CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF HORSES 149 



watched and frequently cleaned. It is best to clean these parts 

 each morning before harnessing the horses or, better still, 

 immediately after removing the harness. 



Harness should be thoroughly cleaned and oiled at least once a 

 year, preferably in the spring. This will cause it to retain its 

 fiber and to last longer. While there are many ways of cleaning 

 and oiling harness, the following is as simple and effective as any : 

 Take the harness apart and soak the parts in a wash-tub of luke- 

 warm water containing a handful of washing soda. Let the 

 harness soak for fifteen or twenty minutes, then scrub the parts 

 on a board with an ordinary scrub-brush. When the leather 

 is nearly dry, blacken with edge blackening, which can be ob- 

 tained at any harness shop. Unless the harness is thus black- 

 ened or lamp black put in the oil, it will turn red. When dry, 

 take a cotton cloth and rub the harness thoroughly. Always 

 rub straps with the grain. This lays down the fiber and gives 

 a smooth edge. Take a quart of neatsfoot oil, add a small 

 quantity of kerosene, mix and warm, then give the leather two 

 coats, using the oil freely. Hang up to dry, taking care not to 

 hang in the sun. When the oil is well dried, sponge with white 

 castile soap and buckle the parts together. Harness treated in 

 this way will neither turn red nor become gummy, and if often 

 sponged with white castile soap, can be kept looking like new. 



A number of oils may be used if neatsfoot oil is not at hand, 

 such as olive, codliver, or castor oil, all of which are considered 

 good for harness. In case the edge blackening cannot be pro- 

 cured, put enough lamp black in the oil at the time the kerosene 

 is added to turn it black. The lampblack will prevent the 

 leather from turning red. 



Harness room. — Another factor that must not be overlooked 

 in the care of harness is the place where it is kept. It frequently 

 happens that the harness is hung on hooks just back of the horse 

 in the stable. There are at least two very strong objections to 

 this practice. In the first place, gases escaping from the manure 



