434 THE HORSE. 



harm that I know of, if it do not make the heels too bare. To 

 be of any use, it must be done in a systematic manner and in 

 good earnest. If the horse be perfectly quiet, the man will sit 

 down on his knees, and, with a small soft wisp, or cloth-rubber 

 in each hand, he will rub upward and downward, or he will use 

 his hands without the wisp, particularly if the hair be fine and 

 short ; much force is not necessary, indeed it is pernicious. In 

 coming down the leg the pressure should be light ; and in 

 passing upward, it must not be so great as to i-aise or break the 

 hairs. 



Singeing, shaving and clipping are so rarely used and are so 

 little needed in this country, that I do not care to insert the 

 methods. 



THE HORSE 8 FOOD. 



This should be oats and hay of the best quality ; beans for 

 hard-working horses, occasionally varied with carrots or Swed- 

 ish turnips ; bran mashes ; and, under some circumstances, old 

 Indian corn or maize ; linseed gruel. Many persons are not 

 aware, that the price of musty oats and bad liay is vastly dearer 

 than that of the same commodities of good quality — and that 

 the worse the quality the higher the cost. It is so neverthe- 

 less — for, whether the purchaser of inferior articles bargain for 

 it or not, he always purchases with them indigestion, foulness 

 of blood, looseness of tlie bowels, general debility, and gland- 

 ers ; all of these being too costly to be purchased into any 

 stable. 



Much has been said of late respecting the advantage of 

 bruising oats, and various machines are much in vogue for the 

 purpose. Mr. Spooner says of them, " they are apt to produce 

 diarrhoea, especially if the animal is worked hard." It is fur- 

 ther alleged that many horses will not eat them with an appe- 

 tite ; and the. opponents to the system go further, urging that 

 unbruised oats excite a flow of saliva, necessary to perfect di- 

 gestion, which is not the case with those which are bruised. 

 The explanation to the first of these questions supplies a very 

 strong recommendation. The stomach having derived a suffi- 

 cient quantity of nourishment from a moderate portion, does 



