Preventable Hardships 297 



warmly and suitably in dry cold weather, as a general 

 thing, and their waterproof covers are all that could 

 be desired, protecting them from ears to tail. The 

 Vv^oollen blankets which are worn by many truck- 

 horses become sopping wet in rainy weather, and 

 teamsters have a fashion which is most pernicious, of 

 folding them forward, so as to impose five or six 

 thicknesses over the animal's shoulders while he is 

 actively at work, and as soon as he stops, by pulling 

 the blanket back over the body, greatly expose the 

 lungs to chill. Such blankets should never be used 

 in wet weather, and the authorities should compel 

 the substitution of waterproofs. The breastplate of 

 carpet or other heavy material should always be 

 worn by such horses, as it protects directly the lungs, 

 and affords a great safeguard in high winds, cover- 

 ing the chest as a blanket rarely does. No blanket 

 at all is better than a heavy wet one, and the drain 

 made upon the bodily heat by such an incumbrance 

 is very severe, and likely to result in injury to the 

 tired or exhausted horse. It is true that exposure 

 seems often to do the animal no harm, provided he is 



