GROOMS. 33T 



To scrape the perspiration ofiF the body of a horse, a slip of whalebone 

 will leave nothing to be desired; to toss up or to carry away thirty-six 

 pounds of loose straw, tough wood may answer as well as iron. The 

 curry-comb will scrape enough, if composed of horn ; although, save in 

 exceptional cases, and under veterinary advice, such an implement of 

 torture is better abolished, for it generates the scurf which its constant 

 use is thought to remove. The man can work longer and accomplish 

 more with a hair cloth, a brush, and a whisk. Should the skin appear 

 dry or scurfy, forbear to irritate it with the curry-comb. Moisten it the 

 night before with the following preparation; on the ensuing morning 

 dress the animal with the utmost gentleness. 



Preparation for a scurfy skin. 



Animal glycerin One part. 



Rose-water Two parts. 



Mix. 



A small teacupful of the above should be sufficient to moisten the 

 entire lx)dy of a horse; for the skin, not the hair, requires merely to be 

 lightly damped with a small bit of sponge. To execute this properly 

 occupies considerable time ; it cannot be quickly perfomied. But if this 

 is done occasionally, the integument will continue soft ; for the effect of 

 glycerin, as a wash for the skin, cannot possibly be too much confided 

 in. Should the smell of the animal glycerin prove offensive, the prop- 

 erty may be overcome by adding to the mixture a sufficiency of any 

 cheap essential oil. To harness horses, however, animal glycerin is not 

 so powerful as to necessitate any con-ective. 



A further benefit will be secured by the banishment of the curry-comb. 

 Those noisy and unseemly contests, which are provoked every morning, 

 will no longer startle a quiet neighborhood. The shouts of " stand still," 

 and the blows with which these orders were accompanied, will cease to 

 be heard ; for the writhing which elicited both will terminate when the 

 curry-comb has been abolished. Grooms, by the gentler behavior of 

 their charges, may be tutored to abandon those very emphatic expletives 

 that sound oddly when addressed to the animal, which is the most 

 patient and the most obedient of all creation. Mild words commonly 

 accompany gentle actions; under better regulations, man and horse may 

 learn ultimately to cherish for each other those emotions natural to two 

 living beings that are thrown so much into each other's society. 



Tying the horse's head high up to a wall — putting on the necklace — 

 using the muzzle, or employing the arm-strap — are but artifices which 

 enable a groom to employ a needless instrument with unnecessary se 



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