Stable Management. 155 



month, without being clipped, coughs and colds 

 are most common. Frequently serious disease 

 befals these animals, but if they recover sufficiently 

 to be able to have the coat removed, nothing can 

 be more remarkable for their good. We have 

 seen a horse, owned by a gentleman who held these 

 operations in aversion, after being brought off a 

 journey in a lather, stand with the wet coat, 

 literally starving through the night, and his even- 

 ing meal untouched next morning in consequence. 

 To stand shivering in the stable is usually con- 

 sidered indicative of the first stage of disease ; in 

 fact, there is but a hair's breadth between them ; 

 and we must confess it is not plain that a cold 

 wet coat, always inevitable upon work at these 

 seasons, which by scarcely all the rubbing a man 

 can bestow will not dry, can be a greater luxury 

 than a dry and short one suitable to an artificial 

 condition supplemented by a thick warm woollen 

 rug. 



No doubt a horse soon takes cold when his 

 coat is off and he is placed in adverse conditions. 

 Nevertheless, a thick wet coat must be equally 

 productive of colds, obstructed perspiration, and 

 far more mortality ; therefore it has very wisely 

 become the practice to remove the coat of working 

 liorses. 



