EXERCISE. 371 



carry a fine coat without either unnatural heat or dressing. They both effect the same 

 purpose; they both increase the insensible perspiration : but the first does it at the 

 expense of health and strength, while the second, at the same time that it produces a 

 glow on the skin, and a determination of blood to it, rouses all the energies of the 

 frame. It would be well for the proprietor of the horse if he were to insist — and to 

 see that his orders are really obeyed — that the fine coat in which he and his groom so 

 much delight, is produced by honest rubbing, and not by a heated stable and thick 

 clothing, and most of all, not by stimulating or injurious spices. The horse should 

 be regularly dressed every day, in addition to the grooming that is necessary after 

 work. 



When the weather will permit the horse to be taken out, he should never be groomed 

 in the stable, unless he is an animal of peculiar value, or placed for a time imder pecu- 

 liar circumstances. W'ithout dwelling on the want of cleanliness, when the scurf and 

 dust that are brushed from the horse lodge in his manger, and mingle with his food, 

 experience teaches, that if the cold is not too great, the animal is braced and invigo- 

 rated to a degree tiiat cannot be attained in the stable, froni being dressed in the 

 open air. There is no necessity, iiowever, for half the punishment which many a 

 groom inflicts upon the horse in the act of dressing; and particularly on one whose 

 skin is thin and sensible. The curry-comb should at all times be lightly applied. 

 With many horses, its use may be almost dispensed with ; and even the brush needs 

 not to be so hard, nor the points of the bristles so irregular, as they often are. A 

 soft brush, with a little more weight of the hand, will be equally effectual, and a great 

 deal more pleasant to the horse. A hair-cloth, while it will seldom irritate and tease, 

 will be almost sufiicient with horses that have a thin skin, and that have not been 

 neglected. After all, it is no slight task to dress a horse as it ought to be done. It 

 occupies no little time, and demands considerable patience, as well as dexterity. It 

 will be readily ascertained whether a horse has been well dressed by rubbing him 

 with one of the fingers. A greasy stain will detect the idleness of the groom. 

 When, however, the horse is changing his coat, both the curry-comb and the brush 

 should be used as lightly as possible. 



Whoever would be convinced of the benefit of friction to the horse's skin, and to 

 the horse generally, needs only to observe the effects produced by well hand-rubbing 

 the legs of a tired horse. While every enlargement subsides, and the painful stiffness 

 disappears, and the legs attain their natural warmth, and become fine, the animal is 

 evidently and rapidly reviving ; he attacks his food with appetite, and then quietly 

 lies down to rest. 



EXERCISE. 



Our observations on this important branch of stable-management must have only a 

 slight reference to the agricultural horse. His work is usually regular, and not 

 exhausting. He is neither predisposed to disease by idleness, nor worn out by exces- 

 sive exertion. He, like his master, has enough to do to keep him in health, and not 

 enough to distress or injure him : on the contrary, the regularity of his work prolongs 

 life to an extent rarely witnessed in the stable of the gentleman. Our remarks on 

 exercise, then, must have a general bearing, or have principal reference to those per- 

 sons who are in the micj^le stations of life, and who contrive to keep a horse for busi- 

 ness or pleasure, but cannot afford to maintain a servant for the express purpose of 

 looking after it. The first rule we would lay down is, that every horse should have 

 daily exercise. The animal that, with the usual stable feeding, stands idle for three 

 or four days, as is the case in many establishments, must suffer. He is predisposed 

 to fever, or to grease, or, most of all, to diseases of the foot; and if, after three or four 

 days of inactivity, he is ridden far and fast, he is almost sure to have inflammation 

 of the lungs or of the feet. 



A gentleman or tradesman's horse suffers a great deal more from idleness than he 

 does from work. A stable-fed horse should have two hours' exercise every day, if he 

 is to be kept free from disease. Nothing of extraordinary or even of ordinary labour 

 can be effected on the road or in the field, without sufficient and regular exercise. It 

 is this alone which can give energy to the system, or develope the powers of any 

 animal. 



How, then, is this exercise to be given ? As much as possible by, or under the 

 superintendence of, the owner. The exercise given by the groom is rarely to bo 



