FEEDING, EXERCISE, AND GROOMING. 273 



the Open air. The advantages of this plan 

 are considerable, though it may be thought 

 by knowing grooms an unnecessary trouble. 

 The feet will be thus k^^pt cool ; and the hoof 

 will not be so disposed, as it commonly is, to 

 contract or shrink; for straw, being a bad 

 conductor of heat, causes the feet to become 

 too hot ; in which state the horny matter has 

 always a tendency to. contract : hence arise 

 sand-cracks, thrushes, &c. Unless a horse 

 has thin flat soles, it is always proper to stop 

 the feet, as it is termed, witli a mixture of 

 cow-duno, beaten into a smooth mass with a 

 little fine clay, and a small proportion of pot-, 

 ash. The feet should be examined daily; 

 and if the soles should appear to be softened 

 too much, that is, if the horn jpends or gives 

 way in the least under the thiimb by the 

 s.tror.g(?st pressure we can make, the stopping 

 must be discontinued. 



Horses that have been accustomed to stand 

 on litter during the day sometimes feel a dif- 

 ficulty in, or reluctance to staling, when they 

 are deprived of it. In such cases^ a little 

 straw, should be thrown under the bellv, so as 

 to prevent the urine from splashing about their 



legs. 



N 5 



