the case 

 as he puts it, and tells directly against his 

 argument ; but it is scarcely worth while 

 to discuss the subject at length, for we 

 know no horseman of experience in the 

 present day who does not advocate the 

 use of the scissors or the lamp, whenever 

 the winter coat is much longer than that 

 of the summer. That horses are occa- 

 sionally to be met with which show but 

 little or no change in the autumn we 

 know full well ; but these are the excep- 

 tions to the rule, being few and far be- 

 tween. The vast majority would have 

 their hair from one to two inches long if 

 left in its natural state, and they would 

 then be wholly unfit for the uses to whieh 



they are put. We may therefore consid- 

 er that it is admitted to be the best plan 

 to shorten the coat in the autumn, and all 

 we have to do is to discuss the best modes 

 of effecting the purpose, with a view to 

 decide whether clipping or singeing is to 

 be preferred. 



Horse Clipping is seldom performed by 

 any but the professed artist, inasmuch as 

 it requires great practice to make the 

 shortened coat look even and smooth. 

 When a horse is well clipped his skin 

 should look as level and almost as glossy 

 as if he had on his ordinary summer 

 coat ; but inferior performers are apt to 

 leave ridges in various directions, mark- 

 ing each cut of the scissors. It should 

 not be done till the new hair has attained 

 nearly its full length, for it cannot be re- 

 peated at short intervals like singeing. If 

 it is attempted too soon the new coat 

 grows unequally, and the skin in a fort- 

 night's time looks rough and ragged. A 

 comb and two or three pairs of variously 

 curved scissors are all that are required, 

 with the exception of a singeing lamp, 

 which must be used at last to remove any 

 loose hairs which may have escaped the 

 blades of the scissors. Two men gener- 

 ally work together, so as to get the ope- 

 eration over in from sixteen to twenty 

 hours, which time it will take to clip the 

 average-sized horse properly. These men 

 were formerly in great demand at the 

 clipping season, and it was extraordinary 

 how little rest sufficed them, but now the 

 use of the gas singeing-lamp has nearly 

 superseded that of the scissors, and clip- 

 pers are not so much sought after. While 

 the process is going on, the horse ought 

 to be clothed as far as possible, careful 

 men removing only so much of the quar- 

 ter piece as is sufficient to expose the part 

 they are working at, and no more. As 

 soon as the whole body is gone over as 

 well as the legs, the singeing lamp is 

 lightly passed over the surface, which will 

 leave the hair burned to such an extent 

 as to require either washing or a sweat, 

 which latter is generally adopted, in the 

 belief that it has a tendency to prevent 

 cold. Our opinion is, that this is a falla- 

 cy, and that soap and water used quickly 

 and rapidly, followed up by a good strap- 

 ping and the use of plenty of warm 

 clothing, is far less likely to chill the horse, 

 than the exhaustion consequent upon a 



