CABE AND MANAGEMENT OF HOUSES 129 



it improves the appearance of the horse and makes his coat more 

 easy to keep clean ; 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 ; the natural process of shedding the 

 hair is a draft on the vitality of the animal, the appetite is dimin- 

 ished and the horse runs down in flesh. Clipping accomplishes 

 in a very short time what nature requires much time to do. 

 From this it would seem that horses with long thick coats should 

 be clipped. The long coat causes them to become warmer, they 

 sweat more, and the coat holds the moisture, and then when 

 permitted to stand, they are likely to catch cold. 



If horses are to be clipped twice each year, the operation 

 should be performed the first time soon after the hair has grown 

 out in the fall. When thus cared for, they become used to the 

 change before cold weather, and there is some growth of hair 

 before winter. The second clipping should be in early spring 

 as soon as the weather begins to get warm and before the winter 

 coat begins to shed. Horses thus treated will be much more 

 easily kept in presentable condition, and if protected by blankets 

 and properly groomed, will pay many times over for such extra 

 care. 



When horses cannot be protected from the cold and wet, 

 either in the stable or outside of it, they should not be clipped in 

 the fall. Animals exposed to the weather grow a long coat for 

 their own protection. 



BEDDING THE HORSE 



A horse at hard work needs rest at night, and much more 

 rest is had when the animal is given a good liberal bed. The bed- 

 ding should not be permitted to become foul, as this will not only 

 lessen the comfort of the animal but promote disease as well. Of 

 bedding materials, straw leads the list, but when high in price, 

 may be replaced by other materials, such as shavings from the 

 planing mill, rejected parts of corn stalks, tan bark, leaves, and 



