THE END OF THE SEASON. 117 



obtained from green wood. If the animals would promise 

 never to paw their bed away, I should take off their shoes, 

 but this they will not do ; so, to prevent their breaking 

 their hoofs when the feet are very brittle, should either 

 shoe them with Charlier shoes, or with very thin tips as 

 thin, in fact, as racing plates. Common tips raise the toe 

 above the heel, consequently they keep up a continuous 

 strain on the sinews. Blisters I dislike, and firing I hate. 

 It should be remembered that when a horse is cast for 

 firing there is always a danger of his injuring his back in 

 his struggles, especially if he be an aged horse. About 

 the best and most simple blister for bony excrescences is 

 biniodide of mercury 1 drachm, lard 16 drachms. 

 Horses subjected only to gentle remedies are just as likely, 

 with rest, to get well through the summer, and be ready 

 to commence their work in the autumn, as those that 

 have been tortured with violent treatment. Bold 

 measures may sometimes be needful, but they are quite 

 out of the province of amateurs. 



The groom whose charges are going to the hammer 

 has little to do beyond getting them very fat. The 

 sounder they run out the better ; but corpulence is the 

 great thing. Flesh covers a multitude of faults, so it is 

 quite intelligible that the seller should prefer this state ; 

 but why the public should usually decline to bid high for 

 an animal who is not as fat as he can be, is not so easy of 

 explanation. It is the fact though, and therefore the 

 circumstance is worthy of remembrance by the ingenuous 

 youth who purposes realising on his stud at " the end of 

 the season." 



