THE CARE OF HORSES. 307 



In cold weather the advantages of rubbing down 

 are more real : but if the horse be in a sweat, and the 

 stable be cool, there is danger in the process, unless 

 three or four men can be employed in it. "The horse 

 must immediately be rubbed dry, when he comes in," 

 say most of the books ; but in the mean time, for it 

 cannot be done in a moment, the horse catches cold. 

 The better way is to let him stand for a minute or 

 live minutes, according to the temperature, and "steam 

 off," then blanket him, and rub his head and neck dry. 

 Every stable should have at least one hood, to be used, 

 for example, when a horse goes to the blacksmith shop 

 in excessively cold weather, and more especially to be 

 used in the stable. In cold weather, whenever a 

 horse comes in thoroughly wet, either with rain or 

 sweat, I put on a hood, removing it as soon as the 

 hair is dry. If the whole body be wet with rain, one 

 thick blanket should be put on, to be followed in 

 about five minutes by another, and perhaps two more, 

 for under these circumstances heavy blanketing is 

 necessary. The water will go to the top blanket, 

 leaving the one next to the horse perfectly dry, — al- 

 though this result is the opposite of that which the 

 inexperienced person would expect. 



And how about the legs ? Their proper treatment 

 is summed up in the old stable aphorism : " If they 

 are wet, dry them ; if they are dry, leave them dry." 

 Nothing could be more irrational than the practice, 

 formerly common and not yet extinguished, of sluicing 

 the horse's legs with water immediately on his coming 

 into the stable. This might perhaps be done without 

 harm, if the legs could be dried at once after the 

 washing ; but this operation would be a long one, and 



