HORSE— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



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galls, crib-biting. Curbs are unsoundness, 

 unless the horse has worked with them for 

 some months without inconvenience. 



Cutting, particularly speedy cutting, 

 constitutes unsoundness when it cannot 

 be remedied by care and skill. Quidding, 

 when a confirmed habit, injures the sound- 

 ness of a horse. 



Defects, called blemishes, are : Scars 

 from broken knees ; capped hocks, splints, 

 bog-spavins, and thorough-pins ; loss of 

 hair from blisters or scars, enlargements 

 from blows or cutting, and also specks or 

 streaks on the corner of the eye. 



Vices are : Restivenes, shying, bolting, 

 running away, kicking, rearing, weaving, 

 or moving the head from side to side, 

 stringhalt, quidding, slipping the halter. 



HORSE, Water for. — Water is usually 

 given three times a day ; but in summer, 

 when the horse sweats much, he should 

 have water four or five times ; under ordi- 

 nary circumstances, two rules will guide 

 the attendant. The first is, never to let 

 the horse get very thirsty ; the second, to 

 give him water so often and in such 

 quantity that he will not care to take any 

 within an hour of going to fast work. 

 Tlie quantity of water which a horse will 

 drink in twenty-four hours is uncertain; 

 it varies so much that one will drink quite 

 as much as other two or three. It is in- 

 fluenced by the food, the work, the 

 weather, and the number of services; the 

 demand for water also increases with the 

 perspiration. Horses at fast work, and 

 kept in hot stables, need a large allow- 

 ance, which must be still larger in hot 

 weather ; horses of slow work may be per- 

 mitted to take what quantity they please ; 

 but to those of fast work occasional re- 

 striction is necessary. Restriction is 

 always necessary before fast work. A few 

 quarts given an hour before going to work 

 ought to suffice. Water should always 

 be given before rather than after grain. 

 Water your horses from a pond or stream 

 rather than from a spring or well, because 

 the latter is generally hard and cold, 

 while the former is soft and comparatively 

 warm. The horse prefers soft, muddy 

 water to hard water, though never so clear. 



HORSE, Cleaning. — When brought in 

 from work, warm with exertion, the horse 

 must be rubbed down and then blanket- 

 ed ; but we would not blanket a horse in 

 a good stable, as a general rule, except in 



extremely cold weather. A sharp toothed 

 curry comb is the dread of a fine skinned 

 horse, and the brush and straw wisp 

 answer the same purpose much better, if 

 used as frequently as they should be. 

 Mud should not be allowed to dry on the 

 legs of a horse ; it is the cause of half the 

 swelled legs, scratches, and other affec- 

 tions of the feet with which they are- 

 afflicted. 



HORSE, Harness, Care of.— First take 

 the harness apart, having each strap and 

 piece by itself, and then wash it in warm 

 soap-suds. When it has been cleaned,, 

 black every part with the following dye : 

 one ounce extract of logwood, twelve 

 grains of bichromate of potash, both 

 pounded fine; put it into two quarts of 

 boiling rain water, and stir until all is 

 dissolved. When cool it may be used. 

 You can bottle and keep for future use if 

 you wish. It may be applied with a 

 shoe-brush, or anything else convenient. 

 When the dye has struck in, you may oil 

 each part with neatsfoot oil, applied with 

 a paint-brush, or anything convenient. 

 For second oiling use one-third castor oil 

 and double that quantity of neatsfoot oil,, 

 mixed. A few hours after wipe clean 

 with a woolen cloth, which gives the har- 

 ness a glossy appearance. The prepara- 

 tion will not injure the leather or stitch- 

 ing, makes it soft and pliable, and obvi- 

 ates the necessity of oiling as often as is 

 necessary by the ordinary method. 



HORSE, Shoeing. — Few horseshoers 

 understand thoroughly the anatomy of 

 the horse's foot. The great mistake is 

 made in attempting to trim the hoof to 

 fit the shoe, whereas the shoe should be 

 made to fit the hoof. Very little trim- 

 ming is needed if the shoe is made right. 

 The frog should never be touched by the 

 buttress, if the foot is healthy, as Nature 

 has intended that to be the spring or 

 cushion to first receive the blow when 

 the foot is set down on the road, to 

 guard the knee and shoulder from the 

 concussion. 



Nothing can be more barbarous than 

 the carving and cutting of a horse's foot 

 before shoeing, though on his skill in this 

 many a farrier prides himself. The idea 

 that the frog must not be allowed to bear 

 on the ground — that the sole must be 

 thinned till it " springs on the thumb," is 

 a most pernicious one. 



