70 THE HORSE : ITS KEEP AND MANAGEMENT. 



When they are changing the winter coat for the 

 summer it does not matter so much, they do that with 

 comparative ease, but it is just as well even then to give 

 them a little tonic. Those who understand horses usually 

 give them something when they are shedding their coat, 

 whether the owner gives instructions for them to have any 

 or not, and in many cases these men know what the animals 

 require better than the owner. Some horses require clipping 

 twice during the Winter — I often have mine clipped four 

 times during that time, but, as a rule, twice is sufficient. 



It is very seldom a horse's coat grows after the middle 

 of December, only just a few rough hairs underneath the 

 stomach and round their quarters. Those who wish to 

 keep a horse nice should just singe these off. Years ago 

 it was thought a horse which was clipped should always 

 be singed, that is to say, the end of each hair ought to 

 be singed, and unless this was done it was considered the 

 animal would take cold, but this is only a delusion. I 

 have never known a horse to take cold after it has 

 been clipped, if it was managed and clipped properly. 



Some people do not like clipping their horses because 

 it changes the colour of their coat. For instance, there 

 is very little difference between the colour of a bay and 

 a black horse when they are clipped. W^hen they change 

 their coat in the Spring it makes the horses look rather 

 stubby, but that very soon wears off, especially when 

 they have a little tonic to help them. This not only 

 enables them to shed their coat quicker, but makes the 



