THE HORSE : ITS KEEP AND MANAGEMENT, 1 35 



cold water, and the fore feet put in a pail of water 

 for a few minutes. This is not only refreshing to the 

 horse or horses, but it softens their hoofs a great deal. 

 When the roads are hot and dry their feet become very 

 brittle, but if they are put in water it makes the horn of 

 the hoof more elastic. I believe when the hoof of a 

 horse's foot is allowed to get so hard and brittle it is 

 the same as a person wearing a hard pair of boots, which 

 are not pliable to one's feet. 



When anyone has a very stiff pair of boots on it 

 is difficult for that person to walk, but when they are 

 nice and easy — how different ; what a pleasure such aa 

 one finds in running or walking. Now this is just the 

 case with the horse — the foot is inside the hoof, and 

 if the hoof is hard and brittle it often becomes con- 

 tracted, and when this is the case it is very painful to 

 the horse. The hind feet do not suffer anything like 

 so much as the fore feet in this respect. It is well to 

 use a dressing for the hoof, which will be found in the 

 chapter on horses' feet, where I have dealt fully with 

 this subject. After a horse has been running it should 

 never be allowed to stand without having something 

 thrown across its loins, that is to say, it should not stand 

 for any length of time. A few minutes does not hurt 

 it. Some people make a great mistake in this respect 

 by throwing a cloth over a horse as soon as he stops, 

 after having been running fast for a good distance. 

 When the animal is all in a lather and a cloth is thrown 

 over him, it makes him perspire a great deal more. 



