302 STABLE ECONOMV. 



water, when reeking hot, and perspiring at every pore, ap- 

 pears to be a dangerous practice. I can not speak from very 

 extensive experience of this, but so far as I have been able to 

 see, there is no danger in the case, so long as two rules are 

 observed : the effusion must not be carried so far as to make 

 the skin perceptibly cold ; — and the horse must be put in mo- 

 tion directly after it is done. One or at most two bucket- 

 fuls may be dashed over the body, as equally as possible ; 

 and the horse should immediately resume his journey ; or, if 

 his journey be over, the water must be scraped off, and the 

 horse moved about till he be quite dry. The danger lies in 

 letting him stand till he shivers. With these precautions, I 

 have never seen the cold effusion do any harm, and I know 

 well that it is highly refreshing to a heated and travel-worn 

 horse, on a hot day. The water withdraws the redundant 

 heat, which oppresses the horse, and which he can get quit 

 of only by a process comparatively slow in its operation and 

 expensive to the system. The fat, plump horse, having plenty 

 of superfluous fluid to spare, may not be so much in need of 

 the cold effusion, but he also is much refreshed by it, par- 

 ticularly after he has already perspired copiously. After the 

 temperature of the skin is fast sinking to its natural standard, 

 effusion is both useless and dangerous. 



Acceleration of the circulation and of respiration, the genera- 

 tion of heat, and perspiration, are the immediate and most im- 

 portant effects of exertion. But there are other changes, 

 which can not be distinctly traced, either in number or in 

 order. The few that can be described do not appear to de- 

 mand any notice but what they obtain in other parts of this 

 work. A minute analysis is not necessary, though it might 

 be interesting, and to the practitioner useful. It may be suf- 

 ficient to observe in this place, that the nerves, the blood- 

 vessels, the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints, undergo 

 a slight change of state every time the horse is put to work. 

 With some of these par^s the alteration becomes apparent only 

 after the change has been produced often, and at short inter- 

 vals. The change of state, in whatever it may consist, is 

 beneficial to a liorse that has been long idle. By degrees it 

 renders all the parts better able to perform their duties. Un- 

 der proper management the alteration goes on progressively, 

 until each part and each organ have attained all the improve- 

 ment of which they are susceptible. When muscular exer- 

 tion is pushed beyond a certain point, an injurious alteration 

 takes place in some of the organs connected with motion. 



