HORSE MANAGEMENT, ETC. 399 



worked the ereature, or else has suffered it, when heated, to cool 

 off without the necessary care and attention which should always 

 be observed when animals are fatigued or perspiring freely. Hard 

 usage, willful neglect, and wanton cruelty are more likely to pro- 

 duce disease than the universal beverage, so acceptable to the palate 

 3f a weary or thirsty horse. How often do we see a " let " horse 

 iXime into the stable all exhausted and used up, scarcely able to 

 s.lvance one limb before another ! Examine into the facts, and we 

 shall find that the powers of the subject have perhaps been over- 

 taxed. He has been driven too far, or at too rapid a rate, for the 

 present state of his constitution to endure, and perhaps he has not 

 had sufficient nourishment to repair the waste incidental to the 

 living mechanism under the states of rapid and protracted labor. 

 Is not this enough to account lor the used-up condition ? Is it 

 not more rational to suppose that abuse of the respiratory organa 

 and those of locomotion operates far more unfavorably on the 

 horse than water ? It is. But Mr. Fastman must, if there be 

 any blame rightly belonging to him, try to shift the same from hia 

 shoulders, and, therefore, he avails himself of a popular error— 

 " He drank too much water f yet the individual had no means of 

 ascertaining the precise quantity needed. 



We might say, as regards some horses, whose labors are very 

 fatiguing, that they come from their work, and, as soon as unhar- 

 nessed, go to the trough, and imbibe from one to three buckets 

 without any bad effect. Some animals need more water than 

 ethers. The kind of work, the temperature of the atmosphere, 

 and the nature of the food, whether it be wet or dry, all tend to 

 diversify an animal's wants. The domesticated horse requires a 

 bountiful supply of good water. His body is composed of seventy- 

 five per cent, of the same, and he can no more exist without it 

 than he can without food. A cow or ox is probably the best judge 

 as regards its own wants as to the quantity of water needed. It 

 in not the quantity which a rational animal imbibes which does 

 harm, but it is the quality that demands our attention. 



Thirsty people drink all the cold water they need. Then why 

 deprive a cow or horse of what they actually require ? Consider 

 the condition of the inhabitants of populous cities during the sum- 

 mer season. Thirst amounts almost to a disease, and, in view of 

 quenching it, the thirsty are continually imbibing water, rendered 

 cold, hot, sour, sweet, or alkaline, just as fancy dictates or as fashion 



