GENERAL STABLE MANAGEMENT 43 



being human, is in a hurry to get back to his 

 breakfast, and the exercise is apt to be curtailed in 

 consequence. Lastly, and of more importance 

 than anything, the horses are not groomed directly 

 they return. The men want to be off to feed 

 themselves. They leave their charges, at the best, 

 bandaged and loosely rugged for half or three- 

 quarters of an hour; whereas it is most advisable 

 that horses should be groomed directly they come 

 in. Apart from the risks of catching cold by being 

 left, the pores of their skin are open from exercise, 

 and the grooming will do them twice as much 

 good now as later. 



The next thing that many civilian grooms do 



not understand, or like, is putting the litter out 



the first thing, and not replacing it until 



Litter 



after the mid-day stable hour. ' It makes 

 the yard in such a mess.' It is most important, 

 however, if you want stables to be thoroughly 

 sweet, to insist on their doing this. You can then 

 see that the floors of boxes are swept perfectly 

 clean, and nothing disinfects them better than 

 being exposed for a few hours each day to the 

 fresh air. The litter also lasts better when put 

 out daily, and well turned over once or twice. For 

 wet weather it is a good thing to have litter sheds. 

 Bad grooms love to tuck their litter under the 

 mangers (with the pattern mentioned above, this is 



