334 GROOMING. 



man could not possibly do the work with sufficient quickness. 

 To thoroughly strap (groom) a horse, hand-rub his legs, put 

 his clothing straight, and put on his bandages, will take two 

 men at least half an hour ; and one man, about double that 

 time. "Quartering" (p. 341) or lightly grooming a horse 

 will occupy a man from fifteen to twenty minutes. 



DETAILS OF GROOMING. 



Let us consider the full grooming of a horse by two 

 men, full grooming by a single-handed man, and finally light 

 grooming or quartering. 



If a horse returns hot, and especially wet, from work, and 

 if he is put in a box or stall and is groomed in the ordinary 

 manner, he will run a considerable risk of getting a chill or of 

 " breaking out." A good plan to avert these ill results of 

 bad management, is to loosen the girths, supposing that the 

 animal has been ridden, shift the position of the saddle a 

 little, by moving it a few inches from side to side, so as to 

 relieve any parts that may have suffered from unequal pres- 

 sure ; give the horse half a bucket of cold water to drink ; 

 scrape him if he is sweating, and dry him quickly with 

 rubbers, taking care not to neglect the space between the 

 branches of his lower jaw ; and walk him about until he is 

 dry, with or without clothing on him, according to the state 

 of the atmosphere, which will also determine the rate at 

 which he should be walked. We may then take him into the 

 stable, remove the bridle, put on a head-stall, give him as 

 much cold water as he chooses to drink, and rack him up, if 

 he is in a box, or put him on the pillar reins, if he is in a 

 stall. If flannel bandages are used with this particular animal, 

 they should be put on the legs loosely, the saddle or harness 

 removed, and the surfaces which previously bore the gear (back 

 or front of the shoulders, as the case may be) examined, so as 

 to find if any swelling has taken place from unequally dis- 



