322 GROOMING. 



ing in the early morning ; a thorough grooming on the return 

 of the animal from work or before his mid-day feed ; and a 

 repetition of this grooming in the afternoon. If a horse 

 returns a good deal fatigued after his work, as would be the 

 case with a hunter which had gone through a long day, it 

 would of course be injudicious to fatigue him still further by a 

 long protracted grooming ; and consequently the strapping, in 

 this instance, should not exceed that which would be suffi- 

 cient to guard him from the effects of chill. If a well fed 

 horse does not leave his stable, no relaxation in the grooming 

 should be permitted. When the question of economising 

 paid labour has to be considered, "quartering" (p. 341), or 

 even " setting the coat " once or twice a day, may have to be 

 substituted for regular grooming. 



WASHING HORSES. 



This practice as a rule is injurious, because it removes the 

 natural oil from the skin, and predisposes the animal to chill. 

 The application of water to a horse's skin increases the heat- 

 conducting power of his coat (p. 35), and lowers the tem- 

 perature of the surface by evaporation, and also by conduc- 

 tion (p. 30), in the event of the temperature of the water 

 being colder than that of the skin. Besides, water radiates 

 heat with great facility. Although in hot climates, like 

 that of India, a horse may be washed with impunity, pro- 

 vided that he is quickly dried, I do not think that such a 

 proceeding is safe in temperate or cold countries. Even in 

 the Tropics, washing a horse always takes the gloss off his 

 coat, no matter how vigorously the subsequent grooming may 

 be applied, a fact which is certainly a strong argument against 

 the practice in question. If it is imperative to wash, and there 

 is not sufficient help to have the horse rubbed dry without 

 loss of time, we may, after scraping and going over him with 

 two or three dry rubbers, take him out and exercise him at 



