CLOTHING, STABLE IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 249 



^extent as often to cause even a naturally good-tempered animal to use his 

 teeth or heels most savagely. So also a light thin-coated horse even when 

 very dirty and full of scurf, as it will inevitably be after lying by in a loose 

 box or at grass, does not require the comb to be pressed hard upon the skin, 

 yet the stupid and ignorant groom makes no difference in his favour, but 

 works away just as he would if dressing the woolly winter coat of a cart- 

 horse. Dui'ing the time when a horse is shedding his coat the currycomb 

 should be banished from the stable, for neither it nor the brush should be 

 employed at that time. 



The mane comb is merely a strong horn, iron, or vulcanized indiarubber 

 comb, with teeth of a suitable degree of coai'seness. 



Body brushes are made of hog's bristles, of an oval shape, about nine 

 inches long by four and a half wide, with a strap of v/ebbing aci'oss the 

 back to hold them firmly to the hand. They are wanted at all times but 

 during moulting, when their use makes the next coat come on coarser than 

 it otherwise would. This arises from the fact that the brush brings off the 

 old coat too soon, thereby chilling the skin and stimulating the glands which 

 secrete the hair, to develop it more stoutly and of greater length than they 

 would otherwise do. To produce a beautiful new coat the old one should be 

 kept on as long as possible, just as we find in the sheep which is not shorn, 

 but allowed to shed its avooI, the next growth will be much shorter and 

 lighter. 



The picker is merely a blunt hook for clearing away the gravel which 

 gets between the shoe and the foot of the horse while at work. It is better 

 made to fold up like the pocket button-hook for our own use. 



Water brushes are either made of split whalebone or of a kind of reed, 

 which is cheaper but does not last so long. They are intended to wash off 

 the dirt from the legs and feet, and out of the soles of the latter. 



The use of the pitchfork and shovel is too well known to need 

 description here. 



Stable brooms are either made of birch or of a fibre called bass, the 

 choice being dependent upon price, which varies according to the locality. 

 Either will answer the purpose well, and where birch can be readily 

 obtained, its price is so low as to beat the bass out of the market, good 

 besoms of this make being in many parts of England to be bought at 3d. or 

 4c?. apiece without the handle, which will last out an indefinite number. In 

 London, however, the bass brooms compete with them in economy, birch 

 brooms being sold there at Is. apiece, while bass brooms, which will last out 

 three or four of them, may be obtained for 3s. 6d. 



Sponge is an expensive article in the stable, for as it is constantly in use 

 it soon decays. To employ it to the best advantage a double supply should 

 always be on hand, one of each of the sizes wanted being in use for a week, 

 and then put by to dry for a similar period. In this way a soft, flabby, and 

 nearly worn-out sponge recovers its texture in a marvellous manner, and 

 sponge carefully treated on the plan I have described will last fully three 

 times as long as if it is constantly kept wet from first to last. Few 

 grooms, however, will carry out economical principles to this extent without 

 the constant interference of the master, and if the experiment is tried it 

 should be really ascertained that the alternate periods of use and i^enovation 

 are rigidly adhered to. In ordinary stables one large piece of sponge about 



