20 THE HORSE 



stable calendar. It is surprising what a number of men 

 there are up and down the country, sometimes the 

 masters themselves, and sometimes the hireling, who are 

 content to work their horses until they nearly drop, 

 and then after taking them out of harness or the saddle 

 merely let the animal go into its stall, tie it up, feed it, 

 and leave nature to do the rest. Honest work deserves 

 honest reward, but surely to treat a horse in this fashion 

 does not constitute the latter. A well-groomed horse 

 should be a constant source of pleasure, a dirty or neglected 

 one a continual eye-sore. 



The chamois leather and the stable rubber require free 

 application for putting on the finishing touches. After a 

 horse has been thoroughly cleaned and dried the clothing 

 and bandages should be put on. Flannel bandages 

 require to be carefully adjusted, and whilst these are 

 intended for keeping up a good circulation in the legs 

 at the lower parts, and also for maintaining the tendons 

 in a fine condition, they, the bandages, must never be 

 applied tightly. 



Clipping 



Horses can be clipped at any season of the year, and 

 this without causing them any inconvenience, provided 

 that the body is suitably clothed afterwards. If a horse is 

 kept in a stable all the winter and suitably clothed it will 

 not require clipping, provided that the animal has not 

 been clipped before, but once it is clipped it will require 

 repeating, i.e. if the owner wishes the animal to look well. 

 The winter coat is much longer than the summer one, 

 likewise the texture of the hair coarser. Clipping by 

 hand machines is almost a thing of the past ; wheel 

 machines and those which are worked by electricity are 

 almost exclusively used. Two men with a hand-power 

 machine can clip from five to ten horses per day, and do 

 the work thoroughly. In exceptional instances horses 

 are troublesome to clip, whilst certain animals have to be 



