376 HOUSE PORTRAITURE. 



it. Notice the boys when they are cleaning out the dirt 

 from the sole, frog, and under the shoe. The less they 

 use the foot hook, the better, depending on the water 

 and brush to clean out the fissures between the bar and 

 the frog, and the clefts between the bulbs of it. Tear- 

 ing away at the foot with the picker interferes with the 

 healthy state of the sole, which I find is better by leav- 

 ing is as much undisturbed as we can, and the ragged 

 portions of the frog, which the boys are so anxious to pull 

 off, cannot be removed without bringing with them parts 

 that ought to remain. 



PUPIL. How would you arrive at the correct knowledge 

 of the quantity of water a horse ought to have, in one 

 that was inclined to drink too much, and had to be re- 

 stricted ? 



PEECEPTOR. By gradually decreasing the amount ; and 

 as long as he looked and fed well, there could be no injury. 

 But if the restriction produced a decline of appetite, it 

 would show that the system required more fluid than he 

 was getting, and the quantity would have to be increased. 

 Habit has-a great deal to do with this, as in everything else, 

 and the force of custom alone may lead a horse to drink 

 more than he needs. When the plan is followed of allow- 

 ing horses to drink from a trough in a yard, or a running 

 stream or pond, the amount of water can be only guessed 

 at, and is a way of preceding that I do not favor. When 

 adopted, the capacity of swallowing ought to be found out 

 by observing the number of swallows a horse takes in 

 drinking a certain quantity of water, so that we can tell 

 about what he has taken when thus watered. There is a 

 great difference in the swallowing capacity among horses. 

 Some of them will empty a three-gallon bucket in 

 forty swallows, while others will require seventy or eighty 

 "go downs" for the same amount. As in the case of ring 

 watering, I would only allow a horse to drink from a 



