273 STABLE ECONOMY. 



In winter, few pastures afford sufficient nourishment to a 

 horse that must go to work in spring. A little hay is given, 

 but in many cases- some grain should be added. The horse 

 will pay for it when he goes into work. His condition, how- 

 ever, will tell what is wanted. He had better be rather lean 

 than too fat when he commences work, especially if the work 

 be fast. 



Times of Turning out. — Horses are pastured at all 

 times of the year. Some are out for lameness, some for bad 

 health, and some that they may be kept at less than the stable 

 cost. The usual time of turning out is about the end of April 

 or beginning of May. Then the grass is young, juicy, ten- 

 der, and more laxative than at a later period. The spring 

 grass is best for a horse in bad health, worn out by sickness, 

 hard work, or bad food. The weather is mild, neither too 

 hot nor too cold ; when unsettled and backward, the delicate, 

 sometimes every horse, should come in at night and on bleak 

 days. Toward the end of summer, the' grass is hard, dry, 

 coarse, fit enough to afford nutriment, but not to renovate a 

 shattered constitution. The days are hot, the nights cold and 

 damp, the flies strong and numerous. This is not the time 

 for turning out a delicate, nor a thin-skinned horse. Those 

 that are to be out all winter may be turned off at any time in 

 September. Winter grazing is better for the legs than that 

 of spring or summer. The bareness of the pasture keeps 

 the carcass light, and the coolness of the atmosphere fines 

 the legs. But if the horse be very lame, the exercise may 

 be too much for him. 



Preparation for Pasturing. — Grooms are much in the 

 habit of giving the horse a dose or two of physic before send- 

 ing him to grass. I do not think that any is necessary, yet 

 it appears to do no harm. Physic, they say, prevents the grain 

 from fighting with the grass ; but this is a nonsensical theory. 

 The horse may have tumid legs, or some other thing the mat- 

 ter with him, and for that physic may be useful. It would 

 be so whether the horse went to grass or remained at home. 

 But so far as the mere change of diet and lodging is con- 

 cerned, physic is quite unnecessary. 



To prepare the horse for exposure to the weather, the 

 clothing to which he has been accustomed is lightened, and 

 then entirely removed, a week or two before turning out. 

 The temperature of the stable is gradually reduced, till it be 

 as cool as the external air. These precautions are most 

 necessary for horses that have been much in the stable, and 



