CHAPTER XI 

 BEDDING 



'VJEXT to feeding and grooming, bedding is the most 

 ■^ ^ important thing for a horse, and to deprive the 

 horse of a comfortable bed is very bad economy, to say 

 nothing of humanity. The horse should have a good, 

 deep, dry bed under him at all times when he is in the 

 stable, day and night, and on Sundays as well as week 

 days. Experience shows conclusively that when a 

 horse is well-bedded, he will lie down much more than 

 if he is poorly bedded. Horses, especially work- 

 horses, that are bedded during the daytime almost 

 invariably lie down a part of the day as well as during 

 the night, and this practice has a very marked effect in 

 saving the wear and tear of their legs and feet. 



The writer once entered a stable of work-horses in 

 the daytime in which there were twenty-five horses. 

 Only one had bedding under him and that one was 

 lying down; all the others were standing up. In an- 

 other stable was a horse that worked in a grocery 

 wagon three successive days, resting every fourth day. 

 This horse, somehow, was able to keep his own 

 calendar, and every fourth morning, as soon as he had 

 finished eating his breakfast, he would lie down com- 

 fortably on the plentiful supply of bedding kept under 

 him at all times, and frequently he would stay down 

 the better part of the day. 



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