CHOICE OF THE HORSE. 891 



dressed being raised, tlie blade of the instrument is introduced into the 

 mass of hairs and part of their length cut away. This operation 

 should be done quickly, and its good execution depends much upon 

 the amount of practice possessed by the person who performs it. It is 

 sometimes done with the members resting on the ground. 



/. Clipping consists in cutting the hairs over the entire surface of 

 the body. It has some advantages from a hygienic point of view, since 

 by diminishing the thickness of the coat it lessens the perspiration to 

 which the slightest exertion gives rise during the winter, in work- 

 horses, and which often occasions chills leading to serious reflux of the 

 blood into the respiratory or the digestive organs. But it is not with 

 any intention of guarding the animals against diseases that the dealer 

 clips his horses. Rather it is to give them an appearance of lightness 

 and fineness and to conceal a coarse conformation, when they have an 

 unattractive look, a lymphatic temperament, and a clumsy and common- 

 looking form. The instrument used everywhere at present for clipping 

 horses is the clipper, or clipping-machine. " It is generally composed 

 of two comb-like metallic plates which move one upon the other. The 

 lower plate, which comes in contact with the skin, is a kind of comb, 

 whose short teeth insert themselves between the hairs and thus straighten 

 them up. The upper plate, set in motion by means of a handle which 

 acts as a lever-arm, glides upon the lower plate in such a manner that 

 its sharp teeth move from side to side in relation with the fixed lower 

 teeth and cuts the straightened hairs close to the skin. As soon as one 

 becomes accustomed to the use of the clipper, the operation is performed 

 without any difficulty." ^ 



g. Shoeing, recently and properly done, has a certain value as a 

 means of adornment. It improves the appearance of the feet, rectifies 

 their equilibrium, lessens their size, and corrects several of their defects. 

 It also often serves as a pretext for various manoeuvres which bespeak 

 anything but honesty on the part of the seller. Is it not well known 

 that it is possible by shoeing, if not to prevent overreaching, at least to 

 cause the noise resulting from the habit to disappear ? Is it not well 

 known, also, that the defect of interfering may be thus concealed ; that 

 by diverse means, such as the application of gutta-percha, a corn, toe- 

 cracks, and quarter-cracks can be hidden ; that with the rasp, a hoof 

 which has been deformed by a chronic laminitis can be restored to its 

 normal appearance, etc. ? These are frauds of which the purchaser 



1 Magne et Baillet, Trait6 d' agriculture pratique et d'liygiSne v6t6rinaire gen^rale, 4e 6d., t. 

 ill. p. 587, Paris, 1883. • . ^ 



