CHAPTER IV. 29 



to the purpose of strengthening the horse's 

 feet if you threw down loosely four or five 

 cartloads of round stones, each big enough to 

 fill your hand and about a pound and a half 

 in weight, surrounding the whole with an 

 iron border to keep them from getting scat- 

 tered. Standing on these would be as good 

 for him as travelling a stony road for some 

 part of every day; and whether he is being 

 rubbed down or is teased by horseflies, he 

 has to use his hoofs exactly as he does in 

 walking. Stones strewn about in this way 

 strengthen the frogs too. As for his mouth, 

 you must take as much care to make it soft 

 as you take to make his hoofs hard ; and the 

 same treatment softens a horse's mouth that 

 softens a man's flesh.^-^ 



