THE STABLE AND ITS MANAGEMENT 227 



two per cent of the horses at work in the United 

 States. The others are cleaned in a happy-go- 

 lucky fashion, which makes them neither clean nor 

 beautiful. This is not as it should be; a horse that 

 is compelled to give service to a man is entitled to 

 good attention. An ungroomed or improperly 

 groomed horse has an offensive odor. This does 

 not conduce to the pleasure of a person using such 

 a horse nor to the well being of the horse himself. 

 In grooming a horse the brush and cloth alone 

 are needed. A currycomb — once universally 

 used — should never be put on a horse. It serves 

 a good purpose, however, in cleaning the brush. 

 And that is its only service. Where an owner 

 knows or suspects that the currycomb is used 

 directly on the horse it is better to banish it en- 

 tirely. When a horse has been put away covered 

 with sweat and the sweat allowed to dry, it is very 

 much easier to remove this salty deposit with a 

 currycomb than with a brush. But a horse should 

 never be put away without being thoroughly 

 groomed except when he comes in so tired that 

 the grooming would further fatigue him. This is 

 sometimes the case. When it is so the horse 



