296 STABLE ECONOMY. ^ 



ty sufficient to meet the demands of a cold or wet atmosphere 

 Ultimately it becomes so vigorous that the application of cold, 

 whether wet or dry, is almost instantly followed by an in- 

 creased production of heat. To this there are limits. By 

 exposure, gradually increasing in length and frequency, the 

 S3'stem may become able to maintain the temperature at a 

 comfortable warmth for three or four successive hours, even 

 when the horse is standing at rest in wet or cold. But he 

 can not endure this beyond a certain point. Exhaustion and 

 emaciation succeed, in spite of all the food the horse can eat. 

 The formation of so much heat consumes the nutriment that 

 ought to produce vigor for work. Hence, working horses 

 kept very much in very cold stables are always lean and dull. 



It is chiefly the horses that have to stand in the weather 

 which require preparation for exposure. Bleeding, purging, 

 and other means, which debilitate or emaciate, are never 

 necessary in this process. Hunting, stage-coach, and cart 

 horses, seldom require any preparation for exposure. They 

 are in motion from the time of leaving till the time of re- 

 turning to the stable. They just require to be well and 

 quickly dried when wet. 



Inuring to the Harness. — New horses are very liable 

 to have the skin injured by the harness. The friction of the 

 saddle, collar, or traces, produces excoriation. In some 

 horses this is not altogether avoidable, especially when they 

 are in poor condition. Their skin is tender, and a little mat- 

 ter exposes the quick. In ail horses it is some time before 

 the skin thickens, and becomes sufficiently callous to carry 

 the harness without injury. The time it requires to undergo 

 this change is variable, and can not be materially shortened 

 by any means. But attention to the harness will frequently 

 prevent excoriation. After every journey the neck should be 

 closely examined. If there be any spot, however little abra- 

 ded, hot and tender, when pinched, that part of the collar 

 which produced it, should be cut out before the next journey. 

 The guard or safe, is a useful article to prevent galls of this 

 kind. It is merely a thin slip of soft leather, covering the 

 seat of the collar. It obviates friction, and prevents injurious 

 pressure from any little protuberance or hardness in the stuf- 

 fing of the collar. On the first or second journey a new 

 horse often comes in with his neck somewhat inflamed ; it is 

 hot, tender, and covered with pimples. In the stables it is 

 said to he fired. A solution of common salt in water is usu- 

 ally applied, and it serves to allay the inflammation ; it should 



