50 THE CARE OF HORSES 



a pleasure for him to exercise ; and anyone who has 

 watched a properly-kept horse will agree that he 

 takes a pride and a pleasure in his work so long as 

 it is not overdone, and he is not forced beyond his 

 strength. There are many beautiful teams to be 

 seen belonging to the brewers, railway companies, 

 corn merchants, and other large firms, whom it is 

 a pleasure to watch at their work and in whom their 

 drivers evidently take much pride. A well-matched 

 team like that in our picture, who, evidently, have 

 a good master and a good time, may serve as an 

 object-lesson, and we will draw attention to a few 

 points of importance. First of all with regard to 



The Harness. 



It is a good rule to do with as little harness 

 as possible. You all know what a relief it is 

 when you have some hard work to do to get rid of 

 all unnecessary clothing, and it is the same with the 

 horse. What there is should, of course, fit well and 

 easily. 



The Collar especially, against which the greatest 

 strain comes, should be made to fit the horse. Each 

 one should by rights have his own collar, which 

 should be kept for his use only. Many and many 

 a case of prosecution for cruelty on account of sores 

 under the collar would be saved if more attention 

 were paid to this point. 



Blinkers are much less used now than they used to 

 be. The railway companies, large contractors, and 

 tramways in London, and many others, have quite 

 discontinued their use without any disadvantage. 

 The old idea was that the revolving wheels would 

 frighten horses. People had sense enough to dis- 

 cover the power of the horse's eye to see as far and 

 as well behind him as in front, and promptly blocked 



