CROOMS WISK UKFOUi: PHYSICIANS. 31 



by 11 little daily attention to the cleanliness of his own cuticle, 

 every trainer, and every observant coachman, knew how much 

 the health, beauty, and power of tlie horse could be increased 

 by the daily vigorous friction of his skin. There is no difl'ercuee 

 of opinion amongst trainers on this subject. Indeed the skin is 

 the principal index by which the chance of any well bred horse 

 to win the Derby or other great race is estimated. No matter 

 how good the horse may be, however well he may have been 

 bred, fed, clothed, or exercised, if his skin has been neglected, it 

 is perfectly understood that he has no chance of winning. 



07. — Animal life and vigour are only maintained by a 



constant pulling down of old material and building up of new. 



The pulling down is just as essential and important as the 



building up, and is done by more delicate machinery, and 



therefore more liable to obstruction. With the ordinary well 



fed man or horse, it is hardly too much to say that if you take 



care of the pulling down, the building will take care of itself. Tf 



the skin is not rapidly carrying away the old material, it is no 



use for the digestive organs to be rapidly preparing new, and they 



will not do it. To force nutritions food upon an animal under 



that condition is like pouring more water into a flooded flower 



pot, when there is no provision for the stagnant water to escape. 



When the utmost health and vigour are demanded, every one of 



the millions of minute pores that open out of the skin must be 



kept in good working order, and helped to get rid of its burden 



as easily and expeditiously as possible. If we could take off the 



horse's hair and put it on again at pleasure, as we do our own 



clothes, we could treat him as we do ourselves, and frequently 



wash his skin, but as we cannot remove his clothes, the cleaning 



of his skin pores and the removal of all that they bring to the 



surface must principally be done with a brush. Not with an 



iron scratching machine that would wound and close the 



extremely minute and delicate pores, but with a vigourously 



applied hair brush, that will keep them all clean, open, and at 



full work. We are writing just now of well bred and well 



groomed horses, whose skin and its covering are totally different 



things to that of the cart horse or Shetland pony, unclothed, 



ungroomed, and lying out in cold weather. 



