HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP. 1QX 



Xenophon that drought is essential ; and I think with him 

 that the foot should never be wetted unnecessarily— not even 

 washed. For this reason, and also to keep the stable sweet, 

 the horse should stand all day without litter. But above all 

 things he should stand on a flat plane. Nothing can be more 

 painful or more detrimental to a horse than obliging him, 

 as is now often the case, to stand up-hill. If there is a drain, 

 it should be towards the centre of the stall, if none, the 

 paving-stones should have deep interstices between them, so 

 that their surface should be always dry. I think the most 

 perfect standing for a horse who is shod, would be a stall, 

 laid a foot or eighteen inches deep, with fine shingle, or 

 sifted gravel. This would yield to the horse's tread till there 

 was an equal bearing on every part of the foot, be always 

 changing, always dry, and always cool. But I have not had 

 opportunity to try this, even as a standing for the day time ; 

 nor to prove how far it might be fitted for the horse to lie on 

 without litter ; or how far, if it were littered down for the 



