508 UNSADDLING AND UNHARNESSING. 



and the manner in which the horse is driven will all bear 

 much influence in determining the range of work the ani- 

 mal may reasonably be expected to perform. 



" I think, then, we may fairly say fourteen to fifteen miles a day for a 

 single horse or pair of horses, if continued five days in the week, is very 

 fair work, and only sound and good constitutioned horses will go on doing it 

 regularly, that is, supposing the pace to be eight or nine miles an hour." 

 The Earl of Onslow, " Driving" Badminton Library, p. 72. 



UNSADDLING. 



As soon as the horse returns to the stable the girths 

 should be loosened, but the servant must not be allowed to 

 remove the saddle for half an hour. The pressure of the 

 saddle causes the blood to be forced from the veins beneath 

 that part of the back which the saddle covers, and if the 

 blood is permitted to suddenly return the veins are ruptured 

 and the horse soon falls a victim to a sore back. Sometimes 

 the servants lift the saddle from time to time or place straw 

 under it. Neither of these practices should be permitted. 

 When the weather is warm it will frequently be necessary 

 to keep the saddle on much longer; in fact, the skin should 

 be perfectly cool before removing the saddle. The reader 

 will be surprised to discover how many instances of sore 

 back attributed to badly fitting saddles are due to the failure 

 of the servant to take the precaution of cooling the horse 

 before unsaddling. A man's saddle should have the stir- 

 rups drawn up near the spring bars as soon as the horse 

 comes in. In removing the bridle the curb-chain should first 

 be unfastened on the near side. 



UNHARNESSING. 



When a servant in livery returns to the stable with a 



