ON CLOTHING, ETC. 157 



called by the following names : — hood, sheet, quarter- 

 piece, breast-cloth, pad-cloth, and fillet-cloth, with 

 rollers to secure them ; these form a complete suit of 

 clothes. They are bound round the edges widi any 

 sort of fancy-coloured binding the owner may make 

 choice of. But the last mentioned cloth, which is 

 made of white swan's skin, I believe is now out of use 

 in most stables, the hood answering every purpose of 

 this cloth, which was formerly used to throw over the 

 horse's loins while feeding, after his being dressed ; 

 and it was sometimes used next to the horse's skin, 

 under other clothes, after sweating. But I shall de- 

 scribe a cloth much better adapted for this purpose. 



Of the different sorts of clothes, those w^hich are 

 used on the most common occasions, should be made 

 of rather a thin light sort of kersey check. The check 

 which is made use of for gentlemen's hunters and 

 saddle horses, is much too thick and too heavy. 

 Clothes made of this check are not long in use with 

 race-horses before they become stiff and hard from the 

 sweat getting into them ; and if in this state they 

 should be used next the horse's skin, they w^ould (un- 

 less kept soft by being often washed) be very apt to 

 chafe a thin-skinned horse, when in work. A race- 

 horse's clothes should be soft and light ; and to obtain 

 the necessary warmth, they should be increased in 

 number as occasion may require. The hoods, breast- 

 cloths, and sheets are made for race-horses as for most 

 others, but the quarter-pieces should not be made so 

 deep as for hunters ; for when it is necessary to cover 



