82 STABLE MANAGEMENT. 



a horse begins to cough if at once put on a severe 

 cold is often averted. 



Body-rollers (patties, oifaraJcis). 



Body-rollers are sold in the bazaar shops of native 

 manufacture, but are most flimsy, and I strongly 

 advise that either English ones, or else those made 

 by any of the manufacturers of leather goods at 

 Cawnpore, which are nearly as good as English 

 ones, be used, although they may at first be a little 

 more expensive. The common country rollers are 

 always breaking, and never being properly stuffed, 

 the webbing in the centre of the two pads presses 

 on the ridge of the spine when the roller is buckled 

 up. There is no more fruitful cause of sore backs 

 than this, especially if horses are at all thin and 

 standing out in the open. " Syces " have a trick 

 of pulling up the straps of the roller as tight as 

 possible, and if it gets wet with the dew or rain it 

 shrinks up, and the tight webbing cuts and pinches 

 the skin over the backbone, causing a sore back. 

 With a properly made roller the pressure is taken 

 on the sides of the back by the two pads, and the 

 webbing does not come in contact with the skin at 

 all. In any case, if the horses are standing out in 

 the open at night, it is always advisable to go round 



