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424 AMERICAN FARMER'S HORSE BOOK. 



act tlie evils of an open plank floor, between whose joints the 

 cold currents of air are always rushing up, not only to the 

 very great discomfort of the horse, but also to the material 

 detriment of his health. 



CLEANSING AND CURRYING. 



The proper use of the curr^^-comb and brush maybe called 

 the sheet-anchor of all good stable management. There is 

 never too much of it, and but seldom half enough. When 

 the horse is allowed his liberty in the pasture, he will curry 

 himself pretty well, against the fence-posts and trees, while 

 the water from the rain-cloud will wash him off. If we de- 

 prive him of his liberty, and shut him up in the stable, we 

 ought to do this much for him; and then, too, he needs this 

 attention more in the stable than when running in some dry 

 pasture. All horses kept constantly in stable, require con- 

 stant cleaning and currying, and this is still more necessary 

 in the case of those that are driven or ridden in the mud and 

 rain. It is a disgraceful act of inhumanity to push the faith- 

 ful horse over bad roads, then turn him into the stable, and 

 let him remain until morning, or perhaps still longer, with 

 not only his limbs covered with dirt, but his whole body be- 

 spattered with mud. ^N'o person has a right to treat the 

 horse in this manner. It will afford the poor animal nearly 

 as much satisfaction to be freed from these accumulations 

 of filth, as it does the negligent, unfeeling owner. 



Cleanliness is also highly conducive to the health of the 

 horse. The darkness and confinement of the stable are not 

 favorable to the action of the pores of the skin. These little 

 vessels do not throw out their oily secretions to the surface 

 with the same readiness as when the horse lives in the open 

 air ; neither do the dead particles of the cuticle, or scarfskin, 

 detach themselves at the proper time with equal freedom. 

 Sunshine, breezes and showers have the effect to loosen the 

 scurf, and to soften the skin ; and for these reasons the horse 

 running regularly in pasture needs but little attention in 

 this line. In the stable, however, JSTature needs assistance, 



