2i8 Our Noblest Friend, The Horse 



nearly as great an extent in the care for and manage- 

 ment oi horses. We are prone to strain at the gnat 

 of docking, of the use of burr-bits, etc., and 

 at the same time to overfeed and underexercise our 

 own animals, to keep them in stables which in the 

 long nights become totally unfit for occupancy, so 

 foul does the air become; to turn them out to grass, 

 and let them feed the flies and mosquitoes, and 

 shrink in flesh and muscle from want of the accus- 

 tomed grain ; to water them not at all when heated, 

 and never during the long, long nights, when the 

 consumption of much dry forage has rendered their 

 thirst acute; to shoe them improperly, accepting the 

 dictum of ignorant men as to their needs in this 

 connection; to allow children to use them, regard- 

 less of juvenile characteristics or abilities ; to accept 

 as gospel the theories of individuals who have 

 had no practical experience, etc. These are but a 

 few of the hardships which sentiment and well-inten- 

 tioned ignorance inflict upon the horse. We have 

 heard of the place that was " paved with good inten- 

 tions," and mistaken sentiment has laid more of 



