BLANKETING 75 



upon a period of mild weather. In the mild weather, 

 occurring in early spring, as it sometimes does, the 

 horse loses his winter coat. Then, perhaps, comes a 

 spell of cold, wet weather, and if the horse is not 

 blanketed, he feels the change in temperature severely. 

 Under these circumstances, I have known an epidemic 

 of colds and pneumonia to run through a whole town- 

 ship of horses, the only animals that escaped being 

 those whose owners took pains to blanket them. 



RAIN-COVERS 



Rain-covers of rubber or other material are very 

 useful in some cases but should be used with discre- 

 tion. They should not be used in warm rains unless the 

 horse is doing his work at a walk with frequent stops; 

 otherwise the rain-cover will tend to sweat the horse, 

 and he is likely to catch cold when he stands still. Rain- 

 covers should never be used on horses going long dis- 

 tances except, of course, on a clipped horse, and in 

 cold weather they should be supplemented by an old, 

 woolen blanket. If, in a cold storm, a horse wears a 

 rain-cover and then is left standing for a while, he is 

 sure to become chilled because he has no more over 

 him while stationary than he had when in motion, 

 and the wind is always likely to blow up the rain-cover 

 and cool the horse off suddenly. 



In eastern cities the practice among the best truck- 

 men, whose horses do all their work at a walk, is to use 

 in place of rain-covers heavy blankets put on outside 

 the harness. A good, stout blanket will keep the horse 

 dry even in a hard rain, partly because the heat of his 



