DAILY KOUTINE IN TEAINING. 169 



base of the neck and chest scraped and dried ; and, 

 lastly, the body clothing is taken off, and the barrel, 

 loins, and quarters finished. Dry, light clothing is put 

 on, and he should get half a bucket of water, say, 

 about a gallon. This rubbing down should not take 

 more than five or six minutes, and after it, the animal 

 should be started home at a walk, without further 

 delay. 



Though the horse, on leaving his stable, should be 

 ridden at a walk before his work commences, he had 

 better be led home ; for then he will return cooler, and 

 will not be so liable to break out into a sweat again, 

 as he would be were he ridden back. If the horse is 

 to be ridden on his way home, the felt saddle-cloth, if 

 it has been used, should be put on inside out, so that 

 the portion of it which has become wet from sweat, may 

 not come in contact with the skin of the animal's back ; 

 for, if it did so, it would act, more or less, as a poultice, 

 and render the part soft and tender. Besides this, a 

 dry surface next the skin is more comfortable than a 

 damp one. 



Having arrived at the stable, he may get as much 

 water as he chooses to drink, with or without suttoo 

 mixed through it, as the trainer sees fit ; and then he 

 is tied up, his clothing removed, and the grooming 

 begun. 



The practice of rubbing a horse down immediately 

 after his gallop is specially applicable to an animal 

 which has been worked in clothing, and which, in con- 

 sequence of the presence of the damp material next 

 its skin, would, were it not removed, be liable to become 

 enervated and chilled during the walk home. When, 



