THE HORSE. 191 



care or solicitude is required, he may be led into the 

 stable, stripped, rubbed over, whilst eating a lock of 

 hay, and soon be ready for his feed of corn ; but if in 

 a high state of perspiration, the care is far otherwise ; 

 and although, at most good inns, the hostlers are very 

 well acquainted with the treatment that is necessary, 

 yet it is a great convenience for a traveller to be ac- 

 companied by his own groom ; but even so, a gentle- 

 man should attend personally to all the essentials ; 

 for as according to the old adage, the " master's eye 

 maketh the horse fat," so that same eye is most pro- 

 bable to attend to minutia, and these of importance, 

 which the less interested eye of his groom might 

 overlook. The weather being cold or damp, and the 

 horse under the effects of violent exertion, he should 

 be led instantly to stable, and placed in a situation, 

 free from any chilling current of air, and upon a 

 good deep bed of fresh and dry litter. The girths are 

 to be loosened, but the saddle not removed, and a dry 

 cloth thrown over the loins ; the face, ear-roots, neck, 

 and throat, are first to be rubbed gently, and whilst 

 he is eating a little of the best hay to be procured, 

 his feet and legs, up to the hocks, should be well 

 washed and suppled in warm water. This is a most 

 beneficial practice, and nothing contributes so much 

 to cheering, cooling, and refreshing a hard ridden 

 horse, and to abating the excessive and painful heat 

 and tension in his joints and sinews, and the surbat- 

 ing effects of the hard road upon his feet. Every 

 man who knows the road, however, must be apprised 

 that these extraordinary performances can only be 

 acted by particular desire. Subsequently, the belly, 



