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TEETH. 



dored much shorter than it would be were the animal kept after a nat- 

 mal fashion. The diminished period of existence we will mildly esti- 

 mate at one-half the natural duration ; therefore, under the existing 

 mode of stable management, every gentleman pays twice as much for 

 an animal as under a better system need be given. Nay, the extrava- 

 gance does not end here ; for the unnatural nourishment first generates 

 weakness, and weakness is the beginning of disease. There is, there- 

 fore, to be added to the account — annoyance, loss of service, and the 

 veterinary surgeon's charges. To crown all, the proprietor cannot 

 obtain the full exertion from the animal ; the body being only partially 

 supported even during the seasons of impei-fect health. The incom- 

 pletely digested food has also to be considered. Altogether, as the 

 author has no desire to make out a case, suppose the latter influences 

 reduce the value of the remaining portion of life one-half, and we arrive 

 at the conclusion that the horse proprietor literally squanders fifteen 

 shillings out of every pound he pays for his horse ; and he is thus ex- 

 travagant, simply because, to consult the convenience of his groom, he 

 will persist in feeding the animal upon a most unnatural and injurious 

 kind of diet. 



This subject will, however, be fully considered in the next chapter, 

 where " food " is separately regarded. The author must only here state 

 that he is not advocating a return to grass, although grass may suggest 

 an idea as to the proper kind of nutriment without itself being the thing 

 desired. It is certainly true that horses look round for their food, and 

 the stable is always in commotion when the hour arrives for its distri- 

 bution. This fact, however, establishes nothing. Horses are fidgety 

 equally during the period of watering. Horses, in other countries, are 

 uneasy when the stable companions are being fed ; yet in all countries 

 they do not live as in England. In the extreme northern parts of the 

 world, they eat dried fish ; in the Crimea, they gnawed one another's 

 tails ; in Arabia, they feast upon barley and chopped straw ; in India, 

 rudely cut grass, which has frequently parted with its moisture as well 

 as shed its seed, and a dark grain termed "gram," is their support. In 

 Germany, they enjoy black bread. In Ireland, they delight in raw 

 potatoes. In various parts of England, they enjoy different sorts of 

 nourishment. In some countries, boiled substances are the favorite dish. 

 In others, cut roots are swallowed with avidity ; while there is a growing 

 custom of administering those various seasonings, all of which bear the 

 general designation of " patent food. " In short, the stabled horse can ap- 

 parently be brought to consume anything ; but of all the known varieties 

 of diet, the author must regard that which is harsh, dried, and artificially 

 prepared, as the most convenient — but the most injurious and unnatural. 



