454 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK in. 



as a small yard in which the horses may run at pleasure, are superior 

 to the stable method ; because, if well littered, the horses will not 

 require any other dressing than is usually given by a farmer's servants. 

 Since, however, these animals are very susceptible to cold, it is most 

 advisable, in exposed and bleak situations to keep them in stables ; 

 though, in mild and sheltered places, the shed- system may at times be 

 found the more profitable. Where the practice has been followed, it 

 has been generally found successful ; and horses thus managed are by 

 some considered not only to be more healthy than those kept in 

 stables, but also to attain a greater age. In stables every horse 

 should have a stall to himself, and that as roomy as possible ; not less 

 than six, or even eight feet in width. Thus a greater degree of super- 

 vision can be maintained ; it will be instantly perceptible when an 

 animal is off his feed, and each will get his own due share of food. 

 There should be windows to admit light and air to the stables when 

 required, but these should be furnished with shutters, for many horses 

 will not lie down to rest while the stable is light. 



Carters are often very negligent not, indeed, of feeding their horses, 

 for they will seldom hesitate to steal corn for the purpose of pampering 

 them but of that care which requires labour ; and masters too com- 

 monly permit their servants to manage the teams nearly as they please. 

 The consequences of this are frequently injurious to the health of the 

 animals. It is not necessary that farm-horses should be groomed 

 like hunters. Too free a use of the curtycomb might indeed be rather 

 prejudicial, in winter, to horses that are constantly employed at slow 

 work for many successive hours in all kinds of weather, for it would 

 take away too much of the long coat with which nature provides them 

 as a protection against the inclemency of the season ; still this argu- 

 ment will riot hold in face of the necessity of cleanliness. A certain 

 degree of grooming is highly desirable to promote health and to keep 

 active the functions of the skin ; and no dieting, no amount of food 

 ever so well chosen, will give horses that sleek look of condition they 

 should have, unless they are also regularly rubbed down with wisps 

 when they come in, and well brushed, and their legs and feet cleaned, 

 before they are shut up for the night. 



The fetlocks of cart-horses (though not of Suffolks) are usually 

 covered with a profuse quantity of hair, and, on flinty soils, a moderate 

 portion of it forms a very desirable protection against injury ; but if 

 not daily cleansed from the dirt which is collected, the accumulation at 

 length occasions that unsightly and stubborn disease " grease " (see 

 page 572). In like manner, perspiration mats the coat, and clogs the 

 roots of the hair with scurf, and produces eruptions on the skin that 

 are often difficult of cure. It should, therefore, be a settled rule, that, 

 whether the horses are kept in the stable or not, their feet should be 

 regularly washed on their return from labour, and dried, and the legs 

 well wisped or hand-rubbed, provided the men can be relied upon to do 

 this. The friction tends to restore warmth to the extremities of the 

 tired animal, and relieves swellings or soreness. Merely to wash off 

 the dirt from the fetlocks and feet, and leave them to dry gradually, is 



