158 PASTURING. 



and especially those that have been reined up in harness, often 

 experience considerable difficulty in grazing. The neck is 

 rigid, and the muscles which support the head are short. It 

 is often several weeks before an old coach-horse can graze 

 with ease. Yery old coach-horses that have short, stiff necks, 

 should not be turned out when they can be kept in ; if they 

 must go, they should be watched, lest they die of want. 



Exposure to the Weather. Wet, cold weather always 

 produces emaciation and a long coat. If the horse is put out 

 without preparation, he is apt to have an attack of inflamed 

 lungs, or sore throat, or a common cold, with discharge from 

 the nose, and may sicken and die. Many persons seem to think 

 that no usage is too bad for the horse, if it do not immediately 

 produce some fatal disease. Early in spring, or late in au- 

 tumn, the animal is turned out of a warm, comfortable stable, 

 and left to battle with the weather as he best can. He crouches 

 to the side of a wall, shivering and neglected, as if he had no 

 friend in the world. In time, the horse becomes inured to the 

 weather, if he does not sink under it, but sometimes he comes 

 home with diseased lungs, and very often with a cough which 

 never leaves him, and which produces broken wind. 



Shelter, so easily provided — at the cost of a few rude 

 boards even — is too much neglected in the pasture. A hovel, 

 covered on three sides, the fourth open to the south, and just 

 high enough to admit the horse, will answer the purpose. 

 The bottom should be sloping, elevated, and quite dry. When 

 litter can be afforded, it will tempt the horse out of the blast. 

 There may be hay-racks and mangers, strong, though of rude 

 construction. In summer, the horse can retire here during the 

 heat of the day, and in the more inclement season he may thus 

 avoid the wind and the storm. 



