362 MANAGEMENT AND BREEDING OF HORSES 



brush, which it also serves to keep clean. In currying 

 and brushing the horse with a sensitive skin, great care 

 should be exercised, as carelessness often provokes kick- 

 ing, striking, biting, and the like. After currying and 

 brushing, rub the hair free from dandruff with the cloth, 

 Straighten out the snarls and tangles in the mane and 

 the tail with the comb. The hoof hook, which is some- 

 what similar to a hay hook, is used to clean foreign ma- 

 terials from the sole of the foot. The half-worn broom 

 is a very convenient tool for removing loose mud from 

 the horse's legs when he first arrives at the stable. 



When the horses are worked in the mud, their legs 

 should be clipped as far up as the knees and hocks, for 

 by so doing the limbs may be kept clean with much less 

 difficulty. Much difficulty is often experienced in keep- 

 ing the legs of horses that possess "feather" free from 

 disease, especially when the footing is muddy and the 

 weather cold. In case the legs are clipped, it is all the 

 more important that they should be thoroughly cleaned 

 and rubbed each evening after work. 



Clipping the horse. — There is much discussion as to the 

 wisdom of clipping horses. Those persons that favor 

 clipping state that it improves the general appearance; 

 renders the coat more easily kept clean, and that a 

 clipped horse is less liable to take cold than a long- 

 coated one, because the evaporation is more rapid and 

 the animal does not get so warm. On the other hand, 

 those that oppose clipping state that it is not possible 

 to make a clipped coat show the luster of an undipped 

 one ; by the proper use of blankets it is possible to keep 

 the coat rather short; and that by judicious grooming 

 it is easily possible to keep the coat from becoming too 

 thick, thus avoiding the necessity of clipping. When 

 this is the practice warm boiled food given one or two 

 evenings each week materially adds to the luster. Horses 

 thus managed will shed very early in the spring. 



Under average conditions the horse that has a long. 



