42 CONDITION. 
boy is half frantic with delight to observe the cunningly 
devised work of his own unaided hands. 
Now I, for one, do not say for a moment that a horse is any 
the worse for trifling and tawdry embellishments, if legiti- 
mately achieved ; just as I would not admit that he would 
be any better were he burnished like gold, striped like a 
zebra, and his attendant fancifully dressed like a zany. But 
there is too much inclination in this direction. Some, perhaps, 
would wish to plait or shave the tail and crimp or hog the 
mane to complete the picture. 
I protest against the practice, because I aver looks are no 
test of condition. Bounteous nature has provided for the 
comfort and well-being of the animal kingdom warm cover- 
ings of various sorts. To the horse has been given long hair, 
suitable to his nature, for protection against the inclemency of 
winter. We all know that wild animals have a warmer covering 
in winter than in summer. It scarcely requires a naturalist to 
confirm what every observant person must be familiar with. 
We see that birds moult in autumn, that the feathers may 
be well grown, thick and long, against the approaching 
winter. Buffon, in his natural history, from which I take 
a few extracts bearing on the point, in speaking of the 
beaver, remarks, “It is in winter they are chiefly sought, 
because their fur is not perfectly sound in any other season.” 
Again alluding to the sable, he says, “and yet this (winter) 
is the best season for hunting them, because their fur is better 
and more beautiful than in summer.” 
The same principle applies, almost in its entirety, to the 
horse. His coat, like theirs, is naturally longest in winter ; 
although it can hardly be said to be then more beautiful, nor 
is it desirable that it should be so. Deprive him of this be- 
fore summer, and you do him an incalculable, an irreparable. 
