ON THE (ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 69 



forption : here we have, I doubt not, one of 

 ihofe latent caufes of colds, " caught," as the 

 grooms fay, " the devil knows how." The 

 pads of faddles ought to be kept perfedly foft, 

 and free of dirt and fweat, and after ufe, fliould 

 be dried either in the fun or by the fire, and 

 hung in a dry place : the clothes alfo ought to 

 be wa filed much oftener than they generally 

 are, and ever kept bone dry : how often have 

 I feen wet clothes thrown upon a horfe, in 

 order to cure him of a frefh contra61ed cold! 

 Thefe animals, beyond all others, expofed to 

 the infli6lions of careleffnefs, caprice and cruel- 

 ty, have no power to tell their fecret complaints, 

 and too often their keepers have neither the 

 power of reafoning, nor the gift of fenfibility. 



The Diet of Horfes, muff in courfe depend 

 on the produce and circumftances of the diflfer- 

 ent countries. The Horfe, although univer- 

 fally a graniverous animal, yet varies in a de- 

 gree, from the general rule of his nature, in ' 

 fome countries : amongfl the Tartars, and 

 other inhabitants of the frozen regions of the 

 North, he is faid to be fed during the Winter 

 feafon upon fifli, an account which I can eafily 

 credit, fuice I have myfelf known horfes fond 

 of raw flefh ; one hunting-mare in particular, 

 which it was dangerous to place near a butch- 

 er's fliop, where, being left by the fervant, fhe 



has 



