•270 LADIES ON HOESEBACK. 



during the niglat; on the following morning 

 the husk is so much softened that it will yield 

 to the pressure of the thumh and finger. In 

 this state the oats are more easily digested by 

 the horse, and it is better for his teeth than to 

 have to bite a hard substance. A wooden pail 

 is preferable to a zinc one, because it does not 

 conduct the heat from the oats so much as 

 one of the latter description does. A lid 

 would be, perhaps, better than a sack. The 

 pail should not be filled with the oats, because 

 the latter will swell when soaked. In the 

 stall in our stable there is no water-trough at 

 the side of the manger, and in order that the 

 horse may have water within reach during the 

 day and night, a zinc pail is placed in and at 

 the end of the manger, and the handle of it 

 is secured by a chain to the iron bars forming 

 the upper part of the partition between the 

 two stalls. In the loose-box, a pail containing 

 water is suspended by a chain to some iron 

 bars placed inside the window. 



I am, &c. 



X. Y. Z. 

 London, December, 1880. 



