COLD APPLICATIONS TO THK LEGS. 
453 
tinued application of cold water to the legs. Mr. Beal (the well- 
known “ Tom Beal”), head groom to Lord Chesterfield, informed 
me, that the legs and feet of all his Lordship’s hunters are washed 
twice a-day, for a quarter of an hour at a time, in cold water in the 
summer months, and with the very best effect. For horses in work, 
whose legs are much worn, the daily application of cold water is 
found to be highly beneficial. In fact, a huntsman to a celebrated 
pack of hounds has been heard to say, his old horses could not have 
gone on in their work but for this boon, which is within every one’s 
reach. But I will give a few instances:—That rare bit of horse¬ 
flesh, Kitcat, after running the gauntlet at Melton, and carrying 
several of the hardest riders of her day—say twelve years back— 
came into the possession of Lord Erroll, with legs that might have 
frightened any man but his Lordship, being very large and round, 
and with skin as hard as the bark of an oak-tree. They were re¬ 
duced to a very reasonable size by being placed daily in tubs of 
cold water, with ice floating on the surface of it when it could be 
procured. This mare stood several seasons of hard work after¬ 
wards, and might have still gone on in work had she not dropped 
into a very hard day when too high in flesh, which cost her her life. 
A bay horse, called Nimrod, which was at Melton the same time 
with Kitcat, and exactly in a similar state, was recovered by the 
same means, and is now going in the Queen’s hunting stables. . 
Another horse, called ^‘The Colonel,” was also recovered by these 
means, though he is now dead ; and the same may be said of “ The 
Wonder,” in the same royal stud, and now going with the hounds. 
I really believe that, in the case of much-worn and callous legs, the 
refrigerating system to be most beneficial, although I should not be 
inclined to practise it with fresh horses in the hunting season. I 
am, however, all for washing legs and feet with cold water twice 
a-day in summer. The use of tanners’ bark is also preferred to 
straw for hunters summered in sheds. It is less heating to the feet, 
and presents a perfectly even surface to the tread. It is, of course, 
necessary that the droppings from the horses should be daily picked 
up, and not suffered to be incorporated with the tan. 
During my late sojourn in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, &c. 
I came across more than one of your profession, and, of course, did 
not fail having a little professional talk. Amongst them was Mr. 
Rowland, jun., who is in high practice amongst the Melton and 
other studs, as his father was before him. I had, indeed, the plea^ 
sure of riding close to Mr. Rowland in a very pretty two-and- 
twenty minutes with Lord Hastings’ hounds; and it delights me to 
see veterinary surgeons so employed, as it cannot fail giving them 
many a good wrinkle in their practice, in the stables of sportsmen 
especially. Tis the pace that kills,” said the late Lord Forester, 
VOL. XIII. 3 p 
