444 THE HOR6E. 



and is a very good preventive at this season of the year, Tlie 

 Nimrodian jjilan is as follows ; — The horse is gradually cooled 

 down, by taking off his clothing by degrees, and by abstracting 

 his corn, partially or entirely, giving physic, &c., &c. ; all 

 which will require nearly a month, or until the middle of May ; 

 he is then to be put into a large, roomy, and airy loose box, 

 with the upper half of the door capable of being constantly left 

 open, or with a strong chain put across the door posts, the door 

 being left entirely open, which is better still, because it allows 

 of a free circulation of air. AVhen thoroughly cooled down, the 

 legs may be blistered or di*essed with any of the numerous ap- 

 plications which will be hereafter described. Tan is the best 

 material for the floor of the box, and if thickly spread, serves all 

 the purposes of litter, whilst it keeps the feet cool. Italian rye 

 or Lucerne, or ordinary grass, may be given, at first mixed with 

 an equal quantity of hay, but when the horse is accustomed to 

 them, forming the entire food. Vetches I am not fond of for 

 horses doing no work. If young, they are irritating to the bow- 

 els, and do nothing but scour them ; and if old, they are strong 

 and heating. For coach-horses at work, when given with corn, 

 they answer better than grass, especially when the pods are 

 fully developed ; but for summering the hunter, I prefer some 

 of the grasses or clovers, which are not nearly so heating as 

 vetches. The shoes may be taken off, and the feet pared out 

 nicely, removing all broken pieces of horn, and cutting out any 

 sand cracks, seedy toes, &c., to the quick, so as to allow them to 

 be radically cured at this time of complete rest. If the horse is 

 tolerably young and hearty, he will do better for a month or 

 two without any corn at all ; and during that time he w^ill have 

 recovered from the inflammatory condition of the system which 

 high feeding inevitably produces. Tlie blistering, firing, or 

 other remedies, have now done their work, and the legs are re- 

 duced in size, with all their old lumps and bumps almost entirely 

 gone. Tliis will be accomplished by the end of July, or some- 

 times, when the legs are very stale, a month later ; until which 

 time the corn is still forbidden, or only given in small quanti- 

 ties, and the whole attention is turned to the removal of the 

 effects of the thorns and battering blows which the legs and feet 

 have sustained during the previous season. But it is by this 



