CAEE AND MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 739 



A common sponge, which frequently contains shells, should 

 never be employed for stable purposes; they leave their 

 permanent mark in the nostrils from the injury they are 

 capable of causing in rough hands. 



Pulling the ears, as it is termed, of an exhausted horse 

 appears to refresh him, and he always seems to enjoy the 

 process. 



We have made no mention of the care of the feet in the 

 stable as a separate section is devoted to the hygiene of the 

 foot. 



Washing Horses. — Horses are sometimes washed, parti- 

 cularly is this so when they are covered with mud, as in 

 the case of grey horses or when they become discoloured. 

 Washing is a harmful practice and never adopted by a 

 good groom. A man lazy enough to wash a horse will 

 never have the energy to dry him, and drying is a long and 

 tedious process which requires assistance. 



Mud should be left on the body, as on the legs, until it 

 is dry, when it can be removed by means of a dandy brush 

 followed by the ordinary grooming. 



Securing Horses in the Stable. — On p. 302 will be found a 

 very full account of the proper way to tie up horses either 

 in a box or stall, but there are still some points to be con- 

 sidered in connection with this matter. 



The head collar should fit well, the brow band must be 

 long enough for the head, and the nose band sufficiently 

 large to enable the animal to freely open its mouth. The 

 head collar should not be drawn up too high or injury to 

 the zygoma from the nose band results ; further, the higher 

 it is drawn up the tighter it becomes, and the less room 

 there is for the horse to move its jaws. The throat strap 

 must never be tight but easily admit the breadth of three 

 fingers. 



Small as all these points seem, they constitute important 

 matters in the care of horses, especially among large bodies 

 of horses where individual attention is so difficult to 

 procure. A well fitting head collar is a matter of im- 

 portance and of comfort. 



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