464 
CLIPPING BATTERY HORSES. 
clipped horses would fare on outpost duty after a rapid advance of some 
miles ? I should think quite as well as a hunter who, after a fast run, 
has to stand for an hour or two outside a covert; but the two cases are 
not on all fours. The hunter is not only clipped, but his coat is never 
allowed to grow in the winter ; a battery horse would be clipped, per¬ 
haps, twice during the winter, and, except for a few days after each 
clipping, would never be without a good covering. 
Major Phillpott's account of his voyage to Romford “ on the Free 
Ferry,” though highly interesting, is not instructive on the point at 
issue, because none of his horses were clipped and comparisons cannot 
be drawn. He is horrified to think of clipped horses in “ cold, cheer¬ 
less, and draughty troop stables.” Let me entreat him to visit his own 
stables at four o'clock on a cold winter's morning; he will, I think, 
find that the temperature is by no means what he supposes it to be, 
but on the contrary so genial that he will long to repeat the experi¬ 
ment. In Canada, when the thermometer stood at many degrees below 
zero, the battery stables were not cold at night, and the horses never 
suffered at all. 
He remarks that his experience of unclipped horses leads him to 
believe that they are less liable to chest affections than clipped ones. 
It is unfortunate that he has not furnished the details of his experience 
with the latter—as Major Cliallenor has—we should then have been 
able to weigh one set of evidence against the other; still, though 
example is better than assertion, all discussion is wholesome. He 
that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. 
Our antagonist is our helper.'' 
