TRIMMING THE HAIR OF THE LEGS, ETC. 205 



it was bitterly cold, foggy, and frosty. When dayliglit ap« 

 peared, the mare was discovered; and I fully expected, espe- 

 cially as I had ridden her fast np to the time we parted 

 company, that she Avould be laid up with a violent cold. 

 That, however, was not the case. On her return home she 

 had a bran mash, with two ounces of spirit of nitric ether, 

 and, on the following day, gave no evidence of the slightest 

 indisposition. Had she not been clipped I am inclined to 

 think the result would not have been so fortunate ; because, 

 from the pace I had ridden her, with the perspiration in 

 the coat, she would have been wet all night, whereas she 

 quickly became dry ; hence the coldness of the atmosphere 

 had not such an inj urious effect as might have been expected." 



TRIMMING THE HAIR OF THE LEGS AND HEELS. 



On the subject of trimming the hair of the legs and heels, 

 we find the following sensible remarks in Stewart's Stable 

 Book: 



The hair of the fetlock, the hollow of the pastern, and 

 the posterior aspect of the legs, is longer on heavy draught- 

 horses than on those of finer bone. It is intended to keep 

 the legs warm, and perhaps, in some degree, to defend them 

 from external violence. It becomes much shorter and less 

 abundant after the horse is stabled, kept warm, well fed, 

 and well groomed. The simple act of washing the legs, 

 or rubbing them, tends to make the hair short and thin, 

 and to keep it so. Nevertheless, it is a very common prac- 

 tice, especially in coaching-stables, to clip this hair away 

 almost close to the root. 



The heels^" are trimmed in three different ways : the 

 most common and the easiest is, to clip away all the long 



* The word hed is applied to the back and hollow of the pastern. In this 

 place, all that is said of the heels is applicable to the legs. 



