47 



Seotiojt III.— on GEOOMS, GEOOMING, KND THE 

 GENEEAL MANAGEMENT OE HOESES. 



To groom and rightly to manage horses is a business of 

 considerable importance. If it consisted, as many people 

 suppose, in merely giving them corn and hay at stated intervals ; 

 in cleaning them periodically with a wisp of straw, or otherwise 

 in performing the necessary duties, in any way and at any 

 time, grooming would then be readily learnt, and as readily 

 understood. A good groom, however, is a rarity. Tears of 

 practice, and a large share of experience only to be derived 

 from such practice, are required ; and in addition, that peculiar 

 natural aptitude and love for the work, by which at all times a 

 genuine member of the body is distinguished. Before excellence 

 can be attained in any calling or handicraft, a man must possess 

 that which teaching cannot impart, but upon which his success 

 depends, viz., — a feeling within the man, that hy its force and 

 sincerity, shall, with the aid of 'practice, lead him to become a 

 master in his art. People ignorant of the business of horse 

 management are apt to suppose that every fellow who invests 

 his lower limbs in a pair of unmentionables of boundless 

 capacity, or who wears a long waistcoat, having huge pockets of 

 a salt-box form, is a groom. No such thing. A good groom? 

 and an adept in his calling, is to be known by far other signs 

 than those of his mere outward environment. He ought to 



