DRESSING, OR GROOMING. 187 



face, which greatly facilitates the process of drying. Two men 

 ought then to set to work, each taking a side, and working first at 

 the head, and then gradually backwards. In this way, no part is 

 allowed to chill, and the moisture is removed as rapidly as possi- 

 ble. In the use of the whisp, the rubbing need not always be 

 hard ; and it should be chiefly against the direction of the hair 

 till it is nearly dry, when the proper direction is again taken. 

 There is a good deal of art in drying a sweating horse, and nothing 

 but experience and practical teaching will give it. As a gen- 

 eral rule, it takes two men nearly three-quarters of an hour to 

 thoroughly dress a horse coming in profusely sweating, supposing 

 the weather to be only moderately warm. In very hot weather, 

 such an attempt would be quite fruitless, and the only resource is 

 to wait patiently till the effects of exercise are abated sufficiently 

 to allow of the ordinary clothing beiog worn. Experience soon 

 tells the groom how soon he can venture to begin, and no rule can 

 possibly be laid down which will supply the place of this valuable 

 power. Even when the horse is taken in, he must not at first be 

 clothed, but he must be dressed without anything on him ; and in 

 summer he must often be left for some time afterwards in a naked 

 state. When there is a good open yard shaded from the sun, the 

 dressing should be done out of doors ; and when this can be 

 managed, it may be commenced much sooner than in the stable, 

 unless this is a very cool one. Slight muscular action, either by 

 walking, or in some other shape, is necessary to prevent conges- 

 tion of blood in the internal organs; but it matters not whether it 

 is effected by simply leading the horse about, or by stirring him up, 

 as is always the case in dressing even the dullest animal. In other 

 respects, there is no difference from the plan last described. 



When the sweat is completely dried in, the hair is full 

 of powdery matter, which must be thoroughly brushed out, before 

 the skin will look well or the horse be properly dressed. To do 

 this, nothing more is required than the use of the brush previously 

 to the whisping over ; but a good deal of time must be spent in 

 getting rid of all the foreign matters left behind on the evapora- 

 tion of the watery particles of the sweat. There is an amount of 

 grease in it which makes the powder stick to the hair, and no- 

 thing but hard ^abor will get it away. For this reason, many grooms 

 adopt the plan of washing their horses all over with soap and 

 water, when they come home in this state ; and although I prefer 

 dry rubbing, I would rather have water used than let the skin re- 

 main full of dry sweat. A common water brush is generally used, 

 or, if the coat is thin, a sponge will be far better. No time must 

 be lost in the operation ; and unless two men can be spared, the 

 rug must he thrown on as soon as the water is scraped off with the 

 scraper, ani the skin is just partially dried. In this state he may 



