52 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[CHAP. 



manger, or to put a horse that is liable to rub 

 his tail into a loose box (box-stall). Any sign of 

 this should be carefully watched for, and directly 

 anything is noticed the cause must be imme- 

 diately removed and the tail attended to. The 

 cure for rubbed tails is dealt with in Sees. 246 

 and 591. 



202. Farm horses with rough coats are often 

 curry-combed with a mild comb. (See P. 24a.) 

 The use of this tool saves much labour and 

 removes a great deal of dirt. Generally speak- 

 ing, a curry-comb should not be used on the 

 better classes of horses, and in no case should it 

 be used on the joints. Horses' legs and quarters 

 get dirty from lying on damp bedding ; if this 

 dirt cannot be removed with a good dandy-brush 

 and hand-rubbing, a weak solution of ammonia 

 should be used, which will immediately dissolve 

 any grease or sticky matter. A white leg or 

 white coat that has become stained, after it has 

 been treated with hot water and soap or 

 ammonia, should be well rubbed with white 

 chalk and brushed out afterwards. 



203. In a well-regulated stable, where horses 

 are properly blanketed in winter and are well 

 groomed, the difference between the winter and 

 the summer coats is not very great. But, as a 

 rule, grooms do little work on the coat in the 

 autumn, so as to allow the coats to grow, and 

 then the horses have to be clipped ; this saves 

 a lazy groom a lot of work. Work horses, ex- 

 posed to the elements day and night, require a 

 certain amount of grooming to promote the 

 circulation of the body, but do not require the 

 same amount of grooming that is necessary for 

 the over-fed, under-worked carriage horse. 



204. Winter Care of the Horse. The horse is 

 often sinfully neglected in winter. Because he 

 is doing less work in winter, his owner thinks 

 he requires less care. He is making a great mis- 

 take, because a horse requires more care in 

 winter than in summer. With cold and wet, 

 frost and snow, the horse requires a great deal 

 of care, especially to his legs, and good food, 

 grooming and water. Grooming is necessary to 

 promote good health, because he is not perspir- 

 ing to the same extent as he does in summer. 

 Healthy perspiration promotes good health. 



205. In private stables, where often appear- 

 ance is considered before humanity, horses are 

 highly groomed in the morning before they go 

 out, so that they will look nice, and only casually 

 rubbed down on return. This is entirely con- 

 trary to what health demands. A horse should 

 be cleaned before he goes out, but groomed after 

 he returns, when his skin and whole body will 

 be in greater functional activity. Once again 

 physiology has its say. This is generally done 

 with cavalry horses during peace time, when 

 they are exercised for one or two hours before 

 breakfast, having had a small feed of oats an 

 hour before starting. They are brought back, 



and rubbed down and given hay (and, of course, 

 water), and properly groomed afterwards. 



A horse's sheath must be washed with warm 

 water and castile soap at least once every two 

 weeks. Neglect of this causes disease and dis- 

 comfort to the horse. The penis must be drawn 

 right out and thoroughly cleaned. 



206. To Test for Proper Grooming. Horses 

 should be periodically examined to see that 

 they are properly groomed. The mane and tail 

 should be examined at the roots of the hairs, 

 and the fingers should be rubbed against the 

 coat to discover the presence of dandruff. The 

 chest, between the forearms, the hocks, the 

 abdomen, the heels, the commissures of the 

 frog, the dock, the sheath, etc., must be carefully 

 examined for presence of dirt. The back, 

 shoulders, quarters, etc., where the saddle and 

 harness rest, must be examined for harness 

 marks. The eyes, ears and nostrils must also 

 be examined. 



207. Grooms. The ideal groom is a man who 

 is naturally fond of horses, not merely fond of 

 them because he can show off with them. He 

 should be willing to give up some of his own 

 time to care for his equine charge, and, above 

 all, never neglect the slightest detail to save him- 

 self trouble. He should not require to be con- 

 tinually watched or told things. Being told once 

 that such and such ought to be done should be 

 sufficient. It is very important to foster the 

 feeling that a horse is the groom's own property. 

 It should be one of his aims never to leave things 

 undone, so that his master can check him for 

 it. He must be observant, exceptionally clean 

 and tidy, cool-tempered, and the opposite to 

 lazy ; he should not be a grumbler. Cavalry 

 soldiers and racehorse stablemen are, as a rule, 

 good at their work, but many of them require 

 supervision. 



The ideal groom must, of course, be capable 

 of being trusted to feed his horse always as 

 directed, and, should he neglect ever to do so, 

 he should immediately report the matter to his 

 master. A man who is honest to himself and 

 always owns up, without trying to hide any- 

 thing, is a valuable man among horses. 



208. Tools. The following tools should be 

 kept in every good stable : A good English-made 

 large dandy-brush ; a hard, flat body-brush, and 

 curry-comb to clean it with (see P. 24<z) ; a 

 hoof-pick, which must not be too sharp, else 

 there is danger that the groom may pierce the 

 insensitive sole while picking out the feet (the 

 type that folds up is the best, and can be 

 purchased, nickel-plated, for 6d.); a water- 

 brush, for washing out the feet ; a good sponge, 

 which must not be used for soaping the harness, 

 as the soap will get into the horse's eyes ; a stable 

 rubber, which can be bought for about 2s. (cheap 

 stable rubbers are no good) ; hay wisps, which 

 can be made up as required by twisting hay 



