SUMMERING. 225 



doses of physic should have been given, but in general one dose as 

 ordered at the beginning of the soiling, and another at the end, 

 when the commencement of training takes its turn, will be suffi- 

 cient. I have now brought the horse to the middle of the month 

 of August, at which time the preparation for work, described at 

 page 206, et sequitur, must be commenced in earnest. 



Turning out to grass, or pasturing, demands some little 

 attention, which however horses seldom receive. Excepting in 

 the height of summer it is a very dangerous practice to turn a pre- 

 viously warmly clothed and stabled animal into the fields without 

 gradually accustoming him to the change of climate. The aver- 

 age temperature of our spring nights is not more than 40° of 

 Fahrenheit, and frequently this degree of cold is united with a 

 keen wind and sharp rain. Even if a hovel is provided, the horse 

 is almost sure to get wet before he betakes himself to its protec- 

 tion, and its door being necessarily open the wind can enter freely 

 It is therefore found that at all other seasons but the summer 

 quarter two or three weeks at least must be devoted to the harden- 

 ing of the skin to bear the climate out of doors. This is done by 

 first of all removing the clothes by degrees, avoiding all attempts 

 at dressing, so as to allow the scurf to accumulate and protect the 

 skin, and then changing the warm stable for a cooler box, which 

 may be closed at first, and day by day left "more and more open to 

 the weather by admitting the air through its various apertures. 

 If the horse is of a delicate constitution, and the weather is cold 

 and wet, the turning out should be delayed till there should be a 

 change for the better, or if it is decided on at all risks the precau- 

 tion should be taken for the first two or three nights to bring him 

 under some dry shelter, avoiding, of course, a warm stable, as 

 doubly injurious. 



When unsoundness of the feet or legs is the inducement 

 to turn out, and the time at which it is desirable to do this is the 

 summer season, the choice should fall upon a marsh. Hard ground 

 will increase the mischief, and, between July and September, al- 

 though it may be soft just at one particular time, it cannot be 

 expected to remain so long. In any case some precaution should 

 be taken against the horse galloping about on his first being let 

 loose, which, from the joy he experiences at getting his liberty, 

 he almost invariably does. To prevent this, the legs should be 

 blistered a few days before, so as to seize the opportunity whei. 

 (hey are swollen, stiff, and sore, and when, as a natural conse- 

 quence, a gallop would be so extremely painful as to be altogether 

 out of the question. A cradle must be kept on to prevent blem- 

 ishes, but this is no more objectionable out of doors than in. In 

 almost every case this application would be necessary for the dis- 

 eased condition of the extremities, whether the horse was turned 



15 



