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GROOMING, HINTS ON. 



Six in the morning is a proper time to go to stable, and half -past 

 eight in the evening the time of shutting up the stables. 



To feed and water hunters, clean out the stable in the interme- 

 diate time, and perform other routine details preparatory to going 

 out to exercise, will take upwards of an hour ; and for horses going 

 out to do a day's work, fully two hours should be allowed for the pre- 

 paratory process from the time they are first fed. 



Exercise required for hunters consists almost wholly of walking. 

 Two hours" walking is enough for any horse at a time in the way of 

 exercise, in which period the horse will go over nearly nine miles of 

 ground : in the special cases where it is judged that more exercise is 

 required, alter the pace, and give the horses a steady trot for two 

 miles rather than keep them out longer ; and at times during long 

 frosts, when going on a straw bed, it may be more convenient, and 

 better for the horses to divide their exercise, when two and a half to 

 three hours may be apportioned between the morning and afternoon. 



Good feet require but little care beyond proper littering down. 

 Horses should not be allowed to stand on bare bricks, neither should 

 large beds be under them during the dav. In the early morning the 

 bed must be removed, and the floor sprinkled with short litter. Of 

 the two evils, that of standing the fetlock in deep straw is the worst, 

 and should never be permitted, as it induces inflammation of the 

 feet, and often produces thrushes. 



All horses' feet should be regularly washed once a day, whether 

 they go out to work or not, with tepid water : it is very refreshing 

 to them, and insures both cleanliness and a careful inspection of the 

 feet and shoes. There is no harm likely to arise from washing the 

 legs when they are cool, providing they are well dried afterwards. 



On nights previous to horses being shod, especially if they have 

 been standing long in the stall, stop the fore feet with cow dung or wet 

 clay, or a mixture of the two ; but this is to be deprecated as an 

 everyday practice, for it often induces disease which is the fore- 

 runner of thrushes. 



Shoes should never be allowed to remain on more than a month, 

 even if they are not worn out, as loose flakes of sole require removal, 

 and the forward growth of the wall carries the shoe, and with it the 

 foot, out of its proper position in relation to the limb above. 



The Morning's Work. 

 The groom should enter the stable at six a.m., give each horse six 

 or eight swallows of water, then a single handful of hay. 



