WARMTH. 161 



Clothing. — When it is desirable to keep the horse warm 

 without endangering the purity of the -air, he maybe clothed. 

 Coarse slow-working horses require clothing only when sick. 

 A fine coat is not much wanted in these animals ; yet if they 

 have to stand in cold stables, and especially when the stables 

 are not fully occupied, even these would be none the worse 

 of a cover during some of the sharp winter weather. In the 

 hunting and racing stables, clothes are used nearly all the year 

 round, and they should be so wherever it is important to make 

 the coat lie smoothly. The stable may be more completely 

 ventilated when the heat of the horse's body is retained by 

 appropriate clothing. Stage-coach and post-horses are not 

 usually clothed, but a few covers are always kept for the sick 

 and the delicate. The cavalry horses are never clothed. 



Clothes are of different Kinds. — There is one suit for win- 

 ter and another for summer ; besides extra-heavy clothing, 

 used in hunting and racing stables for sweating the horses. 

 The last are termed sweaters, and consist of one or more 

 sheets of blanket-like stuff. Sometimes when copious sweat- 

 ing is necessary, a single blanket is put on and covered by 

 several old or half-worn quarter-pieces. These require to be 

 frequently washed. That which lies in contact with the skin 

 is apt to become hard and dirty. Unless it be soft and clean 

 it galls the horse, and refuses the perspiration. When soaked 

 in sweat it should be rinsed in cold water before being dried. 

 When two hoods are put on, the outermost alone should have 

 ear-pieces. That below it requires only ear-holes. 



A full Winter Suit is composed of a hood, which envel- 

 opes the head and neck, a breast-piece for the bosom, and a 

 quarter-piece for the body. This is sometimes termed a ker- 

 sey-suit. It is made of a stuff so called, and is edged with 

 worsted tape. A woollen rug is often employed as an addition 

 to the ordinary suit, for very cold weather. Hoods are not 

 much used except in hunting or racing-stables ; they are use- 

 ful, however, at times, for sick horses, for sweating, and for 

 exercise under physic, or in severe winter. The clothing in 

 most general use for winter is merely a horse-blanket, or rug 

 of sufficient size to cover all the body. The girth which se- 

 cures the clothing is termed a roller, or surcingle. It should 

 be broad, that it may be tight without producing uneasiness, 

 and padded, that it may not lie upon the spine. When the 

 horse is narrow-loined, a breast-strap made of web is neces- 

 sary to keep the cloth and girth from slipping back. 



The summer-clothing is composed of white or striped cloth, 



14* 



