288 STABLE ECONOMY. 



kept clean, and that the horse do not tremble after drinking 

 from it. The water, however, is often very cold, and the 

 man is often so very lazy that he is unwilling to bring the 

 horse to the door, and he makes two services stand for three. 

 When the horse happens to be in the yard, he may get his 

 water before going in ; but at other times it is as well to 

 make it a rule that the water be carried to the stable. Com- 

 ing from a warm stable to the open air, and drinking cold 

 water, the horse is apt to take a shivering fit. Each stable 

 should be provided with water-pails always full, and standing 

 in the stable. * 



In watering with a pail, the bucket is either placed on the 

 ground, or raised manger-high to the horse's head. Old 

 short-necked horses drink from the ground with difficulty, yet 

 they always manage it. When the throat is sore, and when 

 the horse is stiff after a day of severe exertion, his water 

 should be held up to him. Some horses rarely drink well, 

 and the less they drink the less they eat. They often require 

 a little coaxing, and always a little patience. It is not 

 enough to offer water and run away with it immediately. 

 Hold the pail manger-high, and keep it before the horse for a 

 little ; after washing his mouth and muzzle he may take suffi- 

 cient to create an appetite. 



Post-horses are often watered on the road. They usually 

 receive a little at the end of the stage, and also in the middle 

 of it, if exceeding 9 or 10 miles. On the way home the post- 

 boy permits the horse to drink once or twice at watering 

 troughs by the road-side. He has, or should endeavor to 

 have, his horse fully watered and cool by the time they ar- 

 rive at stables. They are then ready for dressing and feed- 

 ing without delay. 



Horses are often taken to water at a pond or river some 

 distance from the stables. If they need exercise or are pas- 

 sing the water, there is no objection to this practice. But it 

 it is not proper to send working horses out of the stable for 

 the mere purpose of watering them. The weather, the state 

 of the ground, and the laziness of stablemen, render this mode 

 of watering extremely irregular. Boys, too, are often em- 

 ployed in this service, and they are never out of mischief. 



With many grooms^ it is a common custom to give the 

 horse some exercise after drinking. Some give him a gallop, 

 while others are content with a trot or canter for a few hun- 

 dred yards. Exercise after a copious draught of cold water 

 is very useful. It does not warm the water in the horse's 



