CHAPTER III. 



STABLING, CLOTHING, AND CLEANING. 



49. — Though adapted only for a temperate climate, the 

 horse has a constitution that enables him to endure a great deal 

 of cold or heat. When habitually exposed to much cold and wet 

 nature will provide him a good coat of thatch, but such an 

 immovable ap))endage is not convenient for hard work, and 

 especially disqualifies him for the severe though short exertion 

 that the light horse is so often required to perform. He is 

 better qualified for any kind of work by being sheltered from 

 severe cold and rain, but this should be done without excluding 

 him too much from fresh air and light, and without long 

 depriving him of the exercise his active limbs demand. 



50. — We have no lessons to give in architecture : that is not 

 our fort. Horses, like children, thrive quite as well in a mud 

 house as in a marble mansion, so long as they get the sun and 

 pure air free to all, the water as it comes from the clouds, and 

 food adapted to the machinery that must appropriate it. When 

 called on to build a residence, either for themselves or their 

 horses, most wealthy men like to put up something original, or to 

 carry out some particular crotchet of their own. It is well that 

 there are men with such tastes, nor is superfluous wealth often 

 better spent. But those who have no money to spare would 

 always be more safe to look for some building already erected, 

 containing all the convenience needed, and to copy it exactly. 

 However simple, or however elaborate the structure desired, 

 something can be found as a pattern, and in nine cases out of 

 ten, the result will be more satisfactory and economical than 

 paying for any experiments of your own or of your architect. 



