BLANKETING 71 



on cold summer days or nights will tend to keep down 

 an excessive growth of winter coat. 



The proper way of blanketing a horse that comes 

 In wet, has already been touched upon. 



Care should be taken not to put on a thick blanket 

 too soon when the horse comes In after work. This 

 applies especially to a driving or saddle horse. It Is 

 better not to blanket him when he first comes Into the 

 stable, for a blanket put on then will surely cause him to 

 sweat. Let him stand for a few minutes or longer 

 according to the weather and the temperature of the 

 stable before putting on his heavy blanket. A " cooler," 

 that Is, a big, light woolen blanket, such as Is used for 

 trotting horses. Is very useful for clothing a horse when 

 he comes into the stable after a drive. The cooler Is as 

 big as a street blanket, and covers the horse from ears 

 to tail. 



I have seen a horse driven fast on a very cold day 

 In winter enter the stable without a wet hair on him, 

 but being blanketed Immediately he soon burst out into: 

 a profuse sweat, and afterward became chilled. Some- 

 times a horse should be allowed to stand two or three 

 minutes, sometimes five minutes, sometimes ten, occa- 

 sionally even fifteen or twenty before his blanket is put 

 on. It depends upon how hot he is, upon how warm 

 or cold the stable Is, and upon how much hair he has. 

 It is much better, of course, to make the mistake of 

 putting on the blanket too soon than to leave it off too 

 long. Do not go Into the house and forget all about 

 the horse. 



A clipped horse should, of course, be blanketed Im- 



