4:6 DOMESTIC AlsIIvIALS. 



the first does it at the expense of health and strength, while the second, 

 at the same time that it produces a glow on the skin, and a determina- 

 tion of blood to it, rouses all the energies of the frame. It would be 

 w^ell for the proprietor of the horse if he were to insist — and to see 

 that his orders are really obeyed — that the fine coat in which he and 

 his groom so much delight, is produced by honest rubbing, and not by 

 a heated stable and thick clothing, and most of all, not by stimulating 

 or injurious spices. The horse should be regularly dressed ever}'- day, 

 in addition to the grooming that is necessary after work. 



When the weather will permit the horse to be taken out, he should 

 never be groomed in the stable, unless he is an animal of peculiar 

 value, or "placed for a time under peculiar circumstances. Without 

 dwelling on the want of cleanliness, when the scurf and dust that are 

 brushed from the horse lodge in his manger, and mingle with his food, 

 experience teaches, that if the cold is not too great, the animal is 

 braced and invigorated to a degree that cannot be attained in the sta- 

 ble, from being dressed in the open air. There is no necessity, how- 

 ever, for half the punishment which many a groom inflicts upon the 

 horse in the act of di-essing ; and particularly on one whose skin is thin 

 and sensible. The curry-comb should at all times be lightly applied. 

 With many horses, its use maybe almost dispensed with; and even the 

 brush needs not to be so hard, nor the points of the bristles so irregu- 

 lar, as they often are. A soft brush, with a little more weight of the 

 hand, will be equally effectual, and a great deal more pleasant to the 

 horse. A hair-cloth, while it will seldom irritate and tease, will be al- 

 most sufficient with horses that have a thin skin, and that have not 

 been neglected. After all, it is no slight task to dress a horse as it 

 ouf>-ht to be done. It occupies no little time, and demands considerable 

 patience, as well as dexterity. 



Exercise. — Our observations on this important branch of stable man- 

 agement must have only a slight reference to the agricultural horse, 

 liis work is usually regular, and not exhausting. He is neither predis- 

 posed to disease by idleness nor worn out by excessive exertion. He, 

 like his master, has enough to do to keep him in health, and not enough 

 to distress or injure him; on the contrary, the regularity of his work 

 prolongs life to an extent rarely witnessed in the stable of the gentle- 

 man. Our remarks on exercise, then, must have a general bearing, or 

 have principal reference to those persons who are in the middle stations 

 of life, and who contrive to keep a horse for business or pleasure, but 

 cannot afford to maintain a servant for the express purpose of looking 

 after it. The first rule we would lay down is, that every horse should 

 have daily exercise. The animal that, with the usual stable feeding, 

 stands idle for three or four days, as is the case in many establishments, 

 must suffer. He is predisposed to fever, or to grease, or most of all, 

 diseases of the foot ; and if, after three or four days of inactivity, he is 

 ridden far and fjist, he is almost sure to have inflammation of the lungs 

 or of the feet. 



A gentleman's or a tradesman's horse suffers a great deal more from 

 idleness than he does from work. A stable-fed horse should have two 

 hours' exercise every day, if he is to be kept free from disease. Nothing 



