412 THE HCRSE. 



upon rubbing the fingers into the skin they receive a white, 

 greasy stain, never communicated when the liorse has been 

 thoroughly dressed. 



All horses, however, cannot be groomed in this manner. 

 From strappers, carters, farm-servants, and many grooms, it 

 must not be expected. Such a dressing is not of great ser- 

 vice, at least it is not essential to the horses they look after, 

 nor is it practicable if it were. The men have not time to 

 bestow it. 



The horse may be dressed in the stable or in the open air. 

 When weather permits, that is, when dry and not too cold, it is 

 better for both the horse and his groom that the operation be 

 performed out of doors. When several dirty hoi-ses are dressed 

 in the stable at the same time, the air is quickly loaded with 

 impurities. Upon looking into the nostrils of the horse, they 

 are found quite black, covered with a thick layer of dust. This 

 is bad for the lungs of both the horse and the man. I suppose 

 it is with the intention of blowing it away that stablemen are in 

 the habit of making a hissing noise with the mouth. The dust, 

 besides entering, and probably irritating the nostrils, falls upon 

 the clean horses, the harness, and every thing else. Racers and 

 other valuable horses are almost invariably dressed in the stable, 

 and there they are safest. They have little mud about them — 

 and from frequent grooming and constantly being clothedj ittle 

 dandruff in, or dust on their hair — to soil the stable. 



Inferior stablemen sometimes dress a horse very wretchedly. 

 That which they do is not well done,* and it is not done in the 

 right way. They are apt to be too harsh with the curryc<)mb. 

 Some thin-skinned horses cannot bear it, and they do not always 

 require it. It should be applied only when and where neces- 

 sary. This instrument loosens the mud, raises and separates the 

 hair ; and when the hair is long, the comb cuts much of it 

 away, especially when used with considerable force. It is not 

 at all times proper to thin a horse's coat suddenly, and, when 

 improper,' it should be forbidden. Having raised and separated 

 the hair, the comb should be laid aside. To use it afterward is 

 to thin the coat ; and in general, if the coat be too long, it 

 should be thinned by degrees, not at two or thre^ but at ten or 

 twelve thinnings. Then, the currycomb has little to do about 



