602 
CARE OP THE TROOP HORSE. 
feeding; a horse's condition will vary very much, not only from the 
quantity hut the quality of the water he gets to drink, I may quote the 
wonderful tonic effect of the Aldershot water, also I can mention a case 
when I soldiered at Limerick in 1872 : one stable watered at a'soft 
water (rain water) trough, the other five at a well. The horses watered 
with rain water were always in much the best condition and we changed 
the horses to try. 
A native of India always talks about change of water and not change 
of air, and depend on it in his case as a water drinker, water has more 
to do with the change than the air, and so it is with a horse. 
If possible there should be water at all times in every horse's stall, 
this cannot be so easily managed in England, although zinc buckets are 
cheap, but in India it is generally the case now-a-days; it should be 
constantly changed and the buckets or chatties cleaned out daily. 
During hot weather, both at home and abroad, when horses have no 
water in their stalls, they should be watered the last thing in the 
evening, say at 8.80. 
Grooming. However carefully you feed and water your horses, they will never look 
well without lots of good grooming. To groom a horse properly means 
hard work, and but few soldiers have the knack of grooming well. If 
you want to see horses groomed and learn how it is done, go into 
some coaching or big hunting stable and watch a helper on a pound a 
week, turn over a couple of horses, he does it in about half the time 
that a trooper does one. It is a knack and has to be learned and it 
makes a man sweat, but the result is marvellous. 
A celebrated judge of hunters at Islington quite lately asked an old 
exhibitor of many prize winners what he gave his horses to make their 
coats look so well. The only answer the old man gave was “ elbow 
grease." Unless you are very strict in troop-stables, you do not get 
half enough “ elbow grease," and the coarse-bred horse takes a deal to 
make him shine, especially when unclipped. 
Wisping. In cold and damp weather, wisps should be used half-an-hour at 
evening stable hour, if used properly you should hear the rattle half-a- 
mile off. Wisping promotes circulation and keeps the horse's skin 
healthy, mane combs should only be used sparingly and by those who 
understand them and from underneath only. 
Trimming. Manes and tails should be carefully brushed out at every stable hour. 
I recommend having one stable hour a week in the evening for trim¬ 
ming up all round-—manes, tails, fetlocks, beards, etc., with scissors and 
machines. Tails, through the whole battery, should be cut by one man, 
otherwise they will be uneven. Tail cutting is a great art and requires 
very great care. 
If you come into stables and turn out before you have time to 
thoroughly dry the legs, put on hay bandages (I always kept them 
ready at home), you will very often avoid cracked heels and chills by so 
doing; when the men turn in again, the bandages are taken off and the 
dry mud brushed off; never on any account in cold weather wash horses 
legs after work. 
Clipping. All horses should be clipped when their coats grow, and if clipped 
fairly early they will not feel the cold. Horses really suffer but little 
