CARE OF SADDLERY AND HARNESS 315 



CARE OF SADDLERY AND HARNESS 



THE MANAGEMENT OF SADDLERY must have a treble object. First, the 

 groom should take care that he does nothing which shall injure the horse. 

 Secondly, he must have a due regard to his master's comfort in using it. 

 And, thirdly, he must please the eye. I must therefore show how each of 

 these purposes can best be effected. 



To AVOID INJURING THE HORSE the groom should begin when he first 

 comes in from work, and before he removes the saddle or collar. It is 

 ascertained by experience that if these are taken off when the skin beneath 

 them is hot and sweating, inflammation may follow, while by leaving them 

 loosely in their places for a short time no injurious effect is perceived. 



Many horsemen in various parts of the world where the climate is hot 

 and dry habitually disregard this precaution, and we presume that ex- 

 perience has taught them that no harm comes of it. On the other hand 

 the number of horses to be had in case of one having a "back," the trifling 

 value set upon them, and the general custom of turning them adrift when 

 incapacitated (we are now speaking of the Australian bush), make it diffi- 

 cult to ascertain whether, what we in England should consider a want 

 of care is or is not a source of injury to the horse in other parts of the 

 world. 



If a groom who is master of his business is watched when his horses come 

 in, he will be seen to loosen their girths and lift the saddles from their 

 backs for a second, replacing them loosely, and leaving them there while 

 he takes off the bridles and makes his arrangements for dressing. In 

 harness-horses everything but the collars may be taken off, and after turning 

 them to remove the harness and traces, they may be replaced and left as 

 near to the shoulder as the position of the horse with his head in the 

 manger will allow. This rule should be invariably followed whenever 

 horses come into the stable after having done any amount of work. If they 

 have merely gone out for a short airing, and the skin beneath the saddle or 

 collar is not even damp, there is no occasion for the precaution, and the 

 saddle or collar may at once be removed. The next thing to be done to 

 the saddlery in reference to the horse's comfort is to dry the lining carefully 

 before it is again used. Even the lining of harness-pads should be attended 

 to, and in the winter this cannot be done without placing each before the 

 fire. In another place is inserted an engraving of the best form of saddle 

 airer, in which the saddle is securely fixed in such a position that the fire 

 only reaches the interior of the lining. Without some such machine there 

 are two risks incurred, for by placing the saddle on the ground the edges 

 of the leather covering the tree are worn away, and the flaps are liable to 

 be curled inwards, presenting their outer surface to the fire, which dries 

 them till they become hard, and are then liable to crack. The expense of 

 one of these airers is soon saved in diminishing the wear and tear of saddles, 

 and no well -managed harness-room should be without one. After the serge 

 lining is dry, it is an excellent plan to beat the stuffing with a stick, so as 

 to remove the powdery particles left by the sweat, which soon clog up the 

 interstices and form a matted cake with the woollen materials used if they 

 are allowed to remain 



