LETTER XX. 221 



to walk into a brook or river, which I could not jump, 

 they would do so without hesitation, or follow me, when 

 dismounted, into or over anything. I never could afford 

 a second horse in the field, and our days in the season 

 were long and generally severe ones. For three days a 

 week I had only three horses, and my men also had 

 three each. We never exceeded this number and never 

 required more. I have before stated that each horse had 

 a loose stall or box to himself, in which always stood a 

 large double-sized bucket, of water, night and morning. 

 We never gave physic unless absolutely required. Con- 

 dition balls, urine balls, and all such trash, were not even 

 known. 



I had a capital groom, who was always in the stable 

 by five o'clock every morning, even in the depth of win- 

 ter. He was fond of the horses, remarkable for a kind 

 and unrufiled disposition, and never neglected his duty. 

 Upon our return from hunting, every horse had his 

 bucket of thick gruel directly he came into the stable, 

 and a little hay to eat whilst he was being cleaned. We 

 never gave any corn until just before littering down, the 

 last thing at night. The horse's legs were plunged into 

 a high bucket of warm water, and if dirty, soft soap was 

 used. The first leg being washed, was sponged as dry 

 as possible, and then bandaged with thick woollen ban- 

 dages until the others were washed ; the bandages were 

 then removed entirely^ and the legs rubbed by hand until 

 quite dry. We used the best old white potato oats, 

 weighing usually 451bs. per bushel, but so few beans 

 that a quarter lasted us a season. The oats were bruised, 

 and a little sweet hay chaff mixed with them. We also 

 gave our horses a few carrots the day after hunting, to 



