CAEE AND MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 749 



should learn more with his eyes than he hears with his ears, 

 and not a point in the management or arrangement of the 

 establishment should escape his attention and observation. 



Though the strongest opinion regarding the cause of the 

 loss of condition may be held, yet it is wise to examine 

 every channel through which condition may be affected. 

 For instance, the drinking-water, its quality, and the periods 

 of watering, should not be neglected in the inquiry ; but in 

 by far the majority of cases it is a question of food, and 

 that only. 



When a loss of condition is confined to individual horses 

 it is probably a case of defective teeth, internal parasites, 

 or other pathological conditions. There are a certain 

 number of horses, hke men, that no food will fatten, but 

 there are relatively fewer horses than men so affected. 

 Three per cent, at the outside, probably less, represents the 

 thin members of the ordinary equine population that no 

 food or care can improve in condition. 



The question of water is fully dealt with in Chapter I., 

 the only point left to deal with here is the senseless notion 

 possessed by some grooms of the necessity for stinting their 

 horses in water. Every horse should at properly appointed 

 times be allowed to drink his fill, and if water can be kept 

 always by him so much the better. 



Some horses drink better from a trough, others from a 

 bucket. A shy or nervous horse should be given ample 

 time to drink, and with all the greatest patience should be 

 exercised until they have drunk their fill. The raising of 

 the head from the trough or bucket is often the signal for 

 removing a horse or taking away the water ; as a matter of 

 fact the horse only raises his head to breathe, as during 

 the time he is drinking no air can enter the lungs. Ample 

 time for watering should be insisted upon, and in large 

 establishments it should be carried out under competent 

 supervision. 



There is not the slightest objection to a horse drinking 

 when hot, though occasionally in winter it may be desirable 

 to take the chill off the water. 



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