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smell of either is most injurious to a horse. It is an awfully bad plan 

 to have kennels near stables, yet we often find them there. 



Many a horse pulls hard and is nearly uncontrollable in a curb, 

 whereas in a plain or twisted snaffle a child might ride him. However, 

 few horses will pull if they are not pulled. No saying is truer about 

 this noble, but oft-abused animal than that " every horse has his own 

 bridle " ; experience should, therefore, soon teach in which he goes best ; 

 out I would, be very careful how I let servants ride a tender-mouthed 

 horse in a curb. They can do less harm to his mouth with a plain 

 snaffle than any other bit, so let such be used at exercise. A net 

 sold for the purpose to put over the nose is an excellent check on a 

 hard-pulling horse, so is a bit made of leather rolled to resemble a 

 snaffle. It is, however, men's hands, as a rule, that make horses 

 pull. They seldom pull with ladies, who have hands so much lighter 

 than men. 



I must add a word or two relative to the ultra desideratum of a 

 hunting stable — that is, the Groom. No matter how vigilant the master 

 may be, he will never have his horses well cared or turned out 

 as he would wish them to be unless he has a thoroughly reliable and 

 conscientious man to look after them. In small hunting stables, where 

 the master superintends things himself and understands the details, it is 

 not absolutely necessary that the groom should be a master of arts, but 

 it is highly requisite that he should be trustworthy in all things and 

 carry out his master's instructions. Neither is it necessary that he 

 should be a good horseman. On the contrary, all that is required of an 

 ordinary groom, in the riding line, is to have light hands and to be able 

 to prevent a horse kicking him off at exercise. The less he likes or knows 

 about riding over a country the better ; that is his master's prerogative. 

 Do not bother, either, about your groom being a teetotaler, for scarcely 

 any are such, and a servant requires, and is as much entitled to, his beer 

 and grog in moderation as his master. Be satisfied if you find he is 

 abstemious in liquor, is not easily affected by drink, and never gets 

 drunk on duty. Of course he must be intelligent, smart, fond of his 

 horses, and take a pride in bringing them out fit and well. He should 

 always keep his eyes and ears wide open and his mouth close shut, and 

 he must do what he is told. When a master of moderate means gets 

 hold of a man like this to look after his hunters, he should appreciate 

 and treat him properly, so that, apart from higher considerations, he 

 may retain his services ; for servants nowadays are not found with 

 righteous propensities, or who take an interest in their employers, as 

 easily as they were some two or three decades ago. 



I will here give a tip as to lunging a stubborn horse over fences. It 

 is not generally known in this country, but it is in Australia. Put on 

 a saddle and bridle with a plain snaffld ; pat the reins under the stirrup 

 leathers ; fasten the irons in their place by passing a strap through each 

 and under the belly ; get a strong but light rope, about twenty-five 

 yards long, double it in two, and in the middle make a loop sufficiently 



