SHORTENING THE COAT. 353 



of the majority of well-bred horses ; and those of the re- 

 mainder could be kept short by the occasional help of a 

 singeing lamp. Although clipping is an inferior means of 

 reducing the coat to that I have just mentioned, it is the 

 best one for horses kept in stables which are short of 

 help. If the groom can singe well, I think it will be better 

 for him to keep down the length of the coat by means of the 

 lamp, used, say, every ten days, than by clipping. Keeping 

 the coat thin by means of hot stables and an excess of warm 

 clothing, should not be allowed ; because both these means 

 injuriously affect the health of the animal. Whatever way a 

 horse's coat is kept short or thin, his rider or driver should 

 take precautions against his catching a chill, when he is out- 

 side during cold weather, by keeping him moving, or by 

 throwing a rug over him, as the case may demand. 



As regards expedition, the power clipping machine, of 

 which there are many good varieties in the market, is as 

 superior to the hand machine, as the hand machine is to the 

 old scissors and comb. As far as the health of a horse is 

 concerned, it is an advantage, as I have indicated, not to clip 

 below the knees and hocks, and not to clip that part of the 

 back upon which the saddle rests. In this omission, in order 

 to be consistent, I ought to include that part of the chest 

 over which the girths pass ; but the advantage thus obtained, 

 would perhaps be more than counterbalanced by the uncouth 

 appearance which the resulting band of hair would give the 

 animal. As the hair which is inside the ears, guards these 

 organs from injury by the entrance of foreign bodies ; it 

 should not be removed, beyond, perhaps, placing the edges of 

 each ear together, and then cutting off the hair which projects 

 outside the opening of the ear. If it is imperative to clip the 

 legs, and one of them happens to be somewhat more "gummy" 

 than the other, we may adopt the old coping plan of using a 

 thicker comb i(a bone one for instance) when going over the 



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