HOURS FOR GROOMING. 209 



able, and anxious to learn. He will do far less 

 harm than a bad servant who knows his work and 

 does not do it, for every day he will be gaining 

 knowledge and experience; and if the master is able 

 to train him, or to overlook his work, he will know 

 that no neglect of duty is likely to pass unnoticed. 



A horse should be groomed three times daily, viz. : 

 In the morning, at mid-day, and in the evening. 

 The following stable hours are as good as any, viz. : 

 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. 

 1 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

 5.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. 

 No matter how dirty a horse may be, if he is in 

 good condition, and his coat is not very heavy, an 

 hour at most should be sufficient time for his being 

 thoroughly dried and cleaned. 



Of course, where horses have louo" winter coats 

 on, and come in sweating profusely, they will very 

 often ' break out,' as it is called, after they have 

 been dried, and so have to be dried again ; but 

 this is a special, and not an ordinary case, inasmuch 

 as most horses are, with a view to prevent this, 

 clipped during the winter, when their coats are 

 long. It may, perhaps, interest the reader to know 

 that horses which are blind do not get a proper 

 summer coat, and I am informed, and indeed can 

 quote cases in proof of the statement, that this 



14 



