THE HORSE. 45 



preventing perspiration, thickening the horn, and pro- 

 ducing fever. They make the hoofs so naiTOW that 

 the horse steps w^ith pain, and so brittle, that they 

 can hardly be got to hold nails enough to keep on 

 their shoes. This sort of foot cannot be kept wet 

 enough ; but w^hen it has been subject to this vile 

 treatment, it may be brought round by the following 

 means. 



Never allow the feet of your horse to be oiled, or 

 blacked, or polished. Either is extremely injurious, 

 and is never done but by lazy fellows, vvho wish to 

 make the hoofs appear as though the proper labour 

 had been bestowed upon them, when the reverse 

 has been the case ; but even in this they do not 

 always succeed, and what is it to them if they ruin 

 the horse ] What can look nastier, on a fine dry day, 

 than these oiled hoofs, covered with dust, as they 

 must be, before they have been on the road five 

 minutes '? On wet days they are as bad ; the black- 

 ing looks better for a few minutes longer ; but if the 

 hoofs be narrowly examined, it will probably be 

 found they have only been half washed, and then 

 bedaubed over to conceal the remainingr Jiit. Oilins: 

 also makes it more difficult to wash the hoofs clean, 

 and so the oiling grooms do not attempt so arduous 

 a task. But by putting wet serge round the horn of 

 the hoof, a more beautiful appearance is attained, 

 than can be conceived by those who have never 

 seen it. 



Why should we seek to hide the horse under thick 

 coats of injurious substances? Is not the horn of 

 the horse, when smooth and clean, a pleasing object? 

 Little dust will adhere to it, when not doctored, and 

 that little may be brushed off in a moment with a 

 rubber or pocket handkerchief; but not so when the 

 hoofs are blacked or oiled. The mud may also be 

 removed from so smooth a surface, with the utmost 

 ease, by a wet sponge, or any other substitute. These 



