66 THROUGH STABLE AND SADDLE-ROOM. 



perhaps, less liable to get them than underbred 

 animals. 



Woollen bandages, properly put on, are also the 

 next best thing to hand-rubbing, though, of course, 

 they are vastly inferior to it. The one should 

 follow the other. 



Such bandages are invaluable for old horses, and 

 horses whose legs are ' filled' from overwork, and are 

 a great support to their legs, and in winter they are 

 warm. In some rough hunting countries they are 

 much used as a protection to horses' legs against 

 stone walls, etc. ; but when they are used for this, 

 or any similar purpose, they require to be very 

 carefully put on and tied ; indeed, they are almost 

 better if stitched on, as they are otherwise apt to 

 come undone, and very likel}' at the time when 

 hounds are running, and the necessity of having to 

 dismount and readjust them may possibly be the 

 cause of losing a good place in a good run. 

 Indeed, the only thing to do under such circum- 

 stances is to pull off the bandage altogether. I 

 have myself, on more than one occasion, ex- 

 perienced this annoyance, and invariably have a 

 few stitches put into the folds here and there as 

 they are laid. 



Horses which have not got the advantage of a 

 loose-box require the support and pressure of 



