42 CONDITION. 



boy is half frantic with dehght to observe the cunningly 

 devised work of his own unaided hands. 



Now I, for one, do not say for a moment that a horse is any 

 the worse for trifling and tawdry embellishments, if legiti- 

 mately achieved ; just as I would not admit that he would 

 be any better were he burnished like gold, striped like a 

 zebra, and his attendant fancifully dressed like a zany. But 

 there is too much inclination in this direction. Some, perhaps, 

 would wish to plait or shave the tail and crimp or hog the 

 mane to complete the picture. 



I protest against the practice, because I aver looks are no 

 test of condition. Bounteous nature has provided for the 

 comfort and well-being of the animal kingdom warm cover- 

 ings of various sorts. To the horse has been given long hair, 

 suitable to his nature, for protection against the inclemency of 

 winter. We all know that wild animals have a warmer covering 

 in winter than in summer. It scarcely requires a naturalist to 

 confirm what every observant person must be familiar with. 

 Amongst birds we see that they moult in autumn, that the 

 feathers may be well grown, thick and long, against the ap- 

 proaching winter. Buffon, in his natural history, from which 

 I take a few extracts bearing on the point, in speaking of the 

 beaver, remarks, " It is in winter they are chiefly sought, 

 because their fur is not perfectly sound in any other season." 

 Again alluding to the sable, he says> "and yet this (winter) 

 is the best season for hunting them, because their fur is better 

 and more beautiful than in summer." 



The same principle applies, almost in its entirety, to the 

 horse. His coat, like theirs, is naturally longest in winter ; 

 although it can hardly be said to be then more beautiful, nor 

 is it desirable that it should be so. Deprive him of this be- 

 fore summer, and you do him an incalculable, an irreparable. 



