Grooming and Care of the Feet 363 



the animal overnight. Both should be kept scru- 

 pulously clean at all times, particularly the summer 

 blankets, as it is sometimes preferable to discontinue 

 their use rather than to use those laden with dirt. 



During the cold weather, when the horse is al- 

 lowed to stand outdoors, he should be well protected 

 with a blanket, otherwise he may chill. During 

 very inclement weather it is a good plan to secure 

 the blanket around the abdomen with safety pins. 

 As warm weather approaches, the heavy blanket 

 should be substituted for a lighter one, and in sum- 

 mer its use may be dispensed with entirely, and a 

 light fly-blanket employed in case the animal is 

 of a color to fade on exposure to the sun. 



Care of the coWs feet. — The feet of the growing 

 colt should receive much attention. If left to 

 nature, the feet will not always grow out full, strong 

 and perfect in form. On stone or gravel soil, the foot 

 wears off as fast as necessary to keep it in fair pro- 

 portions, but the wearing is not even. For this 

 reason the colt's feet should be carefully inspected 

 at least once each month. It is often necessary 

 to shorten the toes. This should be done with a 

 rasp, which is the only instrument that should be 

 used for this purpose. As a rule, when the toes are 

 kept short, the quarters will care for themselves. 

 The frog needs special attention, for if it gets out 

 of contact with the bearing surface, the foot will 

 very rapidly lose its shape, the heels will contract 



