274 STABLE ECONOMY. 



ever, to throw the horse down, or hijure his legs by getting 

 them entangled in the rope. To prevent the horse from leap- 

 ing, a board is sometimes suspended round his neck, and 

 reaching to the knees, which it is apt to bruise. None of 

 these clumsy and unsafe restraints should ever be employed 

 when it is possible to dispense with them. Few horses, 

 mares in springs and stalUons excepted, require them after 

 the first two days. For horses that are turned out only ap. 

 hour or two during the day, they are as much used to rendei 

 the horse easily caught when wanted, as to prevent him from 

 wandering. 



Attendance while Out. — Horses at grass should be 

 visited at least once every day. If neglected for weeks, as 

 often happens, one may be stolen, and conveyed out of the 

 country before he is missed ; the fences may be broken ; the 

 water may fail ; the horses may be lamed or attacked with 

 sickness ; one may roll into a ditch, and die there for want 

 of assistance to extricate him ; the shoes may be cast ; the 

 heels may crack ; thrushes may form ; sores may run into 

 sinuses, or get full of maggots ; the feet and legs may be in- 

 jured by stubs, thorns, broken glass, or kicks ; the horses 

 may quarrel, fight, and wound each other. That these and 

 similar evils and accidents may be prevented, or soon re- 

 paired, the horses should be visited every morning. The 

 man set on this duty should be trustworthy, not a stupid fel- 

 low, nor one who will loiter in the tavern, and return without 

 seeing the horses. He should know what he has to look for. 

 It is not enough to stand at the gate and count the horses. 

 He must approach them, examine them one by one, looking 

 to their condition, their action, and their spirits, and not for- 

 getting to cast an eye upon the feet, the pasture, the water, 

 the fences, and the shelter-sheds. Let him take a bridle and 

 some grain with him, that he may catch any horse that seems 

 to require closer examination, and he can at once bring home 

 any horse that needs it. 



The grain, hay, either or both, if any be given, should be 

 furnished at regular intervals ; when fed with grain, the 

 horses ought to be watched till it be eaten, lest they rob each 

 other, and lest a prowling thief rob the whole. Horses at 

 grass require no dressing. They should have none. It ex- 

 poses the skin too much. The shoes may be removed, and 

 the feet dressed every four or five weeks. 



Treatment after Grazing. — When taken from grass to 

 warm stables, and put upon rich constipating food, horses 



