320 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 
keted. It is also in some degree cruel, and as I think 
in a high degree absurd, to clip carriage horses in the 
city that are seldom required to go long distances. 
Such animals being kept in warm stables, and being 
warmly clothed, have short coats; and in these natu- 
ral coats they are far handsomer than in the clipped 
condition. Nevertheless, the common practice is to 
deprive them of their hair. Why? Doubtless be- 
cause the labor of the groom is thus lightened, and in 
these matters the man rules the master. On the other 
hand, horses that are taken out once a day, driven 
hard and fast, and then brought in again, are usu- 
ally much better for being clipped, since they escape 
the profuse sweating which they would otherwise 
undergo. 
Moreover, especially in early spring, clipping often 
seems to have a valuable tonic effect. Horses that 
were thin and run down have been known to pick up 
with extraordinary rapidity after being clipped. The 
reason doubtless is, that in the clipped condition they 
keep a certain amount of flesh which they would 
otherwise have lost by sweating. Even when a horse 
stands in the stable — to say nothing of his work — he 
perspires ; and if the weather is warmish he perspires 
a great deal, for his heavy blanket is retained till late 
spring or summer. By clipping, this loss of flesh is 
avoided; and perhaps also the fact that the animal’s 
skin is comfortably cool, instead of uncomfortably 
hot, has a direct effect upon his general health. 
But again, under certain conditions, I have no doubt 
that the sweating which a long-coated horse gets is 
beneficial. A moderate amount of sweating is good for 
a horse, as it is for a man, and in the case of an animal 
