CHIEF OBJECTS OF GROOMING. 317 



2. To clean the skin and coat, so as to favour the escape of 

 perspiration and oil from the skin, and to improve the appear- 

 ance of the horse. We have seen (p. 18) that the scarf-skin, 

 which acts as a protective covering to the true skin, consists of 

 horny scales that peel off as time passes on. From a health, 

 and especially from a training, point of view, we must regard 

 an excess of scarf-skin as so much dirt. The cleansing effect 

 which perspiration, induced by exercise, has on the skin, is 

 well shown by the fact that the skin of a wild animal is 

 as a rule much cleaner than that of a captive specimen of 

 the same species. For instance, a wild pig is one of the 

 cleanest of beasts. A horse in a wild state is not only obliged 

 to take a large amount of exercise in search of food, but has 

 also to use his powers of flight as his chief defence against his 

 enemies. 



When the skin, owing to prolonged inactivity, becomes 

 thickly cased with cuticle, the escape of its secretions is pro- 

 portionately diminished, and the general health will suffer in 

 consequence ; to say nothing of disorders in the skin itself, 

 and the increased strain which will be put on the lungs, in the 

 event of the horse being worked. The removal of this un- 

 seen dirt, if I may be allowed the expression, is of far greater 

 importance than that of superficial dirt, such as dandruff. 

 As grooms know but little of physiology, and as they find 

 that " eye-wash " generally satisfies their still more ignorant 

 masters, it is not surprising that in the large majority of 

 hunting and other private stables, grooming consists merely in 

 the removal of superficial dirt, and in the straightening of the 

 coat and long hair. This method of slurring over work which 

 is highly conducive to health and bodily vigour, should of 

 course be tolerated only when economy of paid labour is one 

 of the first considerations. An entirely different practice is 

 carried out in good training stables, where the importance of 

 applying an abundance of friction to the skin when a horse 



