186 GENERAL TREATMENT OF HORSES. 



however, state the best method of proceeding under 

 each of these systems. 



The horse kept in work (we should rather have 

 said exercise) during the summer, should be exer- 

 cised very early in the morning on soft, but not 

 wet ground (a low meadow, or rather a marshy 

 common, for example,) that his feet may have the 

 advantage of moisture, and also that he may not 

 be tormented by flies, or exposed to a hot sun. Two 

 hours will be sufficient, the pace to be varied alter- 

 nately from the walk to the jog-trot. It is desirable 

 that a horse thus treated should not be tied up in 

 a stall, but have the enjoyment of a large loose- 

 house. Of course, attention should be paid to his 

 feet, removing his shoes every third or fourth 

 week ; and they should be stopped Avith wet tow 

 every second night. To those who object to this 

 in-door treatment of the hunter on the score of 

 danger to his feet, we can only say, from our own 

 experience, that their fears are groundless ; and we 

 also refer them to the first cavalry barrack they 

 pass by, or even to the stables of our inn-keepers 

 on the road, in which they will find feet in the 

 highest state of preservation, that haA^e been sub- 

 ject to in-door treatment for many years. We 

 prefer damp tow to any other sort of stopping for 

 horses' feet, because, exclusive of the moisture, it 

 affords a uniform pressure to the frog and outer 

 sole of the feet, which is favourable to their healthy 

 state. Indeed, to some of the finely-formed, open 

 feet which we see on first-rate hunters, the soles of 

 which are apt to be thin, this pressure is most ad- 



