OPERATIONS ON THE STABLE. 131 



When horses with such feet must go to a straw-yard, they 

 ought previously to be shod with leather soles. All the ground 

 surface of the foot may be covered with a piece of bend-leath- 

 er, upon the top of which the shoe is nailed. To exclude the 

 dirt and moisture, the sole must be stopped with tow and pitch, 

 composed of tar and rosin melted together, and run in hot. 

 Greasy stopping is never so good. [All this is of more than 

 doubtful utility ; and experience shows it to be at least useless 

 in all cases, and dangerous in many.] 



OPERATIONS ON THE STABLE. 



Bedding. — To a hard-working horse, a good bed is almost 

 as essential as food. Many stablemen can not make it. It 

 should be as level and equal as a mattress. There should 

 be no lumps in the litter ; it should come well back, and 

 slope from each side, and from the head toward the centre. 

 Farm-servants and carters never give the horse a good bed, 

 although their horses need it fully as much as any other. 

 They generally have the litter all in a heap, or in a number 

 of heaps, upon which the horse can not lie comfortable for 

 more than half an hour. The effort such a bulky animal 

 must make to rise and change his position, completely awa- 

 kens him. His rest is broken, and his vigor never fairly re- 

 cruited. Now, it is not difficult to make a good bed ; any 

 body with hands may learn it in a few days. But no one 

 thinks of learning such a thing. Those who become expert 

 at it can not help their expertness. They never tried to ob- 

 tain it ; practice gave it them before they knew it was of any 

 use. But for all this it may be learned. Show the man how 

 to use the fork, and how to spread the litter ; give him a pat- 

 tern-bed in one stall, and make him work in the next, two 

 hours every day for a week. If he can not learn it in this 

 time — the operation is really worth such trouble — the man 

 will never learn anything. 



The bed is generally composed of wheat straw ; but there 

 are several other articles which are used occasionally, and 

 might be used oftener. Sawrdust, wood-shavings, dried tan- 

 ner's bark, and leaves, have been employed where they are 

 easily and cheaply procured. They are not better than straw, 

 nor so good ; but a very good bed may be made out of either 

 of them. In some Eastern countries the dung, after being 

 dried in the sun, is used as bedding ; it is finer than saw-dust. 



Oat straw is softer, but not better than that of wheat. The 



