Feeding. 173 



ment which his case and value demands. If the 

 reader should possess an old animal whose services 

 are no longer required, and upon their account 

 or pleasurable associations it is desirable that he 

 should be allowed to spend his days in freedom, 

 after the usual preparation there can be no di- 

 rect harm in his doing so. In a short time he 

 will become as comfortable and satisfied with the 

 cool air of heaven as he previously was with that 

 of the stable. Nature will soon provide a coat 

 suitable for all weathers, and in his paddock, with 

 only a bare shed, visit him when you will, he 

 comes with a freshness and grace which contrasts 

 strangely with the states we have been consider- 

 ing. He has taken a fresh lease of life, and ap- 

 pears all youth and buoyancy. The poor stiff and 

 decrepit favourite now gambols like a foal, and 

 has thrown aside the accumulations of age, and 

 in such a condition, which resembles the natural 

 one most closely, he may live for years. 



With the working horse matters are different. 

 The changes are too severe upon his constitution. 

 He no sooner has become inured to the change 

 of climate and other vicissitudes, than he is called 

 upon to make another sacrifice of his constitu- 

 tion, and subject himself again to the oppressive 

 atmosphere of his town stable. 



In all fairness such an animal should not be 

 turned loose upon pasture land. A large loose 

 box and yard is best, in which for the sake of his 

 health, present and future, his feet and legs, lungs 



