162 STABLE ECONOMY. 



linen, or calico. It consists of a single sheet of small dimen 

 sions. It is almost entirely an ornamental covering, but it is 

 useful to keep off flies and dust, and to prevent the hair from 

 staring. 



Weather Clothing. — When horses go to exercise, they usu- 

 ally go out in the stable-clothing, to which a hood and a blanket, 

 or quarter-piece, may be added, if the weather demand them. 

 But many require some defence while performing their work. 

 This is particularly the case with carriage horses that have to 

 stand for two or three hours exposed to the night air. A 

 small quarter-piece, made of Mackintosh's water-proof cloth, 

 is getting into use. It is thrown over the harness, to which 

 it is attached ; it keeps the horses dry without heating them. 

 Heavier clothing would be desirable when the horses are 

 standing, but it would make them sweat profusely, even at a 

 slow pace, and is therefore objectionable. A good driver will 

 endeavor to keep his horses in motion. At night, when a 

 crowd renders motion impracticable, he might be, and often is, 

 provided with a pair of rugs, which can be thrown over the 

 horses till they be ready to start. Long standing in the cold, 

 however, always benumbs a horse's legs, and should be avoided 

 as much as possible, by occasional or constant motion. Du- 

 ring wet weather, a piece of oil-cloth is sometimes worn across 

 the loins of cart-horses ; it keeps the rain off parts that have 

 little motion and no natural defence. Some also use a neck- 

 piece. The owners of horses employed in street-coaches, 

 are becoming more careful than they were wont. They gen- 

 erally have some sort of covering for the horses when stand- 

 ing in the weather. Water-proof sheets of different sizes, to 

 cover one, or a pair of horses, are in use to protect them from 

 rain. This stuff, however, is apt to make them perspire very 

 much, when they are the least heated. Stage-coach horses 

 usually have a light quarter-piece put on with the harness, 

 and withdrawn when the coach is ready to start. 



Tearing off the Clothes. — Some horses destroy a great 

 many clothes. They endeavor to pull them off, and tear them 

 all to pieces. There are only three modes of preventing this 

 trick ; the hinder portion, or the whole of the quarter-piece, 

 may be made of hair-cloth, lined by a softer material to lie 

 next the skin. Few horses like to touch this harsh substance 

 with their teeth and lips ; but some will not rest till they 

 manage to tear it off. A staff of wood is sometimes used; 

 one extremity is attached to the collar, the other to the sur- 

 cingle. This prevents the horse from turning his head round 



