20 HORSES: 



appearance with little daily exercise ; but put such a 

 horse suddenly on to severe work and his lack of 

 muscle soon becomes apparent. He has no staying 

 power ; his fat melts away and shows him for what 

 he was all the time — thin in flesh. Mr. P., a young 

 man in my own town, went into the grocery business. 

 He owned a poor little horse, and having- no surplus 

 capital, he thought he would "get along" with this 

 one at first until trade should increase to the point of 

 compelling him to make a change. He had been vainly 

 trying to " fat him up " with food alone, with the in- 

 tent of selling him, as he had nothing for him to do ; 

 but he now began to " pick up," and finally, flying 

 about town from 6 a.m., to n, and sometimes later, 

 pulling a pretty heavy wagon all the time, and, upon 

 occasion, taking the family out for a ride in the after- 

 noon and evening, he became plump and handsome 

 and virtually proof against work and weather. He 

 looked fat, but, speaking roundly, there " wasn't a 

 spoonful of fat about him "; he used his muscles and 

 so they grew, and being sufficiently fed, his food was 

 all digested and assimilated, and went to nourish the 

 muscular system so that it could grow. Not work 

 alone, nor food alone ; but both together, in generous 

 measure— work, rest, and food — enough of each, and 

 pure air twenty-four hours in the day — this is the law 

 and gospel of horse hygiene. In fact, the same prin- 

 ciple holds with regard to human beings. " Work 

 don't kill," says Burdette ; " it is too much recrea- 

 tion, my boy, that does the business for the most of 

 them." Overwork, is injurious, and may be fatal ; but 



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