164 ON CLOTHING, ETC. 



as the seats of saddles are made of. Horses that 



are tolerably even goers, and are not much in the 



habit of changing their legs, or striking themselves, 



may not require the boots to be made so very thick on 



the inside. The edge of the boot may be bound with 



the same sort of binding as the horse's clothes. That 



part of a long boot, which is placed on the inside 



of the horse's leg, should be shaped from its buckling 



part on the outside, to a sort of oval at the top and 



bottom on the inside ; that is, it should be made 



to protect the inside of the leg, if necessary, from the 



fetlock to the knee, but with as little incumbrance on 



the outside as possible. There will be but few instances 



in which a boot will require more than three buckles. 



But there is one thing which all boots require, and 



that is care. As the boots of race-horses are so 



constantly in use, too much attention cannot be paid \ 



to their being kept clean and soft; if wet when 



taken off, they should be well dried, rubbed and 



brushed. 



It is far the safest to travel race-horses in knee-caps, 

 which have low action, going carelessly and near the 

 ground ; and although knee-caps have been so long in 

 use, I have seldom seen any which were well made. 

 If they are properly made, there is no occasion for the 

 long strap which is sometimes placed over the horse's 

 withers, so as to reach sufficiently low down on each 

 side of the horse's leg to be attached to each knee-cap, 

 for the purpose of keeping them up. If they are made | 



and put on as I shall here direct, they will not only 



