GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT 



51 



vigorous hand-rubbing should always be given. 

 This, of course, is necessary if the horse has 

 been mounted for some time ; if it has been 

 mounted for only half an hour, the saddle could 

 be removed in a few minutes after loosening the 

 girths without resorting to hand-rubbing. The 

 danger of removing the saddle suddenly after the 

 horse has been ridden for some time is that the 

 emptied blood-vessels under the skin (which 

 have become so emptied owing to the rider's 

 weight) will become filled so rapidly that they 

 are liable to be ruptured, producing small 

 lumps. If a horse is brought in wet from rain 

 or perspiration, the saddle is generally removed 

 immediately, and vigorous hand-rubbing or 

 wisping resorted to until the horse is quite dry. 

 After the horse is dry, the dandy-brush (if not 

 already used) should be used on the left and 

 right sides ; this should be held and used in the 

 same way as one holds and uses a clothes-brush 

 in brushing a cloak. In brushing the back and 

 hindquarters this brush should be changed to 

 the other hand, i.e. in the right hand, if groom- 

 ing the left side. Then use the body-brush and 

 curry-comb, the latter being used merely to 

 scrape the dandruff out of the former, and not 

 used on the horse. The body-brush should be 

 stiff and flat, and should be used in a circular or 

 to-and-fro manner, according to circumstances, 

 so as to work out the dandruff and stimulate the 

 sebaceous glands. 



198. The mane and tail should then be 

 cleaned. A groom should bear in mind that the 

 way to brush a horse's mane or tail is totally 

 different from the way we brush our own hair. 

 Except merely to straighten down the hair, the 

 brush should not be used on the outside. Few 

 grooms (outside the army) know how to keep 

 a good mane and tail in proper order ; most of 

 them brush out the hairs and do not remove the 

 dandruff. Each time the dandy-brush is passed 

 down, several hairs come out, and the tail gets 

 thinner and thinner, as it takes considerable 

 time for new hairs to grow. The tail and mane 

 should be brushed out, lock by lock, at the roots. 

 Commencing at the top of the tail, the roots of 

 the hairs are reached by raising the hair in small 

 locks, and thus exposing the roots below. The 

 brush is thus gradually worked down to the end 

 of the tail, travelling across the tail in successive 

 layers. If the tail is neglected and becomes very 

 much matted, it should be well washed with 

 warm water and castile soap, and, when dry, 

 gently combed out. A well-kept tail does not 

 require a comb to be pulled through it, causing 

 a large number of hairs to go with the comb. A 

 tail should be washed once a week by dipping 

 it right into a bucket of water, and well washing 

 it with castile soap, afterwards well rinsing it. 



199. A long, white tail (as in P. la, 18&, 48A, 

 140a) is generally plaited up in muddy weather, 

 but when it gets dirty it can be dipped into 



water, well soaked, and washed out. Such a tail, 

 especially with a mare, if loosely tied up into a 

 knot at night will prevent it from becoming 

 soiled. It is not advisable to plait a tail at night, 

 as some horses will not lie down with their tails 

 plaited up. A loose knot in the hairs below the 

 dock should not worry the most nervous horse. 

 Tight plaiting left over-night is, of course, most 

 dangerous. 



In washing a tail the soap must be well 

 rubbed into the roots to remove the dirt, there- 

 fore cheap soap must not be used, as the excess 

 of alkali in such soap will cause irritation to the 

 skin. Likewise, the soap must be well rinsed 

 out. The long hairs of the tail should be brushed 

 out daily with a dandy-brush, which should be 

 damped with petroleum (lamp oil) to prevent the 

 hairs being pulled out. 



Similarly, the mane is brushed out lock by 

 lock from the roots and washed by means of the 

 water-brush ; with a little practice a mane and 

 tail can be kept in perfect order very easily, and 

 can be washed out without spilling the water 

 over the horse's quarters and neck. This is only 

 learnt by experience. 



200. Then the eyes, mouth, nostrils and 

 under-part of dock should be sponged out with 

 cold water. This is most refreshing to a horse, 

 which is often neglected by lazy grooms. The 

 horse misses his sponging as we miss our morn- 

 ing bath. Then the feet should be picked out 

 with a hoof-pick, and washed inside and outside 

 with the water-brush. The grooves between the 

 bars and frog and the cleft of the frog must be 

 thoroughly cleaned ; neglect of this operation is 

 often the cause of thrush, etc. 



Then the hay wisp is used all over the horse 

 in the same way as a brush is used, the whole 

 weight of the groom being put into his work. 

 Lastly, the rubber is used all over the horse. 



Before putting the horse back into his stall, 

 the blanket or rug is put on, and the mane and 

 tail brushed lightly down the outside to make 

 them tidy. 



201. In the cavalry the feet are generally 

 washed before anything else, and the hay wisp 

 used only at evening stables. The hay wisp 

 should be slightly damp to collect the dust. 

 Tails and manes should never be combed out 

 roughly ; the comb should only be used very 

 gently to disentangle hairs. A swish tail may 

 be shortened, or a banged tail may be swished, 

 by the use of the comb. For the same reason, 

 as stated before, the brush should not be used 

 roughly on the outside of the tail, unless it is 

 required to make it thinner. In using the comb, 

 it should be held lightly in the fingers and 

 worked downwards slowly, in easy, jerky move- 

 ments, as if the comb were made of brittle glass, 

 thus avoiding dragging out the hairs. Great care 

 should be taken not to tie a horse up to the pillar 

 reins so that he can rub his tail against the 



