294 STABLE ECONOMY. 



taught to do all that can be reasonably required of them. 

 Their best instructer is one of their own species, who is ac- 

 tive, patient, kind in temper, and perfectly broke, to work 

 alongside of till they have learned what is necessary. They 

 are creatures of imitation as well as man ; and they oftener 

 sin from ignorance, timidity, or fright, than from any other 

 cause. Give them a good example and they will generally 

 follow it. Something of their grace and ease of movement, 

 and quickness of walk, trot, and gallop, will depend upon the 

 person breaking and training them.] 



Inuring to the Stable and Stable Treatment. — A 

 change of lodging, or of diet, is often a cause of disease. 

 When a fresh horse is procured, it is well to know how he 

 has been treated during the previous month. If a valuable 

 animal, he will be worth this inquiry ; if lovi^-priced he may 

 not. Horses that come from a dealer have probably been 

 standing in a warm stable, well-clothed, well-groomed, highly 

 fed, and seldom exercised. They have fine glossy coats, 

 they are in high spirits, they are lusty ; but their flesh is soft 

 and flabby. They are unfit for fast work. They are easily 

 heated by exertion, and when the least warm they are very 

 apt to catch cold. But wherever the horse come from, or 

 whatever be his condition, changes in reference to food, tem- 

 perature, and work, must be eff'ected by slow degrees. It is 

 absurd and always pernicious to take a horse from the fields, 

 or a straw-yard, and put him in a warm stable, and on rich 

 food all at once ; it is not less erroneous to take him from a 

 warm to a cold stable, or to demand exertion to which he has 

 not been trained. 



When the horse's history can not be traced, both his work 

 and his diet should at first be moderate. More of either than 

 he has been accustomed to, will do more harm than less of 

 either. It may, however, be soon known whether he has 

 been doing much work. It is ascertained by trying him. 

 If fit for work, he may be fed in proportion. The tempera- 

 ture of the stable had better be warmer than colder. If too 

 warm, the horse will perspire ; his coat here and there will 

 be damp or wet, especially in the morning when the stables 

 are first opened. If it be too cold, the coat will stare and be-^ 

 come dim ; and the horse will catch cold. He will cough. 



Inuring to the Weather. — The work of some horses 

 exposes them much to the weather. Those employed in 

 street-coaches, in the carriages of medical men, all those that 

 have to stand in the weather, can never do so with safety till 



