DRINKING WATER. 137 



shows that the water contains a percentage of organic or 

 mineral impurities which render it unfit for drinking. A 

 slightly muddy shade from the presence of clay is no great 

 objection ; because clay consumed in small quantities by a 

 horse does not injuriously affect his health. 



6. It should not be artificially warmed. When a horse is 

 hot and tired from severe work and his temperature is 

 consequently raised (p. 52), the best thing we can do is to 

 give him a drink of cold water, which will have a more cooling 

 effect on him than warmer water (p. 129), and his thirst, which 

 is prompted by the requirements of his system, will be satisfied 

 with a smaller quantity of it a fact that will be a direct 

 gain, if work has to be resumed. An experience of two 

 winters in Northern Russia has shown me that the coldest 

 water even in the coldest weather, is neither distasteful nor 

 hurtful to horses. In that country, during winter, all the 

 common horses, such as cab and cart animals, are habitually 

 given icy-cold water, and no attempt is ever made to warm it 

 for them. These horses, which lead a very rough life in 

 every way, except that they are well fed, and get as much 

 cold water as they choose to drink, keep in excellent health ; 

 although the Russian and foreign horses which are pampered 

 in the stables of Russian gentlemen suffer a great deal from 

 disease. The cab horses of St. Petersburg, even in the middle 

 of the terribly cold winter, maintain remarkably good con- 

 dition. London cab horses, as we know, lead a very laborious 

 life ; their drinking water is never warmed for them, and 

 yet their organs of digestion keep healthy. Throughout my 

 long life, which has been spent among horses in all kinds of 

 climates, and in many different parts of the world, I have 

 never known, heard, or read of a case of injury to a horse 

 caused by the fact of the water he drank being cold. On 

 the other hand, I have seen scores of cases of horses refusing 

 to drink, because the water offered to them had been arti- 



