80 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the progressive nature of unsoundness isi 

 sure in the end to find it out ; and although 

 be may contrive, by shortening his step j 

 and striking the ground less forcibly with 

 his feet, to put off the discovery, and 

 may continue to work on very unsound 

 feet even for years, still he is at last corn- ! 

 peiled to yield. Sinking his head and I 

 neck at every step, to remove their weight 

 from the foot at the moment it meets the 

 ground, he declares by signs no longer to I 

 be mistaken that he is decidedly lame ; 

 and this, in all probability, is the first in- 

 timation which the master receives that 

 anything is the matter with his horse's foot. 

 He then, in his innocent astonishment, 

 begins recalling to mind the events of the 

 last few daj's, vainly hoping to find in 

 them the cause of this unlooked-for ca- \ 

 lamity. 



To preserve the hoof in a healthy state, it is 

 not only necessary that the shoe be properly fit- 

 ted and put on, but that the horse is sufficiently 

 and regularly exercised. Very few horses get j 

 proper exercise. When not at work they are 

 placed in a narrow stall, where they could have 

 no freedom of motion, even if loose; and there 

 they are chained in one position for days. Now i 

 Nature has attached this condition to - the j 

 health of every organ of every animal, that 

 its functions be regularly performed. Let any 

 man either from an injury or other cause be 

 forced to carry one arm in a sling for a week, 

 and he will observe a most manifest difference 

 between that and its fellow. The muscles 

 will be diminished, the size decreased, and it 

 will in every sense be a very bad match for j 

 the other. The natural process of absorption j 

 has been accelerated, while that of restoration I 

 has almost ceased, from the non-employment 

 of the muscles. As it is with the man's limb, 

 so it is with the elastic cushion beneath the 

 horse's foot. If we will not allow him the 

 power of expanding and contracting his foot, 

 this cushion will shrink and grow hard; but; 

 if allowed the means of so doing it will retain j 

 its elasticity and usefulness to a good old age. j 

 Look at a horse while grazing in the field, j 

 His feet are in a state of almost perpetual 

 movement. Each foot undergoes a regular 

 compression and expansion in turn according 



as his weight is thrown upon it and withdrawn. 

 Indeed, nature never intended that a horse 

 should be long still, and when he has the power 

 to move he very rarely will remain so. Every 

 thing draws his attention; every sound, every 

 footstep, cause him to move, and consequently 

 exercises the mechanism of the hoof. The 

 sound of the corn at feeding time causes 

 fifty such healthy movements. But how dif- 

 ferent is the case of most horses. While kept 

 standing in the stable they are treated worse 

 than a wild beast in a menagerie. Cooped in 

 a stall and chained to a post he has no power 

 to move. He hears the same sounds; they 

 attract him as much; he pricks up his ears, 

 and bends his neck; but he can not move! he 

 knows that he cannot turn, and therefore, does 

 not try to do so, and his hoof is not exercised. 

 And so horses are allowed to remain for days, 

 unless their legs begin to swell. Now, to keep 

 a horse in health he must have at the least two 

 hours' exercise every day. Men who spare 

 no expense in pampering their horses, and 

 procuring for them every luxury, are most 

 niggardly in their allowance of this first of 

 necessaries — regular exercise. They think 

 that half an hour's trotting will suffice to keep 

 their feet in health, and that a horse may be 

 left chained up in a stall for several days, 

 without any injury. 



But the truth is, regular and long continued 

 walking is absolutely essential to the health 

 and sound condition of his feet. Those who 

 deprive him of it to save themselves a little 

 trouble are unworthy to own a horse, or to be 

 entrusted with the care of that generous beast. 

 It is impossible to preserve the elastic and 

 nice machinery of the hoof from wasting and 

 decay without it; and the want of it is the 

 cause of far more groggy lameness than over- 

 working. The life of a horse, as well as his 

 usefulness while alive, is . shortened by this 

 absurd and improper confinement in stalls. — 

 The natural life of a horse is from thirty-five 

 to forty years; while we all know that most 

 horses at twelve or fourteen are absolutely 

 worthless, completely used up, with scarcely 

 a foot to stand upon, as it is said. 



To call attention to the inestimable benefit 

 to the horse, of freedom of motion in the sta- 



