426 THE HORSE. 



from which man and horse are often borne away with the stream, 

 to the great grief of the newspaper editor, who deplores their 

 melancholy fate ; by which, I suppose, he means melancholy 

 ignorance. 



These river bathings ought to be entirely prohibited. 



In cold weather it is an act of madness. During some of the 

 liottest days in summer, a general bathing is wonderfully re- 

 freshing to a horse, who has run a stage at the rate of ten miles 

 an hour. It cleans the skin more eftectually than any other 

 means, and with less irritation to the horse ; it renders him com- 

 fortably cool, and under certain conditions, it does him no harm. 

 Those employed in public conveyances are almost the only 

 horses that require it. During very hot weather they suffer 

 much from the pace at which they travel. They come off the 

 road steeped in perspiration, but in a few minutes they are dry. 

 The coat is thin and short, and the hairs glued together by dirt 

 and sweat ; to raise and separate them with the currycomb is 

 productive of much pain, greatly aggravated by the fevered 

 condition of the horse. The best Avay of cleaning a horse in tliis 

 state, is by washing him. The operation is performed by the 

 water-brush and the sj^onge. The horse should stand in the sun. 

 The man, taking a large coarse sponge in his hand, usually com- 

 mences at the neck, close to the head ; he proceeds backward 

 and downward till he, has bathed the horse all over. This may 

 be done in two minutes. Then, dipping his brush in the water, 

 he applies it as generally as the sponge, drawing it always in 

 the direction of the hair, without any rubbing. The sponge 

 merely applies the water; the brush loosens and removes the 

 dust and perspiration which adhere to the hair. The sweat-knife 

 is next employed, and the horse being scraped as dry as possible, 

 he is walked about in the sun for half an hour, more or less, till 

 he be perfectly dry. During the time he is in motion the scraper 

 is reapplied several times, especially to the belly, and the horse 

 gets water twice or thrice. When quite dry, he is stabled, 

 and wisped over, perhaps lightly brushed, to lay and polish his 

 coat, and when his legs are well rubbed he is ready for feeding. 



