40 THE HORSE. 



filthy condition, would speedily cease. One would 

 almost imagine at times, that ostlers were of opinion 

 that water cannot be too dirty, and that it is so much 

 the better if harness has been washed in it, or if it 

 has been mixed with dust, rancid oil, or blacking. 

 With some grooms, nay, even owners, soapy water, 

 in which the legs of other horses have been washed, 

 is not considered unwholesome. Now, the fact is, 

 the horse is quite an epicure in his water ; he will 

 undergo the utmost deprivation before he will drink 

 anything uncleanly ; but, as drink he must, if he 

 cannot obtain the pure element, he gradually be- 

 comes inured to any nauseous mixture that may be 

 placed before him. He would be too happy in his 

 servitude, if he could even get enough to satisfy his 

 thirst of the abominable liquids with which ostlers 

 are too much in the habit of supplying him ; but, 

 no; the stable-keepers, fancying to show off their 

 own superior acquirements, deny him this miserable 

 gratification. 



It would be superfluous to show the various ways 

 in which dirty water must be injurious to the and- 

 mal's health ; but there is one absurdity so glaring, 

 and which is so clearly illustrative of the bad con- 

 sequences arising from stinting the horse of this in- 

 dispensable beverage, that it must suffice without 

 going more into detail. Why is nitre given in the 

 horse's water] " Because," you reply, "I observe 

 my horse to be feverish, and I, therefore, give him 

 the nitre to prevent his drinking too much, and for 

 the purpose of removing the fever." How do you 

 expect the nitre to operate 1 " By increasing the 

 secretion of the kidneys, thus lessening the quantity 

 of blood." This is the meaning of what an inquirer 

 would be told by stablemen and those who put faith 

 in such authorities. The extreme folly of this sort 

 of reasoning may be plainly exemplified. In a full 

 state of health, the veins and arteries must always 



