STABLE OPERATIONS. 97 



that cold has much more. Long-continued moisture injures 

 the coat, destroys its glossy appearance ; but I am not aware 

 that it does anything else. I am not speaking of moisture 

 applied for many successive hours, but of that which is re- 

 tained perhaps an hour longer by clothing than itwould remain 

 if allowed to evaporate without interruption. I am aware that 

 a horse is apt to perspire if clothed up when his coat is wet 

 or damp. But this takes place only when the clothing is too 

 heavy, or the horse too warm. In the case under considera- 

 tion, the clothing, unless the horse be cold, is not intended to 

 heat him, but to prevent him from becoming cold. In hot 

 weather, a wet horse requires less care ; he need not be 

 clothed, for evaporation will not render him too cold ; and if 

 his coat be long, it will, without the assistance of clothing, 

 keep the skin tolerably warm even in weather that is not hot. 

 In all cases the cloth should- be of woollen, and thrown closely 

 over the body, not bound by the roller, and in many cases it 

 should be changed for a drier and a lighter one, as it becomes 

 charged with moisture. 



To many people all this care about a wet horse will appear 

 to be superfluous. They will observe that horses are fre- 

 quently exposed to all weathers, and to the worst of stable 

 treatment, without receiving any apparent injury. This is 

 true with regard to many horses ; their work is not exciting, 

 not requiring that exertion which agitates the whole frame. 

 There are horses, too, of less value, but performing work of 

 the severest kind, upon whom a great deal of care can not be 

 bestowed. The proprietor may think it is cheaper to let the 

 horses run considerable risk, than to keep a sufficient number 

 of men for taking better care of them. These can be right 

 only when their horses are very worthless, and perhaps not 

 then. In a /aluable stud it is otherwise. The extra expense 

 of such careful treatment is not to be considered where horses 

 are worth from fifty pounds to more than five hundred. It is 

 also true that among stage-coach, and other horses of a similar 

 kind, there are many who do not receive any injury from a 

 wet coat. Those that have been gradually inured to expo- 

 sure, or to stand unheeded till they dry, may feel cold and un- 

 comfortable, and have a long, rough coat, but their health re- 

 mains unaffected. The power of the system to accommodate 

 itself to circumstances is very great. These horses are as 

 easily wet to the skin as other horses ; but their skin has 

 learned to furnish an additional supply of heat so soon and as 

 often as the evaporating process demands it. Such horses 



9 



