314 THE HORSE 



the acre have been kept, do they need any hay or chaff that they do not 

 themselves cut ; but such horses are not clipped or singed, and any groom- 

 ing they receive is of the most perfunctory kind, therefore the skin is full 

 of Nature's water-proofing, and although preferring shelter against a strong 

 cold wind, they are indifferent about visiting a hovel, if one exist, unless in 

 anticipation of food. Knowing then so many horses in robust health and 

 capable of moderate work while wintered out-doors, we cannot think there 

 is any great hardship in average seasons and with due preparation. A 

 horse clipped early in October will grow coat enough in a cool stable with- 

 out clothing to be turned out in three or four weeks, and, if clipped as late 

 as the middle of November, he can grow enough coat to go out before 

 Christmas. The custom, now generally established, of not clipping after 

 Christmas, is founded on the fact that no real growth of warm covering 

 takes place after that time, although coarse hairs sprout until the spring 

 months. 



THE STRAW YARD 



The advantages and disadvantages of the straw yard, as a place 

 for wintering the horse, will to a certain extent depend upon its manage- 

 ment. Generally the proper term for it would be a manui'e tank, for though 

 there is almost always a thin coating of straw on the surface, yet the horse's 

 feet sink through this and reach the wet mass of manure which is gradually 

 allowed to decompose beneath it. In point of economy thei'e is much to 

 lose by the straw yard, for, as in the case of the winter's run, more food is 

 demanded by the system than in a loose box. The only excuse for it is to 

 be found in the beneficial effects of cold and wet upon the legs, which are 

 restored by the straw yard to the same extent as in the fields ; but on the 

 other hand the feet suffer terribly, the frogs becoming thrushy almost in- 

 variably, and their horny coverings frequently having quite disappeared 

 when the horse is brought into the stable. When the straw is liberally 

 used, and the manure is raised into a heap in the middle of the yard as fast 

 as it is made, which is the proper arrangement, the frogs may remain toler- 

 ably sound, and the objection on this account is to a certain extent removed. 

 When barley straw without hay is the only provender allowed, it is not to 

 be wondered at if he comes out in the spring a complete skeleton. This 

 straw should be "barred" as so productive of lice, and consequent skin 

 irritation and loss of hair and condition. 



Oat straw is not at all a bad food for rest horses, as there is a certain 

 amount of oiliness in it which raises it above all other straws in feeding 

 value. The water supply is too apt to be forgotten both in meadow and 

 straw yard when the horse-owner is prospecting for a resting-place. The 

 stupidity of farm servants cost the editor a valuable horse in a time of 

 frost by not observing that the otherwise abundant supply was all frozen 

 over. 



