THE CARE OF HORSES. 319 



A cheap, warm, and durable blanket can be made of 

 canvas or sail-cloth, lined with some woollen material. 

 A horse bred in a northern latitude will do very well 

 without blankets in winter, — except, of course, that 

 one must always be used when he comes in wet from 

 rain or sweat, — but he will not look well. His coat 

 will be long, and it will " stare/' and he will require 

 more food than he would need if blanketed. 



When colts or horses are exercised by being turned 

 out in a yard or lot, it is safer not to blanket them 

 in the stable. If an animal is neither groomed nor 

 "covered up," nature supplies him with a thick and 

 oily garment. Rub your hand on the hair of a colt at 

 pasture, and you will find that it is positively sticky. 

 In some parts of Northern New York, and I presume 

 in some parts of New England also, it is the custom 

 to winter horses in open yards, without sheds, where 

 the only shelter is that afforded by the hay-rick which 

 supplies them with food. Horses thus exposed to 

 extreme cold and wet receive no injury, but they 

 must suffer much discomfort, and doubtless the cost 

 of a warm shed would soon be made up by econ- 

 omy in hay. Of course warm blanketing is absolutely 

 necessary when the animal is deprived of his natural 

 coat by 



Clipping. 



Clipping, like every other process applicable to 

 horseflesh, is grossly abused. To clip a horse that 

 is obliged, as, for example, many hack horses are, to 

 stand out in all weathers, and for long periods, is a 

 great cruelty; and especially is it cruel under such 

 circumstances to clip the legs which cannot be blan- 



