44 



HORSES: 



the added covering occasions positive discomfort to 

 the heated animal, and is of no advantage whatever. 

 After a few minutes have been allowed for the relief 

 mentioned, and if used to blanketing if he has to 

 stand long in the cold, the blanket may be adjusted. 

 But there is much unconscious cruelty practiced in 

 the inappropriate use of the blanket at all seasons of 

 the year.* My own practice has been to dispense with 

 blanketing entirely, in stable and out ; rarely throwing 

 any cover over my horses, whether they are sweaty 

 or not, and regardless of the season or the weather ; 

 never, in short, except in cases where one may be not 

 only very hot, but also extremely tired — in such a case 

 some extraordinary care is necessary. By pursuing 

 this course I have never had a horse "catch cold," 

 nor made sick from any cause, when under my care 

 or cared for under my direction. Nor is this experi- 

 ence peculiar to my own horses, but tallies with that 

 of many persons who are simply careless as to the 

 treatment their horses receive, as well as others who 

 have adopted the rule after mature consideration as 

 a preventive of sickness. The fact is that few per- 

 sons appreciate how perfectly the hairy coat of the 

 horse is adapted to his varying needs, and how effect- 

 ually it protects him from wet, cold, heat, or sudden 

 changes. There is no analogy between his wet coat 

 of hair and a wet blanket (or wet garments about 

 ourselves), and the fear of it, as a general rule, is a 

 blind sort of instinct on our part. 



* One of the worst and most constantly practiced abuses in this cornection 

 is that of throwing the folded blanket over the rump and loins at every stop 

 or stand-still, the parts which require the least artificial protection and which 

 (loins) are most easily injured by heating. Exposed to a cold rain or snow- 

 storm the horse instinctively turns these parts to the "weather" I 



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