DRESSING THE HOKSE. 4.U 



With the brush in his left hand, and the cuiTycomb in his ri^ht 

 he commences on the left side of the horse, and finishes the 

 head, neck, and fore quarter ; then his hands diange tools, and 

 he performs the like service on the right side. The head requires 

 a, deal of patience to clean it properly; the hairs run in so 

 many difl:erent directions, and there are so many depressions 

 and elevations, and the horse is often so unwilling to have it 

 dressed, that it is generally much neglected by bad grooms. 

 The dust about the roots, upon the inside and the outside of the 

 ears, is removed by a few strokes of the brush, but the hair is 

 polished by repeatedly and rapidly drawing the hands over the 

 whole ear. The process is well enough expressed by the word 

 stripping. Having finished the fore part of the horse the groom 

 returns his head to the manger, and prepares to dress the body 

 and the hind quarters. A little straw is thrown under the hind 

 feet to keep them off the stones ; the cloths are drawn off, and 

 the horse's head secured. The cloths are taken to the door, 

 shook, and in dry weather exposed to the air, till the horse is 

 dressed. After the brushing is over, every part of the skin 

 having been entirely deprived of dust, and the hair polished till 

 it glistens like satin, the groom passes over the whole with a 

 wisp, with which, or with a linen rubber, dry or slightly damp- 

 ed, he concludes the most laborious portion of the dressing. 

 The cloths are brought in, and replaced upon the horse. His 

 mane, foretop, and tail, are combed, brushed, and, if not hang- 

 ing equally, damped. The eyes, nostrils, muzzle, anus, anli 

 sheath, are wiped with a ffamp sponge ; the feet are picked out, 

 and perhaps washed. If the legs be white, and soiled with 

 urine, they require washing with warm water and soap, after 

 which they are ruhhed tiU dry. When not washed, the legs are 

 polished partly by the brush and the wisp, but chiefly by the 

 hands. The bed and the stable being arranged, the horse is 

 done up for the morning. 



Is is not an easy matter to dress a horse in the best style. It 

 is a laborious operation, requiring a good deal of time, and with 

 many horses much patience and dexterity. Ignorant and lazy 

 grooms never perform it well. They confine themselves to the 

 surface. They do more with the wisp than with the brush. 

 The horse when thus dressed may not look so far amiss, but 



