38 A HUNTING CATECHISM 



that most horses imbibe less fluid during each 

 twenty-four hours if water is always within 

 reach, than when it is offered in the usual way. 



Q. Do not horses prefer pond water to drink 

 to spring water ? 



A, Undoubtedly they do, but care should be 

 taken that no impurities either from a manure 

 heap, house drain, or otherwise, trickle into it, 

 for horses are very subject to a kind of typhoid 

 fever, if they are supplied with impure water. 

 When the water supply comes from a well, no 

 surface water should be admitted, or rainfall 

 from a roof, especially if the latter is of thatch. 

 Water from a roof after a prolonged drought is 

 ever to be looked upon with suspicion, for an 

 accumulation of droppings of birds and other 

 contaminations get swept into the reservoir, and 

 illness, apparently obscure, frequently results. 



Whenever there is any doubt about the purity 

 of water, and no other supply can be obtained, it 

 is a wise precaution to boil what is offered to the 

 animals to drink. 



Where no gas or electric light is available, 

 there should always be strong nails fixed in 

 convenient places, on which to hang the lanterns 

 that must be used while the men are at work ; 

 too much precaution cannot be taken to guard 

 against the awful visitation of a fire in a fully- 

 occupied stable. 



If such should unfortunately occur, horses 

 should never be turned loose to find their own 

 way out, but each horse must be taken out 

 separately, or one horse may block the exit 

 altogether. It is well to remember that a horse 

 can often be ridden out, which is too terrified to 



