452 THE HORSK. 



valuable remedy, in many sudden diseases, colics, sudden chills, 

 &c. ; and is, at ail events, an admirable plan for giving a stimu- 

 lus in times of exhaustion and distress, whether from over work, 

 or accident, 



I have seen many horses which would greedily eat up a loaf 

 of rye bread, or coarse brown bread — Graham's bread, as it is 

 called with us — thrown into a bucket, with half a gallon of ale, 

 or a couple of bottles of brown stout, poured over it, when they 

 would not look at a feed of oats ; and the nourishment being 

 double in the former, the gain of having a horse which can be so 

 fed on occasion, is immense. 



The same system of watering may be follow^ed in the after- 

 noon, as in the morning ; until the inn is reached where the 

 night is to be spent. 



There, the horses must be thc»-oughly cleaned, rubbed down, 

 and honestly worked at, until they are not only perfectly clean, 

 dry, and comfortable, but until their skins are in a glow, and 

 their coats as fine as silk. Their legs and feet, especially, must 

 be perfectly cleaned, and, above all, thoroughly dried ; any neg- 

 lect of the last point brings the certainty of grease, cracked heels, 

 and what in America is called the scratches. 



I have found it an excellent way, both as saving much time 

 and labor, and as — which is more to the point — rendering the 

 horse more speedily comfortable, to plunge his legs, after wisp- 

 ing otf the dry mud, instantly into a bucket of water as warm 

 as the hand will comfortably bear it ; to brush off all the dirt 

 with a harsh whalebone brush ; to hand-rub them sufficiently to 

 squeeze out the redundant moisture, and then to bandage them 

 closely and tightly, from the fetlock joint upward to the hock 

 or knee, with thick flannel rollers, which should be left on until 

 the following morning ; when, on their removal, the legs will be 

 found as clear and as clean, besides being cool, comfortable, 

 and free from fever, as those of a two-year-old. 



When the horses are clean, dr}', clothed, their beds well lit- 

 tered, and themselves made comfortable for the night, they 

 should be watered, their racks supplied with, not to exceed, 

 according to my idea, eight pounds of good, sweet, old hay, and 

 from six to eight quarts of oats. 



They should not be disturbed during the night ; but, at least 



