316 THE HORSE 



In attending to the comfort of the master the groom must take care 

 to keep all the leather which comes in contact with the hands or legs 

 perfectly supple, yet so clean that no stain is left behind. Nothing is 

 more annoying than to get off the saddle for the purpose of paying a 

 morning call, and find the insides of a light pair of trousers stained all the 

 way down. This is perfectly inexcusable, and its occurrence marks the 

 ignorance and carelessness of a servant in the most unmistakable manner. 

 The same remark applies to the reins, which never ought to soil a pair of 

 white gloves. Whenever blacking is applied to harness it is impossible 

 altogether to prevent the tendency to leave a stain, but if it is carefully put 

 on, and well brushed, as long as it is kept dry it may be lightly handled 

 with impunity. If buckles are to be altered, the gloves must suffer, and 

 for this reason, when gentlemen drive their own horses, they generally 

 prefer brown driving reins, which may be treated in the same way as riding 

 reins, and kept clean accordingly. The following directions for cleaning 

 saddles and riding bridles, and also for brown driving reins, or any other 

 parts of the harness made of undyed leather, will serve the purpose 

 extremely well. As long as the leather remains diy and clean it needs no 

 attention, but when it is wetted, either by rain, or by the water necessary 

 for cleaning it from road dust, it becomes hard and stiff, and must be 

 softened with some kind of oily matter. Neat's-foot oil is that usually 

 employed, but for saddles it is rather of too greasy a nature, being apt to 

 leave a mark on the trousers if it has been liberally applied. The best 

 application is deer's suet, which should be gently warmed and rubbed in 

 before the leather is quite dry again, after being wetted ; that is to say, 

 while it remains limp, for if it is held to the fire long enough, all wet 

 leather becomes hard and stiff. A very little oil or suet will suffice, if it 

 is used as soon as the leather is nearly drj^, after each wetting, but when 

 leather has been left for days in a dry place after being thoroughly wet, 

 it becomes so stiff that nothing but a good soaking with oil will i-estore its 

 pliability, and even with this it I'emains stiff to a certain extent, unless it 

 is very slightly damped, in conjunction with the use of the oil. Vege- 

 table oils, with the single exception of castor oil, are too much inclined to 

 become hard to suit leather, and none but the latter should ever be em- 

 ployed. Its nauseous smell is an objection to it, but otherwise it will 

 answer the purpose almost as well as neat's-foot. Horse fat, if used care- 

 fully, and in very small quantities, is a capital application, but one liberal 

 dressing with it spoils the look of leather, giving it a sodden appearance, 

 which it never recovers. 



To MAKE saddlery AND HARNESS LOOK WELL to the eye, several receipts, 

 and directions for using them, are necessary ; including the following, for 

 avoiding injury from chemical decomposition : — 



(1) Do not allow brass or plated furniture to be within reach of the air 

 of the stable ; for the ammonia given off from the urine will tarnish them. 

 Gas, also, is prejudicial ; and if it is burned in the harness-room, it should 

 be contained within a glass chamber, which has a ventilating shaft, so as 

 to carry off the products of combustion into the external air. Gas stoves 

 are particularly prejudicial ; and, indeed, so are all stoves which allow the 

 fumes given off by the coals to pass into the room. 



(2) As soon as possible after the harness is taken off, if the weather ia 



