OF DRINK. 347 



before it is used ; or if a cart-load or two of clay or chalk 

 be thrown into the well, it will greatly improve the water. 

 It has likewise been found that breaking down a piece of 

 clay, about the size of an apple, in a pailful of hard water, 

 before it is given to a horse to drink, morning and evening, 

 has produced a considerable change in their coats. 



Indeed it will be found where horses are obliged to drink 

 hard water, they are for the most part rough-haired, and at 

 the same time have a great deal of dusty matter at the 

 roots of their coats, even though they are well curried and 

 brushed every day ; from which we infer this is occasioned 

 by the bad quality of the water they drink. 



In cases where stagnant water can only be procured in 

 summer, unslacked lime will materially improve it ; but 

 ground charcoal will render even the most impure water 

 sweet and wholesome. 



When horses are warm, they should never be allowed 

 more than a few mouthfuls of water ; neither should they 

 be permitted to drink too freely while on a journey, or while 

 they are subjected to any active employment. But when 

 they have cooled, two or three quarts may be given to them, 

 and after that their feed. Before finishing their corn, two or 

 three quarts more may be offered them. 



If horses refuse their food after travelling, it is a bad 

 sign of them, as a healthy and vigorous animal will always 

 feed well after he is properly cooled down and has had 

 a drink ; and when horses do refuse their food on a journey, 

 they ought not to be again made to travel that day, or 

 at least for some considerable time afterwards, and not until 

 they have taken their feed. 



Horses will invariably, if left to themselves, prefer soft to 

 hard water, and when cool may be allowed to drink their 

 fill, and no evil will result therefrom. Instinct or expe- 



