STABLE MANAGEMENT 



tomed to protection, any more than one can com- 

 fortably go barefoot until Nature has adapted 

 herself to the change. There is far too much 

 stuffing of feet and smearing them with oil and 

 blacking externally. A wet sponge confined in 

 the foot by a bit of steel or a stick is better than 

 any packing, which a wet swab tied around the 

 coronets will assist ; while for dressing, a wipe 

 with a damp sponge will insure a better appear- 

 ance than an application of blacking, which 

 will be covered with dirt before your equipage 

 gets around to the front door. A horse's foot is 

 provided with pores as is your own, and if these 

 are clogged with grease, etc., local health cannot 

 obtain for long. 



Pages can be written upon the most unimpor- 

 tant of these details, and it is only possible to 

 touch upon a very few of them within the 

 boundaries allowed. So important are they 

 to the enjoyable and profitable use of horse- 

 flesh that the amateur will be well repaid if he 

 will begin to experiment for himself, and to real- 

 ize how exactly the hygiene, accepted as sen- 

 sible for the biped, applies to the needs of the 

 quadruped. 



Taking one day with another, and averaging 



57 



