86 STABLE MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



CHAPTER YI 



STABLE MANAGEMENT— FEELING-EXERCISE 

 —CONDITIONING 



A GOOD groom is as indispensable to the well-being of the 

 inmates of a stable as a good whip is to their driving, good 

 harness to their comfort, or good food to their health and 

 condition. No gentleman can be well-carried, no family be 

 well-appointed in their equipages, but by care in the selection 

 of the groom or horse-keeper. Nimrod sensibly says : " The 

 principal duties of a groom may be said to consist of 

 cleaning — strapping, as it is called — feeding, and travelling 

 horses. A man should have a certain degree of substance 

 to strap a horse properly ; but we do not agree with those 

 who think an herculean monster, whose blows would 

 almost fell an ox, a necessary article. I have seen light 

 lathy fellows full of muscle and sinew that would kill one 

 of these plummy, lumi^jr gentry. There is a wide difference 

 between what John Warde used to describe as a man fit * to 

 strip a horse and starve him,' and a clean-made, light-limbed 

 active fellow. Beyond grooming and feeding, I do not wish 

 for much science in a servant — your pedantic, infallible- 

 recipe fellows are no men for my money. Good strapping, 

 and food proportionate to work, is the grand secret." 



RACKING AND DRESSING. 



The first morning duty of the groom is "racking and 

 dressing." The first operation immediately follows the 

 opening of the stable door. The hay should be first shaken 

 to clear it from dust, and then but a small portion given to 

 leave the horse his full powers for the digestion of his corn ; 

 indeed, were it not from a fear that the eagerness of the 

 early appetite might make the horse swallow his corn 

 without sufficient mastication, we should prefer giving the 

 oats first; and when two morning feeds are allowed, we 

 strongly recommend to commence with the corn. When 

 this is not the case, after racking, give the usual feed of 

 corn, which should be first well sifted and looked over, to 

 separate any extraneous matter. The morning allowance 

 of water is usually reserved until after dressing, but we 



