V )

it

■A\ v>

JOHN A. SEAVERNS

illNlllllll I M H 11 1 III Ml t IN | Ml | ||

3 9090 013 417 841

■^y/icj^f

Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine
Cummings Schcc. :■ Veterinary Medicine at
Tufts University
200 Westboro Road
North Grafton, MA 01536

THE STABLE BOOK;

BEING A TREATISE ON THE

MANAGEMENT OF HORSES,

IN RELATION TO

STABLING, GROOMING, FEEDING, WATERING AND WORKING.

" NSTRUCTION OF STABLES, VENTILATION, STABLE

APPENDAGES, MANAGEMENT OF THE FEET.

MANAGEMENT OF DISEASED AND DEFECTIVE HORSES.

BY

JOHN STEWART,

VETERINARY SURGEON, PROFESSOR OF VETERINARY MEDICINE, IN THB
ANDERSONIAN UNIVERSITY, GLASGOW.

WITH NOTES AND ADDITIONS,

ADAPTING IT TO

AMERICAN FOOD AND CLIMATE,
BY A. B. ALLEN,

EDITOR OF THE AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

NEW YORK :
A. 0. MOORE, AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER,

(LATE 0. M. 8AXT0N A CO.,)

NO. 140 FULTON STREET.
18 5 8.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855.

By C. M. SAXTON & COMPANY,

si- iue • .e>K s Or'jce of the District Court of the United States, for the Sou the in

District of New Yo k

AMERICAN PREFACE.

It may be thought, perhaps, by some, presumptuous on the
part of any American, to undertake the editing with a view of
improvement, of a work of the standard reputation of Stewart's
Stable Economy. But it must be recollected that the climate
and much of the food, and, consequently, the general manage-
ment of the horse in Great Britain, are so different from what
they necessarily must be in North America, that great injury is
often done to this noble animal by following British instruc-
tions too closely in his rearing, and above all, in his stable
management.

The horse, both theoretically and practically, has been a
favorite study with me from childhood ; and for the past ten
years, I have been more or less engaged in breeding and
rearing them on my farm, and in breaking and fitting them
for market. I also had in early life, during a residence of
nearly two years in the north of Europe, the advantage of
studying the stable economy of large military establishments ,
and in my recent trip to England, I took every opportunity
to inform myself, by personal inspection, on the subject of the
horse in general, and particularly his rearing and stable treat-
ment ; and in so doing, examined alike the thorough-bred, the
hunter, the roadster, the farm, and the dray horse.

Mr. Stewart evidently knew little of chymistry, either
animal or vegetable ; and in speaking of these matters in-
cidentally, particularly regarding the composition of food, the
effects of cold and heat on the animal, &c, &c, has madn

4 AMERICAN PREFACE.

some gross mistakes. Since he wrote, Dumas, Boussingd,ult;
Liebig, Payen, Johnston, Playfair, Karkeek, Read, and others,
have thrown great light on this hidden science ; thus enabling
me to correct errors of considerable magnitude, and to add
some things to the Stable Economy, important to a judicious
and enlightened treatment of the horse.

In editing this work I have suppressed few whole pages,
all of which were either quite erroneous in matters of fact, or
totally inapplicable to this country. About the same quantity
of matter suppressed has been added by me, which is enclosed
in brackets. The engravings of Mr. Gibbons' stables, and the
description of the same, are original with the American
edition. Altogether, I trust I have made the work more ac-
ceptable to my countrymen than it was originally ; and as a
second edition may be called for, I shall be quite obliged to
any one who will furnish me with any new information re-
garding the horse, or correct any error into which I may

have inadvertently fallen.

A B. ALLEN.
New York.

PREFACE

TO THE THIRD ENGLISH EDITION

By long experience it has been fully proved, that the native
powers of the horse are susceptible of very much improve-
ment. When properly managed in domesticity, his strength,
and speed, and endurance, are so much increased, as to render
the wild horse a contemptible rival. But the agents by which
this improvement is effected are numerous ; and their power
is not limited to the production of one change or two, but
varies according to several circumstances — such as the du-
ration and repetition of their operation, and the condition of
the horse at the time they operate upon him. They are also
under the direction of men not the most remarkable in the
world for suitably adapting means to ends. It might, there-
fore, be inferred that they are often mismanaged ; and it is
true that they too frequently are so. The stable, the groom,
the food, the water, and the work, each should contribute to
raise the value of the horse ; but each may be misguided, and
each may lend its aid to make him worthless.

To trace the operation, so far as known, of every agent
by which the horse is materially affected — to analyze com-
pound agents — to consider the effects of each individually
and in combination — and to make practice the master of
theory, are the principal objects at which I have aimed in
this work. I have labored to obtain all the information that
labor could promise me and I have endeavored to arrange the

6 PREFACE.

whole subject into divisions, which will, as I think, rendei
every part of it easily understood, and easily referred to by
any one not ignorant of the English tongue.

The first edition was published in March, 1838 ; the
second, September, 1838 ; and this, the third, in July, 1840.
I have had the honor of being consulted by many people at a
distance, who know me only through my book. It seems
proper for me to take this opportunity of stating that I am
leaving this country upon account of rny health ; that I will
still be happy to receive any useful communications regard-
ing Stable Economy : and that, after August, letters should
be addressed to me at Sydney, New South Wales.

JOHN STEWART

Glasgow.

CONTENTS.

FIRST CHAPTER.
STABLING— P. 13 to 70.

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES— P. 13 to 42.— Bad Stables— Sit-
uation of Stables — Damp Stables — New Stables — Size of Stables —
Arrangement of Stalls — Double-headed Stables — The Walls — Doors
— Windows — Window-Shutters — The Roof — The Floor — Drains —
Declivity of the Stall — Precautions against Rats — Partitions between
Horses — Standing Bales — Gangway Bales — Travises — Stall-Posts —
Width of Stalls — Hay-Racks — Mode of filling Racks — Mangers —
Water Mangers.

VENTILATION OF STABLES— P. 42 to 59.— General State of-
Diflerence between a Hot Stable and a Foul Stable — Object of Ven-
tilation— Pure Air — Use of Air — Impure Air — Evils of Impure Air

— Modes of Ventilating Stables — Outlets for Impure Air — Inlets for
Pure Air — Objections to Ventilation.

STABLE APPENDAGES— P. 59 to 70.— Loose Boxes— Hay-Cham-
ber— Straw — Granary — Grain-Chest — Boiler-House — Water-Pond —
Stable-Yard — Shed — Harness-Room — Stable-Cupboard — Groom's
Bedroom— Stables of Mr. Gibbons— Stalls of Mr. Pell.

SECOND CHAPTER.

STABLE OPERATIONS— P. 71 to 135.

STABLEMEN— P. 72 to 82.— How Taught— Character of— The
Coachman — The Groom — Untrained Grooms — Boys — Strappers —
Foreman — Drivers.

GROOMING— P. 82 to 104.— Dressing before Work— Dressing Vicious
Horses — Utility of Dressing — Want of Dressing — Lice — Dressing
after Work — Scraping — Walking a Heated Horse — Walking a Wet
Horse — Wisping a Wet Horse — Clothing a Wet Horse — Removing
the Mud — Washing — Wet Legs — Bathing.

OPERATIONS OF DECORATION— P. 104 to 122.— Uses and
Properties of the Hair — Docking — Nicking — Dressing the Tail —
Dressing the Mane — Trimming the Ears — Cropping the Ears —
Trimming the Muzzle and Face — Trimming the Heels and Legs —
Hand-Rubbins: the Legs — Singeing — Shaving — Clipping: — Utility of
Clipping — Objections to Clipping — To give a Fine Coat.

8 CONTENTS

MANAGEMENT OF THE FEET— P. 122 to 131.— Picking— Stop
ping — Thrushes — Anointing — Moisture to the Crust — The Clay
Box — Shoeing — Care of Unshod Feet.

OPERATIONS ON THE STABLE— P. 131 to 135.— Bedding-
Changing the Litter — Day-Bedding — Washing the Stable

THIRD CHAPTER.

RESTRAINTS— ACCIDENTS— HABITS— VICES— P. 136 to 156.

RESTRAINTS— P. 136 to 138.— Tying-Up— The Halter— Collar—

Neck-Strap — Reins — The Sinker.
ACCIDENTS connected with Restraint— P. 138 to 146.— Getting

Loose — Hanging in the Collar — Standing in the Gangway — Lying

in the Gangway — Rolling in the Stall — Turning in the Stall — Lying

below the Manger — Halter-Casting — Stepping over the Reins —

Leaping into the Manger.
STABLE HABITS— P. 146 to 150.— Kicking the Stall-post— Weaving

— Pawing — Wasting the Grain — Shying the Door — Eating Litter —

Licking.
STABLE VICES— P. 150 to 156.— Treatment of Vice— Biting— Stall

for a Biter — Kicking — Stall for a Kicker — Refusing the Girths.

FOURTH CHAPTER.

WARMTH— P. 157 to 163.

Hot Stables ; Effects of Hot Stabling ; Warm Stables ; Utility of Heat ;
Cold Stables — Temperature of the Stable — Sudden Transitions —
Clothing — Kinds of Clothing— Winter Suit — Weather Clothing —
Tearing off the Clothes — Application and Care of the Clothes.

FIFTH CHAPTER.
FOOD— P. 164 to 280.

ARTICLES OF FOOD— P. 164 to 196.— Kinds of Food— Green
Herbage — Grass, Clover, &c, Furze : — Dry Herbage — Hay, Good,
New, Heated, Musty, Weatherbeaten, Salted — Daily allowance of
Hay — Hay-Tea — Straw — Barn-Chaff — Potatoes— Turnips — Carrots
— Parsnips — Grain — Oats, Good, New, Fumigated, Kiln-Dried, Bad —
Diabetes — Preparation of Oats — Daily Allowance of Oats — Substitutes
for Oats — Grain-Dust — Oatmeal Seeds — Gruel — Oaten Bread — Bar-
ley—Malt — Malt-Dust —Grains— Wheat — Bran-Mash — Wheaten
Bread — Buckweat — Maize — Rye — Beans — Peas — Vetch-Seed —
Bread — Linseed — Oilcake — Hemp-Seed — Sago — Sugar — Fruit —
Flesh— Fish— Eggs— Milk— Mare's Milk— Cow's Milk— Ablacta-
tion.

COMPOSITION OF FOOD— P. 196 to 201.— Nutritive Matters-
Other Matters — Bitter Extract — Comparative Value of different
Kinds of Fodder.

PREPARATION OF FOOD— P. 201 to 218.— Objects of— Drying-
Cutting the Fodder — Chaff-Cutter — Utility of Cutting; Mastication
of the Grain Insured; Deliberate Ingestion Insure! ; Consumption

CONTENTS. 9

of Damaged Fodder promoted ; Chaff Eaten Quickly ; Easily Dis-
tributed; The Mixture Preferred; Objections to Chaff; Summary
— Mixing — Washing — Bruising — Grain-Bruiser — Grinding — Germi-
nating — Steeping — Masking — Mashing — Boiling — Steaming —
Steaming Apparatus — Baking — Seasoning.

ASSIMILATION OF THE FOOD— P. 218 to 249.— Prehension-
Mastication — Insalivation — Deglutition — Maceration — Digestion.

INDIGESTION OF THE FOOD— P. 222 to 228.— Founder ; Stag-
gers ; Fermentation ; Colic ; Causes ; Symptoms ; Treatment.

PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING— P. 228 to 247.— Digestion influenced
by Work — Salt and Spices — Abstinence — Inabstinence — Hours of
Feeding — Bulk of the Food — Condensed Food— Hard Food; Con-
tinuous Use of— A Mixed Diet — Changes of Diet — Quantity of Food ;
Deficiency ; Excess — Humors — Plethora.

PRACTICE OF FEEDING— P. 247 to 266.— Farm Horses— Cart
Horses — Carriage, Gig, Post, &c. — Mail Horses — Hunters ; Grazing
Hunters ; Nimrod's Mode of Summering Hunters ; Winter Food of
Hunters — Saddle Horses — Cavalry Horses — Race Horses.

PASTURING— P. 266 to 278.— Pasture Fields— Exercise at Grass-
Position of the Head — Exposure to Weather — Shelter — Flies — In-
fluence of Soil on Feet and Legs — Quantity of Food— Preparation
for Pasturing — Times of Turning Out — Confinement — Attendance
while Out — Treatment after Grazing — Mode of Grazing Farm
Horses.

SOILING — P. 278 to 279. — In what Cases proper or improper.

FEEDING AT STRAW-YARD— P. 279.— Usual State of.

SIXTH CHAPTER.

WATER— P. 281 to 289.

Thirst— Kinds of Water— Temperature of Water— Effects of Cold
Water — Quantity of Water — Occasional Restriction — Habitual Re-
striction— Modes of Watering;.

SEVENTH CHAPTER.

SERVICE— P. 290 to 361.

GENERAL PREPARATION FOR WORK— P. 290 to 298.— Break-
ing, Objects of, Means employed — Inuring to the Stable, and Stable
Treatment — Inuring to the Weather — Inuring to the Harness — In-
urinsr to Exertion.

PHYSIOLOGY OF MUSCULAR EXERTION— P. 298 to 303.—
Circulation of the Blood — Muscular Action — Quickness of the Cir-
culation— Quickness of the Breathing — Increased Formation of Heat
— Perspiration.

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK— P. 303 to 328.— Natural
Powers of the Horse — Conditioning, Training, Seasoning — Objects
of Training — Size of the Belly — State of the Muscles — Slate of the
Breathing — Quantity of Flesh — Agents of Training: — Physic, Uses
of, Effects of, a Course of, Composition of — Giving a Ball —Preparing
for Physic — Treatment under Physic — Colic — Superpurgation — ■
Sweating, Effects of— Sweating without Exertion — Sweating with

10 CONTENTS.

Exertion — Bleeding — Diuretics — Aleratives — Cordials — Musculai
Exertion.

PRESERVATION OF WORKING CONDITION— P. 328 to 335.—
Agents that injure Condition — Disease — Pain — Idleness; Absolute,
Comparative — Excess of Work — Emaciation — General Stiffness —
Failure of the Legs and Feet — Excess of Food — Deficiency of Food.

TREATMENT AFTER WORK— P. 335 to 339.— Cleaning— Fo-
menting the Legs — Leg Bandages — Dry Bandages — Wet Bandages
— Water — Food — Cordials — Bedding — Pulling off the Shoes — The
Day after Work.

ACCIDENTS OF WORK— P. 339 to 353.— Cutting, Shoe to Pre-
vent ; Boots to Prevent — Over-reaching, Shoe to Prevent ; Shoe that
Produces — Hunting Shoe — Losing a Shoe — Percivall's Sandal — Fall-
ing— Causes of Falling — Broken Knees — Injuries of the Back — In-
juries of the Neck — Injuries of the Head — Breaking Down — Broken
Leg — Staking — Bleeding Wounds — Choking — Overmarked — Con-
gestion of the Lungs — Spasm of the Diaphragm — Excessive Fatigue.

KINDS OF WORK— P. 353 to 360.— Power and Speed— Theoretical
Table of Relation between Power, Speed, and Endurance — Practical
Table of ditto — Travelling — Hunting — Racing — Coaching — Carting
— Ploughing.

REPOSE— P. 360 to 361.— Effects of Insufficient Repose— Sleep-
Standing Repose — Lying Repose — Slinging Horses that never lie.

EIGHTH CHAPTER.

MANAGEMENT OF DISEASED AND DEFECTIVE
HORSES— P. 362 to 369.

Young Horses — Old Horses — Defective Fore, Legs — Roarers — Cnronic
Cough — Broken Wind — Crib-Biting — Crib-Biter's Muzzle — Wind-
Sucking — Megrims — Blind Horses — Glandered Horses — Sickness —
Bleeding — Fomenting — Poulticing — Blistering.

MEDICAL ATTENDANCE— P. 367.— Pretensions of Owners and
Stablemen — of Farriers and Smiths — of Veterinary Surgeons.

INDEX, P. 371

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

L- — Inside of a stable belonging: to Mr. Lyon, to show the mode of

conducting light through vi.t iay-ijit. 2. 20.
II. — Inside of Mr. Donaldson's stable, to show his mode of draining

the stall. P. 26.
III. — Inside of a Stable at the Glasgow Cavalry BarracKs, to show

how separation is effected by bales. P. 29.
IV. — Safety-Hook, by which the bale and stall-post are connected in

the Cavalry Stables. P. 30.
V. — A low Hay-Rack and Corner Mangers ; the one for water, the

other for grain. P. 36.
VI. — Small Hay-Rack, Corner Manger, and running Pulley for the

Halter-Rein. P. 41.
VII. — Section of a Stable belonging to Mr. Lyon, to show the mode

of ventilating by one large aperture. P. 55.
VIII.— Perspective View of Mr. Gibbons' Stables. P. 67.
IX. — Basement Story. P. 67.
X.— Third Storv. P. 67.
XL— Second Story. P. 68.
XII.— Stalls of Mr. Pell. P. 70.
XIII. — Apparatus for Elevating the Tail. P. 108.
XIV. — Spring Manger-Ring, by which the horse is liberated when ne

gets the fore leg over the halter-rein. P. 145.
XV.— Stall for a Biter. P. 153.
XVL— Stall for a Kicker. P. 154.
XVII. — Apparatus for Steaming the Food. P. 215.
X VIII.— Shoe to Prevent Cutting. P. 339.
XIX. — Boots to Prevent the Injury of Cutting. P. 340.
XX. — Shoe to Prevent over-reaching. P. 341.
XXL— Hunting Shoe. P. 342.
XXIL— Percivall's Patent Sandal. P. 343.
XXIII. — Muzzle to Prevent Crib-Biting. P. 363.

For the drawings from which these engravings were engraved, I
am indebted to the kindness of my friend, Mr. Robert Hart. [Those
of Mr. Gibbons' stables and Mr. Pell's stalls, are furnished by the
editor of the American edition.]

STABLE ECONOMY

FIRST CHAPTER.
STABLING.

I. CONSTRTTCTION OF STABLES. II. VENTILATION OF

STABLES. III. APPENDAGES OF STABLES.

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES.

Stables have been in use for several hundred years. It
might be expected that the experience of so many geneia-
tions would have rendered them perfect. They are better
than they were some years ago. Many of modern erection
have few faults. They are spacious, light, well-aired, dry,
and comfortable. This, however, is not the character of
stables in general. The majority have been built with little
regard to the comfort and health of the horse. Most of them
are too small, too dark, and too close, or too open. Some
are mere dungeons, so destitute of every convenience that no
man of respectability [or ordinary humanity] would willingly
make them the abode of his horses.

Stable architects have not much to boast of. When left
to themselves they seem to think of little beyond shelter and
confinement. If the weather be kept out, and the horse kept
in, the stable is sufficient. If light and air be demanded, the
doorway will admit them, and other apertures are superfluous ;
if the horse have room to stand, it matters little though he have
none to lie ; and if he get into the stable, it is of no conse-
quence though his loins be sprained, or his haunches broken,
in going out of it.

Bad stables, it is true, are not equally pernicious to all
kinds of horses. Those that have little work suffer much

2

14 STABLE ECONOMY.

mismanagement before they are injured. But those in con^
stant and laborious employment must have good lodgings.
Where the stables are bad, the management is seldom good,
and it can not be of the best kind. It is no exaggeration to
say, that hundreds of coaching-horses, and others employed
at similar work, are destroyed every year by the combined
influence of bad stables and bad stable management. Ex-
cessive toil and bad food have much to do in the work of de-
struction ; but every hostile agent operates with most force
where the stables are of the worst kind ; and several causes
of disease can operate nowhere else.

Situation of Stables. — Few have much choice of situa-
tion. When any exists, that should be selected which will
admit of draining, shelter from the coldest winds, and easy
access. The aspect should be southern. Training stables
should be near the exercising ground. The surface should
be sloping, and the soil dry. Stables built in a hollow, or in
a marsh, are always damp. When the foundation is sunk in
clay, no draining will keep the walls dry. Some of the means
usually employed against dampness in dwelling-houses, might
be adopted in the construction of stables. These, as every
builder knows, consist in a contrivance for preventing the
wall from absorbing the moisture of the soil. In some places
a course of whin, or other stone, impenetrable to water, joined
by cement, is laid level with the ground ; in other places, a
sheet of lead, laid upon a deal board, is employed ; and in
the neighborhood of coal-pits, the foundation is sometimes
laid in coal-dust, which does not absorb water, and is much
less expensive than either lead or stone. It is not right to
suppose that precautions of this kind are superfluous.

A damp Stable produces more evil than a damp house.
It is there we expect to find horses with bad eyes, coughs,
greasy heels, swelled legs, mange, and a' long, rough, dry,
staring coat, which no grooming can cure. The French
attribute glanders and farcy to a humid atmosphere ; and in
a damp situation we find these diseases most prevalent ;
though, in this country, excess of moisture is reckoned as
only a subordinate cause. In London, and in other towns,
there are several stables under the surface ; they are never
dry, and never healthy. The bad condition, and the disease,
so common and so constantly among their ill-fated inhabitants,
may undoubtedly arise from a combination of causes ; but
there is every reason to believe that humidity is not the least
potent

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 15

When horses are first lodged in a damp stable, they soon
show how much they feel the change. They become dull,
languid, feeble ; the coat stares ; they refuse to feed ; at fast-
work they cut their legs in spite of all care to prevent them.
This arises from, weakness. Some of the horses catch cold,
others are attacked by inflammations of the throat, the lungs,
or the eyes. Most of them lose flesh very rapidly. The
change produces most mischief when it is made in the winter-
time.

All New Stables are Damp. — It is a long time ere the
walls get rid of the moisture introduced by the mortar. En-
try to a new stable should be delayed till it is dry, or as long
as possible. If, as often happens, the stable be wanted for
immediate occupation, the walls had better be left unplastered,
unless there be sufficient time for the plaster to dry. The
doors or windows should be kept off or wide open till the
day of entry. A few fires of charcoal, judiciously planted,
and often shifted, will assist the drying process. White-
washing the walls with a solution of quick-lime, seems to
have some influence in removing moisture. When ready for
entry, the stable should be filled. A horse should go into
every stall. One helps to keep another warm. In the win-
ter they should be clothed, have boiled warm food every
night [if convenient to cook it] and be deeply littered.

Damp stables may be rendered less uncomfortable by
strewing the floor with sand or sawdust ; by thorough
draining and ventilation. In some cases, a stove-pipe might
be made to pass through the stable, near to the floor.

Size of Stables. — They are seldom too large in propor-
tion to the number of stalls ; but they are often made to hold
too many horses. Those employed in public conveyances
in coaches and boats, are frequently crowded into an apart
ment containing twenty or thirty. It is not right to have so
many horses, particularly hard-working horses, in one place.
Such stables are liable to frequent and great alterations of
temperature. When several of the horses are out, those
which remain are rendered uncomfortably cold, and when
full, the whole are fevered or excited by excess of heat.
These transitions are very pernicious, and generally neg-
lected. The owner wonders why so many of his horses
catch cold ; there are always some of them coughing. If
he were to make the stable his abode for twenty-four hours,
and mark the number and degree of alterations which occur
in its temperature, he would have little to wonder at.

16 STABLE EC0N0M1.

Besides these transitions, so unavoidable in large stables,
.here are other evils. A verv large stable is not easilv ven
tilated ; it requires a lofty roof to give any degree of purity ;
it is not easily kept in order ; contagious diseases once in-
troduced, spread rapidly, and do extensive mischief before
they can be checked ; and a large stable seldom affords a
hard-working horse all the repose he requires. His rest is
disturbed by the entrance and exit of other horses, or of the
persons employed in stable operations. It sometimes happens
that one mischievous or restless horse disturbs all his fellows.
He would do so in a small stable ; but there he can not an-
noy so many. All these objections are not applicable to
every large stable. In some the horses go out and return all
together. In that case, they are not exposed to such vicissi-
tudes of temperature, nor so liable to have their rest broken.
But the other evils are not insignificant. A very large stable
has nothing to recommend it that I know of. The expense
of erection may be something less, and one or two additional
stalls may be obtained by lodging the horses all in one large
stable, rather than in several small stables. When it is more
important to have a cheap than a healthy stable, the large
one may be preferred. The saving, however, may ultimately
be a great loss, if the builder of the stable be the owner of
the horses.

For hunters and other valuable horses, the stables should
not have more than four stalls. These should be on only one
side. Nimrod recommends that only three horses be kept in
these four-stalled stables, and that the inner partition be
moveable, in order that two of the stalls may be converted
into a loose box, whenever such an appendage is required.
For a pair of carriage-horses, the stable should have three
stalls. The odd one is often useful. Should a horse fall
sick or lame, another can be taken in to do his work till he
get better ; or, the inner partition being made to move, two
of the stalls can be thrown into one.

Hunters, carriage-horses, and others of equal size and
value, require a good deal of room. In width, the stable may
vary from sixteen to eighteen feet ; and in length it must have
six feet for every stall. Some are not above fourteen or fif-
teen feet wide, but these are too narrow. Others are twenty
feet, which I think is rather wide. There is no need for so
much room ; when too wide, the stable is too cold. It is
sufficiently wide at sixteen feet, and roomy at eighteen.
Coach-horses, and others employed at similar work, usually

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 17

stand in a double row. The number of stalls should never
exceed sixteen. It would be better if there were only eight,
or a separate stable for each team. For these stables the
width may be from twenty-two to twenty-four feet. If the
horses do not exceed the average height, the stalls may be
only five and a half feet wide ; but they are better to be the
full width, six feet. Single-headed stables for coach-horses
may be sixteen and a half feet wide, and seventeen is quite
sufficient. Large cart-horses require a little more room,
both in the length and breadth of the stable.

Arrangement of the Stalls. — In this there is little
variety. In a square or circular apartment, the stalls may be
ranged on each side, or all round. There is one at Edin-
burgh in a circular form. When full and lighted from the
roof, it looks well, but no particular advantage is gained by
this arrangement. The circular and the equilateral form
leave a good deal of unoccupied room in the centre. An ob-
long is the best, and the general form for a stable. The stalls
may be arranged on both sides or on one only. Each mode
has its advantages and disadvantages.

Double-headed [double-rowed] stables, as those are called
in which the stalls occupy each side, require the least space.
When the gangway between the horses is not too narrow,
they are sufficiently suitable for coach or boat-horses, or any
others kept at full work. But many accidents arise from the
horses kicking at each other when they grow playful, as they
are apt to do while half idle. For this reason, a livery stable
should not be double-headed, without a very wide gangway,
perhaps of eight or ten feet ; they are quite unfit for valuable
hunters or carriage-horses. Indeed, no width of gangway is
sufficient to prevent some horses from attempting to strike
when another is placed directly behind. Those that are dis-
posed to mischief have frequent opportunities, as others are
leaving or entering the stables ; mares especially are gener-
ally very troublesome in these stables. For all kinds of
horses, that stable is decidedly the best in which the stalls
are ranged on one side only. These are termed single-
headed.

The Walls may be composed of wood, stone, or brick.
In this country they are seldom made of wood. Stone is the
most permanent material, and is usually employed wherever
it can be cheaply procured, or the building likely to be long
required. Stone walls are said by some to be apt to sweat,
to keep the stable damp and cold ; but this objection, I appre«

18 STABLE ECONOMY.

hend, is applicable only to a new stone wall, to one composed
of particular kinds of stone, or to thai which is sunk in clay.
Brick walls, however, are most esteemed. [Dampness of
stone or brick walls may be entirely obviated in the drier
climate of America, and warmth gained in winter, and cool-
ness in summer, by running the roof over the gable ends and
sides of the building about two feet, as in the Italian or old
French style. Dampness may also be prevented inside,
by furrowing out from the walls, and lath and plastering ;
but this is too expensive for stables ; nor does it accomplish
the same objects as jutting roofs ; and, moreover, the hollow
space makes a harbor for vermin, which is a very great ob-
jection to it.] In towns or other places where the ground is
likely in a short time to become too valuable for stables, brick
is the least expensive material, and it brings the highest price
when pulled down. A brick wall is usually recommended to
be hollow, and thirteen and a half, or eighteen inches thick.
Thus built, it is said to exclude the heat of summer and the
cold of winter. Few, however, are made thicker than nine
inches, and none hollow. It is a long time ere either cold
or heat pierces a nine inch wall ; but a thick wall affords re-
cesses for racks, cupboards, and shelves, and, in exposed
situations, it certainly keeps the stable comfortable through a
severe winter.

The inside of the walls is sometimes left bare, but most
frequently it is either plastered or boarded. All the stalls
ought to be lined with wood, boarded at the head for about
three feet above the manger ; and the wall forming one side
of the end stall should be boarded as high as the partitions.
Sometimes the back wall is boarded all round to the height
of four or five feet. A few of the more costly kind, which
are built of freestone, are polished on the inside as on the
out. As far as tne horse is concerned, it is sufficient to have
the wall neatly and smoothly dressed off. Plaster is apt to
break, to blister, and fall away. The wooden lining round
the lower part of the wall is more durable, and when the
upper part is plastered, the stable has a ^leaner, more finished,
and more comfortable appearance. The parts against which
the horse is likely to come in contact when rising, lying down,
or turning, ought to be smooth and soft, not calculated to
bruise or ruffle his skin.

Doors. — A stable should have only one door. [This is

not enough. They should have a door at each end, for I tie

ake of a draught of air when necessary. The stables are

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 19

much drier for such an arrangement, and more healthy.] It
may be placed either at the middle or at the extremity of the
gangway. It is most convenient at one end of the stable,
affording a direct and easy passage out and in. The entrance
should be eight, or eight and a half feet high, and five wide
Accidents often happen from having it too low and too nar-
row. Three feet six inches is the usual width of a stable
doorway ; a few are four feet wide. There is seldom any-
thing to prevent it from being five, and this width is the best.
No care is necessary in taking the horse through. Passing
through a narrow doorway, the careless or drunken driver is
almost sure to bruise the horse's haunches.

The door-sole should be about three inches above the outer
surface, bevelled and grooved. The door itself should be in
two or three pieces. It is sometimes cut into four ; but one
longitudinal section down its middle, and another across one
of the halves, are sufficient. One half or three fourths can
thus be open or shut according to circumstances. Sometimes
the door is divided into two by a transverse section, the lower
half of which is usually closed when the groom is performing
his stable operations. Whichever way it be divided, it ought
to be so hung that it will be out of the way when open ; it
should swing back of its own accord, and remain unheld ; but
it may have a spring or a catch for retaining it in place, lest it
be caught by some part of the harness when the horse is going
out or in. This often happens, and sometimes gives the horse
such a fright or injury, that he learns the dangerous habit of
leaping through the doorway. A self-acting spring can be
depended on more than a servant. The doors usually open
inward. The bolts should be of wood, and the key and the
latch sunk flush with the door. The posts should be rounded.
In some stables the middle of the door-post is made to re-
volve, so that it may turn when struck by the haunches. This
is a useless refinement ; it never turns by a blow, though it
might if the horse were rubbing against it. Wider doorways,
against which there can be no objections, render contrivances
of this kind unnecessary. If there were any chance of in-
jury to a valuable horse, the door-posts might be covered with
a pad or cushion composed of hay or straw and gardener's
matting.

Windows are sadly neglected. They are often too few,
too small, or ill placed, even in stables of high pretensions
In very many stables, particularly those appropriated to farm-
horses, there are no windows, nor any apology for them

20

STABLE ECONOAIV.

The best lighted stables I have ever seen, are those belong-
ing to Mr. Lyon of Glasgow (Fig. 1). They are lighted from
the roof.

Fio. l.

Each contains sixteen horses. The hay-lofts are over the
stable. Light is conducted through the lofts to each stable
by two wooden tunnels, which are covered by large windows.
Mr. Laing's sale stable at Edinburgh is also lighted from the
roof. When the hay-loft is above the stables, the windows
very much diminish its size. That is the only objection to
sky-lights. In single-headed stables side- windows answer
quite as well, when properly placed, and of sufficient size.
But in double-headed stables it is difficult to place them in
such a manner that the light shall not fall directly upon thf
horses' eyes. To be safe, and out of the way, they must be
high in the wall ; and, to give sufficient light, they must be
numerous, and ranged along each side.' This can seldom be
managed ; indeed it is seldom attempted. Most people seem
to think that light is little wanted in a stable ; and, truly,
after all the horses have become blind for want of it, there is
not so much need for windows. There is in general some
kind of apology for a window. There may be a pane or two
of glass above the door, or a hole at one end of the stable.
When the man is working, he has light enough from the door,
and the horses have the benefit of that. Besides, it is said,
horses do not require light. They thrive best in the dark !

From these and similar abuses, innovatien always meets
with some resistance. Some miserable plea is offered in favo?

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 21

of an old usage, merely to avoid open conviction of ignorance.
Dark stables were introduced, not because men thought them
the best , but because they had no inclination to purchase light,
or because they thought' the horse had no use for it.

A horse was never known to thrive better for being kept in
a dark stable. The dealer may hide his horse in darkness,
and perhaps he may believe that they fatten sooner there than
in the light of day. But he might, as well tell the truth at
once, and say that he wants to keep them out of sight till they
are ready for the market. When a horse is brought from a
dark stable to the open air he sees very indistinctly ; he stares
about him, and carries his head high, and he steps high.
The horse looks as if he had a good deal of action and anima-
tion. Dark stables may thus suit the purposes of dealers, but
they are certainly not the most suitable for horses. They
are said to injure the eyes. There is not perhaps another
animal on the earth so liable to blindness as the horse. It
can not be said with certainty that darkness is the cause ; but
it is well known that the eyes suffer most frequently where
there is no light.

Whether a dark stable be pernicious to the eyes or not, it
is always a bad stable. It has too many invisible holes and
corners about it ever to be thoroughly cleaned. The gloomy
dungeons in which coach and boat horses are so often im-
mured, are always foul. The horses are attended by men
who will not do their duty if they can neglect it. The dung
and the urine lie rotting for weeks together, and contaminating
the air till it is unfit for use. The horses are never properly
groomed. They can not be seen. One may fall lame, another
sick, and no one know anything about them till they are
brought to the door to commence a journey. Accidents,
choking, getting cast in the stall, tearing open a vein and such
like, sometimes happen when the horse's life may depend
upon immediate assistance, which can not be rendered in
the dark, or which darkness may conceal till assistance is too
late. I speak not of what might occur, but of that which is
common.

All these things considered, it is evident that the stable
ought to be well lighted, and that the expense attending it is
a prudent outlay. When side-windows can not be con-
veniently introduced, a portion of the hay-loft must be sacri-
ficed, and light obtained from the roof. This in ordinary
cases will not be greatly missed. Let it be well done if done
at all. It is almost as expensive to put in a small window as

22 STABLE ECONOMY.

a large one ; and I believe it is more expensive to light a
double-headed stable properly from the sides than from the
roof. When the stalls are all on one side the case is dif-
ferent, especially if the back wall be unconnected with any
other building. Windows above the horses' head generally
light the wrong side of the stable, and those at the ends can
hardly be made to light more than one or two stalls.

Windows may or may not be made to open. Some of them
should open, in order that the stable may, upon certain occa-
sions, receive an extraordinary airing. But for constant and
necessary ventilation there must be apertures which can never
be wholly closed.

Window-shutters, in some situations, are useful for tnree
purposes. By darkening the stable they encourage a fatigued
horse to rest through the day ; they keep out the flies in the
hot days of summer ; and in winter they help to keep the
stable warm. They may be made of wood, of basket-work,
or of matting, according to the purpose for which they are
wanted. In some stables the windows are removable, so that
in summer they can be taken out and their place filled by a
piece of basket-work or framed canvass, which may be wet
in hot weather. The stables are thus kept cool ; the flies
and the heat of the sun are excluded. Some horses are sadly
annoyed by flies. They do not enter a dark stable.

The Roof of the stable usually forms the floor of the hay-
loft. In some of the farm stables there is no hay-loft. The
outer roof is the roof of the stable, and is of thatch or tile,
plastered or unplastered. " The most wholesome stables,"
says a popular, though a very superficial author, " are those
where nothing intervenes between the roof of the building and
the floor, and I have had occasion to observe that roofs made
of unplastered tile, form the best mode of ventilation."* In
the country, where it is impossible to have the litter removed
as it is soiled, and where the horses are not the worse of
having a long coat, a roof of tile, plastered or unplastered,
may afford all the shelter they require, while it favors the
escape of effluvia from the rotting litter, upon which the horses
of a slovenly farmer are compelled to seek repose. But stables
of this kind are not for horses of fast and laborious work.
They are too cold.

If the loft be above the stable, the ceiling must be nine
feet from the ground, and if the stable contains more than
four horses the ceiling must be higher. A height of from

* White.

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 23

twelve to fourteen feet is sufficient for the largest stable ; and
the smallest ought not to be less than eight feet high. When too
lofty the stable is cold ; when too low, it requires large ventila-
tors, which create a current, not at all times safe or pleasant to
the horses. Professor Coleman used to recommend a very low
roof, about seven feet I think from the ground. I forget his
reason. His own stable is so low that medicine can not be
given to a horse in it without driving the crown of his head
through the ceiling. It certainly is not right to have the roof
so low. The height must vary from eight to fourteen feet,
according to the number of horses. When there is no loft
above, the height should be rather greater ; in summer the
slates or the tiles become hot, and make the stable like an
oven ; and in winter when snow lies on the roof, the stable is
like an ice-house. The hay -loft, when over the stable, should
have no communication with it.

The Floor. — In Scotland the floor of the stable is almost
universally laid either with whinstone or freestone, or partly
with the one and partly with the other. Very often, the gang-
way and about one half of the stall are paved, while the other
half of the stall is causewayed. In a few cases hard bricks
are employed, and arranged on edge ; the first expense is
less, but bricks, even when well selected and properly laid,
are not sufficiently durable, especially under heavy horses.
So long as they remain in order, however, they make a very
good floor, which always affords firm foot-hold, but I do not
recommend it.

Pavement is apt to get slippery and make the horses fall
when rising, or when leaving the stable. I once saw a horse
break his thighbone in rising from a payed stall, but there
was no fixed partition between the stalls, and very little litter
on the ground, otherwise it is probable the accident would
not have happened. In the same stable several other horses
have been lamed in the same way and from the same causes.

A Paved Floor, however, when properly grooved, is the
best both for gangway and stalls ; it is durable and easily
kept clean. To prevent the horse from slipping, it ought to
be furrowed by concave grooves about three inches wide and
one deep. At the gangway these should run across the stable,
and in the stall they should run parallel with the partitions.
Both should slope to the gutter. In some stables these grooves
have others running directly or obliquely across them. They
are rarely three inches wide in any stable ; most frequently
they do not exceed one inch. When narrow they require to

24 STABLE ECONOMY.

be numerous. They need not be so wide at bottom as at top
When too narrow they are always full of dirt. The grooves
may be four inches apart.

A Causewayed Flocr is the next best : and, when properly
laid, it is more durable than a freestone floor. Instead of the
usual blocks of stone, of all shapes and all sizes, some rising
and some sinking from the general level, the stones ought to
be square, and neatly joined, having no large intervals filled
with sand, which alternately receives and rejects the urine,
keeping the air constantly saturated with its unwholesome
vapors. Causeway, however, is never so cleanly as freestone
flags, and it is difficult to get it sufficiently grooved. When
laid in the ordinary, anyhow way, a causewayed floor is
dirty, uneven, slippery, and easily torn up by the horses' feet,
or undermined by rats. Pebbles or Dutch clinkers are often
employed as stable flooring ; but I can say nothing about
them, for in this country their place is supplied by whin-
stone.

In former times the stalls were laid with planks of oak, in
which holes were bored that led the urine into underground
drains. This mode of flooring has gone entirely out of use,
and there appears no reason for reviving it. The ancient
writers complain that it produced many accidents from the
horse slipping, and from the planks starting out of place.

[The climate in Great Britain is so much damper than
that of America, that the objections there to a plank floor
will not hold good here. Lumber is also very much dearer
there than here, which is another serious objection with the
English to wooden floors.

Earth Floors. — One of the best kinds of stable-floors,
where the soil is a dry one, is made of a composition of lime,
ashes, and clay, mixed up in equal parts into a mortar, and
spread twelve to fifteen inches deep over the surface of the
ground forming the bottom of the stables. It will dry in a
week or ten days, and makes a very smooth fine flooring,
particularly safe, easy, and agreeable for horses to stand on,
and free from all the objections of stone, brick, and wood ;
and were it not that a sharp-shod horse is apt to cut it up,
we should consider it as quite perfect. When the corks on
the shoes are sharp, more pains should be taken in littering
«he floor to a greater depth, which would tend to its preserva-
tion. When much cut and worn, the flooring is easily broken
up with a pick-axe, softened with water, and again relaid.
The stables of Mr. Gibbons of New Jersey, are floored with

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 25

the above composition, and he informs us that he highly ap-
proves of them on his dry soil. Indian-rubber has been used
in England for floors and found to answer well. It has been
in use at the royal stables at Woolwich for two years past.
It is soft to the feet, comfortable to lie on, and from its yield-
ing nature never injures the knees, hocks, or pasterns. It
is easily cleaned, the urine runs off freely, and suffers no
collection underneath the floor to taint the air.]

Drains. — These are seldom thought of. But, in some
situations, to have a dry and sweet stable, they are absolutely
necessary. In short stables, having only four or five horses
in a row, underground drains are useful only for draining the
foundations. On a stable not exceeding twenty-four or thirty
feet in length, sufficient declivity can be obtained on the sur-
face for removing the urine. But in a stable fifty or sixty
feet long, a gutter is not so easily procured. The declivity
necessary for carrying off the water, raises one end of the
stable to an inconvenient height. A drain should be sunk.
This may receive the water either from each stall, or from a
grating placed near the centre of the stable, which, in the
latter case, must slope from each end. Goodwin recom-
mends a cast-iron grating near the centre, or rather toward
the entrance of each stall, which should incline a little from
all sides. The grate is in four pieces, resting upon ridges of
stone, and having the bars so close that the calkins of the
shoes can not pass between them. They have something like
this at the Veterinary College, the only place in which I re-
member to have seen anything of the kind. The contrivance
answers the purpose very well ; it carries off the urine by
sunk drains, and at once, and it saves the litter. The object
of this plan is to get rid of the inclination usually given to the
floor of the stall. The cost, however, is greater than the.
mischief it is supposed to prevent.

When the urine is to be saved, it may be carried to the
manure-pit, or to a cess-pool outside the stable, and emptied
occasionally by a pump. The end of the drain should never
be exposed to the air. It ought to have a trap-door, which
will open by the pressure of the water, and shut when the
water has passed. When this is neglected, cold air rushes
through the gratings and blows upon the horses' heels, or
noxious vapors arise from the cess-pool.

In some stables there is no contrivance for carrying oft' the
water. Part is soaked up by the litter, part sinks into the
floor and the remainder, which is the most acrimoaious,

26

STABLE ECONOMY.

evaporates and mingles with the air.
are always damp and foul. Their
more than their share of disease at
when an unhealthy season prevails.

These stables of course
inhabitants are liable to
all times, and especially

Fig. 2.

inTnmrmnniHnninii»niuiiminTinim.t.iniiimmnnii

!f)lilinlWiHiil)|::i

fSBBMDMMlMffll

MHflMflNJIlM

pjjiiilMlTWiJWlLiM ilinMHiiiiiiimiilHiiiiiiiiiiiffff

""jMiiliiiiilliiiilllTintiimiFMlllimillllllillinillllimiiiii^^^

Fig. 2 gives a view of the stable erected by the late Mr.
James Donaldson. The breadth excepted, it is a perfect
model for a stable of two stalls. One half of the stall floor
is laid with brick ; the other half is covered by a single slab
of freestone, which is grooved longitudinally and transversely,
and perforated at each intersection of the grooves. The per-
forations conduct the urine to an under-ground drain, which
r.an be cleaned in its whole extent by lifting the channel-
grating. This seems to be a much better contrivance than
the iron-grating, since it is more extensive, less costly, less
likely to give or to receive injury, and requiring no declivity
on any par: of the stall. In other respects this stable is very
neat. It has a boiler behind the inside stall ; a cupboard, a
window well placed, the mangers and travis moveable. It
is only twelve feet wide ; if copied, the gangway should be
ihree feet broader. In this cut, the manger is shown too low
and the rack too high.

Declivity of the Stall. — The ordinary mode of draining the
stall is to make it slope from the head to a gutter, about ten
feet from the manger. The inclination varies from two to
three inches on the ten feet This has been objected to, but,

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 27

as it appears to me, without any good reason. It is said that
the flexor muscles and back sinews are put upon the stretch,
to such a degree that they are injured. It is not easy to be-
lieve this. As far as I have been able to ascertain, no one
has ever seen a horse lamed in this way. The matter might
be decided by experiment. By making a horse stand for a
week or two upon a declivity somewhat greater than that re-
quired for draining the stall, it would be seen whether or not
it is possible to make him lame in this way. My own stable
has a fall of four inches on the ten feet, but it has never pro-
duced any injury to the back sinews. That these parts are
put upon the stretch when the horse is standing on a de-
clivity, need not be denied ; but the tension is never in an
injurious degree. In proof of the contrary, it is urged that
we feel pain in the back of our limbs when standing with the
toes elevated ; and that the horse, feeling the same uneasi-
ness, endeavors to relieve himself by standing as far in the
gangway as his collar will permit. It need only be men-
tioned that pain is not produced in our limbs by standing in
any stall, however much it slopes. The horse stands back
merely to look around him, or to avoid the foul vapor rising
from the litter which lies under his manger. He does the
same when there is no declivity in his stall.

White objects to a sloping stall, and concludes by recom
mending that the inclination be no greater than one inch or
the yard. Not one stable in ten has more, and few havf
quite so much.

The contrivances to avoid inclination are useless ; there is
no need for them. It may be safely concluded that the ordi-
nary declivity is not in the least pernicious. Some old and
tender-footed horses, indeed, would be all the better of having
the stall more than usually elevated in front. It would save
the fore feet in a slight degree, and enable the horse to rise
with more ease. Dealers' stables are often raised in front to
a greater elevation than draining requires. The horses look
taller and higher in the withers when viewed in these stalls.
Precautions against Rats. — In laying the floor, some
measures should be adopted to prevent or check the inroad?
of these vermin. They are very destructive about stables.
They undermine the pavement, eat the wood-work, choke th&
drains, and rob the horse of his food. Where they abound
in great numbers they know the feeding hours, and they watch
the departure of the man after food is placed in the manger,
which they enter in a drove and manage to eat as much at

28 STABLE ECONOMY.

the horse, who seems to care little about them. Hellebore
or arsenic, it is said, will kill them in great numbers when
mingled with a warm malt mash and placed in the manger.
The horse of course must not partake of this. He must be
in the stall with his head tied securely to the rack. Soap
waste is sometimes laid around the foundations of the outside
walls. They are unwilling to burrow through this, but they
will, if very anxious to get in. Some rough or sharp material
should be laid under the pavement, and around the walls on
the outside.

Partitions between the Horses. — In some parts of
England horses are permitted to stand two and two, without
any partition between them. This rarely happens in Scot-
land. He is " poor indeed" who can not afford a stall to
each horse. When two are standing together, the one is
always doing the other some mischief, either accidentally or
intentionally. The strongest robs the weakest both of his
food and of his rest ; while one is lying the other will tram-
ple or lie down on his companion ; and mares, while standing
double, seldom or never urinate till one is removed. Two
that have toiled together for many a day, have fed from the
same manger, and crouched under the lash of the same driver,
are generally good friends, forbearing, and sympathizing.
Still accidents will happen in the dark, or when strangers are
put together, or one will fall off, become dull or irritable when
separated from an old companion. Each ought to have a
stall to himself. Cows do well enough in pairs, or in rows
without any separation. But they have no work demanding
full and uninterrupted repose. They lie straight, upon their
breast, with their legs bent under them ; not like the horse,
who seeks repose in various positions, often lying on his side
with his legs stretched, and his body across the stall, keeping
his neighbor standing, lest he should do an injury in lying
down.

Separation is effected by means of standing bales, gang-
way bales, and tra vises. The latter form the best, the most
complete partition, but in certain situations bales are to be
preferred.

Standing Bales are round bars or posts of wood, about three
inches in diameter, and eight feet long. Each extremity is
furnished with a few iron links, bv which the bale is sus-
pended to the head and to the heel-posts.

Sometimes ihe bales are of cast-iron. They are more
durable, but they are costly, easily broken, and apt to do in*

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES.

29

Fig. 3.

air-a

jury when they chance to rail upon a horse's legs or back,
Well-seasoned oak forms a bale of sufficient durability.
Two or three of cast-iron may be kept and placed beside
those horses that are much disposed to bite and destroy the
wooden bale.

One is placed between each pair of horses. It should be
three feet or three feet and a half from the ground. The
suspending chains should be about three or four inches long,
so that the bale may yield as the horse comes against it in
turning round. Bales are employed in almost all the cavalry
stables. There, they are furnished with a contrivance which
merits notice. It prevents accidents, which are very com-
mon in baled stables. The extremity next the manger is not,
or need not, be removable ; the other, next the heel-post, is
attached in such a way that when a horse gets under the
bale, and attempts to rise, he pushes it upward, and it loses
its connexion with the post ; or when he happens to cast his
leg over the bale, it can instantly be lowered to the ground
without lifting the horse.

Fig. 4 represents the means by which this is effected ; a
is the bale ; b a curved bolt by which it is attached to the
post. This turns round upon the post, like the hand of a
clock. It is retained in its usual place by the ring c, which

3*

30

STABLE ECONOMY.

Fig. 4.

slides upon the bracket d. When the bale is to be let down,
the ring is raised, and the bolt /; turns and frees the bale.
The engraving, Fig. 3, shows the manner in which the bale
is released when a horse gets under it. An iron bale, when
thrown off in this way, is likely to be broken, or to injure the
next horse. This engraving, I may mention, was taken from
one of the cavalry stables at Glasgow barracks.

There are Objections to Bales. — They permit the horses to
bite, and to strike each other, whether in play or in mischief,
and some harm is often done in this way. Horses that are
idle, playful, or vicious, are constantly doing each other some
injury ; and those that are at full work, and in want of rest,
can not fully obtain it in a baled stable. Then, accidents
will occur from the horses getting under or over the bales,
and one will rob another of his corn, and infectious diseases
will spread rapidly and generally. These evils are sufficient
to forbid bales whenever it is possible to have the horses
more perfectly separated. Baled stables are not at all fit for
valuable horses, and they are the worst of all for a sick horse.
It is nothing in their favor that the cavalry horses stand in
them. There, a man is in almost constant attendance upon
each horse, to watch him while feeding, and to correct him
when mischievous, or to assist him in difficulty. There are
plenty of spare stalls and loose boxes for the sick, the lame,
and the vicious, and the veterinary surgeon is always at
hand to remedy or prevent the worst consequences of acci-

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 31

dents ; and the horses do not require the undisturbed repose
bo necessary to horses in full work. They have nothing
to do.

In Favor of Bales, it is urged that they are less costly than
travises, and that, in a large stable, one or two more stand-
ings may be obtained. They have no other advantage. The
original cost of fitting up the stable is considerably less. The
saving, however, is that of a man alive only to the outlay of
the present moment. In two or three years the evils of a
baled stable may produce the loss of twice, or, it may be, ten
times the sum required for travises. When a space of five
and a half or six feet can not be allowed to each horse, bales
are to be preferred to travises. They give the tired horse
some chance of stretching his legs. He would have none if
he were confined to such a narrow stall by a fixed travis.
All the additional room that can be thus obtained is just one
stall upon every ten. An apartment that would easily hold
ten horses is rendered unsafe, uncomfortable to the whole
number, merely that it may hold one more. This is suf-
ficiently absurd. Where horses are expected to retain the
vigor of perfect health, and perform their work with ease,
they must have room to obtain complete repose. They are
worth very little if they can not work for this much, and the
owner must be in miserable circumstances if he can not
afford it.

Gangway Bales are employed only in the stables of very
valuable horses. They are merely bars of wood stretching
from the heel-post to the back wall. Two and sometimes
three are placed between every two horses. They prevent
a horse from leaving his stall, though he should break loose.
He can not wander over the stable and injure his neighbors.
They are removeable. They are, or ought always to be, in
place when the stables are shut up, even for a single hour,
and when the groom is dressing the horse with his head free.
Some horses never break loose, and never attempt it. Stable-
men are apt to trust them too much. They make no use of
the gangway bales ; it ought to be a standing rule of the
stable, that these bales be always in their place. On the eve
of an engagement, a racehorse may break loose and receive
an injury sufficient to throw him aside. The men are suf-
ficiently attentive and vigilant at these times ; but they ought
to be equally so at all times.

Travises are fixed partitions made of wood, and separating
the horses so completely that one is not pernitted to injure

32 STABLE ECONOMY.

or annoy another. It is the kind of partition generally em
ployed in Scotland. We have few baled stables. The
travis has been made of stone, of Arbroath pavement, with
what intention I can not guess. They are very often too
slight and too low, sometimes too short and sometimes too
long. When oak wood is employed, the travis need not ex-
ceed one inch in thickness, the edges being feathered with
iron. Made of fir, it is usually one and a half inch thick ;
but this is too little. When two or two and a half, the travis
is stout and durable. Like all the woodwork of stables, it
ought to be of the best Memel timber, well seasoned. In
length it may vary from four to nine feet ; the latter is the
sual measure for a full-sized horse in a roomy stable. Under
,-ight or nine feet, the longer the travis, the less likely is the
horse to strike his neighbor.

But room must be left in the gangway for turning horses
out, and for passing those which are in. In a narrow, and
especially in a double-headed stable, it is a great error to
make the travis too long. Horses always like to see what is
going on around them ; and when the travis is so long and
high that they can not see about them, they stand into the
gangway and block up the passage. When less than seven
feet, the travis is rather short, but a short stall is not so in-
convenient as a narrow gangway. Nine feet is the greatest
length required for any horse, but this may be abridged if the
stable be narrow. In general, a double-headed stable should
have the travises only one third the breadth of the stable ; in
single-headed stables they may be one half of the whole
breadth. In other words, the gangway should be as broad
as the stall is long. If the stable be much above the ordina-
ry breadth, of course the travis need not exceed nine feet.

What is called the quarter travis, is a short partition about
four feet long. It prevents the horses from biting, and from
stealing ea :h other's food, but it affords no protection against
the heels, nor does it permit the horse to enjoy his rest It
is better than none, and better than a longer one, if the stable
be no more than twelve feet broad.

In height the travis should be about seven feet at the head
and five at the heels. When lower, it permits the horses to
bite and tease each other, and to cast their hind-legs over it.
About four feet is the usual height behind ; but I have seen a
horse throw his leg over one that was four feet six inches.
Many serious accidents happen in this way. There is no
objection to having the travis high. The upper edge of the

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES 33

travis should be bound with iron, to prevent the horses eating
it. Plate-iron answers the purpose well enough. It should
cover the edge to the depth of two or three inches.

The Stall-Posts, that is, the posts by which the partition
is bound, are usually made of wood, but sometimes of cast-iron.
Those next the manger, termed the head-posts, rise five or
six inches above the travis, or up to the ceiling. That at the
entrance, termed the heel-post, should be round, or octagonal,
not square. The corners injure the legs of a kicking horse,
and are easily knocked off. These posts are often no higher
than the travis, and surmounted by a ball, or some other
figure, intended for ornament. But in many stables the heel-
post rises to the roof, its extremities being square, the lower
sunk in a stone, and the upper attached to the joists. These
are better than the short posts ; they keep the travis firmer,
and they admit of pillar reins at the proper heights. They
are useful for hanging harness, and they afford convenience
for slinging a horse, should that ever be necessary. The
short posts should be round at top, and not more than two
inches above the level of the travis. The surmounting orna-
ment is merely an encumbrance ; it is in the horse's wav
when he is turning round. When made of wood, these short
posts require to be sunk about three feet in the ground, char-
red at the ends, and surrounded by masonry three feet in
diameter. When made of cast-iron, they are attached by
means of screw-bolts to a large stone below the surface.
Short posts, whether of wood or iron, are never so firm as
those which rise to the roof of the stable.

In stables intended for valuable fast-working horses each
side of the post should have a ring for pillar-reins. These
are used when the horse is required to stand reversed in his
stall. Coach-horses are reversed, turned with their heads
out, for half-an-hour before taking the road. They are turned
that they may not go out with a full stomach ; they are turned
♦vhen the groom is cleaning the head and neck. The pillar-
reins, one on each side, confine the horse, prevent him from
turning, or leaving his stall, and prevent him from biting while
under stable operations. The rings should be about six feet
from the ground. When short heel-posts are employed, the
ring must be on the top of them.

The width of the Stall, I have already said, should
vary from five and a half to six feet. For small ponies five
feet, or less, may be sufficient ; and for very large dray-horses,
the stall may be six feet six inches. The stall is roomy at

84 STABLE ECONOMY.

six feet, and for horses about fifteen, or fifteen and a half
hands high, it may be two or three inches narrower. When
too broad, the horse stands across it, or turns round with his
head out and his tail in. When too narrow, he can not lie in
that position which is most favorable to repose, and he is apt
to have his loins injured when rashly or improperly turned
round. The horse should always be backed out, not turned,
when the stall is too little for him.

Rest, in the recumbent position, is of more importance to
working-horses than many stablemen appear to be aware of.
They seem not to regard a narrow stall as a great evil. Some
even lodge two horses all night, after a day of hard work, in
one stall, only six feet wide ; and, as if it were a matter of
indifference whether the horse stand or lie, they expect to
find him in condition for work next day. It should always
be remembered that a horse can not do full work, unless he
have a good bed. He may be cramped in a narrow stall,
where he is never permitted to stretch his limbs, or he may
be compelled to stand all night, and still he may continue to
do a good deal of work ; but sooner or later, abuse of this kind
tells its own tale. It ruins the legs and the feet, it shortens
the horse's pace by at least a mile in the hour ; and though
he may do his work, yet that work would be done with more
ease were he better treated in the stable. In addition to all
this, much standing produces gourdy legs and greasy heels.

Hay-Racks. — Ordinary hay-racks are made of wood ; they
are wide as the stall, have the front sloping, and the back
perpendicular. Racks of this kind are giving way to others
made of cast-iron, and much smaller. As far as the horse is
concerned, it matters little whether iron or wood be used. It
is said that his lips are apt to receive injury from splinters
which occasionally start on the wood ; but this happens very
rarely. Iron racks are at first more costly ; but in the end
they are the cheapest. They require no repairs ; at the ex-
piration of ten years they are nearly as valuable as at the
beginning, and they are easily made clean, a matter of con-
siderable importance when infectious diseases prevail. They
are never well made. The spars are placed too far apart, and
they all slope too much in the front. It would be easy to
make them closer and of a more suitable form.

The face of the rack ought to be perpendicular ; in order
that the hay may always lie within the horse's reach, the
back of the rack ought to form an inclined plane. The spars
ought to be round, and two inches apart. For fast- working

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 35

horses, the rack is large enough if it hold seven pounds of hay.
The largest size need not hold more than double or treble
this quantity. The bottom of the rack should be eighteen or
twenty inches from the top of the manger. The best situa-
tion is midway between the partitions. But in this place, a
perpendicular front, flush with the head wall, can not be ob-
tained without recesses.

In reference to situation, hay-racks may be termed front,
side, and under racks. The first is that which is elevated on
the wall in front of the horse ; the second, that which is
placed in one corner ; and the third is on a level with the
manger.

The Front-Rack usually has a sloping face ; and sometimes
the inclination is so great, and the rack so high, that the
horse has to turn his head almost upside down every time he
applies to it. When the stable is not sufficiently wide, or the
walls sufficiently thick, to admit of a perpendicular face, the
front of the rack must be inclined ; but the inclination need
not be great. A rack having the face upright and the back
sloping, is shown in Fig. 10. When the spars are of iron,
this is the best rack. The next best is represented in Fig. 2.
It answers perfectly well for all kind of horses. It is thirty
inches wide, twenty-four deep, and nineteen from front to back.
The spars are round, one and a quarter inches thick, and two and
a half inches apart. Each rack should have a ring at bottom for
securing the horse's head. When tied to the spars he is apt
to bend or break them. Another very good front-rack is
shown in Fig. 3 ; but it is too small for large horses, though
suitable enough for fast- workers.

The Side-Rack may be placed in either corner, on the right
or on the left ; but when filled from the stable, it is most con-
venient on the loft side. When made of wood, the side-rack
usually has uprigh? round spars, arranged in a semi-circular
form. (See Fig. li.) The back is an inclined plane. The
bottom on the outside is boarded up, so that the horse may not
injure his head against the corner. This is the best kind of
rack for narrow and low stables. It takes nothing off the
width of the stable and allows the horse to stand quite within
the stall when eating his hay. The front might easily be
made of cast iron ; the back and bottom of wood ; or the in-
clined back might be dispensed with, and it would thus be both
cheap and durable. As usually made (see Fig. 6), it has all the
awkwardness of the old-fashioned sloping front, and it is gener-
ally too small.

36

STABLE ECONOMY.

The XJnder-Rack is sometimes nothing but a large deep
manger, having a few spars across the top, placed so far apart
that the horse's head can pass between them, and let his
muzzle to the bottom. This is used when the stable is too
low to admit an elevated rack. It is a poor substitute, trouble-
some to fill, and permitting the horse to waste his hay by scatter-
ing it among his litter, and spoiling it with his breath. Some-
times the under-rack differs not in form from the ordinary
wooden one. It is three feet long, occupying half the breadth
of the stall, and having its upper border level with the manger,
which occupies the other half of the stall. It is sometimes
sparred across the top, but most usually open ; its front is
sparred, sloping, and reaching to within a foot of the ground
The object of this is to permit the horse to eat while lying.
Few appear much inclined to take advantage of the contrivance.
Some do ; but most horses eat what the\ want before lying
down. It allows the horse to breathe upon his hay, and to
throw it on the ground ; and when sparred at top, he can not
get to the bottom of the rack, except from the front, and the
front he can hardly apply to without, lying down. The under-
rack, though generally made of wood, and with an incli««d
face, is sometimes of cast-iron, and upright.

Fig. 5.

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 3?

Fig. 5 represents a low rack and two iron manners, one
tor grain, another for water. It is taken from the stables of
Mr. Johnstone, of Blair Lodge, near Falkirk. He has about
ten stalls fitted up in this manner. The bottom of the rack,
I think, comes too near the ground. The upper border ought
to stand at the height of three feet eight inches ; when lower,
these under-racks, particularly in a lofty stable, are very
dangerous. The horses may get their fore-feet into them.

In some stables there are no racks. The hay is thrown on
the ground, or it is cut and placed in the manger. The first
is a wasteful practice, and not common ; the horse destroys
more hay than he eats. The second, that of cutting the hay
into chaff, is advisable only under certain circumstances.
At times hay is so cheap, that the quantity saved does not pay
the cost of converting it into chaff. Whether that be the case
or not, it is proper in large establishments to have racks in
some of the stalls. This will be understood by referring to
the article on Preparing Food.

The usual mode of filing the hay-rack is none of the best.
When the loft is over the stable, as it always is in towns, the
hay is put into the rack by a hole directly over it communica-
ting with the loft. For certain reasons these holes ought to
be abolished, and in a great many stables they are. The
moist foul air of the stable passes through them ; it mingles
with the hay and contaminates it. The dust and the seed
which are thrown down with the hay. fall upon the mane,
into the ears and the eyes, and annoy the horse as well as
soil him. Hence, he learns a trick of standing back, or break-
ing his halter ; and horses have been seriously injured by the
hay-fork slipping from the hand of a careless groom and fall-
ing upon the head or neck. There should be no communi-
cation between the loft and the stable. The hay can be rolled
into a bundle and put into the rack from the stable. It can
be thrown in at the top. The upper spars of low racks, when
they have any, should be fixed to a frame opening on hinges ;
it saves the time consumed in thrusting it through the spars.
The other racks are all quite open at top, and the hay is
thrown in by a fork.

[The most common method in America is, to construct the
barns with a space or hall of about fourteen feet in width be-
tween the stalls which face each other, and running through
the whole width of the building. The hay is then thrown
from the loft on to the hall floor, and thence into the racks.
This space acts as an admirable ventilator, and is otherwise

4

88 STABLE FCONOMY.

useful for a variety of purposes. The floors of the lofts ovei
the stables are made so close, either by double layers of boards
or a single layer grooved and tongued, as to prevent the seed
and dust falling on to the horses below. We think this ar-
rangement better than any we saw in England. In cities,
however, in consequence of the high price of building lots, this
plan can not so well be adopted. Yet this need not prevent
stables being made much higher between joints than is usually
practised, and giving windows and cross gauze-wire holes
sufficient for ventilation, constructed on the same principle as
the respirator for the human subject.]

Mangers. — The trough in which the horse receives his
grain is termed a manger. It is made of wood, or of cast-
iron. Stone has been employed, but it forms a bulky clumsy
manger, and is not in any respect superior to iron. In Scot-
land the mangers are usually made of wood, and extend the
whole breadth of the stall. In many places these are giving
place to others made of cast-iron, which are durable, and,
when properly made, more suitable. Wooden mangers are
in constant want of repairs, and they are never perfectly sweet
and clean. Greater durability is given to them by covering
the breast with thick plate-iron ; but no contrivance nor any
care can keep them always clean, especially where the food
is often boiled. The wood imbibes the moisture, and the
manger becomes musty ; it has a sour, fetid smell, which
prevents many delicate feeders from eating, and disgusts all
horses. The iron manger lasts for ever. A little care keeps
it clean, and it is never sour when empty. The short iron
manger is not much dearer than the long wooden one, and its
superior durability renders it ultimately much cheaper.

There is no occasion for having it so long as the stall is
broad. Wooden mangers, I believe, are generally made of
this length in order that they may be securely tixed. The
horses are tied to them, and their ends are supported by the
travises. Iron mangers are usually about thirty or thirty-six
inches long, and there is no need for having them longer. In
many stables, however, they are six feet long, which adds
greatly to their cost, without rendering them more useful.
They are seldom sufficiently deep, particularly for horses that
receive chaff or roots. Nine or ten inches in the ordinary
depth ; two or three inches more would improve them. In
breadth they should be twelve inches, which is about one
inch wider than usual. All this is inside measure. The
smaller-sized iron manger answers well enough for smali

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 39

horses, or indeed for any kind of horses, so long as they re-
ceive no manger food, but grain and beans. When bulkier
articles are to be eaten from the manger, the usual size is
found to be rather inconvenient. It holds the food, but the
horse throws it out when turning it over in search of that
which be likes best. There is no objection to a manger of
greater depth and width. Shallow mangers require two or
three spars across them, to prevent the horse from scattering
his grain. In general two are sufficient. They should be
placed near the ends, and across the top, or just within the
manger. Round iron bars, one inch thick, are better than
wooden spars. If these have been omitted in the original
construction of an iron manger, substitutes of hardwood may
be wedged in so firmly, that the horse can not extract them
with his teeth. When placed in front of the horse, the man-
ger should be provided with a ring for the collar rein. A long
manger, whether of wood or iron, may have two rings, each
fourteen inches from the travis. The edge of the manger
should be thick, that it may be strong, and blunt, not doing
much injury when the horse strikes it with his head. Neither
a wooden nor an iron manger should be flat at bottom. It
should be concave within, convex without. The sharp cor-
ner of a flat-bottomed manger injures the horse about the head
when rising, and about the legs or knees when he is pawing,
and, in proportion to its size and weight, it holds less than the
concave manger.

Some mangers are made to remove. This is particularly
desirable with wooden mangers. They can be taken out,
cleaned, and exposed to the air. But all the cleaning an iron
manger requires can be given without shifting it. It is safest
when fixed. Iron mangers are easily secured against a stone
wall, by means of cramps and lead ; but they are not so firm on
a wall of brick. Care must be taken to have them fast ; they are
very weighty, and whe.i the horse is attached to them, it is
not a little matter that holds them. They will be broken, and
the horse injured should they fall. On a brick wall, an iron
bolt passing completely through, and secured by a screw-nut,
affords the greatest security. The iron racks are sometimes
attached in the same wa}^ They have as much need to be
strongly fixed as the mangers, for the horse is often tied to
them.

The manger is always placed too low Professor Cole-
man, and some others, direct that it be put upon the ground.
Nature, they say, intended the horse to gather his food from

40 STABLE ECONOMY.

the surface of the soil, and for this reason T.ie ought not to have
it elevated. With as much force they might object to the use
of chairs, tables, and beds, in our own dwelling-houses. They
do not attempt to show that the horse suffers any inconveni-
ence by feeding from a high manger, or that he likes better
to eat off the ground. God made it easy but not necessary
for him to do so. Before domestication he may be indifferent
about the situation of his food ; but every groom knows that
a stabled horse likes to have both his grain and his water held
to a level with his head. There is no reason whatever for
having the mangers low, but there is reason for having them
high. When too low, the horse can not feed so easily, and
he is apt to receive injury by stepping into the manger, or by
setting his feet on its edge, and, when lying, it is in his way.

The top of the manger ought to stand between three feet
six inches and four feet from the ground. For horses about
fifteen hands it may be three feet six or eight inches ; for
ponies it must be lower in proportion to their height ; for the
very tallest horse it does not require to be more than four feet
high. When too high, the horse can not get his muzzle to
the bottom ; when too low, he is very apt to get his fore-feet
into it. This last accident happens so often, and so frequently
lames the horse, that it is rather surprising a low manger
should be so common. The manger, indeed, is not blamed so
often as the horse, who is chastised and tied down, or sold off as
incurably mischievous. It would surely be an easy matter to
raise the manger to its proper height. Horses that like to
see about them, are most prone to the trick of jumping into it.

A short manger may be placed either directly in front of the
horse, or in one corner. It is better to have it in the latter
situation, on the right side, supposing the rack to be placed on
the left. When in front, it is apt to incommode the horse as
he is lying down or rising up. Iron mangers (see Fig. 6),
of small dimensions, are sometimes made of a triangular form
to fi* into corners. They do well enough to hold a feed of
oats, Dut they are all a great deal too small for the mixed food
which is now given to many horses.

A long manger, long as the stall is broad, has a space below
it unoccupied, save by litter, which, when not perfectly free
from moisture, ought never to be placed in this situation. To
prevent a careless groom from putting the litter here, and to
prevent the horse from getting his head below the manger and
hurting himself when rising, this vacancy ought to be boarded
up. The boarding may slope from the top of the m»n?er down-

CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES.

41

Fig. 6.

§

I'mfl
ll

ward to the ground, near or close to the wall. This also pre
vents the horse from cutting his knees against the manger,
should it have a flat hottom. Short, or corner mangers have
less space below them, but it is as well to have them enclosed.

In some stables a drawer serves the purposes of a manger.
It is made of wood ; it holds little more than one measure of
oats ; and it slides into a recess in the wall, exactly like a
table-drawer. It has springs or catches, which keep it in or
out. It is pulled out only when the horse is to eat, and it is
shut up whenever he has done. It is said that horses never
learn to crib-bite when fed in this way. The drawer-man-
ger, however, is little patronised. I have seen only one. It
is doubtful whether it answers the intention with which it has
been invented.

Water-Manger. — Sometimes two mangers are placed in
each stall — one for water, and another for grain. It is said
that a horse drinks least when he has water constantly before
him ; and, if this be true, it is certainly desirable that he
should never want it. But, I think, we are still in need of
more experiments to decide this point It is beyond doubt

4*

12 STABLE ECONOMY.

that a horse who has water always within reach, will nevel
take so much as to hurt himself ; but it is doubtful whether he
can be ready at all times to work.

When a water-trough is introduced, it ought %o be so con-
trived that it can be easily rilled and easily emptied. After
standing a certain time, it becomes nauseously warm ; the
horse plays with it, washing his muzzle ; and tke vegetable
matter which falls into it is soon decomposed, a:.d the water
becomes unfit for use. The trough ought to b;3 connected
with a pipe at the bottom, which will carry off the water when
opened, by lifting the plug or turning the stopcock This is
important. If the groom have to carry the*manger sc its con-
tents to the door, the supply of fresh water will ;>e often
neglected. The stables first built by Mr. Laing at Edinburgh,
have water-mangers in each stall. The water is supplied by
a pipe running into the manger, and covered with an iron slide
to keep the horse's teeth off the stopcock. As far as I re-
member, there is no means of emptying the trough, without
lifting out its contents, or carrying away the manger. The
new stable wants the water-trough — so that, I suppose, it has
not been found of much service. I believe they are worse
than useless — unless provided with a pipe to take away the
soiled water, and another to bring the fresh.

Water-mangers must be made of iron. Lead is too soft,
and wood is altogether unfit for the purpose. They should
be cleaned every day ; not merely emptied, but well scrubbed.
Vegetable matter falls into the water and covers the manger
with a glutinous slime, which soils every fresh supply, and
which can be removed only by a good deal of rubbing with a
brush or hard wisp. Loose boxes or other places intended
for sick horses, should be furnished with these water-troughs
whether the stables are or are not. They should be deeper,
and may be shorter than the grain-manger, but of the same
width, and placed at the same elevation.

VENTILATION OF STABLES.

It is upward of eight-and-forty years since James ClarKe
of Edinburgh protested against close stables. He insisted
that they were hot and foul, to a degree incompatible with
health ; and he strongly recommended that they should be aired
in such a manner as to have them always cool and sweet.
Previous to the publication of Clarke's work, people never
thought of admitting fresh air into a stable ; they had no notion

VENTILATION OF STABLES. 43

of its use. In fact, they regarded it as highly pernicious, and
did all they could to exclude it. In those times, the groom
shut up his stable at night, and was careful to close every
aperture by which a breath of fresh air might find admission.
The keyhole and the threshold of the door were not forgotten.
The horse was confined all night in a sort of hothouse, and
in the morning the groom was delighted to find his stable
warm as an oven. He did not perceive, or he did not notice,
that the air was bad, charged with moisture, and with vapors
more pernicious than moisture. It was oppressively warm,
and that was enough for him. He knew nothing about its
vitiation, or about its influence upon the horse's health. In a
large crowded stable, where the horses were in constant and
laborious work, there would be much disease. Glanders,
grease, mange, blindness, coughs, and broken wind, would
prevail, varied occasionally by fatal inflammations. In
another stable, containing fewer horses, and those doing little
work, the principal diseases would be sore throats, bad eyes,
swelled legs, and inflamed lungs, or frequent invasions of the
influenza. But everything on earth would be blamed for
these before a close stable.

Since 1788, when Clarke's work was published, there has
been a constant outcry against hot, foul stables. Every
veterinary writer who has had to treat of diseases, has blamed
the hot stables for producing at least one half of them. So
far as the influence of these writers has extended, they have
produced some effect. A ventilated stable is not now a won-
der ; many are properly aired, and many more bear witness
that, ventilation has been attempted though not effected. Farm
stables are, in general, pretty well aired, and it is probable
they always were so. Carelessness is to be thanked for thar..
Apertures which admit air are there by accident. The cavalry
stables used to be shamefully close. Before veterinary sur-
geo is were appointed to the army, ignorance had leave to
practise all its tricks. Professor Coleman introduced a system
of ventilation which must have saved the government many
thousands of pounds every year. Like many other salutary
innovations, it was at first strongly resisted. Much evil was
predicted ; but diseases which used to destroy whole troops
are now scarcely known in the army.

Much has been said and written about ventilation, and a
good deal has been done to produce it in places where till
lately it was never thought of. But still very many stables
continue to be badly ventilated. The blame belongs chiefly

44 STABLE ECO OMT.

to the architect. Few stabb-bui. ders think of providing ap-
ertures for the express purpose pf ventilation. When re-
minded that the horse is a breath.'ng animal, and that some
provision must be made for letting him have fresh air, they
display as much ignorance as if th ^y had not learned their
business. Mr. Lyon's new stables were ventilated from the
beginning. Each stable contains sixteen horses, and two
apertures were placed at the highest part of the building.
They were very well placed, indeed just where they should
be, for carrying off the heated and foul air. But their size 1
Each pipe was exactly three inches and a half square !
These two holes would hardly ventilate a stage-coach, or an
omnibus, and yet they were intended for sixteen horses.
There was no other opening whatever ; the windows would
not move, and the doors were as closely fitted as they could
be.

The architect may be ignorant, but the owner of the horse
ought to know better. The wealthy and well-inlormed pro-
prietors of large coaching and posting studs, are sufficiently
alive to the importance of ventilation. Those by whom it is
neglected are soon taught, and in a way that is not easily
forgotten. But there are many who still oppose ventilation ;
some are indifferent about it, and very few know how it ought
to be produced.

Much of the opposition to ventilation has arisen from an
error, very common among those who recommend it. They
invariably confound a hot stable with a foul one. The two
words, hot and foul, are seldom separated. The stable is
spoken of as if it could not be hot without being foul ; and
the evils which spring only from foulness are attributed to
heat. Hence, those who happen to have a stable warm, o'
it may be hot, and at the same time clean, are very apt „o
oppose the practice of ventilation. Their horses do as well
as those in colder stables, and, it may be, they do much bet-
ter. One will say, I find the practice of airing stables does
no good ; it is founded upon theory, it won't stand the test
of experience. My horses look as well again as those of
my neighbor over the way, and my stable is like an ovon
compared to his. This may be quite true. To look well ^
horse must be kept warm ; but to be well, fit to do all th(
work a horse can be made to do, he must have pure air. We
are not contending, or we should not be contending, against,
a warm, but against a foul stable. In general, it so happens
that the air in becoming warm also becomes impure. But

VENTILATION OF STABLES. 45

this is not a necessary consequence. Air may be cold and
at the same time quite unfit for breathing, or it may be hot
and yet perfectly free from impurity. There may be stables
in which the atmosphere is perniciously hot ; but I do not
think I have ever seen them. I have not been able to trace
a disease arising from warm or hot stabling. [This is a great
error, for nothing is more easily susceptible of proof, than that
horses housed in ver}- warm stables are much more liable to
take cold when out in a raw wind or during the winter sea-
son, than those kept m a lower atmosphere. Dangerous in-
flammatory complaints are also more likely to follow colds
take by horses when too warmly stabled or clothed.] But every
year affords innumerable examples of what mischief can be
done by a foul stable. Of course these foul stables are al-
ways hot ; but, in my belief, it is the impure, not the heated
air, from which disease arises. Many stables remarkably
warm are remarkably healthy. It is important to make this
distinction. The horse can be kept warm without being
poisoned with foul air. And, among stablemen, it is so well
known that warmth is congenial to the horse, that it improves
his appearance, and gives him greater vigor, that it is per-
fectly useless to offer any opposition to it. Practice will al-
ways prevail over theory. We ought not to oppose warmth,
but the means by which warmth is given. The horse should
be kept comfortably warm, but he must have pure air. A
cold stable is not so dangerous as a foul one.

Then there are many people who are indifferent about ven-
tilation. They dislike trouble ; they can suffer much, but
they can do nothing. They will bear all the evils, all the
loss, and all the vexations of a bad stable, rather than make
any effort to improve it. If an offer were made to ventilate
their stables, without cost and without trouble, they would
permit it to be done. When advised, for the sake of their
horses, to get the stables properly aired, one will reply, " Ah,
it is very true what you say, but you may see the thing can
not be done !"

Stables are often constructed in such a manner that it is
very difficult to ventilate them. The process may be both
troublesome and expensive ; there ought to be some good
reason for suffering the one and incurring the other. Opposi-
tion has been excited by magnifying the evils of a close
stable ; but, divested of all exaggeration, it will be seen that
they are not insignificant.

46 STABLE ECONOMY.

The Object of Ventilation is to procure a constant supply
of air in sufficient purity to "meet the demands of the animal
economy. Sufficient purity is not perfect purity. Neither
the horse nor any other animal requires air absolutely pure.
In towns and in stables there is no such thing ; and that is
proof strong enough that it is not essential.

The Composition of Pure Air has been repeatedly ascer-
tained by chemical research. The atmosphere consists of
two simple gases. According to Lavoisier, 100 measures of
■pure air contain 73 of nitrogen and 27 of oxygen. [Accord-
ing to later authorities, within a fraction of 21 of oxygen and
79 of nitrogen, and about 25V0 °f carbonic acid.] It has
been proved that a breathing animal consumes the oxygen,
and that death ensues when the supply falls below the de-
mand. When a small animal is enclosed in an air-tight ves-
sel, it soon dies. The air suffers no apparent diminution in
bulk, yet it undergoes a change in composition. The oxygen
is consumed, or a large portion of it is consumed, and its
place is occupied by another gas, termed carbonic acid, which
is given out from the lungs. This kind of air is rather
heavier than that of which the atmosphere is composed. In
certain situations it mingles with the air in the proportion
of about 1 to 100. When an animal is completely immersed
in it, he dies immediately. Some contend that carbonic acid
is poisonous ; others that it destroys life merely by excluding
the common air, without which no breathing animal can live.
The carbonic acid is an evacuation ; it exists in the system,
but it must not accumulate there. It must be throwi? out
almost as rapidly as it is formed. As it is evacuated, it con-
taminates the external air with which it mingles. Hence, in
the neighborhood of all animals, the air is more or less im-
pure.

The Use of Air , in the animal economy, is to purify the
blood. This fluid is in a state of constant change. As it
circulates through the various parts of the body, it performs
functions innumerable ; these operations change its composi-
tion, and render it unfit to repeat them unless it be duly
renovated. In the lungs the air and the blood come in con-
tact, and both are changed. The air loses a certain portion
of oxygen and acquires carbon. It becomes of a brightei
red; from a dark purple hue it is changed to bright scarlet.
The process is briefly described by the word purification.
But it must be remembered that, besides parting with some
noxious ingredient, the blood is altered in some other way

VENTILATION OF STABLES. 47

probably by the addition of oxygen, and certainty by the
agency of oxygen. If the air be destitute of this constituent,
or if it do not contain a certain- quantity, the blood can not
undergo the change by which it maintains life.

The Composition of Impure Air is not always the same.
By impurity is here meant any alteration which renders the
air less fit for breathing. The impurity varies according to
the quantity, the number, and the kind of foreign matters
which mingle with the air, and according to the degree in
which one of its constituents is deficient in quantity. Air
may be bad, merely because it is deprived of part of its
oxygen. It is probable, indeed it is certain, that in particulai
situations the air does not contain its full proportion of
oxygen, and that the animals who breathe it do not experi-
ence any serious inconvenience. Though there is not the
usual quantity, there is sufficient. When the air contains so
little oxygen that it can not meet the demand of those animals
by whom it is breathed, it may very well be called bad. It
has power to do mischief; the animal suffers, not from the
presence of a pernicious agent, but from the absence of that
which enables the blood to perform its functions. The air,
however, may be rendered actively injurious or poisonous, by
the addition of foreign ingredients. These are of various
kinds, many of which can not be discovered by the chy'mist.
They are known to exist only from their effects upon the
health of the living animal.

The Impure Air of a Close Stable is deficient in oxygen,
and mingled with carbonic acid, ammoniacal gas, and some
other matters. The deficiency of oxygen in stables has
never been proved by actual experiment. But there can be
no doubt but it occurs wherever the air is confined around a
breathing animal. Repeated investigations have shown a de-
ficiency in theatres, hospitals, churches, and other places
crowded by human beings. A French chymist analyzed the
air of a large theatre, that of the Tuileries, before and after
the play. He found it of the usual composition, 100 parts
containing 27 of oxygen and 73 of nitrogen, before the per-
formance ; at the conclusion, there were 76-^ of nitrogen, 2\
of carbonic acid, and only 21 of oxygen. There is every
reason to believe that the air of a close stable is deficient in
oxygen to a much greater extent. Stables are often as
closely packed as a theatre ; the animals are much larger,
the building much lower, containing less air in proportion to
the demand closer, and closed for a longer time, than the

48 8TABLE ECONOMY.

habitations of man, and the deficiency of oxygen must be so
much the greater.

The deterioration of air by consumption of oxygen, and ad-
dition of carbon, is produced entirely by breathing ; and when
carried beyond a certain point, debility, or disease, or death,
one or all, must be the result. But the air of a close stable
is vitiated by other means. There are emanations from the
surface of the body, from the dung, and from the urine. The
effluvia, arising from these, mingle with the air, and con-
taminate it, till it acquires the power of exciting disease
When the dung and urine are allowed to accumulate day
after day, till the horse lies upon a bed of rotting litter, the
air becomes still more seriously tainted. When first entered
in the morning, the pungent vapors of these close stables are
almost suffocating. Even after the doors have been open all
day, there are many corners where the air is always foul.
The acrid odor which irritates the eyes and nostrils, is chiefly
or entirely composed of ammonia. It is given out by the
evacuations, particularly after they have begun to ferment, to
rot. [The best substance to sweeten and purify the at-
mosphere in stables, and for fixing the ammonia arising so
strongly from horse urine in particular, as well as from all
animal evacuation, is charcoal-dust scattered over the floors,
among the litter, and on the dung-heap. Plaster of Paris is
an excellent thing ; also sulphuric acid diluted with about
fifty per cent, of water, and sprinkled on the litter. All these
substances add to the value of the manure, more especially
the charcoal-dust, and it has the further advantage of being
cheapest, and usually the most easily obtained.]

The chymist can discover the carbonic acid and the am-
moniacal vapor which mingle with the air of a close stable.
By examining the air after a certain manner, he not only as-
certains the presence of these gases, but he also measures
their quantity. It has, however, been supposed that the air
often contains foreign matters, whose existence can not be
shown by any chymical process. There is reason to believe,
that whenever a large number of animals are crowded to-
gether, and compelled to breathe and rebreathe the same air
several times, an aerial poison is generated, having power to
produce certain diseases. Professor Coleman is of opinion,
that glanders in the horse, rot in sheep, husk in swine, typhus
fever, and some other diseases of the human species, are all
occasionally produced in this way. It is certain that health
can not be maintained in an atmosphere greatly vitiated ; but

VENTILATION OF STABLES. 49

wheilier the disease arise merely from a deficient supply of
oxygen, or from some peculiar poison generated during res-
piration and perspiration, can not be positively known
Chymists, indeed, deny the existence of this animal poison
They can not find it ; but it does not, therefore, follow that
there is none. To their tests the matter of glanders and
that of strangles appear to be perfectly similar. That they
are not the same, however, is proved by applying them to a
living being. The air may contain a poison which no test
merely chymical can detect.

The Evils of an Impure Atmosphere, vary according to
several circumstances. The ammoniacal vapor is injurious
to the eyes, to the nostrils, and the throat. Stables that are
both close and filthy, are notorious for producing blindness,
coughs, -and inflammation of the nostrils ; these arise from
acrid vapors alone. They are most common in those dirty
hovels where the dung and the urine are allowed to accumu-
late for weeks together. The air of a stable may be con-
taminated by union with ammoniacal vapor, and yet be
tolerably pure in other respects. It may never be greatly de-
ficient in oxygen ; but when the stable is so close that the
supply of oxygen is deficient, other evils are added to those
arising from acrid vapors. Disease, in a visible form, may
not be the immediate result. The horses may perforin their
work and take their food, but they do not look well, and they
have not the vigor of robust health. Some are lean, hide-
bound, having a dead dry coat ; some have swelled legs,
some mange, and some grease. All are spiritless, lazy at
work, and soon fatigued. They may have the best of food,
and plenty of it, and their work may not be- very laborious ;
yet they always look as if half-starved, or shamefully over-
wrought. When the influenza comes among them, it spreads
fast, and is difficult to treat. Every now and then one or two
of the horses becomes glandered and farcied.

Stables are close in various degrees, and it is only in the
closest that their worst evils are experienced. But bad air
is most pernicious when the horses stand long in the stable,
when the food is bad, and when the work is laborious.
Hence it is chiefly in the stables occupied by coaching and
boat-horses, that the effects of a foul atmosphere are most de-
cisively announced. Other stables, such as those used for
carriage-horses, hunters, racers, and roadsters, may be equally
ill-ventilated ; yet the evils are not so visible, nor of the
same kind ; coughs, inflamed lungs a marked liability to in-

5

50 STABLE ECONOMY

fluenza, and general delicacy of constitu ion, are among the
most serious consequences. But the two cases are different.
These valuable horses have not so much need for fresh air ;
they are not required to perform half the work of a stage-coach
horse ; they are much better attended to, particularly after
work. The stable is kept cleaner ; the air is not contamina-
ted by rotting litter, and, in general, the food of these horses
is of the best quality. Many farm and cart-horse stables are
destitute of efficient ventilation, but the horses do not suffer
so much as might be expected. Their slow work does
not demand a constant supply of the purest air ; and, com-
pared with the fast-working coach-horse, they are but a very
short time in the stable. A coach-horse wLo does his work
in one hour, must suffer more than the other, who is in the
open air perhaps ten hours out of the twenty-four.

When a deficient supply of air, hard work, and bad food,
happen to operate in combination, the ravages of disease are
dreadful. Glanders and the influenza burst among the horses ;
and they make brief work of it. For a long time the horses
may appear to suffer little inconvenience. They may be lean,
shamefully lean, unfit for full work, and many may become
unable to continue at any work. Several may have diabetes,
and many be troubled with bad coughs. But. until a sickly
season prevails, or until some other circumstance occurs to
render the horses more than usually susceptible of the evils
arising from the combined influence of bad air, bad food, and
• hard work, there is nothing to excite any alarm. They man-
age, with some difficulty, to perform their allotted task, though
they never look as if they were fit for it. At last the influ-
enza appears, or a horse suddenly displays all the symptoms
of glanders. One after another is taken ill in rapid succes-
sion, and death follows death until the -stables are half emp-
tied, or until the entire stud is swept away. The proprietor
begins to look about him. It is time for him to know that
God has not given him absolute and unconditional control
over his fellow-tenants of the earth. Oppression has wide
dominions, but there are limits which can not be passed.
Continued suffering terminates in death.

Under circumstances like these, death reveals the operation
of a wise and beneficent law. Man, in the pride of his igno-
rance, may regard the result as a great evil, and to him it truly
is such ; but a little reflection will show, that it is the un-
avoidable result of a law designed to prevent evils still great-
er. Among other provisions intended for the preservation

VENTILATION OF STABLES. 51

of every existing species, it has been ordained, that, when
placed under certain conditions, some shall die that others
may live. When a class of animals become so excessively
numerous that something essential to its existence, such as
air, food, or water, is in danger of being exhausted, a disease
quickly arises, which carries off a certain number, perhaps a
majority of the claimants. Those which survive have suf-
ficient, though it may be a scanty subsistence ; while, had
all lingered on, all must have perished, and the race would
be extinguished. In relation, however, to animals which are
spread over the earth so extensively as the horse, this law
is probably intended to prevent excessive multiplication,
rather than to preserve the species, which could hardly be
all endangered in so many different places at the same time.
As yet, the existence of such a law has been little observed,
and numerous examples of its operation can not be cited.
" On some of the dry and sultry plains of South America,"
says an excellent writer, " the supply of water is often scanty,
and then a species of madness seizes the horses, and their
generous and docile qualities are no longer recognised. They
rush violently into every pond and lake, savagely mangling
and trampling upon one another, and the carcasses of many
thousands of them destroyed by their fellows [and by the
disease ?] have occasionally been seen in and around a con-
siderable pool. This is one of the means by which the too
rapid increase of this quadruped is, by the ordinance of na-
ture, here prevented."* When a scarcity of food prevails
among wild animals, it is very likely that some cause arises
to diminish the demand. Among domestic animals, frequent
abortions and barrenness may in many instances be traced to
the famine of a severe winter. It is difficult to conceive how
any deficiency of air can occur to the free dwellers of the
forest and the desert. Yet such an event is possible ; I see
no absurdity in supposing that animals might congregate in
such extraordinary multitudes, that the air would be con-
taminated and become destructive of those by whom it is
breathed. It is said that horses have been seen in droves of ten
thousand. Were several of these herds by any chance thrown
into one, no place could afford sufficient nutriment to maintain
them ; and it is probable that the air would then receive
power to destroy a few, lest famine should destroy all. It
may be true that nothing of this kind has ever been observed
to take place among any mass of untamed animals. There

* Mr, Youatt— The Horse. Lib. Use. Knowledge, p. 8.

52 STABLE ECONOMY.

are other agents which vigilantly guard against excessive
multiplication. The contamination of the air may be the last and
most potent resource. But though rarely, or it may be never,
occurring in the wilderness, the event is frequent in domesti-
city. The number of horses confined together even in the
largest and most crowded stable, bears no proportion to the
multitudes which compose a wild drove ; yet, considered in
relation to the small quantity of air by which they are sur-
rounded, the number is excessive. The difference between
the number of the horses and the quantity of air, is greater
than it is ever known to be among wild horses. Hence,
stabling has introduced a disease that falls very rarely, per-
haps not at all, upon the untamed portion of the species. I
allude to glanders. This disease has never been seen among
wild horses, and it is hardly known where the European mode
of stabling has not been tried. That it can be produced by
bad air. or by the want of pure air, is generally admitted. " In
the expedition to Quiberon, the horses had not been long on
board the transports when it became necessary to shut down
the hatchways (we believe for a few hours only) ; the con-
sequence of this was that some of them were suffocated, and
all the rest were disembarked either glandered or farcied."*

[We have no doubt that these horses were diseased when
shipped, and that the confinement was merely the occasion of
a quicker development of the disease.]

.Stables are never so perfectly close as to suffocate the
horses, and they are very rarely so close as to be the sole
cause of glanders or farcy. When these diseases appear in
a stable, bad air may possibly be the only cause ; but in general
the air is assisted by excessive work, or bad food, or by both.
Setting these destructive diseases out of the question, chronic
cough, blindness, and common colds, form the principal evils
of a stable in which the air is mingled with effluvia arising
from the dung and the urine. And loss of vigor, imperfect
health, and imperfect strength, are, in ordinary cases, the
principal consequences of breathing air which is deficient in
oxygen. Where the air is still more impure, and still more
deficient, the evils are more numerous, and more serious.

When a stable is opened in the morning, if the walls or the
woodwork be moist and perspiring, the stable is too close.
Zf the air irritates the eyes and the nostrils, the stable is dirty
as well as close. If the air is not comfortably warm, the
stable is too open.

* Percivall's Lectures, vol. iii., p. 405.

VENTILATION OF STABLES. 53

Modes of Ventilating Stables. — Many people are perfectly
aware that their stables ought to be aired ; but they are igno
rant of the mode in which it should be done. The owner
or groom is told that the stable is too close ; and he replies,
"The stable is not so close as you think ; indeed, it is rather
cold if anything. This window is generally open all day,
and that hole is never closed. I got it made on purpose to
air the stable, for it was too hot before." Now, it frequently
happens that the stable is not too warm, and that the hole and
the window do keep it cool. But this is not to the purpose.
These people can not be made to understand the difference
between warm air and foul air. They are always thinking
and talking of the temperature, when it is the purity of the
atmosphere that ought to engage their attention. Ventilation
may be managed in such a way as to preserve the air in toler-
able purity, without making it uncomfortably cold. There
must be apertures for taking away that which has been
vitiated, and apertures for admitting a fresh supply ; and
these must be properly placed. Their situation is of some
consequence, particularly when it is desirable to kee,p the
stable warm. In general they are placed too far from the
roof, too near the ground, perhaps about a foot above the
horse's head. In this place, they must be so large, in order
to air the stable, that they must also cool it.

When the impure air escapes from the horse's lungs, it is
warmer than the surrounding air, and it is lighter. In con-
sequence, it rises upward. It ascends to the highest part of
the building ; if permitted to escape there, it does no harm.
When there is no aperture so high up, the air remains at the
roof till it becomes cooler, or cold. When cool as that which
occupies the lower part of the stable, or when cooler — and it
soon loses its heat — the air descends, and is rebreathed a
second, a third, or an indefinite number of times, until it be-
comes perfectly saturated with impurities, or exhausted of its
oxygen — at least comparatively exhausted — unable to supply
the demand. Then a part of the blood must pass through
the lungs without undergoing the usual change, and the horse
becomes less vigorous, and consumes more food and more
water than he would if the air were purer. There may be
large openings in the stable capable of admitting fresh air, yet
they are of no use unless there be others for letting out the
impure air before it cools.

Apertures for the Escape of the Impure Air, ought to be a*
the highest part of the building, or as near to it as possible

5*

54 STABLE ECONOMY.

There should be one for each stall, and when the stall is
empty, the hole may, in winter time, be closed. It should be
from eight to ten inches square, and placed midway between
the travises. When the stable is surrounded by other buildings
in such a manner that the air-holes can not be made in the
head wall, they should run through the roof. When a loft is
over the stable, the air may be let out by small chimneys
running up the walls ; and if these have been neglected in the
original construction, the air should be conducted through
ceiling and roof by square wooden tubes, in order that it may
not mingle with the hay. In this case, instead of an aperture
to each stall, one, two, or three, of larger size, may be sufficient
for the whole number, and much less expensive and incon-
venient than a separate tube to each horse ; whether few or
many, they should be of sufficient size : taken altogether, the
whole should afford an opening equal to ten inches square for
every horse ; and when the stable is low-roofed, this size may
be too small. When two or three large ventilators are to
supply the place of many smaller openings, they should be so
constructed that their size may be regulated according to the
number of the horses. When the stable is only half filled,
the ventilators, except in hot weather, need not be more than
half open. But yet they should never be made to close en-
tirely, lest an ignorant groom take it into his head to shut
them all, or a careless fellow to neglect them. In a double-
headed stable, two or three may be placed on each side,
directly over the horses' heads ; or they may be directly above
the gangway : the first plan is the best, but the second is
the cheapest. In the one case it may require four apertures,
two on each side with as many wooden tubes to run through
the loft ; in the other case, only two of double the size may
be placed in the gangway. Mr. Lyon's stables are thus ventil-
ated.

The same tubes serve for air and for light. Whether large
or small, the air-holes should be defended on the outside by
a cap to exclude rain and wind. In some situations an iron-
grating may be necessary to exclude vermin, thieves, and
persons maliciously disposed. When this is used, the aper-
tures must be much larger.

In addition to the usual ventilating apertures, there ought
to be one or two others for airing the stables more completely
upon certain occasions. After washing, fumigating, or other
purifying processes, or when the horses are all out, or when
the weather is very hot, it may be convenient to produce a

VENTILATION OF STABLES.

55

Fig. 7.

current through the stable capable of carrying off moisture
and impure or noxious air, more rapidly and more perfectly
than the ordinary ventilators will allow. When the litter is
not wholly removed as soon as soiled, these extra apertures
are particularly necessary during the time the stable is being
cleaned. The door at the one end, and a window in the
other, answer the purpose very well ; better than a window
in the roof, when the air is not heated. In cold weather, a
large and strong current is not quite harmless when the
horses are at home, but it may be freely permitted while they
are out.

Apertures for the Admission of Pure Air. — Most people do
not imagine that one set of apertures are required to carry
away the foul, and another to admit the pure*air. Even those
who know that one set can not answer both purposes in a
perfect manner, are apt to disregard any provision for admit-
ting fresh air. They say there is no fear but sufficient will
find its way in somehow, and the bottom of the door is usu-
ally pointed to as a very good inlet. It is clear enough that
while air is going out, some also must be coming in ; and
that if none go in, little or none can go out. To make an
outlet without any inlet, betrays ignorance of the circum*

56 STABLE ECdNOMY

stances which produce motion in the air. To leave the inlet
to chance, is just as much as to say that it is of no conse-
quence in what direction the fresh air is admitted, or whether
any be admitted. The outlets may also serve as inlets ; but
then, they must be much larger than I have mentioned, and
the stable, without having purer air, must be cool, or sold.
When the external atmosphere is colder than that in the stable,
it enters at the bottom of the door, or it passes through the
lowest apertures to supply and fill the place of that which is
escaping from the high apertures. If there be no low open-
ings the cooler air will enter from above ; it will form a cur-
rent inward at the sides, while the warmer air forms another
current, setting outward at the centre of each aperture. But
when the upper apertures are of small size, this will not take
place till the air inside becomes very warm or hot.

The stables at the Veterinary College are all single-headed.
Each stall has an aperture at top of the head wall for car-
rying off the foul air, and in the back wall there is another
of the same size, level with the ground, for admitting pure
air. These are covered with iron-grating to exclude vermin.
This, I think, is not the best place to have these inletting
apertures. In order to reach the. nostrils, or head of the
stall, where the impure air is rising upward, the fresh air
must pass over the horse's heels while he is standing, and
over a great part of his body while lying. The same thing
happens when it passes from the bottom of the door. A cur-
rent of cold air is established, and constantly flowing from
the point where it enters, to the point where it escapes, and
the horse, or some part of him, stands in its path. Possibly
a current so small and so feeble may do no harm, but possibly
also it may have something to do in the production of cold
legs, cracked heels, or an attack of inflammation. If it have
any effect it can not be of a beneficial tendency, and ought
therefore to be prevented if it can be prevented. It is easy
to break the current and diffuse the cold air over the stable,
by placing a board or some other obstacle opposite the inlet-
ting apertures. It would be better, however, if they could
be placed nearer the points where the air is wanted.

In Mr. Lyon's stables (Fig. 7) there are no apertures pur-
posely contrived for admitting fresh air. The windows serve
both as outlets and as inlets. They are very large. While
the warm and impure air is ascending the sides of the tunnel,
the external air is descending the centre of the same passage,
and spreading over all the stable. This keeps it cool, cooler

VENTILATION OF STABLES. 57

than would be proper where a fine coat is of more impor <ice
Still, by lowering the windows these stables can be kep.. very
comfortable, and without rendering the air unwholesome.
From the manner in which they are arranged, low apertures
can not be obtained except to four stalls, without considerable
expense, and I am not sure that they would be a great im-
provement though they were introduced.

Admitting that it is better for the sake of warmth to have
small outlets with corresponding inlets, than to have large
outlets and no inlets, I think the inlets ought to be placed
near the horse's nostrils. To keep him warm, the air which
surrounds his body should be warm and stagnant, or at least
as warm and still as ventilation wrill permit. When the fresh
air enters at some distance, it must traverse the stable to
reach the place where it is consumed, and in its passage it
cools the stable and plays upon some part of the horse. By
admitting the fresh air at the head wall, below the manger,
or near the ground, the current would be short ; it would not
be intercepted by the horse, and it would not c<x>l the air
which surrounds his body, and keeps him warm. A stable
free at both ends, whether single or double, might have a
wooden tube running below all the mangers, and at each ex-
tremity open to the external air. As it passed through each
stall, a number of small perforations, widely spread and suf-
ficient to admit the air, would be better than a single aperture.
If the stable were not very long, perhaps it might be suf-
ficient to have only one end of the tube open ; and whether open
at one end or at both, the extremity should be turned down-
ward or defended by a cap, to prevent the wind from blowing
into it. I do not think that the air would ever enter with
such force as to cool the horse's head or his legs. But as the
plan has not been tried, whoever thinks well of it had better
put it to experiment on a small scale. When the stable abuts
against other buildings, this is the only mode by which fresh
air can be brought to the head of the stall, without passing
over the horse. When the head wall is free, an aperture can
be made right through it ; but this, though it might be better
than having it placed opposite the horse's heels, would be
objectionable. The air might come in too strongly, and blow
upon the head when the horse is lying. The small sieve-
like perforations spread over a considerable surface, the
whole forming a space equal to about six inches square,
would render a current upon the head almost impossible.
* The only use of low apertures is to admit fresh air. In

58 STABLE ECONOMY

former times, it was supposed that they were necessary for
taking out the carbonic acid gas formed during respiration. It
was found that this gas is much heavier than common air, and
it was imagined that it fell to the ground, like water when
dropped among oil. But it is now known that, though heav-
ier, the gas unites with the atmosphere, or gravitates in very
small quantities, and only till the air can absorb it.

When the floor of the stable is bad, retaining the urine and
then rejecting it by evaporation, the inlets and the outlets re-
quire to be much larger than I have mentioned. A low roof
also renders large apertures very necessary.

Objections urged against Ventilation. — These, as I have
already hinted, often have their origin in ignorance, which
attempts ventilation without knowing its intention or the mode
of producing it ; and in indifference, which thinks it does
well while it follows as others have led. The cost of ven-
tilating a stable is very trifling, yet some are so awkwardly
arranged that the process may demand more than the owner
is willing to give. It is the most foolish of all objections ;
the evils produced by bad air may be attended with more loss
in six months than would pay the cost of ventilating the
stables six times. Even where there is no actual disease, the
horses, if doing work, require more corn to maintain their
condition than those who have more air.

The cold currents of a ventilated stable, to which people
so often object, are injurious only when the apertures are too
large or improperly placed. If there be a large aperture be-
hind the horse's heels, and another above his head, the cold
air must pass over him, and in force proportioned to its vol-
ume. But this is easily avoided, either by having a number
of very small apertures, or by placing the outlets and the in-
lets in such relation to each other, that the horse can not
stand in the way of the current. The told air is always
flowing by the nearest road from the point at which it enters
to the point at which it is consumed, that is, at the horse's
nostrils. With a knowledge of this simple fact, to which I
have already alluded more fully, ventilation may be so regu-
lated that the current need not traverse much of the stable, to
cool the air, nor to fall on any particular part of the horse.
When the fresh air must pass over the horse, before it can
reach his nostrils, its force can be broken by admitting it
through numerous and wide-spread perforations, each perhaps
not exceeding half an inch in diameter, but taken altogether,
nearly equal in size to the aperture by which the foul air
escapes.

STABLE APPENDAGES. 59

STABLE APPENDAGES.

These consist of loose boxes ; of apartments for provendei
and litter ; of a sleeping chamber for the stable-man ; a har-
ness-room ; a yard, or shed, for grooming and exercise ; and
a water-pond. Of the construction, size, situation, and ar-
rangement of these, I have little to say. My principal object
is to consider them in relation to the health, vigor, safety, and
convenience of the horse.

Loose Boxes are merely large stalls, or apartments for
one horse, in which he is shut up without being confined by
the head. The horse is loose, and hence the name given to
these places. They form a very necessary appendage to all
stables whether large or 'small, yet they are too often forgot-
ten in the construction of these buildings. Their utility is
unquestionable. In the sickness of inflamed lungs, the mad-
uess of brain-fever, and the agony of colic, they confer qui-
etness, repose, and safety. They permit the lame horse to
lie down, and to rise easily and often, without the risk of in-
flicting further injury. For a fatigued horse, there is no
place like a loose box. There he can stretch his wearied
limbs in ease and quietness. An overtasked hunter will re-
cover his vigor and activity a full day sooner in a loose box
than in a stall. Some horses will not lie down when tied by
the head, and they soon injure their legs and become unfit for
full work. A loose box is the proper place for such a horse.
Then a loose box, when properly contrived, separated from
the stable, is a convenient place for a horse having an infec-
tious disease ; and it is the safest place for those that ob-
stinately persist in breaking loose.

Loose boxes vary in size from ten to sixteen feet square.
They are too small at ten feet, and rather cold at sixteen. It
is a very convenient loose box at fourteen feet square. It is
better larger than smaller. It should be well paved, the floor
inclining a little from all sides toward a grating in the centre.
[It is better to have the floor slightly inclining to the back of
the stable, and a gutter running its whole length two inches
deep and six inches wide, to carry off the urine to a cess-
pool under cover outside. All the effluvia may be retained in
this by throwing charcoal or peat earth into the cess-pool, to
the depth of two feet or so, and removing it with the urine
when wanted for manure.] The walls should be boarded ;
the roof should be eight feet from the ground, neither more

60 STABLE ECONOMY.

nor less. There should be a manger for grain or mash, ani
another for water ; and a hay-rack. All these may be rather
smaller than those in the stable. They have been objected
to in a loose box, as likely to injure the horse. Except when
mad with pain or brain-fever, he will take care of himself.
The mangers, however, may be made to remove when they
are likely to be in the horse's way. There should be abun-
dance of air and light, admitted by windows and apertures
which can be closed, or their size regulated according to cir-
cumstances. The windows may have shutters, for light is
sometimes objectionable. They may be placed in the roof,
or high in the wall, out of the horse's reach. There should
also be a small shelf, near the roof, for holding a light, a
brush, bandages, or any other little article. A cupboard for
clothes, food, medicines, or articles belonging to the sick
horse, is convenient, and may help to keep disease from the
other horses. The door should be in two pieces, cut across,
the largest half at bottom ; it should open inward, and be
secured by bolts. The entrance may be five feet wide ; it
need not be wider, and it should not be narrower.

The number of loose boxes required in a large stud, varies
greatly according to the kind of work and the kind of man-
agement. In well-ordered coaching studs, one to every thir-
tieth horse is sufficient. In some, double or treble this num-
ber could be in constant use ; but on such establishments
there are seldom more than two for a hundred stalls, and very
often not one. In hunting and in racing stables, one for
every third or fourth horse is almost indispensable. They
are employed for wintering the racer and summering the
hunter.

Their situation in relation to the stables is a matter of some
consequence, particularly in large studs. When ranged in a
row, one side should abut against the stable or some other
building. The boxes are very cold when exposed all round.
But they ought, at least some of them ought, to be perfectly
separate from the stables, having no communication by which
the air may pass from the sick to the sound. The influenza
appears almost every year at certain seasons ; and there is
good reason for believing that, in some of its forms, or in
some seasons, it is infectious. The owner of a large stud
ought to be prepared for it. If he had a number of loose
boxes, or a number of small stables for two horses, he might
avert much loss and inconvenience. These small stables or
loose boxes need not be unoccupied at any time ; and when

STABLE APPENDAGES. 61

disease does come, they would afford a quiet place for the
sick, where they could not infect the sound. In some sta
bles the loose boxes and the stalls are all under one roof.
The loose box may be at one end of the stable. When there
are four stalls, one of the travises may be made to remove,
so that two of the stalls can be thrown into one. This plan
answers very well, and it is almost the only plan by which a
loose box can be obtained where ground is valuable. It does
well enough for a lame or tired horse, or for one whose work
in summer or in winter, demands a month or more of repose.
It is also a very good loose box for a sick horse whose sick-
ness has no tendency to spread. But besides this, there
ought to be another, quite unconnected with the stable. To
that, glanders or influenza may be confined ; and having an
entrance of its own, it serves for dressing a horse that comes
in after stable hours, without disturbing the others.

Some horses are fond of company. They are restless,
and do not thrive in solitude. The isolated loose box is not
for them, unless the safety of others demand absolute separa-
tion. When lame, fatigued, or laid up for rest, their box may
be in the stable.

The Hay-Chamber, in towns, and indeed in most parts of
the country, is placed above the stable. All the authors who
have written on these matters, think that the hay should be
kept somewhere else. They say that the horse's breath
mingles with the hay and spoils it ; that dust and seeds fall
through the chinks and openings, and soil the horse or in-
jure his eyes. This is quite true. But it is possible, and
very easy to have the hay-loft over the stable, without any
danger to the ha»y or annoyance to the horse. It is only
necessary to make the roof of the stable air-tight. It may be
lathed and plastered ; but it harbors vermin, and that is a
strong objection to ceiling. The boards, however, forming
the floor of the loft, may be so closely jointed as to be im-
pervious, and a coat of paint or pitch will prevent the moist
air from acting on the wood. The openings for putting down
hay, and the trap-door for entering the loft, may be abolished,
or furnished with close-fitting covers. Upon these conditions
the loft may remain where it usually is. In large towns,
ground is so valuable that it is hardly possible to have the
hay-chamber in any other place, and indeed no better place
is required. The hay can be kept dry and clean. The stable
effluvia can not reach it, if there be no communication : when
the loft can be entered from the outside, there is no need

6

C2 STABLE ECONOMY

either for rack-boles or a trap-door. A hay-crib, if the stable
afford room for it, may be placed in one corner, and the daily
allowance of hay can be put into it every morning. In the
country a hay-loft is of little use when the hay can be cut
from the stack every day in such quantises as to serve for
twenty-four hours. In this way it is always cleaner and
fresher than when kept in a loft.

In towns, the only fault I can find with hay-lofts, besides
their communication with the stable, is their size. They are
always too small. The length and breadth are limited, but
the height seldom is. There should always be some spare
room for shaking the dust out of the hay, for taking in an
extra supply, for turning it over when in danger of heating,
or for storing straw or grain. However roomy, the hay-loft
is to contain nothing but food and litter, and not litter unless
it be sound and dry. A corner may be boarded up to pre-
serve the hay-seed for use or for sale. The practice of cut-
ting the hay is becoming pretty common, and it would be
more so if people had room. The hay-loft should afford
space for the machine and the process. But in large estab-
lishments, an apartment adjoining the hay-loft is required.
In that the hay is cut, the grain bruised, mixed, weighed, and
measured. The loft has little need for windows, but it should
have a ventilator, and the door may be so placed as to give all
the light required. The cutting or bruising apartment requires
both light and air.

The Straw is sometimes kept in the hay-loft, sometimes
in a spare stall. It should not be open to dogs, swine,
or poultry ; these animals often leave vermin among it, which
find their way to the horses.

The Granary is merely a cool and well-aired apartment.
And if placed over a stable, the floor should be perfectly
close, that the moist air may not pass- through. But it is
better to have it over a shed or coach-house. Vermin should
be carefully excluded.

The Grain-Chest supplies the place of a granary, where
only two or three horses are kept. No more grain is pur-
chased at one time than will be consumed in a few weeks,
and that is placed in a box, which usually stands in a corner
or recess in the stable. In a small stable the grain chest
takes up too much room. It is constantly in the way ; and
in all stables it is occasionally left open or insecurely closed,
A horse breaks loose and gorges himself till he is foundered
or colicked. It ought to be out of the stable altogether. If

STABLE APPENDAGES G3

placed in the loft, a wooden tube can bring the grain to the
stable. The chest may be fixed, and have its bottom sloping
like a hopper to the tube by which the grain runs down to the
stable. The lower extremity of the pipe may be enclosed in
a cupboard, or it may lie against the wall. The grain is ob-
tained by drawing out an iron slide

The chest may be divided into four compartments ; one
for oats, one for [shorts or bran, one for Indian corn, one for
barley, and one for meal of different kinds.]

Boiler-House. — A copper for heating water or cooking
food, is a very necessary appendage to all stables. Hot
water is frequently required for numerous operations, which
are not performed if the water can not be easily procured.
But this is not the principal use of a boiler. It is wanted so
often for cooking food, that in town as well as country it ought
to form a permanent appendage. [When hay and grain are
cheap, it is no object to cut the one or cook the other.] The
boiler is usually made of cast-iron, and placed in some corner
of the yard. On large establishments it would be an advan-
tage, a saving, to have the boiler of malleable iron. It is in
almost constant use, and intrusted to so many different per-
sons, most of them sufficiently careless, that it is generally
broken once or twice a year. Mr. Mein has one of plate-iron,
oval in form ; and it is not injured by the worst of usage.

The boiler should be placed in a house which will afford
convenience for keeping all the cooking implements, coals,
coolers, and pails. There should be an iron ladle for mixing
or measuring the food ; a water-pipe, with the stopcock run-
ning into the boiler. The door should have a good lock upon
it. The entrance should be wide enough to admit a wheel-
barrow, or the cooler, which is just a long wooden trough,
sometimes placed upon wheels. A part of the boiler-house
may be allotted to roots intended for cooking.

When the food is steamed, there is still more need for
shelter from the weather, convenience for carrying on the
processes, and security from the intrusion of thievery and
mischief.

Water-Pond. — At the seats of country gentlemen, this is
rather a common appendage to the stables. It is employed
for washing, and for watering the horses. They, and some-
times the carriage, are dragged through it twice or thrice to
remove the road-mud. The horses are allowed to drink from
it, the ducks and geese to swim in it, and the place appears
to be useful for drowning super rumerary pups and kittens.

64 STABLE ECONOMY

As a bath for water-fowl the pond has its use ; but as a place
for watering and washing the horses, it is useless and per-
nicious. The groom or the coachman, if lazy, may consider
it a great convenience. He does not know, or he is not very
willing to know, that it is not proper to drive the horses through
this cold water ; that it makes them subject to swelled legs,
to grease, to colic, and to cold ; and perhaps he never con-
siders that this dirty stagnant water is not very pleasant or
wholesome to drink. It is not the place nor the way "n
which horses should be either watered or washed. If there
be no other reservoir for the stables, the water should be
taken to the horse, not the horse to the water. To take him
there for washing his legs, is a true sloven's expedient
Water for drinking should be as near to the stable as pos
sible ; when it has to be carried any distance, the horse is
often neglected.

Stable-Yard or Shed. — Few, besides the large proprie
tor and the country gentleman, can have a stable-yard for his
own use. In towns, the only place in the shape of a yard
is the lane. In this the horses must be groomed and the
carriage washed. When the stables are ranged in a square
or circle, the coaches ought to be washed near the centre, or
at some distance from the stables. The practice of doing all
the wet work close to the stable-door, keeps the air always
cold and damp, and the entrance dirty. In some large es-
tablishments there is a covered shed, in front of, or around
the stables, or at one side of the yard. There the horses are
groomed, and exercised in dirty weather, or walked till cool,
dry, and ready for grooming. For this latter purpose it is of
great importance. Every coachmaster knows how necessary
it is to keep the horses moving until they be nearly dry and
cool. Without a covered shed this can not be managed in
bad weather. Such a place answers many purposes. It
allows all the horses to be groomed out of the stable, thus
saving litter, and avoiding annoyance to the other horses.
The groom, too, can see better what he is about, and can
handle the horse better here than in the stable. When litter
is dear, that which has merely been wet with urine can be
dried, and made as good as ever, under the shed ; and at
night, when not otherwise wanted, it can be converted into a
coach-house.

Such a shed need not be costly. In fact it is nothing but
a roof supported on one side by a few pillars, and projecting
from a dead wall, or the front of the stables. The width and

STABLE APPENDAGES 65

length must v.iry. Fourteen feet will make it sufficiently
wide, and in length it may be forty or sixty, or as long as>
possible. The roef may be of unplastered tile. The floor
may be causewayed or pitched with pebbles. At one end,
about twelve feet may have a soft bottom for those horses
ihat beat the ground very much when under the groom's
operations. The soft floor saves the feet, prevents the horse
from striking oft* his shoes. It may be all alike, but if wet
be admitted such a floor is never in order.

Harness-Room. — In some large stables, where a saddler
is kept, his workshop forms the harness-room. In others
there is an apartment for the spare and old harness. In
posting establishments there is usually a dry room, with a
fireplace in it. Each set of harness is numbered, or named,
according to the horses it belongs to, and hung always in the
same place. In stage-coach stables and others of a similar
kind, the harness in use is commonly hung in the stable, each
horse's being placed on his stall-post. This encumbers the
stable very much ; but it appears to be the most convenient
way of disposing of the harness. In gentlemen's stables, the
saddles and harness are generally placed in the groom's sleep-
ing-room, or in the coach-house. The stable is a bad place to
keep them in. They get damp, soiled, and knocked about a
good deal. In coaching stables, the harness is not so easily
injured, and it is in constant use. Besides being dry and well
aired, the room should have plenty of light ; there should be
racks for the harness, whips, and boots ; stools or brackets
for the saddles ; pegs for the bridles ; a shelf for miscella-
neous articles ; and a cupboard for brushes, sponges, ban-
dages, bits, clothes, and other things of this kind, not in con-
stant use.

Stable Cupboard. — In those stables where the men are
often changed, or where several are working together, each
should have a small cupboard furnished with a good lock.
In this the man may deposite his working implements, such as
combs, scissors, sponge, brushes, or whatever he receives
from the master. They are safe from thieves, and he can
have no excuse for losing them. In some cart-stables the
driver receives his horse's daily allowance of grain every
morning ; but unless each can keep his own, one will steal
from another. This cupboard should have a box for holding
the grain too.

Groom's Bedroom. — Wherever a number of horses are
kept together in stables, accidents will frequently happen

6*

66 STABLE ECONOMY.

through the night. One will break loose, one will cast him-
self over the travis, one will get halter-cast, some fall to
kicking, and some are taken ill. In any of these cases much
mischief may be done before the groom appears in the morn-
ing. Among draught horses, it is not uncommon to find one
dead that was in perfect health, and ate his supper the night
before. He dies from a disease that, at the beginning, can
be cured with infallible certainty ; and he is in such torture
that he struggles, and makes noise enough to waken any one
sleeping in the stable. But nobody is there, and the poor
horse dies for want of help.

In large studs, a man is usually appointed to watch the
stables all night, and to give the alarm should' fire break out,
or should he hear any unusual stir in the stables. In some
cases he has instructions to enter the stables occasionally,
and see that all be right. This, of course, must be done
without disturbing the horses. This man often requires
watching himself : he may slumber at his post, or he may
desert it. The owner, or some other for him, should pay
him a secret visit now and then. The first breach of duty
should be his last. An excuse is never wanting, but it is
folly to admit any.

In smaller studs, a sleeping-room for one or two of the
grooms is usually regarded as sufficient security against noc-
turnal danger. The place should be comfortable, that there
may be the less inducement to leave it. In coaching-stables
there is sometimes a dwelling-house for the head ostler and
his family. It should be in a central situation, within hear-
ing of all the stables ; and when that can not be managed, a
bed may be placed in the most remote for an additional man.
In racing establishments there is a settle-bed in each stable
for two 3f the boys ; and the groom's house is close ad-
joining.

[Stables of Mr. Gibbons. — The most, complete stables
which we have seen in the United States, or indeed any-
where else, when we take into consideration their cost, com-
fort, and convenience, are in Madison, New Jersey, at the
Forest — the beautiful estate of William Gibbons, Esq. ; plans
of which he has kindly permitted us to take, to embellish the
American edition of the Stable Economy.

The building comprising the stables stands upon the edge
of a piece of broad table-land, gently declining to the south.
The foundation, and walls of the lower story, are of stone ; tbA
walls of the upper stories are of brick. The whole building

STABLES OF MR. GIBBONS.

67

is strong and massive, and finished in the most thorough and
complete manner.

Fig. 8.

D, Fig. 8, Perspective View of the elevation of the stables
on the north or upper side. They are two stories high on
the front, D, and three stories on the lower or south side, op-
posite D. The building is 90 feet long, 50 wide, and 24
high on this front. The architecture is neat and appropriate.
There is a good Macadam carriage-way in front of the side
D ; a and b are large windows, alongside of which the hay-
carts drive to unload.

Fig. 9. Fig. 10.

A, Fig, 9, Basement Story, laid up of thick stone walls.
a, Solid earth. — b, h, Cisterns 12 feet square, and 7 feet deep.

c, g, Passage-ways from which the cattle are fed under the
water-troughs, e, e.

d, d, Racks for receiving hay from above.

68

STABLE ECONOMY.

e, e, Water-troughs running along the whole front of the
cattle-stalls.

f, Passage-way for the cattle, with rows of open stalls on
each side, 4 feet 3 inches wide.

i, Solid earth. — j, Cellar for roots, 16 feet square.
k, Pump which draws water from the cistern, and delivers
it into the troughs, e, e.

STALLS OF MR. PELL. 69

C, Fig. 10, Third Story or Loft.

a, a, Openings in the floor to put down hay for the stock.

b, Stairway. — c, Hay-loft.

d, Granary, partitioned into separate divisions as designa-
ted by the lines, for different kinds of grain.

B, Fig. 11, Second Story, on a level with the broad table-
land on the front of Y),fig. 8, north side.

a, m, Sheds 50 feet long and 13 feet wide. The loft or
third story, C,Jig. 10, forms their ceiling or roof, by projecting
over them at each end. The open spaces along the outside
lines are arches ; the black spots are brick walls to support
the ends of the upper story. These sheds are very convenient
for taking out the horses to dress, and for other purposes-

b, n, Pumps.

c, d, e,f, Box-stalls for horses, 14 feet, 6 inches deep, by 9
feet 8 inches, 9 feet 7 inches, 9 feet 6 inches, and 19 feet wide.

g, g, Rows of feed-boxes for the horses.

h, h, Rows of openings through which to put down hay into
the racks for the cattle in the basement story (see d, d, in A,
jig. 9).

i, Farmer's room for utensils, 11 by 7 feet 6 inches.

j, Harness-room, 11 by 12 feet 6 inches, k, Coach-room.

/, Horse-stalls 4 feet 9 inches, by 14 feet 6 inches.

o, o, Water-troughs.

Mr. Gibbons has a very fine stud of thorough-bred horses,
among which are the famous Bonnets-of-Blue, Fashion, and
Mariner. His Durham cattle are superb, and all his farm
arrangements and farm buildings are in excellent style.

Stalls of Mr. Pell. — Fig. 12 is a perspective view of
two stalls in the stables of R. L. Pell, Esq., of Pelham, N. Y.

a, Hay -loft. Behind the hoppers b, b, are holes in the floor
through which the hay is put down into the racks e, e, e.

b, b, Hoppers. — c, Floor-beam.

d, d, Conductors which lead from the hoppers to the man-
ger. Close behind b, b, are the grain-bins, so that in feeding
the horses, it is only necessary to take the requisite quantity
of oats from them, and pour into the hoppers. The groom
will thus feed a large number of horses in a short time with-
out the necessity of leaving the hay-loft.

e, e, e, Hay-racks, with oak rollers 4 feet long and 2 inches
in diameter, standing perpendicularly 3 feet, from the wall.
They have round gudgeons at each end fitted into round holes
in the bottom and top pieces of the rack. As the horse pulls
on the hay to eat it these rollers revolve easily, and he thus
gets just what he wants. The bottom of the racks are lat-

70

STABLE ECONOMY.

Fig. 12.

ticed, so that the hay-seeds can fall below into the seed-
box f. — -f, Seed-box.

g, Door of seed-box to empty it of the hay-seed.

h, h, Trough running the whole length of the stalls.

i, i, Oak rollers over the edges of the troughs, 3 inches in
diameter. The horse will not gnaw this ; for the moment he
attempts to take hold of it with his teeth, it revolves, and he
can not hold it.

j,j, Stall divisions 5 feet wide. The posts at the end of
these are of turned oak.]

STABLE OPERATIONS. T]

SECOND CHAPTER.

STABLE OPERATIONS.

I. STABLEMEN. II. GROOMING. III. OPERATIONS OF DECORA-
TION.—IV. MANAGEMENT OF THE FEET. V. OPERATIONS

ON THE STABLE.

To many people the stable operations may appear to be
few and simple, requiring little dexterity and almost no ex-
perience. A great, many horses do not demand much care ;
their work is easy, and their personal appearance is not a
matter of much consequence. They are horses of small price,
and they are attended by men whose services would not be
accepted where the value, and work, and appearance of the
horse, demand more skilful management. In hunting and in
racing studs, the stable operations are more numerous, and
performed in a different manner. There, nobody can groom
a horse but a groom ; one who has learned his business as a
man learns a trade.

It is impossible to have the stable operations performed
well, nor even decently, without good tools, and good hands
to use them. There should be no want of the necessary im-
plements. A bad groom may do without many of them, be-
cause he does not know their use ; but a good groom requires
brushes, combs, sponges, towels, skins, rubbers, scissors,
bandages, cloths, pails, forks, brooms, and some other little
articles, all which he should have, if the horse is to receive
all the care and decoration a groom can bestow.

The stable operations are learned by imitation and by prac-
tice. But there is no one to teach, and no one desirous of
learning them in a systematic manner. A bov, intending to be-
come a groom, goes into the stable of a person not very par-
ticular about his horses, or he goes sometimes under a senior.
At first the boy can do almost nothing. After a while he is
able to do some things, perhaps, tolerably well. He can go

72 STABLE ECONOIrir.

about the horse, and manage some of the stable operations
better than he could at the beginning. In a few years he may
be an excellent groom. But, is it not singular ? he has never
in all that time made any effort to learn his business. He has
had work to do, and it was done, not because he desired to
learn how to do it, but because it could not be left undone.
The horse was to clean, and when cleaned, the boy was
thankful that his task was finished, and he never did it when
he could avoid it. If he had been anxious to learn his busi-
ness quickly and well, he ought to have done a great deal
more. Instead of contriving expedients to escape work, he
ought to have done the work ten times for once. He never
brushed a horse, when he did not need brushing, nor made a
bed twice when once would serve.

If the boy has any desire to learn, or if any desire can be
excited, let him see the stable and the stable-work of a good
groom. Show him the horse's skin, how beautiful and pure
it is ; the stable, how clean and orderly , and the bed, how
neatly and comfortably it is made. Let him see the man at
work, and make him understand that his dexterity was acquir-
ed by practice. For the operations, after seeing them once
or twice performed, practice is everything. Two dressings
every day may be all the horse requires, but four will do him
no harm. The bed may be made twenty times a-day ; and
everything which practice teaches should be done often, if it
is ever to be done well. In the ordinary course of things the
boy may become an expert groom in four or five years. By
systematic and persevering efforts, he may be as expert in six
or eight months. There are many businesses, and a groom's
is one of them, in which it is difficult to get skilful workmen.
There are loiterers of all kinds in the world ; and every large
town furnishes thousands of men who have arrived at old age
in the pursuit or practice of a business winch they never made
a serious effort to learn. There are few who have studied to
learn or to improve. Everything is left to chance ; and if
much were not acquired by chance, a good workman, among
working men, would be a wonder. Even among professional
men, there is more anxiety to appear skilful than diligence to
be so.

STABLEMEN.

There are several kinds of stable servants. There are
coachmen, grooms, hunting-grooms, training-grooms, head-

STABLE OPERATIONS. 73

grooms, head-lads, boys, strappers, ostlers, carters, and many-
more of smaller note. Taken altogether, they form a clas*
which can not be easily described. Some of them are very
decent men, filling their station with respectability ; and often
at the close of a long and useful servitude, receiving the appro-
bation and reward which their conduct deserves. Some are
humane to their horses, dutiful, careful, and vigilant ; many
know their business well, and are able to teach it so admira-
bly, that I have often thought it a pity there should be no
school where these men might practically instruct others.

In our books it has been too long and too much the custom
to speak of stablemen as if they were all alike ; as if they
were all ignorant, and something worse than ignorant. Their
very employment has been treated with contempt by men from
whom something better might be expected. There is surely
nothing degrading in tending the horse whether well or sick.
To throw odium on the employment, is to deprive the horse
of many men whose services might make his life more tol-
erable ; and to degrade all. because a few deserve degrada-
tion, is work fit only for a fool. Society, composed as it is
of so much pride, and folly, and ignorance, will continue to
do this, and to associate the duty with the men who perform
it. But in the solitude of his study a writer ought to be more
precise. His wisdom is not of much worth if he mingle it
with the dogmas of those to whom the distinctions of pride
and pomp are more than the distinctions of truth.

It depends upon the man himself. There is no reason why
he should not be respectable and respected. He fills a useful
place in society. There are many in it shrewd and intelligent
above their station.

But then there is much to be said on the other side. The
great fault of stablemen in general is want of skill. Only a
few have all the qualifications their work demands. Some are
inexperienced, perfectly unacquainted with their duties ; some
are stupid, awkward, inexpert, incapable of learning anything ;
some are lazy, dirty, shuffling ragamuffins, useless as weeds,
and more pernicious ; some are abominably ill-tempered,
cruel, and even ferocious, frequently laming the horses, over-
driving, or abusing them in a variety of ways ; some are dis-
honest, pilfering and selling the provender ; some are tipplers ;
a great many are altogether given over to drunkenness ; some
are so mightily puffed up with a notion of their own wisdom
and abilities, that there is no bearing with them. These are
always intractable. Directions are of no use to them. They

7

74 STABLE ECONOMY.

will do things their own way, without even attempting any
other. They know everything, and everybody's business
but their own. Others are so desperately vain of their swee
persons, that for one hour they spend upon the horses, they
spend two in letting people see themselves, or in preparing to
be seen. Some are careless, wasteful, indifferent to their
master's interests. Others are insinuating hypocrites, mere
eye-servants ; never doing their duty, yet always busy ; never
grumbling, but often ostentatiously exhibiting some trait of
superfluous obedience, deference, or care. Some are slovenly,
always in disorder. Many are indifferent to the welfare and
comfort of the horses. They may not be ill-tempered nor
violent ; but they are negligent, and that often amounts to
cruelty. They never sympathize with the suffering. They
will stand round a horse in the pangs of death, and, if moved
at all, it is to utter some foul jest, or to bestow a curse or a
kick. These fellows are rarely to be trusted, as stablemen,
and never as drivers. Indeed, they are unworthy of all trust.
They are always heartless, selfish vagabonds, indifferent to
everything but their own animal wants, and never doing any
good but what the law compels. A good stableman should
love horses ; while they are ill he should not be quite at
ease.

Some stablemen have the speaking-evil. They are never
right but when they are talking with somebody. While they
are gossipping the work is standing. In general these are
sad boasters and tale-bearers. They must have something to
prate about, and if there is nothing to be said about the master
or his lady, nor any secret to be carried from the stables or the
house, new stories must, be laid upon the old foundation, and
with fiction, and truth, and says-he and says-I, some sort of a
story is trumped up to afford the talking gentleman a little
merriment or consolation. In most stables this vice is of no
consequence ; but such a man is not to be trusted in a racing
stud. These great talkers are mostly always great liars.

The Gentleman's Coachman is not the same being in the
city that he appears in the country. In the crowded streets
of large towns he should have nothing to learn. Skill in
driving is his most essential qualification. Sobriety stands
next, and after that, experience in the stable management of
his horses. He should be careful at all times ; cool when
accidents happen ; kind to his horses ; active, robust, good-
looking ; of a mature age ; not disposed to sleep on the. box,
nor too fond of company. He should be punctual to a

STABLE OPERATIONS. 75

moment ; always ready, indeed, an hour before he is wanted.
He should have a religious regard to cleanliness. It should
be his pride to excel others, and to have everything in the
most exact order. Nothing looks worse than a slovenly, ill-
appointed coachman. He should have none of the indecent
slang so common among worthless stablemen.

It is not easy to procure men with all these qualifications ;
and it very often happens that a man who has most of them,
or possibly the whole of them, and some others to boot, has
some fault which greatly counterbalances, or neutralizes his
good properties. A sood servant is very apt to take it into his
head that there is nobody like him. He begins to give him-
self airs, as if he were an indispensable personage, whose
loss could not be supplied. He will sometimes forget him-
self so far as to do things which he knows would procure the
discharge of any other servant. The longer a man of this
kind is suffered, the worse he grows. He encroaches here
and there, till he has privileges sufficient to excite rebellion
in all the rest of the household. At last he becomes quite a
fool, and there is no longer any managing of him, and he ha?
to be sent about his business. A man who ventures to do
wrong, or to forget his duty, merely because he knows thai
he is highly esteemed, must have little foresight. It is the
very way to forfeit all he has gained, and estimation of this
kind once lost, is always lost. It is a greater evil to lose a
good name, than never to obtain it.

In the country coachman skilful driving is not of the first
importance. He need not, like his brother of the town, serve
an apprenticeship for it. He may go from the stable or the
plough, and a few lessons on a quiet road, with a pair of
steady horses, will soon give him all the proficiency he re-
quires. The more of the other qualities he possesses, the
better. The principal fault of a country coachman is sloven-
liness. He sits on the box as if he were driving a cart, his
hands resting on his knees, elbows projecting like the paddles
of a steamboat, his body bent nearly double, his head hang-
ing low, or his eyes following everything but the horses ; the
reins slack, whip pointing to the ground, its handle spliced,
and thong curtailed. Then the horses are something like the
man ; their coats are long, rough, dim, and their actions .sluggish.
The harness and the carriage are not much better, looking rusty,
tarnished, sun-burned. The stable is always in disorder,
presenting an assemblage of things useless and useful, frag-
ments of this and of that, nothing where it should be, and

76 STABLE ECONOMY.

nothing complete ; the whole very much resembling that com
pilation entitled " The Field-Book."

Slovenly servants always have very particular masters.
There is almost no curing of them. Habits of order and
despatch must commence in boyhood, or not at all.

The work of a coachman usually consists in taking care
of the horses, harness, and carriage, and in driving. Some-
times he has also a saddle or gig horse to look after. Where
three or more horses are necessary to do the work, he must
have a boy or man under him.

The Groom. — A good groom should have been among
horses from his boyhood. He should have learned his busi-
ness under a senior. He should have all the regularity, so-
briety, activity, and cleanliness of the thorough-bred coach-
man. In general, he is not such a solid character. He is
somewhat flippant, talkative, fond of company, and much dis-
posed to make medicinal experiments upon the horses.

Grooms are of two or three kinds. The word groom,
though often applied to any man who looks after a horse, is
most usually confined to a man who has been trained to groom
and manage horses in the best style. Hence it does not be-
long to those who work in livery or coaching-stables. In a
gentleman's stud the groom looks after the saddle-horses em-
ployed on the road or in the field. Where one is kept for
the road and another for the field horses, the former is usually
only the groom, the latter the hunting-groom. Those who
superintend the management of racehorses, are termed train
ers or training grooms.

The work of a groom is very variable. In some places
he has the charge of only two horses, one for himself and
one for his master, whom he accompanies on his rides. In
others he has two horses and a gig ; in some he has three
horses, or two and a breeding mare with her foal. Two are
considered full work, but three can be managed very well,
two being out every day.

Untrained Grooms are those who diet, dress, and exer-
cise the horses employed at ordinary work. They can not
put horses into hunting condition, nor do they know how to
maintain them in that condition. The thorough-bred groom
is, or ought to be, able to do both. But it is not everybody
who requires, or who can afford to keep, a thorough-bred
groom. His wages are high, and he can always find employ-
ment from those who need his services. People who keep
only two or three inferior horses, or perhaps only one, fox

STABLE OPERATIONS. 77

pleasure or business, content themselves with an indifferent
groom, one, it may be, who is partly employed about the
warehouse, the garden, or the dwelling-house. The horse
or horses can not, of course, be so well tended. They may
be very well cleaned, but such men can not put the horses
into hunting condition, nor maintain them in it, nor bestow all
the care that hunters require after a day of severe exertion.
For the horses kept by merchants about town, who seldom
ride more than ten or twelve miles a-day at a gentle pace,
nothing of this kind is required, and a groom who would make
a sorry figure in the hunting stable may serve them perfectly
well. The man only requires some little dexterity in going
about a horse, and a little experience of his habits in refer-
ence to food, drink, and work. These he may acquire with-
out a long apprenticeship. He may obtain them in farm, liv-
ery, or posting stables. The thorough-bred groom can learn
his business completely only under an experienced senior,
who may have the charge of racing, hunting, or carriage
horses.

In the racing-stables a boy is appointed to each horse, and
these are superintended by the head-groom, or trainer, and
his assistant, who is termed head-lad.

Boys. — Under the direction and discipline of a good groom,
boys of from fourteen to seventeen are soon taught to perform
the duties of the stable. But until they have been well
trained, and they must be trained while flexible, they are
good for very little. It is only in a stable where the disci-
pline never relaxes that they can learn their business well,
and acquire those orderly habits which in a manner distin-
guish the taught from the untaught.

The boys employed about towns to look after a horse, or a
horse and gig, generally come from the country, where they
have seen some service among the cart-horses. Some of
these boys are quiet, attentive, able to do something, and to
learn more without much instruction ; but a great many of
them are awkward, thoughtless, and mischievous, not to be
depended upon. It is not that their work is difficult to learn
or to perform, but there is no keeping them at it. They are
so fond of play, and so little accustomed to restraint, that one
half of their work is always neglected, and the other half is
never done in proper times. Everything is to seek when it
is wanted, and when found not fit for use. Some are much
worse than others. Many can attend to nothing. Their
work is made subservient to their play. One will be sent to

7*

78 STABLE ECONOMY.

walk a heated horse till cool, and he must ride the beast as if
he were riding for a wager. Send him to exercise the horse,
and he will gallop till he break its knees. Send by him a
message, and he will forget one half of it, and take at least
an hour more than he should to deliver the other half. The
master has more to do for the servant than the servant for the
master. The boy may not, perhaps, be so much to blame as
his parents. They have taught him nothing. He has sprung
up like the wild weeds of the earth. If he has learned any-
thing, good or bad, it is the result of chance, not of foresight
on the part of his parents, whom he has scarcely learned even
to obey. Instead of coming into the world with orderly and
decent behavior, and a knowledge of what is due to those he
serves, he has to learn those things from the master. It is
natural and right that he should be a stern teacher. He has
to deal with those who are little improved by gentleness. He
may be severe, and he must, if he would make a good servant,
and a useful member of society. Order in time and in place
ought to be learned at home ; but since it is not, that should
be taught in the first place, as forming a groundwork upon
which anything may be laid. " A place for everything, and
everything in its place," is a golden rule. After that, kind-
ness to the horse should be insisted on. Boys are cruel from
want of reflection. Until hardened by habit, remonstrance, if
properly managed, awakens their generous feelings, or ex-
cites that kind of consideration which saves the defenceless
from abuse.

Livery and coaching stables about town are often infested
by idle boys who want to ride. They hang about the stables
from morning to night, and contrive to be of some little ser-
vice to the men, and their reward is a horse to water or to
exercise. These boys are always doing,some mischief, either
in play or in abuse. It is not for their own good to hang
about stables in such a disorderly way, and their attendance
is certainly injurious to the horses. The work should all be
done by the men who are paid for it. Last year one propri-
etor lost two horses entirely, and had a third injured by boys,
whom the proper stablemen had employed. Such accidents
are very common.

Strappers. — The men who look after horses at livery,
and those employed in public conveyances, are termed strap-
pers. They have nothing to do with the working of the
horses. Their business is to dress, harness, water, and bed
them Thej' also have to keep the harness in order.. In

STABLE OPERATIONS. 79

some places they have to feed and exercise the horses ; in
others, these duties are performed by a head-man and his
assistant. A strapper should be expert, able, and orderly at
his work. He usually looks after eight, horses, four of which
are out every day. Some have more, but, with the harness,
eight is about as many as he can be expected to keep in good
order, especially during the winter months, and this number
he may manage in the best style which coaching requires. In
livery stables the horses need more grooming, and three sad-
dle horses may be sufficient work for one man. In some
places, however, he has four or five, and occasionally more.

The strappers employed at out-stages should be picked
men, better paid, and better qualified than those who work at
headquarters, under the eye of the master or his foreman.
But the best are not to be much trusted. They should be vis-
ited often, at irregular intervals, without warning, and not at
one time of the day more than another. The horses should
be examined in reference to their condition for work, the state
of the skin, the heels, and the feet. The harness, the stable,
every part of it, and everything belonging to it, should pass
under review every now and then.

The Head-Ostler or Foreman. — On large establish-
ments a head-man superintends the strappers, and the general
management of the horses. His work varies according to the
size of the stud, and to the time and attention which the owner
himself can bestow upon it. In some places the owner is in
constant attendance, and then the head-man is just the mas-
ter's assistant, having no fixed and regular task. But in gen-
eral it is his business to feed the horses, or at least to keep
the provender, give it out as wanted, and see that it be prop-
erly distributed. He has to keep the men at their duty, taking
care that everything be done in its own time, and examining
the work when it is done. He has to regulate the work of
the horses, dividing it in such a manner that each shall have
as much as he is fit for, and no more. In small establishments
the foreman sometimes has a stable of his own to look after,
which may contain the strange, the spare, the lame, or the
sick horses. When these exceed two or three, he must
have an assistant. When properly qualified, the foreman
ought to be, and usually is, empowered to hire and discharge
the strappers. Sometimes he pays their wages, but that
belongs more properly to the clerk.

• For a situation of this kind a man requires to have consid-
erable experience. To maintain order among the strappers,

80 STABLE ECONOMY.

and manage the horses with skill, he must be inflexible, just,
sober, vigilant, careful, well acquainted with the habits of
horses, and the tricks of the men he has to superintend. He
should be a discreet tyrant, always enforcing a rigid ad«
herence to established rules. A man of timid or weak char-
acter has little chance of maintaining his authority among a
host of unruly strappers ; and though he have power to dis-
charge them, he is easily awed or misled by the bold and the
cunning. He should know his own place, giving no favors
and receiving none. If he frequent the public-house, to min-
gle with those who are under him, his power is lost. He
should not be old, yet well up in years, and perhaps married,
having his family upon the premises. A man with these
qualifications is worth liberal wages.

Sometimes the duties of this man involve more responsi-
bility. Occasionally he purchases the provender, employs
the necessary tradesmen, such as the saddler, shoeing-smith,
and veterinarian, and has to do with the sale and purchase of
the horses.. Very few men are fit for thesx; things. Prov-
ender is sometimes to be had below the market price, when
the owner is not at hand to purchase it ; in such a case, the
foreman might have power to take it. But it is only upon
certain occasions that this, or anything like it, should be in
his power. Knavery is apt to creep into such transactions,
and the master can know little of his business if he is not
able to manage them better himself. They lay the man open
to suspicion, whether he deserves it or not. The shoeing-
smith and saddler always make some deduction from their
usual charges where there is a great deal of work to be done.
What men are to serve him, and what deductions are to be
made, should be settled by the m. ster himself. Theii work
is entered in the pass-book, which is paid up at short inter-
vals. The veterinarian should be, and generally is, allowed
a fixed salary for medicines, operations, and attendance. In
the disposal of wornout, and the purchase of new horses,
the foreman and the veterinarian may be both consulted, the
one regarding work, and the other regarding unsoundness ;
but where the old go or the new come from, is the business
of the master only.

The foreman, perhaps, with the assistance of the shoeing-
smith, sometimes supplies the place of the veterinarian. In
this there is more folly than economy. If the work is to be
well done, it must be performed by men who perfectly under-
stand it, by men who have been bred to it. Many foremeE

STABLE OPERATIONS. 81

pretend to have skill in the veterinary art. They do not say
that they know all about it, for in that case they would not
have to take the place and pay of a stableman ; yet they
think they may render good service, and they say that much
very plainly. It is all nonsense and imposition. These pre-
tenders seldom, almost never, know their own business. If
they knew that, as they ought to know it, they would be good
servants without knowing anything else. If they are good
grooms and better doctors, it is clear they ought to be veter-
inary surgeons If equally skilful in both capacities, they
ought- to choose that business which will pay best. But
where have they learned so much about diseases and their
remedies ? They have seen much — that is, about as much in
all as a veterinarian in tolerable practice will see in a day.

Drivers. — These are men who work the horses. Some
also have the stable management of them. The gentleman's
coachman has already been spoken of. The others are post-
boys, hackney-coachmen, cab, omnibus, noddy, and stage
drivers, carters, ploughmen, and so forth. It is needless to
speak of these in detail. A glance at what has already been
said of stablemen will indicate what are the most essential
qualifications, and what their most common vices, with the
consequences of their vice. It is only necessary to observe
farther, that, in addition to sobriety and skill in their employ-
ment, all those who work the horses should be humane. Every
stableman should feel for a feeble horse, and spare him ; but
in those who drive, kindness is of more importance. I have
known horses purposely driven to death, or so overtasked,
that debility, and other consequences of severe labor, gave the
driver an excuse for demanding exchange. These things
have been done, sometimes because the horse was too slow,
too fast, or too feeble ; sometimes merely because he was
awkward to manage, or did not please the eye of the driver.
Such things could never happen in the hands of an humane
man.

But, though the horses are sometimes purposely abused and
destroyed by cruel drivers, they are much oftener injured by
bad drivers. They are often lamed by starting, and by stop-
ping them too suddenly. They ought to have some warning
in both cases ; it always indicates bad driving when a horse
is thrown upon his knees at starting, or upon his haunches at
stopping, or upon his side at turning. A fall is not always
the consequence, but some part is sprained by the violent
effort which the horse is compelled to make in obeying the

82 STABLE ECONOMY.

oit. A bad driver is also apt to overwork an unseasoned or
a hot horse, especially when driving more than one. He
often allows a free-working horse to do more than his share
Drunkenness, through dangerous in every situation, is to
be avoided more in the driver than in the stableman. Most
frequently he loses all skill in driving, and is liable to all the
accidents arising from the want of it. Very often he retains
his senses sufficiently to manage the horses, and yet does
them a great deal of mischief, though he may not run into a
ditch, nor upset the vehicle. The racing madness falls upon
him ; he challenges all who travel in the same direction, and
he must beat all ; or, if there be no one with whom he can
contend, he will run against time. Hence the horses are
lamed or overworked, or injured in various other ways

GROOMING.

In general, the word grooming is confined to those opera-
dons which have cleanliness for their object. To made the
horse clean, and to keep him clean, form a part, and in many
stables the whole of grooming ; but the health of the horse is
involved, and some care must be taken to preserve that. He
comes to the stable, wet with rain, or heated by exertion, as
tvell as soiled by the road mud. While he is cleaned, he
<nust also be cooled and dried. The operations which pro-
nice a clean skin, and those which tend to prevent the con-
sequences of exertion and of exposure, are so closely con-
nected that they must be considered together. It is not my
intention to describe any of them very minutely ; grooming is
easily learned by imitation ; and oral are better than written
instructions.

The duties of the groom considered in relation to time
usually commence at half-past five or six in the morning.
Sometimes he must be in the stable much earlier, and some-
times he need not be there before seven. It depends upon
the time the stable is shut up at night, the work there is to
do in ihe morning, and the hour at which the horse is wanted.
When the horse is going out early and to fast work, the man
should be in the stable an hour before the horse goes to
the road. In general he arrives about six o'clock, gives
the horse a little water, and then his morning feed of grain.
While the horse is eating his breakfast, the man shakes up
the litter, sweeps out the stable, and prepares to dress the
horse, or take him to exercise. In summer, the morning ex«

STABLE OPERATIONS. 83

ercise is often given before breakfast, the horse getting watei
in the stable, or out of doors, and his grain upon returning
In winter, the horse is dressed in the morning, and exercised
or prepared for work in the forenoon. He is again dressed
when he comes in ; at mid-day he is fed. The remainder
of the day is occupied in much the same way, the horse re-
ceiving more exercise and another dressing ; his third feed at
four, andhisfourth, at eight. The hours of feeding vary accord-
ing to the number of times the horse is fed. Hunters are usual-
ly fed five times a-day during the hunting season. The most
of saddle-horses are fed only three. The allowance of grain
for all working-horses should be given in at least three por-
tions, and when the horse receives as much as he will eat, it
ought to be given at five times. These should be distributed
at nearly equal intervals. When the groom is not employed in
feeding, dressing, and exercising the horse, he has the stable
to arrange several times a-day, harness to clean, some of the
horses to trim, and there are many minor duties which he
must, manage at his leisure. The stable is usually shut up
at night about eight o'clock, when the horse is eating his
supper.

Dressing before Work. — To keep the skin in good order,
the horse must be dressed once every day, besides the clean-
ing, which is made after work. This dressing is usually
performed in the morning, or in the forenoon. It varies in
character according to the state of the skin and the value of
the horse. The operation is performed by means of the brush,
the currycomb, and the wisp, which is a kind of duster, made
of straw, hay, matting, or horse-hair.

The Brush, composed of bristles, and varying in size to suit
the strength of the operator, removes all the dust and furfura-
ceous matter lodged at the roots of the hair, and adhering to its
surface. It also polishes the hair, and when properly applied,
the friction probably exerts a beneficial influence upon the
skin, conducive to health, and to the horse's personal ap-
pearance.

The Currycomb is composed of five or six iron combs, each
having short small teeth ; these are fixed on an iron back, to
which a handle is attached. There is also one blade, some-
times two, without teeth, to prevent the combs from sinking
too deep. The currycomb serves to raise and to separate the
hairs that are matted together by perspiration and dust, and to
remove the loose mud. Like the brush, it may also stimulate
the skin, and have some effect in; on the secretions of this

84 STABLE ECONOMY.

organ ; but, except among thick, torpid-skinned, long-haired
horses, it is too harsh for this purpose. In grooming thorough-
bred, or fine-skinned horses, its principal use is to clean the
dust from the brush, which is done by drawing the one smartly
across the other.

The Wisp is a kind of duster. It removes the light dust and
the loose hairs not taken away by the brush ; it polishes the
hair and makes the coat lie smooth and regular. The brush
penetrates between the hairs and reaches the skin, but the
wisp acts altogether on the surface, cleaning and polishing
only those hairs, and those portions of hairs, which are not
covered by others. Applied with some force, the wisp beats
away loose dust lodged about the roots. It is often employed
to raise the temperature of the skin, and to dry the hair when
the horse is cold and wet. In many stables the currycomb
and the wisp form the principal, or the only instruments of
purification.

Valuable horses are usually dressed in the stable. The
groom tosses the litter to the head of the stall, puts up the
gangway bales, turns round the horse, to have his head to the
light, removes the breast-piece, and hood, when a hood is
worn : he takes away the surcingle and folds back the quarter-
piece, but does not remove it entirely. It keeps the dust off
the horse. With the brush in his left hand, and the curry-
comb in his right, he commences on the left side of the horse,
and finishes the head, neck, and forequarter ; then his hands
change tools, and he performs the like service on the right
side. The head requires a deal of patience to clean it proper-
ly ; the hairs run in so many different directions, and there
are so many depressions and elevations, and the horse is often
so unwilling to have it dressed, that it is generally much
neglected by bad grooms. The dust about the roots, upon
the inside and the outside of the ears, is removed by a few
strokes of the brush, but the hair is polished by repeatedly
and rapidly drawing the hands over the whole ear. The
process is well enough expressed by the word stripping.
Having finished the fore part of the horse, the groom returns
his head to the manger, and prepares to dress the body and
the hind quarters. A little straw is thrown under the hind
feet to keep them off the stones ; the clothes are drawn off,
and the horse's head secured. The clothes are taken to the
door, shook, and in dry weather exposed to the air, till the
horse is dressed. After the brushing is over, every part ef
the skin having been entirely deprived of dust, and the hair

STABLE OPERATIONS. 85

polished till it glistens like satin, the groom passes over the
whole with a wisp, with which, or with a linen rubber, dry or
slightly damped, he concludes the most laborious portion of the
dressing. The clothes are brought in, and replaced upon the
horse. His mane, foretop, and tail, are combed, brushed, and,
if not hanging equally, damped. The eyes, nostrils, muzzle,
anus, and sheath, are wiped with a damp sponge ; the feet are
picked out, and perhaps washed. If the legs be white and
soiled with urine, they require washing with warm water and
soap, after which they are rubbed till dry. When not washed,
the legs are polished partly by the brush and the wisp, but
chiefly by the hands. The bed and the stable being arranged,
the horse is done up for the morning.

It is not an easy matter to dress a horse in the best style.
It is a laborious operation, requiring a good deal of time, and
with many horses much patience and dexterity. Ignorant and
lazy grooms never perform it well. They confine themselves
to the surface. They do more with the wisp than with the
brush. The horse when thus dressed may not look so far
amiss, but upon rubbing the fingers into his skin they receive
a white greasy stain, never communicated when the horse has
been thoroughly dressed.

All horses, however, can not be groomed in this manner.
From strappers, carters, farm-servants, and many grooms, it
must not be expected. Such a dressing is not of great ser-
vice, at least it is not essential to the horses they look after,
nor it is practicable if it were. The men have not time to
bestow it.

The horse may be dressed in the stable or in the open air.
When weather permits, that is, when dry and not too cold, it
is better for both the horse and his groom that the operation
be performed out of doors. When several dirty horses are
dressed in the stable at the same time, the air is quickly loaded
with impurities. Upon looking into the nostrils of the horse,
they are found quite black, covered with a thick layer of dust.
This is bad for the lungs of both the horse and the man. I
suppose it is with the intention of blowing it away, that stable-
men are in the habit of making a hissing noise with the mouth
The dust, besides entering, and probably irritating the nostrils,
falls upon the clean horses, the harness, and everything else.
Racers and other valuable horses are almost invariable dress-
ed in the stable, and there they are safest. They have little
mud about them [and from frequent grooming and constantly

8

36 STABLE ECONOMY.

being clothed, little dandruff' in, or dust on their hair] to soil
the stable.

Inferior stablemen sometimes dress a horse very wretch-
edly. That which they do is not well done, and it is not
done in the right way. They are apt to be too harsh with
the currycomb. Some thin-skinned horses can not bear it,
and they do not always require it. It should be applied only
when and where necessary. This instrument loosens the
mud, raises and separates the hair ; and when the hair is
Ion£, the comb cuts much of it away, especially when used
with considerable force. It is not at all times proper to thin
a, horse's coat suddenly, and, when improper, it should be
forbidden. Having raised and separated the hair, the comb
should be laid aside. To use it afterward is to thin the coat ;
and in general, if the coat be too long, it should be thinned
by degrees, not at two or three, but at ten or twelve thinnings.
Then, the currycomb has little to do about the head, legs,
flanks, or other parts that are bony, tender, or thinly covered
with hair. When used in these places it should be drawn in
the direction of the hairs, or obliquely across them, and lightly
applied.. The comb is often too sharp. For some horses it
should always be blunt. The horse soon shows whether or
not it is painful to him. If the operation be absolutely neces-
sary, and can not be performed without pain, the pain must
be suffered. But it is only in the hand of a rude or unskilful
groom that the comb gives any pain. Some never think of
what the horse is suffering under their operations. They
use the comb as if they wanted to scrape oft' the skin. They
do not apparently know the use of the instrument. Without
any regard to the horse's struggles, they persist in scratching
and rubbing, and rubbing and scratching, when there is not
the slightest occasion for employing the comb. On a tender
skin, the comb requires very little pressure ; it should be
drawn with the hair, or across it, rather than against it, and
th^re should be no rubbing. The pain is greatest when the
comb is made to pass rapidly backward and forward several
times over the same place. It should describe a sweeping,
not a rubbing motion.

For some tender horses even the brush is too hard. In the
flank, the groin, on the inside of the thigh, there can be little
dust to remove which a soft wisp will not take away, and it
is needless xo persist in brushing these and similar places
when the horse offers much resistance. In usino- it about the
head or legs, care must be taken not to strike the horse with

STABLjS operations. 87

ihe back of the brush. These bony parts are easily hurt,
and after repeated blows the horse becomes suspicious and
troublesome. For thin-skinned irritable horses the brush
should be soft, or somewhat worn.

Where the currycomb is used too much, the brush is used
too little. The expertness of a groom may be known by the
manner in which he applies the brush. An experienced
operator will do as much with a wisp of straw as a half-made
groom will do with the brush. He merely cleans, or at the
very most polishes the surface, and nothing but the surface.
The brush should penetrate the hair and clean the skin, and
to do this it must be applied with some vigor, and pass re-
peatedly over the same place. It is oftenest drawn along the
hair, but sometimes across and against it. To sink deeply,
it must fall flatly and with some force, and be drawn with
considerable pressure.

When the horse is changing his coat, both the brush and
the currycomb should be used as little and lightly as pos-
sible. A damp whisp will keep him tolerably decent till the
new coat be fairly on, and it will not remove the old one
too fast.

The ears and the legs are the parts most neglected by un-
trained grooms. They should be often inspected, and his
attention directed to them. White legs need to be often
washed with soap and water [and hand-rubbed], and all legs
that have little hair about them require a good deal of hand-
rubbing. White horses are the most, difficult to keep, and in
the hands of a bad groom they are always yellow about the
hips and hocks. The dung and urine are allowed so often to
dry on the hair that at last it is dyed, and the other parts
are permitted to assume a dingy smoky hue, like unbleached
linen.

Dressing Vicious Horses. — A few horses have an aversion
to the operations of the groom from the earliest period of
their domestication. In spite of the best care and manage-
ment, they continue to resist grooming with all the art and
force they can exert. This is particularly the case with
stallions, and many thorough-bred horses not doing much
work. But a great many horses are rendered vicious to
clean by the awkwardness, timidity, or folly of the keeper.
An awkward man gives the horse more pain than ought to
attend the operation ; a timid man allows the horse to master
him ; and a mischievous fellow is always learning him tricks,

88 STABLE ECONOMY.

teaching him to bite, or to strike in play, which easily passes
into malice.

Biting may be prevented by putting on a muzzle, or by
tying the head to the rack, or to the ring outside of the stable.
When reversed in the stall, the head may be secured by the
pillar-reins. A muzzle often deters a horse from attempting
to bite, but some will strike a man to the ground though they
can not seize him. These must be tied up. Many harness-
horses are perfectly quiet while they are bridled, and it is
sufficient to let the bridle remain on, or to put it on, till they
be dressed. Others again are quite safe when blindfolded.
Kicking horses are more dangerous than biters. A great
many strike out, and are apt to injure an awkward groom ;
yet they are not so bad but an expert fellow may manage
them, without using any restraint. A switch held always in
the hand, in view of the horse, and lightly applied, or threat-
ened when he attempts to strike, will render others com-
paratively docile. A few permit their hind quarters to be
cleaned while their clothes are on. Some there are, how-
ever, that can not be managed so easily. They strike out,
those especially that lead idle lives, so quickly and so ma-
liciously, that the groom is in great danger, and can not get
his work properly performed. There are two remedies — the
arm-strap and the twitch. Where another man can not be
spared to assist, one of the fore legs is tied up ; the knee is
bent till the foot almost touches the elbow, and a broad buck-
ling-strap is applied over the forearm and the pastern. The
horse then stands upon three legs, and the groom is in no
danger of a kick. Until the horse is accustomed to stand in
this way, he is apt to throw himself down ; for the first two
or three times the leg should be held up by a man, rather
than tied with a strap. The horse should stand on a thick
bed of litter, so that he may not be injured should he fall.
In course of time he may perhaps become quieter, and the
arm-strap may be thrown aside. It should not be applied
always to the same leg, for it produces a tendency to knuck-
ling over of the pastern, which, in a great measure, is avoided
by tying up each leg alternately, the right to-day, the left
to-morrow. Even the arm-strap will not prevent some horses
from kicking ; some can stand on two legs, and some will
throw themselves down. The man must just coax the horse,
and get over the operation with as little irritation as possible
Upon extraordinary occasions the twitch may be employed,
bu* xt must not be applied every day, otherwise the lip upon

STABLE OPERATIONS. 89

which it is placed becomes inflamed, or palsied. When re-
straint must be resorted to, the man should be doubly active
in getting through his work, that the horse may not be kept
for a needless length of time in pain. He may, in some
cases, give the horse a very complete dressing when he is
fatigued, and not disposed to offer much resistance.

Irritable, high-bred horses, often cut and bruise their legs
when under the grooming operations. They should have
boots, similar to those used against speedy cutting.

Utility of Dressing. — It improves the horse's appearance,
it renders the coat short, fine, glossy, and smooth. The coat
of a horse in blooming condition is always a little oily. The
hair rejects water. The anointing matter which confers this
property is secreted by the skin, and the secretion seems to
be much influenced by good grooming. Slow-working horses
often have skins which a fox-hunter would admire, although
they may be receiving very little care from the groom. But
the food of these horses has a good deal to do with the skin,
and their work is not of that kind which impairs the beauty
of a fine glossy coat. They drink much water, and they get
warm boiled food every night. They do not often perspire
a great deal, but they always perspire a little. Fast-working
horses have hard food, a limited allowance of water ; and
every day, or every other day, they are drenched in perspira-
tion, which forbids constant perspiration, and which carries
off, or washes away the oily matter. Hence, unless a horse
that is often and severely heated, be well groomed, have his
skin stimulated, and his hair polished by the brush, he will
never look well. His coat has a dead, dim appearance, a
dry, soft feel. To the hand the hair feels like a coarse, dead
fur ; the most beautiful coat often assumes this state in one
or two days. Some horses always look ill, and no grooming
will make them look well ; but all may be improved, or ren-
dered tolerably decent, except at moulting time. Dressing
is not the only means by which the coat is beautified. There
are other processes, of which I shall speak presently.

Among stablemen, dressing is performed only for the sake
of the horse's personal appearance. They are not aware that
it has any influence upon health, and therefore they generally
neglect the skin of a horse that is not at work. In the open
fields, the skin is not loaded with the dust and perspiration
which it contracts in the stable, or loose box ; and all the
cleaning it obtains, or needs, is performed by the rain, and
by the friction it receives when the horse rolls upon the

90 STABLE ECONOMY.

ground, or rubs himself against a tree. He comes home with
a very ugly and a very dirty coat, but the skin is cleaner than
if the horse had been all the time in a stable. I think I have
observed that colts who have never been stabled, preserve a
cleaner skin at grass than those that have been long accus-
tomed to a daily dressing. It would be foolish to attempt
any explanation of this before it is ascertained to be true. I
am not sure of it. But it is very well known that an old
horse is very apt to become mangy and lousy if kept long in
the stable without grooming. I do not know what effect the
friction of a daily dressing may have upon the general health.
Its beneficial influence upon the human body is acknowledged
by all medical men, and, especially in warm countries, it is
duly appreciated. That friction promotes the secretions of
the horse's skin, is evident from the permanent gloss which it
imparts to the hair ; that a disordered state of the skin pro-
duces a disordered state of the stomach, the bowels, and the
lungs, can hardly be denied, since it is universally admitted
that a particular state of these latter organs is constantly fol-
lowed by derangement of the former. If diseases in the
stomach or bowels can produce diseases in the skin, surely
diseases in the skin may produce diseases in the stomach.

Want of Dressing, whether it affect the general health or
not, produces lice and mange. Mange may arise from causes
independent of a neglected skin, but it very rarely visits a
well-groomed horse. Bad food or starvation has something
to do in the production of lice ; but the want of dressing has
quite as much, or more. It is the business of the stableman
to prevent mange, so far as prevention is possible. Its treat-
ment belongs to the veterinarian, and need not be here de-
scribed. But it is the groom's duty both to prevent and to
cure lousiness.

Lice may accumulate in great numbers before they are dis-
covered. Sometimes they are diffused over all the skin ; at
other times they are confined to the mane, the tail, and parts
adjacent. The horse is frequently rubbing himself, and often
the hair falls out in large patches. There are many lotions,
powders, and ointments, for destroying lice. Ointments are
not easily applied, and they are seldom effective ; but when
the vermin are confined to a little space, the mercurial oint-
ment rubbed well into the skin, is better than any other oily
application. [This is a dangerous remedy, and after being
applied, the horse's head should be so confined that he can
not touch the anointed parts with his tongue or lips, or be

STABLE OPERATIONS. 91

placed within reach of any other animal, otherwise there is
danger of their getting the mercurial ointment into the mouth,
and thus cause death. We have known valuable animals
occasionally lost in this way. Refuse oil or lard, rubbed on
a lousy beast of any kind, immediately destroys the vermin,
and there is no danger to be apprehended from this applica-
tion. It merely occasions the hair being shed earlier in the
spring, and requires a little extra attention in housing such
animals as have been affected.] A decoction of tobacco is
an effectual remedy. A pint of boiling water is poured upon
an ounce of twist or shag tobacco, and, when cold, the liquor
is applied with a sponge, so as to wet the hair to the root.
A solution of corrosive sublimate, in the proportion of one
drachm to a pint of water, is also a very good remedy, but
not to be employed when much of the skin is raw. [This is
likewise a dangerous remedy.] When the lice are very nu-
merous, spread over great part of the body, it is a good plan
to use both the decoction and the solution. One half of the
body may be dressed with the tobacco liquor, and the other
half with the solution of sublimate. Vinegar, mixed with
three times its bulk of water, is a good application, and not
so dangerous as the other. It is more irritating, but the
irritation soon subsides and does not sicken the horse ; to-
bacco often will. Next day the skin should be examined,
and wherever there is any sign of living vermin, another ap-
plication should be made. Two days afterward the horse
should be washed with soapy water, warm, and applied with
a brush that will reach the skin without irritating it.

In many cases, none of these remedies are necessary. It
is sufficient to wash the horse all over with soapy water.
Black soap is better than any other. It need not, and should
not oe rubbed upon the skin. It may be beat into the water
till it forms a strong lather, and that should be applied with a
brush and washed off with clean warm water. Care must
be taken that the horse do not catch cold. He should be
thoroughly washed, but dried as quickly as possible, and get
a walk afterward if the weather be favorable.

The clothes should be dipped into boiling water, and the
inside of the saddle wet with the sublimate lotion. The litter
should all be turned out, and burned, or buried where swine,
dogs, or poultry, will not get among it. If it can not be
easily removed without scattering it across the stable or yard,
a solution of quick-lime may be dashed over it, before it is
taken from the stall.

92 STABLE ECONOMY.

Dressing after Work. — This operation varies according
to many circumstances ; it is influenced by the kind of horse,
the state and time in which he arrives at the stable. Slow-
working horses merely require to be dried and cleaned ; those
of fast work may require something more, and those which
arrive at a late hour are not usually dressed as they would be
by coming home earlier. The principal objects in dressing a
horse after work are to get him dry, cool, and clean. It is
only, however, in stables tolerably well regulated, that these
three objects are aimed at, or attainable. Carters, and other
inferior stablemen, endeavor to remove the mud which adheres
to the belly, the feet, and the legs, and they are not often very
particular as to the manner in which this is done. If a pond
or river be at hand, or on the road home, the horse is driven
through it, and his keeper considers that the best, which I
suppose means the easiest, way of cleaning him. Others,
having no such convenience, are content to throw two or three
buckets of water over the legs. Their only way of drying
the horse is by sponging the legs, and wisping the body, and
this is generally done as if it were a matter of form more
than of utility. There are some lazy fellows who give them-
selves no concern about dressing the horse. They put him
in the stable wet and dirty as he comes off the road ; and
after he is dry, perhaps he gets a scratch with the currycomb,
and a rub with the straw-wisp. Fast-working horses require
very different treatment. The rate at which they travel ren-
ders them particularly liable to all those diseases arising from,
or connected with changes of temperature. In winter, the
horse comes off the road, heated, wet, and bespattered with
mud ; in summer, he is hptter, drenched in perspiration, or
half dry, his coat matted, and sticking close to the skin.
Sometimes he is quite cool, but wetland clothed in mud.
The treatment he receives can not be always the same. In
summer, after easy work, his feet and legs may be washed
and dried, and his body dressed in nearly the same manner
that it is dressed before work. The wisp dries the places
that are moist with perspiration, the currycomb removes the
mud, and the brush polishes the hair, lays it, and takes away
the dust. The dressing in such a case is simple and soon
over, but it is all the horse requires. When drenched in rain
or perspiration, he must be dried by means of the scraper,
.he wisp, and evaporation ; when heated, he must be walked
about till cool, and sometimes he may be bathed, that he may
be both cooled and cleaned.

STABLE OPERATIONS. 93

Sci-aping. — The scraper is sometimes termed a sweat-
knlie. In some stables it is just a piece of hoop iron, about
twenty inches long, by one and a half broad ; in the racing
and hunting-stables it is made of wood, sharp only on one
edge, and having the back thick and strong. When properly
handled, it is a very useful instrument. The groom taking
an extremity m each hand, passes over the neck, back, belly,
quarters, sides, every place where it can operate ; and with a
gentle and steady pressure, he removes the wet mud, the
rain, and the perspiration. Fresh horses do not understand
this, and are apt to resist it. A little more than the usual
care and gentleness at the first two or three dressings, render
them familiar with it. The pressure applied must vary at
different parts of the body, being lightest where the coat and
he skin are thinnest. The scraper must pass over the same
places several times, especially the belly, to which the water
gravitates from the back and sides. It has little or nothing to
do about the legs ; these parts are easily dried by a large
sponge, and are apt to be injured by the scraper. This op-
eration finished, the horse, if hot. must be walked about a lit-
tle, and if cool, he must be dried.

Walking a Heated Horse. — Everybody knows that a horse
ought not to be stabled when perspiring very copiously after
severe exertion ; he must not stand still. It is known that
he is likely to catch cold, or to take inflamed lungs, or to
founder. By keeping him in gentle motion till cool, these
evils are prevented. This is all that stablemen can say about
it, and perhaps little more can be said with certaint) We
must go a little deeper than the skin, and consider the state
of the internal organs at the moment the horse has finished a
severe task. The action of the heart, the bloodvessels, the
nerves, and perhaps other parts, has been greatly increased,
to correspond with the extraordinary action of the muscles,
the instruments of motion. The circulation, once excited,
does not become tranquil the moment exertion ceases. The
heart and other internal organs which act in concert with the
heart, continue for a time to perform their functions with all
the energy which violent muscular exertion demands, and
they do mischief before they are aware that their extraordin-
ary services are no longer required. An irregularity in the
distribution of the blood takes place ; some part receives
more than it needs, and an inflammation is the result. Mo-
tion prevents this, because it. keeps up a demand for blood
among the muscles. The transition from rapid motion to resl

94 STABLE ECONOMY.

is too sudden, and should be broken by gentle motion. If the
heart and nervous system could be restrained as easily as the
action of the voluntary muscles, there would be no need for
walking a heated horse, since it would be sufficient to render
all the organs tranquil at the same time.

This brief analysis of what is going on internally, may be
useful to those who would know exactly when it is safe to
put a heated horse to perfect rest. It is needless to keep him
in motion after the pulse has sunk to nearly its natural number
of beats per minute, which is under 40. Stablemen go by
the heat of the skin, but on a hot day the skin will often re-
main above its usual heat, for a good while after the system is
quite calm. The state of the skin, however, in general indi-
cates the degree of internal excitement with sufficient accu-
racy.

The object, then, in walking a heated horse, is to allay the
excitement of exertion in all parts of the body at the same
time and by degrees, to keep the muscles working because
the heart is working. The motion should always be slow,
and the horse led, not ridden. If wet, and the weather cold,
his walk may be faster than summer weather requires.

When the state of the weather, and the want of a covered
ride, put walking out of the question, the horse must eithei
go to the stable or he must sutler a little exposure to the rain.
When much excited, that is, when very warm, it is better that
he should walk for a few minutes in the rain, than that he
should stand quite still. But a horse seldom comes in very
warm while it is raining. If he must go into the stable it
should not be too close. To a horse hot, perspiring, and
breathing very quick, a warm stable is particularly distressing.
Some faint under it. Till somewhat calm he may stand with
his head to the door, but not in a current of cold air, at least
not after he begins to cool.

Walking a Wet Horse. — Gentle motion to a heated horse
is necessary, to prevent the evils likely to arise from one set
of organs doing more than another set requires. But in many
cases motion after work is useful when the horse is not heat-
ed. He may come in drenched with rain, but quite cool, and
there may be no one at hand to dry him, or his coat may be
so long that one man can not get him dry before he begins to
shiver. In such cases the horse should be walked about.
Were he stabled or allowed to stand at rest in this state, he
would be very likely to suffer as much injury as if he were
suddenly brought to a stand-still when in a high state of per

STABLE OPERATIONS. 95

spiration. Evaporation commences ■ trie moisture with which
the skin is charged is converted into vapor, and as it assumes
this form it robs the horse of a large quantity of heat. If he
be kept in motion while this cooling and drying process is
going on, an extra quantity of heat is formed, which may
very well be spared for converting the water into vapor, while
sufficient is retained to keep the skin comfortably warm.
Everybody must understand the difference between sitting
and walking in wet clothes. If the horse be allowed to stand
while wet, evaporation still goes on. Every particle of mois-
ture takes away so much heat, but there is no stimulus to pro-
duce the formation of an extra quantity of heat ; in a little
while, the skin becomes sensibly cold, the blood circulates
slowly, there is no demand for it on the surface, nor among
the muscles, and it accumulates upon internal organs. By-
and-by the horse takes a violent shivering fit ; after this has
continued for a time, the system appears to become aware
that it has been insidiously deprived of more heat than it can
conveniently spare ; then a process is set up for repairing the
loss, and for meeting the increased demand. But before this
calorifying process is fairly established, the demand for an
extra quantity of heat has probably ceased. The skin ha3
become dry, and there is no longer any evaporation. Hence
the heat accumulates, and the horse is fevered. I do not-
pretend to trace events any further. The next thing of which
we become aware is generally an inflammation of the feet,
the throat, the lungs, or some other part. But we can not
tell what is going on between the time that the body becomes
hot, and the time that inflammation appears. I am not even
certain that the other changes take place in the order in
which they are enumerated ; nor am I sure that there is no
other change. The analysis may be defective ; something
may take place that I have not observed, and possibly the loss
of heat by evaporation may not always produce these effects
without assistance. It is positively known, however, that
there is danger in exposing a horse to cold when he is not in
motion ; and, which is the same thing, it is equally, indeed
more dangerous to let him stand when he is wet. If he can
not be dried by manual labor, he must be moved about till he
is dried bv evaporation.

Wisping a Wet Horse. — When there is sufficient strength
m the stable, the proper way to dry the horse is by rubbing
him with wisps. Alter removing all the water that can be
taken away with the scraper, two men commence on eacb

96 STABLE ECONOMY.

side. They rub the skin with soft wisps ; those which ab-
sorb moisture most readily are the best, and should be often
changed. None but a bred groom can dry a horse expe-
ditiously and well in this way. The operation requires some
action, and a good deal of strength. An awkward groom can
not do it, and a lazy fellow will not. They will wisp the
horse for a couple of hours, and leave him almost as wet as
at the beginning. They lay the hair, but do not dry it, and
they are sure to neglect the legs and the belly, the very parts
that have most need to be dried quickly. The man must put
some strength into his arm. He must rub hard, and in all
directions, across, and against the hair, oftener than over it.
His wisp should be firm yet soft, the straw broken. Some
can not even make this simple article. A stout fellow may
take one in each hand, if only two are employed about the
horse ; and a boy must often take one in both his hands. Two
men may dry a horse in half an hour, a little more or a little
less, according to his condition, the length of his coat, and
the state of the weather.

Clothing a Wet Horse. — When the horse can neither be
dried by the wisp, nor kept in motion, some other means must
be taken to prevent him catching cold. He may be scraped,
and then clothed, or he may be clothed without scraping.
This is not a good practice, nor a substitute for grooming ;
it is merely an expedient which may be occasionally resorted
to when the horse must be stabled wet as he comes off the
road. Clothing renders him less likely to catch cold, but it
does not perform the duty that ought to be performed by the
groom. When the horse is completely and quickly dried by
manual labor, there is not the slightest chance of his suffering
any mischief from cold ; the friction of the wisp keeps the
blood on the surface, and the horse can be put up quite com-
fortable. When he is kept in motion till the moisture has all
evaporated, he can suffer no more injury than if he were
brought in quite dry. When clothing is applied, it is with the
intention of checking evaporation. It makes this process go
On more slowly than if the horse were naked ; in consequence
he loses less heat in a given time, and he never becomes very
cold. The clothing also absorbs much of the water, which,
if allowed to evaporate, would take away much heat that is
thus retained. Of course, the horse remains wet for a longer
time than if he were unclothed. But it is doubtful if moisture
applied occasionally for an hour or two on the skin is inju-
rious. It probably has some influence ; but it is well known

STABLE OPERATIONS. 97

that cold has much more. Long-continued moisture injures
the coat, destroys its glossy appearance ; but I am not aware
that it does anything else. I am not speaking of moisture
applied for many successive hours, but of that which is re-
tained perhaps an hour longer by clothing than itwould remain
if allowed to evaporate without interruption. I am aware that
a horse is apt to perspire if clothed up when his coat is wet
or damp. But this takes place only when the clothing is too
heavy, or the horse too warm. In the case under considera-
tion, the clothing, unless the horse be cold, is not intended to
heat him, but to prevent him from becoming cold. In hot
weather, a wet horse requires less care ; he need not be
clothed, for evaporation will not render him too cold ; and if
his coat be long, it will, without the assistance of clothing,
keep the skin tolerably warm even in weather that is not hot.
In all cases the cloth should- be of woollen, and thrown closely
over the body, not bound by the roller, and in many cases it
should be changed for a drier and a lighter one, as it becomes
charged with moisture.

To many people all this care about a wet horse will appear
to be superfluous. They will observe that horses are fre-
quently exposed to all weathers, and to the worst of stable
treatment, without receiving any apparent injury. This is
true with regard to many horses ; their work is not exciting,
not requiring that exertion which agitates the whole frame.
There are horses, too, of less value, but performing work of
the severest kind, upon whom a great deal of care can not be
bestowed. The proprietor may think it is cheaper to let the
horses run considerable risk, than to keep a sufficient number
of men for taking better care of them. These can be right
only when their horses are very worthless, and perhaps not
then. In a /aluable stud it is otherwise. The extra expense
of such careful treatment is not to be considered where horses
are worth from fifty pounds to more than five hundred. It is
also true that among stage-coach, and other horses of a similar
kind, there are many who do not receive any injury from a
wet coat. Those that have been gradually inured to expo-
sure, or to stand unheeded till they dry, may feel cold and un-
comfortable, and have a long, rough coat, but their health re-
mains unaffected. The power of the system to accommodate
itself to circumstances is very great. These horses are as
easily wet to the skin as other horses ; but their skin has
learned to furnish an additional supply of heat so soon and as
often as the evaporating process demands it. Such horses

9

98 STABLE ECOiVOM/.

require little care, though more would make them look better
But stablemen who know this are apt to treat all the horsea
alike. The young and the delicate must have additional care
till they are inured to exposure.

All horses, whatever be their age, condition, and work, are
most easily injured by exposure to cold, after they have been
heated by exertion. Every man may have proof of this in his
own person. After perspiring he feels cold and disposed to
shiver, though by this time the skin may be quite dry. It is
the same with the horse. Before he has been heated he might
stand in the cold, or with his coat wet for perhaps half an
hour, without any danger ; but after he has perspired pretty
freely from exertion, motionless exposure in a cold atmosphere
for fifteen minutes will do him more harm than he would re-
ceive in thirty minutes before the exertion ; or, in the one
case, he would be none the worse — in the other, he would
have a cough next day.

Therefore, a wet horse requires most care when his work
has heated him. He must be dried more quickly, or kept in
motion for a longer time than if he had not. been excited.

It is continued cold that does the mischief in all cases ;
some, from habit, will bear much more than others, but none
seem able to bear it so well after as before perspiring. The
intolerance of cold seems to remain for an hour or two aftei
the horse is quite cool, and to increase as the skin loses it*
heat.

The first symptom of approaching danger is staring of the
coat ; if the horse be immediately put into a warm stable, 01
warmly clothed, or put in motion, he may, and probably will,
escape. The second symptom is shivering, which ought to
be quickly arrested by applying warmth. There is no danger
in exposure, so long as the skin remains comfortably waim
or hot.

To Remove the Mud. — There are two ways of removing
the mud. One may be termed the dry, and another the
wet mode. The first is performed by means of the scraper
and the currycomb, or a kind of brush made of whalebone,
which answers much better than the currycomb. In most of
the well-regulated coaching-stables, the strappers are never
allowed to apply water to a horse that has come muddy off the
road [and in no stable should the mud be allowed to be re
moved from the horse by washing, except he be hand-rubbed
dry]. The usual practice is to strip off the mud and loose
water by the sweat knife ; to walk the horse about for ten

STABLL OPERATIONS. 99

minutes if he be warm or wet and the weather fair, otherwise
he stands a little in his stall or in an open shed ; then the
man begins with the driest of those that have come in together.
Much of the surface mud which the scraper has left about the
legs is removed by a straw wisp, or a small birch broom, or
the whalebone brush ; the wisp likewise helps to dry the
horse. The whalebone brush is a very useful article when
the coat is long. That, and the currycomb, with the aid of a
wisp, are almost the only implements coaching-strappers re-
quire in the winter season. It clears away the mud and
separates the hairs, but it does not polish them. A gloss such
as the coat of these horses requires, is given by the wisp.
The whalebone brush is sometimes too coarse, and many
horses can not bear it at any time, while others can surfer it
only in winter. After the mud has been removed with this
brush, the matted hair parted by the currycomb, and the horse
dusted all over with the wisp, his feet are washed, the soles
picked, the shoes examined, the legs and heels well rubbed,
partly by the hand and partly by the wisp, and the mane and
tail combed. In the best of these stables he is well dressed
with the bristle brush before he goes to work. In other
stables the usual mode of removing the mud is by

Washing. — When the horse is very dirty he is usually
washed outside the stable ; his belly is scraped, and the re-
mainder of the mud is washed off at once by the application
of water. Some clean the body before they wash the legs ;
but that i-s only when there is not much mud about the horse.
They do so that he may go into the stable quite clean. He
soils his feet and legs by stamping the ground when his body
is being cleaned. It matters little whether the dressing com-
mence with the body or with the legs , but when the legs are
washed the last thing, they are generally left undried. In
washing, a sponge and a water-brush are employed. Some
use a mop, and this is called the lazy method : it is truly the
trick of a careless sloven ; it wets the legs but does not clean
them. The brush goes to the roots of the hair, and removes
all the sand and mud, without, doing which it is worse than
useless to apply any water. The sponge is employed for
drying the hair, for soaking up and wiping away the loose
water. Afterward, the legs and all the parts that have been
washed, are rendered completely dry by rubbing with the
straw-wisp, the rubber, and the hand. Among valuable horses
this is always done ; wherever the legs have little hair about

100 STABLE ECONOMY.

them, and that little can not be properly dried after washing.,
no washing should take place.

Wet Legs. — It is a very common practice, because it is
easy, to wash the legs ; but none, save the best of stablemen,
will be at the trouble of drying them ; they are allowed to dry
of themselves, and they become excessively cold. Evapora-
tion commences ; after a time a process is set up for producing
heat sufficient to carry on evaporation, and to maintain the
temperature of the skin. Before this process can be fully
established, the water has all evaporated ; then the heat ac-
cumulates ; inflammation succeeds, and often runs so far as
to produce mortification. When the inflammation is slight
and transient, the skin is soon completely restored to health,
and no one knows that it had ever been inflamed. When
the process runs higher, there is a slight oozing from the skin,
which constitutes what is termed grease, or a spot of grease ;
for when this disease is spread over a large surface, it is the
result of repeated neglect. When the inflammation has been
still more severe, mortification ensues ; the horse is lame, the
leg swollen, and in a day or two a crack is visible across the
pastern, generally at that part where the motion is greatest.
This crack is sometimes a mere rupture of the tumefied skin,
but very often it is produced by a dead portion of the skin
having fallen out ; what is called a core in the heel arises
from the same cause ; it differs from the crack only in being
deeper and wider. The reason why cold produces such local
injury of the skin covering the legs, and not of that covering
any other part, is sufficiently plain. The legs, in proportion
to their size, have a very extensive surface exposed to evapora
tion, and the cold becomes more intense than it can ever be
come on the body. To avoid these evils, the legs must eithei
be dried after washing, or they must not be washed at all.

Among horses that have the fetlocks' and the legs weli
clothed with long and strong hair, it is not necessary to be sc
particular about drying the legs : the length and the thickness
of the hair check evaporation. This process is not permitted
to go on so rapidly ; the air and the vapor are entangled among
the hair, they can not get away, and of course can not carry
off the heat so rapidly as from a naked heel. But for all this,
it is possible to make the legs, even of those hairy-heeled
horses, so cold as to produce inflammation. And when these
horses have the legs trimmed bare, they are more liable to
grease than the lighter horse of faster work. But the greatest
number of patients with grease occur where the legs and heels

STABLE OPERATIONS. 101

are trimmed, washed, and never properly dried. There is no
grease where there is good grooming, and not much where the
legs are well covered with hair. It is true that fat or plethoric
horses are very liable to cracks and moisture of the heels ;
but though it may not be easy, yet it is quite possible for a
good groom to prevent grease even in these horses.

The proprietors of coaching-studs, a great many of them,
find that the strappers have not time nor inclination to dry the
legs after washing, and they prohibit the operation altogether.
The men, nevertheless, are very fond of washing ; it is easier
to wash the legs clean than to brush them clean ; and laziness
is never without its plea. It is said that washing has nothing
to do with grease or cracked heels, and that these diseases
will occur where no washing is ever allowed. This is partly
true, but the grease arises from the same cause ; though the
legs are not washed, yet they are not dried when the horses
come in with them wet ; hence the great number of cases in
wet winters. It is also said that if the legs be wet when the
horses come in, washing can not make them wetter : though
the legs be wet yet they are warm, and if they must be wash-
ed, it should be with water warm as the skin.

I am not objecting to washing under all circumstances. It
is a bad practice among naked-heeled horses, only when the
men will not or can not make the legs dry. In a gentleman's
stable the legs ought to be washed, but they ought also to be
thoroughly dried before the horse is left. It is the evapora-
tion, or the cold produced by evaporation, that does the mis-
chief. In a cart-horse stable there is less chance of washing
doing any harm ; the long hair preventing the legs from be-
coming very cold ; still, if grease, swelled legs, or cracked
heels, occur often, either washing must be prohibited, or the
legs must be dried after it, or the washing must be performed,
at other times. In a farm-stable, the man, after working the
horse all day, can not be expected to bestow an hour or two
upon the legs at night ; but he may forbear washing when he
finds that grease is the consequence. He may brush off the
mud, when it is dry, and a wisp or a sponge will take away
the loose water which the horse brings from his work. If
the legs become itchy and scurfy under this treatment, they
may be washed once or twice a-week with soapy warm wa-
ter, well applied, by means of a brush that will reach the
skin ; and this washing, particularly in cold weather, should
be performed before the horse goes to his work, not after it.
While he is in motion the legs wall not become cold. The

9*

102 STABLE ECONOMY.

object of such a washing is not. to clean the hair, but to clean
the skin, which is apt to become foul and to itch from the
mud adhering to it undisturbed. Upon drawing the hand over
the pasterns and the legs, when in this state, numerous pim-
ples are felt, some of which are raw. The horse is often
stamping violently, and rubbing one leg against another. A
solution of salt is a common and useful remedy against the
itchiness, but it will not prevent a return.

I am aware that, in many coaching-stables, the men are
still permitted to wash the horse's legs, without being com-
pelled to dry them. This is no argument in favor of wash-
ing ; for unless the legs be well clothed with hair, they will
always tell the same tale. The horses that have recently
entered these studs have grease, swelled legs, and cracked
heels ; those that have been a longer time in the service may
be free from these, yet they show that they have had them
over and over again. Their legs are round and fleshy; the
skin thick, bald, seamed, callous. Nature has done much to
inure the skin, but not before the horse has given a great
deal of trouble, and perhaps not till he is permanently blem-
ished.

Bathing. — This name may be given to the operation of
washing the horse all over. Where possible, and not forbid-
den by the owner, a lazy or ignorant groom always performs
it in the neighboring river or pond. Some take the horse in-
to the water till it is up to his belly, and others swim him in-
to the depths, from which man and horse are often borne
away with the stream, to the great grief of the newspaper
editor, who deplores their melancholy fate ; by which, I sup-
pose, he means melancholy ignorance.

These river bathings ought to be entirely prohibited. In
this town boys are often sent to the Clyde with horses, and
they play themselves in the water, wading here and there,
and up and down, till the horse is benumbed and carried off,
or hardly able to reach the shore. Besides this risk, he is
cooled both without and within, for he is generally permitted
to drink at the same time. The running water removes the
mud very effectually ; but that can be done quite as well, and
with less danger to the horse, though with a little more
trouble to the keeper, in the stable-yard. There are only
certain times in which bathing is proper, and these times are
never observed when the men have got into the habit of go-
ing to the river.

In cold weather it is an act of madness. During some of

STABLE OPERATIONS. 103

the hottest days in summer, a general bathing is wonderfully
refreshing to a horse that has run a stage at the rate of ten
miles an hour. It cleans the skin more effectually than any
other means, and with less irritation to the horse ; it renders
him comfortably cool, and, under certain conditions, it does
him no harm. Those employed in public conveyances are
almost the only horses that require it. During very hot
weather they suffer much from the pace at which they travel.
They come off the road steeped in perspiration, but in a few
minutes they are dry. The coat is thin and short, and the
hairs glued together by dirt and sweat ; to raise and separate
them with the currycomb is productive of much pain, greatly
aggravated by the fevered condition of the horse. The best
way of cleaning a horse in this state, is by washing him.
The operation is performed by the water-brush and the sponge.
The horse should stand in the sun. The man, taking a large
coarse sponge in his hand, usually commences at the neck,
close to the head ; he proceeds backward and downward till
he has bathed the horse all over. This may be done in two
minutes. Then, dipping his brush in the water, he applies it
as generally as the sponge, drawing it always in the direction
of the hair, without any rubbing. The sponge merely applies
the water ; the brush loosens and removes the dust and per-
spiration which adhere to the hair. The sweat-knife is next
employed, and the horse being scraped as dry as possible, he
is walked about in the sun for half an hour, more or less, till
he be perfectly dry. During the time he is in motion the
scraper is reapplied several times, especially to the belly,
and the horse gets water at twice or thrice. When quite dry
he is stabled, and wispedover, perhaps lightly brushed, to lay
and polish his coat, and when his legs are well rubbed he is
ready for feeding.

To the hackney and the stage-coach horse, a bathing of
this kind may often be given with great benefit. It improves
the appearance of the skin, and subdues that fevered state of
the system in which horses often remain for a long time after
severe exertion under a burning sun. It must not be over-
done. The horse should be washed and dried as quickly as
possible. The object is to render him comfortably cool, not
to freeze him. Upon cold, wet, or cloudy days, it is forbid-
den, and after sunset it is out of the question. For slow
working horses it is neither necessary nor proper. The ex-
citement of their work is so moderate, that the circulation
becomes tranquil soon after the work is over. They are not

104 STABLE ECONOMY.

so difficult to clean, and they are not liable to the faint, fever-
ed condition which fast work produces in hot weather. The
men who attend these slow horses are seldom able to bathe
them, even though bathing were beneficial. They have not
sufficient despatch.

OPERATIONS OF DECORATION.

Some of these might very well be termed expurgatory or
deformatory operations. Many of them consist in removing
something supposed to be superfluous or noxious, or something
offensive to taste, which among stablemen is often sufficiently
corrupt. To judge of their propriety or impropriety, it is
necessary to advert briefly to

The Uses and Properties of the Hair.— That which
forms the general covering is intended to keep the horse
warm. It conducts heat very slowly, and is therefore well
adapted for retaining it. It absorbs no moisture, and when
the horse is in good health, every hair is anointed with an
oily sort of fluid which imparts a beautiful gloss, and repels
moisture.

The hair is shed every spring and every autumn. The short
fine coat which suffices for the summer, affords little protection
against the severity of winter ; it falls and is replaced by
another of the same material, though longer and coarser. It
is not very obvious why the horse should moult twice every
year. We might suppose that a mere increase in the length
of the summer coat would render it sufficiently warm for the
winter. Without doubt there is some reason why it is other-
wise ordered. The hair perhaps is not of the same texture ;
that of the winter coat certainly appears to be coarser ; it is
thicker, and it requires more care to keep it glossy than the
hair of a summer coat.

The hair is not cast all at once. Before losing its connex-
ion with the skin it assumes a lighter color, and becomes dim
and deadlike. On some warm day a large quantity comes
away which is not missed, though its fall is very evident.
The process seems to stop for several days and to recom-
mence. Though a little is always falling, yet there are times
at which large quantities come out, and it is said that the
whole is shed at thrice. Moulting, and the length and thick-
ness of the coat, are much influenced by stable treatment and
the weather. Horses that are much and for a long time out
of doors, exposed to cold, always have the hair much longer

OPERATIONS OF DECORATION. 105

thar those kept in warm stables, or those that are more in the
stable than in the open air. If the horse be kept warm and
well fed, his winter coat will be very little longer than that
of summer, and it will lie nearly as well. Moulting may
even be entirely prevented ; heavy clothing and warm stabling
will keep the summer coat on all winter. The horse, how-
ever, must not be often nor long exposed to cold, for though
he may be made to retain his summer coat till after the usual
period of changing it, yet it will fall even in the middle of
winter, if he be much exposed to winter weather. Grooms
often hasten the fall of the winter coat by extra dressing and
clothing, in order that the horse may have his fine summer
coat a little earlier than usual. This, especially when the
spring is cold and the horse much exposed, is not right, for
it generally makes the summer coat longer than if it had not
appeared till the weather was warmer.

The long hair which grows on the legs of some horses is
doubtless intended to answer the same purpose as the short
hair of the body. It is longer and stronger, because the parts
are more exposed to cold and to wet. It is always longest in
horses that are reared in damp or marshy situations, where
the grass is luxuriant, and the soil charged with moisture.
Such pastures are necessary for the large draught-horse, who
consumes much food, more than the light racing-horse, to
whom the scanty herbage of a dryer situation is sufficient.
But, independent of this, length of hair upon the legs is pe-
culiar to particular breeds. It is always long in draught-
horses and Highland ponies, and short in blood-horses wher-
ever they are reared. On the legs of thorough-bred horses,
the hair is not much longer than that on the body, with the
exception of a tuft at the back of the fetlock-joint. This is
termed the foot-lock. It defends the parts beneath from ex-
ternal injury, to which they are liable by contact with the
ground. When very long, good grooming, good food, and
warm stabling, always shorten the hair of the legs.

The hair of the mane has been regarded as ornamental, and
it is so ; but to say that any part of an animal was conferred
for the sole purpose of pleasing the eye of man, is almost as
much as to say that all were not created by the same Being.
Had the mane been superfluous to the horse, we could have
been made to admire him without it. God has made it pleas-
ing to us, because it is useful to him. In a wild state the
horse has many battles to fight, and his neck, deprived of the
mane, wonld be a very vulnerable part. It is likewise a part

106 STABLE ECONOMY.

that he can not reach with his teeth, and not easily with hia
feet. The flies might settle there and satiate themselves
without disturbance : if the mane can not altogether exclude
those intruders, it can lash them off by a single jerk of the
head. I believe that in wild horses the mane falls equally on
both sides of the neck.

The long hair of the mane, the tail, and the legs, is not
shed in the same manner as that on the body. It is decidu-
ous, but it does not fall so regularly, so rapidly, nor so often
as the other. Each hair, from its length, requires a much
longer time to grow ; if all were shed at once, the parts
would be left defenceless for perhaps more than a month.
Some of the hairs are constantly losing their attachment and
falling out, while others are as constantly growing. It is not
possible to say what determines the fall of these hairs in
horses not domesticated. It may be some circumstance con-
nected with their age or length more than with the change ot
season. When brushed and combed many of them are pulled
out.

Docking. — In this country the horse's tail is regarded as
a useless or troublesome appendage. It was given to ward
off the attacks of blood-sucking flies. But men choose to
remove it without being able to give the horse any other pro-
tection from the insects against which it was intended to
operate. They say that the long tail conceals the horse's
quarters, diminishes his apparent height, heats him at fast
work, and soils his rider. It is also supposed that amputa-
tion of the tail renders the back stronger. These sage say-
ings have been promulgated so extensively from one to an-
other, that it seems to be universally decided that all horses
must be docked.

These, it will be observed, are very strong objections to a
long tail. It is a terrible thing to hide the quarters, and to
make the horse look lower by an inch than he really is.
Evils of such a nature are not to be suffered. The tail may
be very useful in some respects, and in the good old times it
was permitted to flourish as it grew, being only bound up
when it troubled the horse's rider. But in times like these,
when men clamor for freedom, and practise tyranny, it must
be cut off.

It is said that the back becomes stronger after the tail is
docked ; that the back receives the blood which formerly went
to the tail. There is no truth in this. The small quantity
of blood which is saved can be furnished by one or two ad-

OPERATIONS OF DECORATION. 107

ditional ounces of grain, and there is not the slightest proof
that the back becomes stronger.

Some writers have contended that the tail of the horse, like
that of the greyhound or the kangaroo, assists him in turning,
in the same way that a helm guides a ship. If this be so, as
its action when the horse is running would seem to indicate,
cavalry horses and racers, more than others, must lose a great
deal of power by docking But whether this be true or not,
there can be no doubt about the utility of the tail in keeping
off flies, which to some horses give extreme torment. I have
heard or read of a troop of cavalry employed, I think in some,
part of India, that was quite useless in consequence of the
annoyance the docked horses received from a large species
of fly. In this country, for two months of the year, thin-
skinned horses suffer excessively, and many accidents hap-
pen from their struggles or their fears. At grass they are in
a constant fever.

It is surely worth while inquiring, whether all that is
gained by docking balances the loss. In comparing the two
it ought to be remembered that lockjaw and death are not
rare results of the operation.

Docking is usually performed by the veterinarian, or the
shoeing-smith, who keeps instruments for the purpose. In
some places it is performed when the colt is only two or
three months old. At such an early age, a knife will remove
the tail, and the bleeding stops of itself. By docking early
there is less risk, and the hair grows more strongly upon the
remaining part of the tail than when the operation is delayed
to a later period.

Nicking. — In England and Scotland this operation ap-
pears to be fast and justly getting into disrepute. It is still
very common in all parts of Ireland. Its object is to make
the horse carry his tail well elevated. Two or three deep
incisions are made on the lower surface of the tail ; the mus-
cles by which it is depressed are divided, and a portion of
them excised. The wounds are kept open for several days,
and the tail is kept in elevation by means of pulleys and a
weight. It is a surgical operation, but no respectable veter-
inarian would recommend it. It need not be described here.
On the continent, a tail thus mutilated is termed Queue
a rAtiglai.se, in compliment, I suppose, to the English.

There is a safer and more humane method of obtaining the
pame object. (See Fig. 8.) If the horse do not carry his

'08

STABLE ECONOMY.

Fig. 13.

tail to his rider's satisfaction, it may be put in the pulley j i\
hour or two every day for several successive weeks.

A cord is stretched across the stall, near or between the
heel-posts ; the hair of the tail is plaited and attached to
another cord, which passes upward over a pulley in the
transverse line, stretches backward, where it passes through
another pulley and descends. To this a weight is secured, a
bag containing sand or shot sufficient to keep the tail at the
proper elevation. A double pulley on the cross cord permits
the horse to move from side to side without, twisting the tail.
The weight should vary with the strength of the tail. From
one to two pounds is sufficient to begin with. After a few days
it may be gradually increased, so as to keep the tail a little more
elevated than the horse is wanted to carry it. The time which
he stands in the pulleys need not in the first week exceed
one hour ; on the second week he may stand thus for two or
three hours every day, and at last he may be kept up all day
or all night, if the horse be at work during the day. Should
the tail become hot or tender, or should the hair show any
tendency to fall out, the elevating process must be omitted for
a day or two till the tail be well again, when it may be re-
sumed and carried on every day, unless the hair again become
loose, which is a sign that the weight is too great or too long
continued.

OPERATIONS OF DECORATION. 109

From this operation there is no danger of the horse dying
of lockjaw, nor of the tail being set awry, nor broken, as
sometimes happens after nicking. It requires a much longer
period to effect the elevation, but that is of no consequence,
since the horse need not be a single day off work. When
nicked he must be idle for several weeks.

[The operation of nicking, or more properly pricking, as
given by our author, is barbarous in the extreme. As prac-
tised in America, it is much more simple, effectual, and less
painful. If the tail is to be docked, let that first be done, and
then permitted to heal perfectly. Perhaps this operation may
make the horse carry his tail so well as to prevent the neces-
sity of pricking. But if it does not, then let him be pricked.

Operation.— The tail has four cords, two upper and two
lower. The upper ones raise the tail, the lower ones de-
press it, and these last alone are to be cut. Take a sharp
penknife with a long slender blade ; insert the blade between
the bone and under cord, two inches from the body; place the
thumb of the hand holding the knife against the under part of
the tail, and opposite the blade. Then press the blade
toward the thumb against the cord, and cut the cord off, but
do not let the knife cut through the skin. The cord is firm
and it will easily be known when it is cut off. The thumb
will tell when to desist, that, the skin may not be cut. Sever
the cord twice on each side in the same manner. Let the
cuts be two inches apart. The cord is nearly destitute of
sensation ; yet when the tail is pricked in the old manner,
the wound to the skin and flesh is severe, and much fever is
induced, and it takes a long time to heal. But with this
method, the horse's tail will not bleed, nor will it be sore
under ordinary circumstances more than three days ; and he
will be pulleyed and his tail made in one half of the time
required by the old method.]

Dressing the Tail. — Sometimes the hair of the tail grows
too bushy. The best way of thinning it is to comb it often
with a dry comb, having small but strong teeth. When the
hair is short, stiff, almost standing on end, it may be laid by
wetting it, and tying the ends together beyond the stump
Sometimes the whole tail is moistened, and surrounded by a
hay-rope, which is applied evenly and moderately tight, and
kept on all night. It makes the hair lie better during the
next day, but seldom longer. Square tails require occasional
clipping. The tail is held in a horizontal position by the
left hand, while it is squared with scissors. The hair at the

10

I 10 STABLE ECONOMY.

centre is rendered shorter than that at the outside, and thf
tail, when elevated, resembles the feathered extremity of a
pen. Horses of the racing kind have long tails with the
points of the hair cut off.

A switch tail is taper at the point, not square. It is of
varying length, according to the taste of the rider. It some-
times requires to be shortened without squaring it. The man
seizes it within his left hand, cuts off the superfluous length
with a knife not very sharp. He does not go slap-dash
through it as a pair of scissors would ; but, holding the knife
across, with the edge inclined to the point of the tail, he
draws it up and down as if he were scraping it ; the hairs
are cut as the knife approaches the hand that holds the tail ;
in this way he carries the knife all round, and reaches the
central hairs as much from one point of the outer circumfer-
ence as from any other. The hairs are thus left of unequal
length, those at the middle being the longest.

The hair of the tail is usually combed and brushed every
day, and when not hanging gracefully, it should be wet and
combed four or five times a day. White tails, especially
when of full length, require often to be washed with soap and
water. On many horses the hair is very thin. When the
hair is wanted exuberant, it should have little combing ; in
the studs of equestrian actors, the comb is never, or it is very
little used. When applied to separate the hairs, care is taken
not to pull them out. The operator seizes the hair near the
root with his left hand, while the right uses the comb, which
in this way is not permitted to act on the roots. At other
tines the water-brush, a little moistened, keeps the hair
smooth and clean.

Formerly, many years ago, it was the custom to dye the
tail and often the mane. Red was a favorite color. Nothing
of that kind is done now, and the process need not be de-
scribed. Both mane and tail used to be preserved in a bag
when the horse was not at work.

Dressing the Mane. — In general the mane lies to the
right side, but in some horses it is shaded equally to each.
On some carriage horses it is made to lie to the right side on
the one, and to the left on the other, the bare side of the neck
being exposed. From some, especially ponies, it is the cus-
tom to have the mane shorn off near to the roots, only a few
stumps being left to stand perpendicularly. This is termed
the hog-mane. It is almost entirely out of fashion. To
make a mane lie, the groom combs and wets it several times

OPERATIONS OF DECORATION. Ill

a day , he keeps it almost constantly wet ; when thick, short,
and bushy, he pulls away some of the hair from the under
side, that is, from the side to which the mane inclines, or is
wanted to incline. When that is not sufficient, he plaits it
into ten or fifteen cords, weaving into each a piece of mat-
ting, and loading the extremity with a little lead. After re-
maining in this state for several days, the plaiting is undone,
and the mane lies as it is wanted. When it becomes too
long or too bushy, a few of the hairs are pulled out. This
is often done too harshly, and some horses have a great
aversion to it. The man takes hold of a few hairs, often too
many ; he clears them by pushing up the others, wraps them
round his finger, and with a sudden jerk tears them out. Mr.
Blane contrived a kind of fork with three prongs made of iron,
which is said to thin the mane more equally and less painfully
than the finger. In harness-horses, that part of the mane
which lies directly behind the ears is usually cut away, that
the head of the bridle may sit fast.

Heavy draught-horses should seldom have either the mane
or the tail thinned, and, to hang gracefully, it should be long
in proportion to its thickness. These horses have a naked,
stiff, and clumsy appearance when deprived of too much hair.
Indeed, their mane and tail require nothing but daily comb-
ing and brushing to keep them clean and even. A thinner
mane and tail are more in keeping with the general appear-
ance of fine-boned, well-bred horses.

In stage-coach and similar stables, the horses are often
robbed of both mane and tail by drunken strappers. For the
sake of a dram, which they gain by selling the hair, they
pull out more than enough. This should be forbidden.

Trimming the Ears. — The inside of the ear is coated
with fine hair, which is intended by nature to exclude rain,
flies, dirt, and other foreign matters floating in the air. When
left to itself, it grows so long as to protrude considerably out
of the ear, and to give the horse a neglected, ungroomed-like
appearance. It is a common practice to trim all this hair
away by the roots. But it is a very stupid practice. The
internal ear becomes exposed to the intrusion of rain, dirt,
and insects ; and though I know of no disease arising from
this cause, yet every horseman is aware that it gives the
horse much annoyance. Many are very unwilling to face
a blast of rain or sleet, and some will not. In the fly-
season, they are constantly throwing the head about as if
they would throw it off, and this is an inconvenience to

112 STABLE ECONOMY.

either rider or driver. The hair on the inside should not be
cut from any horse. It is easily cleaned by a gentle applica-
tion of the brush. When the hair grows too long, the points
may be taken off. This is done by closing the ear, and cut-
ting away the hair that protrudes beyond the edges. Among
heavy horses even this is unnecessary.

Cropping the Ears used at one time to be almost as com-
mon as docking is now. But the operation is so entirely
abandoned, that no one now speaks of it.

Trimming the Muzzle and Face. — All round the muzzle,
and especially about the nostrils and lips, there are long fine
hairs, scattered wide apart, and standing perpendicular to the
skin. These are feelers. They perform the same functions
as the whiskers of the cat. Their roots are endowed with
peculiar sensibility. They warn the horse of the vicinity of
objects to which he must attend. There are several grouped
together below and above the eyes, which give these delicate
organs notice of approaching insects or matters that might
enter them and do mischief. The slightest touch on the ex-
tremity of these hairs is instantly felt by the horse. They
detect even the agitation of the air.

It is usual with grooms to cut all these hairs away as vulgar
excrescences. They can give no reason for doing so. They
see these hairs on all horses that are not well groomed, and
perhaps they are accustomed to associate them with general
want of grooming. They are so fine and so few in number,
that they can not be seen from a little distance, and surely
they can not be regarded as incompatible with beauty, even
though they were more conspicuous.

The operation ought to be forbidden ; few horses suffer it
without some resistance, and many have to be restrained by
the twitch. The pain is not great, but it seems to be suf-
ficiently annoying.

The long hair which grows upon the throat channel and
neck of horses that have been much exposed to cold, is partly
pulled out and partly shortened. It has been supposed that
the removal of the hair from about the throat renders the horse
very liable to catch cold after it, and to have a cough. It is
sometimes shortened by clipping, but oftener by singeing it,
and singeing is blamed more than clipping. The operation
certainly does not improve the appearance of heavy draught-
horses ; it is never required by blood horses, or others that
are well groomed and comfortably stabled ; and saddle, gig, or
post-horses, to whom the operation might bean improvement,

OPERATIONS OF DECORATION. 113

are so seldom in the charge of men who can perform it proper-
ly, that m general it is better to leave it undone.

Trimming the Heels and Legs.* — The hair of the fetlock,
the hollow of the pastern, and the posterior aspect of the legs,
is longer on heavy draught-horses than on those of finer bone.
It is intended to keep the legs warm, and perhaps in some
degree to defend them from external violence. It becomes
much shorter and less abundant after the horse is stabled, kept
warm, well fed, and well groomed. The simple act of wash-
ing the legs, or rubbing them, tends to make the hair short and
thin, and to keep it so. Nevertheless, it is a very common
practice, especially in coaching-stables, to clip this hair away
almost close to the root. Cart-horses very rarely have the
heels trimmed ; well-bred horses seldom require it. The
hand-rubbing which the legs and heels of these horses re-
ceive, keeps the hair short, and it is never very long even
without hand-rubbingf.

The heels are trimmed in three different ways : the most
common and the easiest is to clip away all the long hair, near
or close to the roots ; another way is to switch the heels, that
is, to shorten the hair without leaving any mark of the scissors
— the groom seizes the hair and cuts off a certain portion in
the same manner that he shortens a switch tail ; the third
mode is to pull the long hairs out by the roots. Switching
and pulling, which is little practised, are generally confined to
the foot-lock ; some neat operators combine these different
modes so well, that the hair is rendered thin and short without
presenting any very visible marks of the alteration. By means
of an iron comb with small teeth and a pair of good scissors,
the hair may be shortened without setting it on end or leaving
scissor marks, but every groom can not do this.

There has been considerable difference of opinion as to the
propriety of trimming the heels. Some contend that the long
hair soaks up the moisture, keeps the skin long wet and cold,
producing grease, sores, cracks, and scurfmess ; by others
this is denied ; they affirm that the long hair, far from favor-
ing the production of these evils, has a tendency to prevent
them. But there is another circumstance to be taken into
consideration, and that accounts sufficiently for the difference
of opinion.

When the horse is carefully tended after his work is over,
his legs quickly and completely dried, the less hair he has

* The word heel is applied to the back and hollow of the pastern. In this
place, all that is said of the heels is applicable to the legs.

10*

114 STABLE ECONOMY.

about them the better. The moisture which that little takes
up can be easily removed : both the skin and the hair can be
made perfectly dry before evaporation begins, or proceeds so
far as to deprive the legs of their heat. It is the cold pro-
duced by evaporation that does all the mischief; and if there
be no moisture to create evaporation, there can be no cold —
no loss of heat, save that which is taken away by the air. If
there were more hair about the heels, they could not be so
soon nor so easily dried. If the man requires ten minutes to
dry one leg, the last will have thirty minutes to cool ; if he
can dry each in two minutes, the last will have only six minutes
to cool, and in that time it can not become so cold as to be
liable to grease. Whenever, therefore, the legs must be dried
by manual labor, they should have little hair about them.

But in coaching and posting-studs, and among cart-horses,-
the men can not, or will not bestow this care upon the legs ;
they have not time, and they would not do it if they had time.
A team of four horses, perhaps, comes in at once, the legs all
wet, and, it may be, the whole skin drenched in rain. Before
eight of the legs can be rubbed dry, the other eight have be-
come almost dry of themselves, and are nearly as cold as they
can be. These horses should never have the heels trimmed:
they can not have too much hair about them. They do indeed
soak up a great deal of water, and remain wet for a much
longer time than those that are nearly naked ; but still they
never become so soon nor so intensely cold. Evaporation
can not proceed so rapidly ; the vapor is entangled among the
hair, and can not escape all at once. The evaporating process
proceeds for a long time, but so slowly that the skin has time
to furnish the necessary quantity of heat before it becomes
very cold. If these horses had naked heels, there would be
little difficulty in drying them ; but the little trouble it requires
is too much, and then it must be repeated as the water trickles
from the body downward, making the legs as wet as ever ; but
in truth the men can not get them all dried before some be-
come cold.

Possibly this explanation may be considered as insufficient.
I can appeal to observation. During two very wet winters I
have paid particular attention to the subject. My practice
has brought it before me whether I would or not ; I have had
opportunity of observing the results of trimming and of no-
trimming, among upward of five hundred horses. Nearly
three hundred of these are employed at coaching and posting,
or work of a similar kind, and about one hundred and fifty are

OPERATIONS OF DECORATION. 115

cart-horses. Grease, and the other skin diseases of the heels,
have been of most frequent occurrence where the horses were
both trimmed and washed ; they have been common where
the horses were trimmed but not washed ; and there have
been very few cases where washing and trimming were for-
bidden or neglected. I do not include horses that always
have the best of grooming; they naturally have little hair
about the legs, and some of that is often removed ; their legs
are always washed after work, but they are always dried be-
fore they have time to cool.

If, then, the horse have to work often and long upon wet or
muddy roads, and can not have his legs completely dried im-
mediately after work, and kept dry in the stable, and not ex-
posed to any current of cold air, he must not have his heels
trimmed. In most well-regulated coaching stables, this opera-
tion and washing are both forbidden.

Hand-rubbing the Legs. — This is not altogether an
ornamental operation, but as it is performed chiefly or only
where decoration is attended to, this seems to be the proper
place for taking notice of it. I have said that the hair of the
body is anointed by an oily kind of matter, which serves in
some measure to repel the rain. The long hair of the heels is
anointed in the same way, but these parts are more liable to be-
come wet, and the oily or lubricating fluid is secreted in greater
abundance here than elsewhere. It is produced by the skin,
and has a slightly fetid smell, which becomes intolerable when
the skin is the seat of the disease termed grease. This fluid
is easily washed off, but it is soon replaced ; the greater part
of it is removed by brushing and washing the hair, especially
with soapy water, and it is some time ere the hair and skin
are again bedewed with it. Dry friction with the hand or a
soft wisp stimulates the skin to furnish a new or an extri
supply. This is one good reason for hand-rubbing, an opera-
tion seldom performed by untrained grooms. " Take care of
the heels, and the other parts will take care of themselves/''
is an old saying in the stable, and a very good one, if it mean
only that the heels require more care than other parts. In
some horses, particularly those that have little hair about the
legs, the hollow of the pastern is very apt to crack ; the
anointing fluid is not secreted in sufficient quantity to keep
the skin supple ; it is always dry, and whenever the animal is
put to a fast pace, the skin cracks and bleeds at the place
where motion is greatest. Lotions are applied which dry the
sore, but do not prevent the evil from recurring ; hand-rubbing

116 STABLE ECONOMY.

must do this. The legs of some horses are apt to smell or to
itch, particularly when they stand idle for a day or two.
Others, cold-blooded, long-legged horses, are troubled with
cold legs while standing in the stall. These things are
generally disregarded among coarse horses ; if they disappear,
it is well, if not, they are neglected till they become more
formidable. But little evils of this kind often produce much
annoyance to those who own horses of greater value. It is
difficult to avoid them altogether among horses that are not in
good condition, loaded with fat, or plethoric ; yet, frequeit
hand-rubbing does much. Some grooms give it five or six
times a-day ; so much is seldom required, indeed never, ex-
cept under disease : but it does no harm that I know of, if it
do not make the heels too bare. To be of any use, it must
be done in a systematic manner and in good earnest. If the
horse be perfectly quiet, the man will sit down on his knees,
and, with a small soft wisp, or cloth-rubber in each hand, he
will rub upward and downward, or he will use his hands
without the wisp, particularly if the hair be fine and short ;
much force is not necessary, indeed it is pernicious. In
coming down the leg, the pressure should be light ; and in
passing upward, it must not be so great as to raise or break
the hairs.

Many stablemen perform this simple operation always in
the same way ; they pass over the leg as if they merely meant
to smooth or lay the hair. To polish the hair, if that be all
which is required, this is sufficient. But to stimulate the
skin, to clean it, to disperse gourdiness, and to excite the
secretion by which the hair is anointed, there must be some
friction, some rubbing against or across the hair, as well as
along it ; the hollow of the pastern has most need of this, and
there the rubbing should be across the hair, with the palm of
the hand. When the legs are cold, as they generally are in
inflammatory diseases of internal organs, it is usual to raise
some degree of heat in them by hand-rubbing. For effecting
this the friction must be considerable. The hands, one on
each side of the leg, must pass rapidly upward and downward,
and with a moderate degree of pressure. When necessary to
do this, the hair is broken, rubbed out, or raised into curls,
but in such cases this must in general be disregarded ; at other
times the friction need not be so great, and should not.

After a day of severe and protracted exertion, gentle and
frequent friction is very useful for restoring the legs, and for
preventing the cold swelling to which the legs of many horses

OPERATIONS OF DECORATION. 117

are liable after work, but it is improper where there is any
swelling hot and painful. The hind always requires more
than the fore legs. The friction seldom requires to be car-
ried higher than the hock or knee-joints.

Singeing. — Stablemen have long been in the nabit of
singeing away the long loose hair which grows about the
jaws, throat, neck, belly, and quarters of horses that have
been much exposed to cold ; a flame is applied and the hair
is allowed to blaze for a moment, when it is extinguished by
drawing the hand or a damp cloth over it. Sometimes the
hair is moistened a little with spirits of wine, in order that it
may burn more readily ; the spirit is not rubbed in, it is enough
to moisten the points of the hair ; when too wet it lies too
smoothly for singeing. Sometimes the horse is singed all
over ; the operation is common, I believe, in England and
Ireland. There are instruments for the purpose. An article
composed of two iron rollers, the one being hot and the other
cold, was at one time in use. But singeing is now done by
a kind of knife, having a moveable back, which is surrounded
with tow moistened with spirit of wine and set on fire. As
the knife is drawn over the hairs, their points start and are
taken off by the flame. When properly performed, this op-
eration does not disfigure the horse so much as might be ex-
pected. He does not look so ill as a clipped horse, and his
hair is never so generally shortened.

Shaving. — I have heard of horses being shaved. It has
been done to make the horse wear a summer coat in winter.
The operation is rare and difficult ; it is performed after the
horse has moulted, and before the winter coat is full grown.
I am unable to say whether it be right, or wrong, for I have
never seen it performed, and am ignorant of its results.

Clipping. — This operation has been truly termed, " a bad
substitute for good grooming." I is done only on the better
kinds of horses, especially upon hunters, and consists ia
shortening the hair all over the body, by means of the scis-
sors and comb. The object is to make the winter coat as
short as that of summer. The time usually chosen is the be-
ginning of winter, just after the horse has moulted, and before
his coat has attained its full length ; but. it may be done at
any later period, greater care being taken to prevent the
horse catching cold. Of the mode in which the operation is
performed, I need say nothing. There are persons in all
considerable towns who make it their business. Private
grooms sometimes attempt it ; but they seldom do it neatly.

118 STABLE ECONOMY.

The horse requires no preparation. For several days after,
he must be well clothed both in the stable and at exercise.
He may be ridden the next day, but he must not be exposed
while naked, wet, or motionless. He should not be clipped
when unwell. If he have any cough, sore throat, discharge
from the nose, or tendency to shiver after drinking, these
should be removed before he is clipped. He should not have
any physic immediately before nor after. When he goes to
the forge or to exercise after the operation, he should be well
clothed. A double blanket, a hood, and breast-piece, are
requisite.

Utility of Clipping. — Some people dislike the appearance
of a clipped horse ; and it must be confessed that while some
are improved by the operation, others look very ill. Never-
theless, it is to please the eye that clipping is performed. So
long as nothing was said against the practice, it had no higher
pretensions. They that first tried it had no other object.
They did not expect it to exercise any influence upon the
comfort or health of the horse, and they did not recommend it
as contributing to either the one or the other. But at a later
period — that is, after the operation had been patronised by
those whom it would be sinful not to imitate, attempts were
made to show that clipping did something more than to please
the eye. It was urged, and with perfect truth, that it dimin-
ishes the labor of the groom, and prevents the horse from
sweating in the stable. As if this were not sufficient, other
arguments were brought forward in favor of clipping. It was
said that the horse becomes lighter by a pound, about the
weight of the hair he loses ; that the stomach, L^wels, liver,
and lungs, derive some benefit from the extra dressing which
the skin obtains, in consequence of being more easily reached
by the brush, and that the horse perspires less at nis work.

Much of what I have said upon trimming is applicable to
clipping. If the owner can not suffer a long coat of hair, and
will have it shortened, he must never allow the horse to be
motionless while he is wet, or exposed to a cold blast. He
must have a good groom and a good stable. Those who
have both, seldom have a horse that requires clipping, but
when clipped, he must not want either. A long coat takes
up a deal of moisture, and is difficult to dry ; but whethei
wet or dry, it affords some defence to the skin, which is lai<\
bare to every breath of air when deprived of its natural cov-
ering. Every one must know from himself whether we>
clothing and a wet skin, or no clothing and a wet skin, is th«

OPERATIONS OF DECORATION 119

most disagreeable and dangerous. It is true that clipping
saves the groom a great deal of labor. He can dry the horse
in half the time, and with less than half of the exertion
which a long coat requires ; but it makes his attention and
activity more necessary, for the horse is almost sure to catch
cold, if not dried immediately. When well clothed with hair,
he is in less danger, and not so much dependant upon the
care of his groom.*

Objections to Clipping. — Some, as I have just observed,
dislike the look of a clipped horse. This is no objection to
the operation. As a matter of taste, it is needless to say any-
thing either for or against it. There are no arguments for
persuading men to admire that which offends the eye. The
clipped horse has a different color ; the hair is lighter ; a
black becomes a rusty brown ; the hair stares, stands on end,
and is never, or very seldom, glossy. But the only real ob-
jections to clipping are these : it costs two guineas, or there-
abouts; it renders the horse very liable to catch cold ; and it
exposes the skin so much, that he is apt to refuse a rough
fence in fear of thorns. There is not the slightest reason for
supposing — as has been supposed — that it produces blindness,
or has any tendency to shorten the duration of life. The
cost of the operation, and the additional care which the horse
requires, are, I believe, the principal objections ; and consid-
ering how little is gained, they will probably prevent the op-
eration from ever becoming very general. There are some
horses which wear a long rough coat all the year. The
groom, with all his care and the best of stables, can not keep
it within reasonable bounds. For these horses, if a long
coat is a great eye-sore, there is no remedy save clipping.
But there are very many horses clipped, to whom the opera-
tion would be quite unnecessary, were they better groomed
and well stabled. Since a fine coat is an object of so much
importance, it is well to know by what means it may be ob-
tained. When these are more generally known there will be
less clipping.

To give the horse a jine coat all at once, is not possible un-
der any system of management. With horses that have been
previously exposed to the weather, it may be the work of six
months, and very often the horse must be two winters in the
stable before he becomes creditable to his sroom. Comforta-
ble stabling of itself exercises considerable influence upon

* [For an excellent article on clipping horses in England, unsound feet,
&c, see American Agriculturist, vol. iii., page 78.]

120 STABLE ECONOMY.

•

the coat ; but horses that have been reared in cold situations
may often be two winters in the stable before their coat is
very decidedly altered. The hair becomes finer and shorter,
and the principal agent in effecting this change is heat. To
produce and preserve a fine silken coat, it is absolutely ne-
cessary that the horse be kept warm. The stable must be
comfortable, and the clothing must be heavy. Good groom-
ing and good food, in liberal allowance, are the next agents.
When these three are combined, the coat gradually becomes
so fine, and lies so smoothly, that clipping can never be de-
sired, and indeed it is hardly possible to perform the opera-
tion upon such a coat. These agents operate slowly. They
very soon make a rough coat smooth, and a dull coat glossy ;
6ut they can not shorten the hair. If they are to make the
winter coat short? they must be in operation before, and at
the time of moulting. On many horses they do not produce
their full effect till the second winter ; but, in the most of
cases, a thorough-bred groom will make the horse tolerably
decent, for the first winter, if he get him in autumn, a fort-
night before moulting.

There are other agents which may co-operate with these,
when they do not produce their ordinary effects. Boiled bar-
ley, boiled or raw linseed, raw carrots, and boiled turnips, are
among the articles of food which influence the skin. They
polish and lay the hair, and they soften the skin. These
need not be given constantly. It is sufficient to give one or
more of them two or three times in the week. A few raw
carrots during the day, and perhaps a little barley at night,
will answer the purpose, and occasionally these may give
place to turnips and linseed.

Drugs are sometimes given, and when not abused, they are
useful. Physic is serviceable only when the skin is too rigid,
and the dung pale, or when there is reason to suspect worms.
When the horse does not eat up his grain, a mild dose of
physic may be given, and when that sets, it may be followed
by a few cordials, one being given every second or third day.
Cordials are rarely required in warm weather [indeed they
are frequently highly injurious, and should only be administered
for debility]. Physic alone in general succeeds. When
there is no apparent need either for physic or cordials, the
coat not improving so much nor so rapidly as it should do,
the best remedy is a powder composed of antimony, nitre,
and sulphur. Take black antimony, eight ounces ; liour of
rulphur, four ounces ; and finely -powdered nitre, four ounces

OPERATIONS OF DECORATION. 121

Mix these well together ; divide the whole into sixteen doses,
and give one every night in the last feed. If the weather be
moderately warm and dry, or the horse not much exposed, he
may, on every second night, have two doses, or he may have
one at morning, and another at night — that is, two every day.
At the end of ten or twelve days, the coat ought to be much
improved, and by the time all the doses have been given, the
antimony will be glittering on the skin. If the horse have to
stand any time out of doors during cold weather, these pow-
ders must not be given. They render him very sensitive of
vicissitudes of temperature ; and they are apt to make him
sweat a little in the stable ; but this is a matter of little con-
sequence. The night-sweats will disappear as the horse gets
into condition.

Besides the physic, the cordials, and the diaphoretic pow-
der, some grooms are in the habit of giving other things. It
is a common practice to force whole eggs raw down the
throat. The shell is starred, so that it may be crushed as the
horse swallows the egg ; but sometimes this is not done suf-
ficiently, the egg sticks in the gullet, and chokes the horse.
He dies in two or three minutes, if he do not obtain immedi-
ate assistance. I do not believe that eggs, either raw or boiled,
have any or much influence on the coat. If it be certain that
they have, they can be given in the food without danger.
Break them into dry bran, and give that after fasting. Lin-
seed oil is not a bad thing. If the owner fancies it, he may
give a quart bottle, instead of the ordinary physic-ball. It is
most useful when the skin is rigid, sticking to the ribs. Of
tobacco, mercury, and several mineral preparations, which are
occasionally given to fine the coat, I can give no account. I
have had no experience of them. The means I have already
recommended seldom fail, and I have never tried any others.
[Mercury and most mineral preparations, we know, from sad
experience, are extremely injurious. We have had several
horses nearly ruined by them ; and as other medicines are
equally effective, and less dangerous, minerals should be
rarely prescribed.]

Drugs are often employed to give a fine coat when there is
no need for them. When warmth, good grooming, and good
food, or particular kinds of food, will produce the desired
effect, drugs should not be used. A lazy man is always fond
of those expedients which save his labor. He is apt to make
the warmth and drugs do that which should be done with the
brush. Instead of dressing the horse frequently and thorough-

11

122 STABLE ECONOMY.

ly, he increases the warmth of the stable and the weight of
the clothing, till the horse is almost fevered ; and he gives
drugs, so many and so often, that he renders .he constitution
exceedingly delicate. Such means are not always injurious ;
but in many cases they are made to do too much. They are
very serviceable in their proper place ; they are not to do
that which should be done by grooming.

The gloss of a fine coat is easily destroyed, particularly
that gloss which is given by warmth and antimony. Ex-
posure to cold, frequent ablutions, extraordinary exertion, and
everything that checks the insensible perspiration, or inter-
feres with the daily dressing, produce a change upon the
hair. In a single day it will become dull, hard, dead-like,
and staring. Gentle exercise to heat the skin, and hard rub-
bing with the brush, will generally restore the lost polish and
smoothness of the hair ; and sometimes one of the diaphoretic
powders may be given before and after the day of sweating,
which must be very gentle.

All slow-working horses, and those that have to bear muck
exposure to the weather, and especially those that have to
stand out of doors, or in cold stables, should not have a short
coat ; good grooming and food will make it glossy ; a
single rug will make it lie ; but drugs, and a high degree of
warmth, are forbidden. Thev render the horse unfit for cold
stables, and unfit to suffer, without injury, that exposure which
his work demands.

MANAGEMENT OF THE FEET.

The feet of some horses require particular attention. They
are liable to injuries and to diseases, of which one or two
may be prevented by a little care.

Picking the Feet is among the first things a good stable
man attends to when the horse comes off his work. Ver)
often a stone is wedged between the shoe and the frog ; if
permitted to remain there till next day, or even for a few
hours, the foot may be bruised, and the horse lamed. This
seldom happens to the hind feet. But both the fore and the
hind feet of all horses should be examined after work, to see
that no stone, nail, splinter of wood, nor broken glass, be
sticking in the sole. The mud and clay may be picked out
or washed away, and the feet examined in aboui three min-
utes, and this work of three minutes may often prevent a
lameness of as many months. All horses that have flat soles

MANAGEMENT OF THE FEET. 123

low and weak heels, are easily lamed by sand and gravel ac-
cumulating between the sole and the shoe. Every time the
horse comes from work this should be entirely removed,
by carrying the picker all round. Strong-footed cart-horses
do not require this care, but in a gentleman's stable, cleanli-
ness demands it, whether the feet be weak or strong.

Stopping the Feet. — This operation is performed only
on the fore feet ; it is often neglected altogether, and often it
is overdone. It consists in applying some moist matter to
the sole, for the purpose of keeping it soft and elastic.

Kinds of Stopping. — Clay and cow-dung are the stoppings
in most general use ; each is employed alone, or in combina-
tion with the other. Clay is apt to get too soon dry ; it be-
comes hard as a stone, if not removed in twenty-four hours ;
and if the horse be taken to the road, and put to fast work,
with a hardened cake of clay in his foot, the sole is bruised
before the clay is displaced. Clay answers very well, how-
ever, for heavy draught-horses, whose work is slow, and
their heels raised from the ground by high calkins. It is
sometimes mixed with salt-water or herring-brine. As far
as I can see, plain water is quite as good. Cow-dung con-
tains much more moisture than clay. It softens the sole in
less time, and never becomes too hard or dry. For ordinary
feet, that is, feet with neither too much nor too little horn, a
mixture of cow-dung and clay makes the best stopping. To
this some salt may be added ; it prevents the dung from rot-
ting. Hacks, hunters, and racers, are often stopped with tow
or with moss. They are cleanly, and the quantity of moist-
ure which they impart can be varied to suit the condition of
the feet. The tow or the moss is put into the sole when
dry, and water is poured upon it once or twice a day. For
horses that have thrushy feet, or a tendency to thrushes, the
clay or cow-dung is rather too moist ; tow answers much
better. It should be neatly introduced, so as to fill the sole,
and be on a level with the shoe ; it is secured by packing it
a little under the edge of the shoe. Moss is used in the same
way, and is fully as good.

Mr. Cherry of London, invented a felt pad, which he in-
tended to supply the place of stopping, by the moisture it
would contain, and support the sole by the resistance it woulo
afford. These pads are to be obtained of all sizes ; they
cover all the exposed portion of the sole and the frog. Tha
inventor argues truly that the sole was intended to receive
some pressure from tha ground, which becomes rare and

124 STABLE ECONOMY".

almost impossible when the horse is shod and worked on
hard roads. He can not work in the pads, and it is not
meant that he should ; but perhaps he may receive some
benefit from them in the stable. They may be useful for
soles that have a tendency to become flat. Care must be
taken to have them of the proper size ; when too small, they
fall out and are lost ; when too thin, they do not support the
sole. It is only thin, flat soles that require any support. In
general they have little need for moisture ; but the pad is
usually dipped in water before it is inserted. To a concave
foot these pads are useless, the soles have more need for
moisture than for support : and for them damp or wet tow
answers better than felt pads. Nimrod speaks of a groggy
mare in whom Cherry's pads increased the inflammation of
the feet and produced considerable suffering : he must have
been mistaken ; the pads have no such power.

The Times of Stopping must vary according to the state of
the feet. All horses, those with thin flat soles excepted,
should be stopped on the night before the day of shoeing.
Except at these times, farm-horses seldom require any stop-
ping ; their feet receive sufficient moisture in the fields, or
if they do not get much, they do not need much. Cart-horses
used in the town should be stopped every Saturday night till
Monday morning. Fast-going horses have need to be stop-
ped once a week or oftener during winter, and every
second night in the hot weeks of summer. Groggy horses,
all those with high heels, concave soles, and all those with
hot tender feet, and an exuberance of horn, require stopping
almost every night. When neglected, especially in dry
weather, the sole becomes hard and rigid, and the horse goes
lamer, or he becomes lame.

Some Feet should not be Stopped. — =.When the sole is flat
and thin, the less moisture it receives the better ; it makes
the sole yield too much ; under the pressure of the super-
incumbent weight it descends and often becomes convex, in-
stead of maintaining its original concavity. Stopping alone
will not bring the sole down, but it helps, when there is an
existing tendency to descend. Flat soles are almost in-
variably thin ; they can not suffer paring ; when softened,
they not only yield to the horse's weight, but they yield when
they come upon a stone. On a newly-metalled road, the
horse is lame, and his sole is easily cut through ; such soles
are always sufficiently elastic without the assistance of
moisture.

MANAGEMENT DF THE FEET. 125

Constant stopping will make even a thick sole too soft.
When the sole is so soft or so thin as to yield to any degree
of pressure which can be exerted by the thumb, no moist
stopping should be applied. If it be rendered more yielding,
whether by stopping or by paring, the horse will go tenderly
over a rough road, and his foot will be very easily bruised.
I am aware that a high authority recommends the sole to be
kept as elastic as possible. This is not the place to discuss
such a subject. The fact is as I state ; experience enables
me to declare that a yielding sole will lame the soundest horse
that ever walked. Excessive stopping also produces

Thrushes. — A thrush, as every stableman knows, is a
disease of the frog. At first there is a slight discharge from
the cleft of this wedge-like protuberance. The discharge is
produced by the frequent, long-continued, or excessive appli-
cation of moisture. A plethoric state of the body may be a
predisposing, but moisture is the immediate cause of thrushes.
They can be purposely produced by stopping the feet always
with a moist stopping, or by letting the horse stand always in
dung. If a thrush be neglected, it spreads, involving the
whole or greater part of the frog, the heels, and even the
sole. The horn becomes ragged and irregular in its growth.
The frog shrinks in volume, and the foot contracts. The
horse is sometimes disposed to go much on his toes, that he
may relieve the posterior parts of the foot ; but in general he
has no lameness, except when the frog comes upon a stone,
or receives pressure in rough or deep ground. When in its
more serious stages, the disease should be placed under the
care of a veterinarian. At the beginning, almost any person
may cure it. Let the cleft of the frog and all the moist
crevices be thoroughly cleaned, and then fill them with pled-
gets of tow, dipped in warm tar. This simple remedy, re-
peated ever) lay, often effects a cure. When a stronger is
necessary, the Egyptiacum ointment may be used instead of
the tar, or each may be applied alternately. Bad frogs may
be greatly improved by shoeing with leather soles.

To prevent thrushes in feet already disposed to them, the
frogs must be kept dry. If the sole need moisture, the stop-
ping must not be applied to the frog. This part may be
defended by a coat of pitch, or the stopping may be confined
to the sole.

Anointing the Wall of the Hoof. — Among grooms
and coachmen it is a common practice to apply oil or some

11*

126 STABLE ECONOMY.

greasy mixture to the wall, or, as it is sometimes termed, tha
crust, all that portion of the hoof which is visible when the
horse is standing upon it. They suppose that the ointment
penetrates the horn and softens it. But in this there is some
error. The depth to which any unctuous application pen-
etrates is very insignificant. The only mode in which an oint-
ment can contribute to the elasticity of the hoof, is by prevent-
ing its moisture from flying off. It operates like a varnish,
protecting the horn from the desiccating effects of an arid
atmosphere. A hoof ointment will exclude moisture as well
as retain it ; and there are some feet which require an oint-
ment to keep the moisture in, and others to keep the moisture
out. Water alone enters the pores of horn very readily, and
it never does so without rendering the horn soft and yielding.
There are many horses, particularly heavy horses, that have
weak feet, the crust thin, the sole flat, and the heels low.
The crust is hardly strong enough to support the horse's
weight. When softened it yields, the sole sinks lower, and
the whole foot becomes worse than it was before. Such a
foot should seldom be purposely softened by the application
of water. It should have sufficient moisture to prevent brit-
tleness, but no more. When the horse has to work long and
often in deep, wet ground, an ointment will prevent, it from ab-
sorbing too much water. Should this or any other foot become
brittle, it may be soaked in water, and then immediately after
covered with an ointment to retain the water. I have ob-
served the effects of long-continued application r>f water to
the hoofs of horses that were employed for several days in
carting sand from the bed of a river. The horn became ex-
cessively soft, the nails lost their hold ; the sole, especially
of weak hoofs, sunk a little, and the crust became oblique.
Subsequently, when these horses came to their ordinary
work on the stones, the horn became brittle, so brittle that it
would hardly hold a nail. The surface of the hoof is nat-
urally covered by a varnish which protects it from the air.
But after this varnish is rubbed off by working in wet sand,
by standing in sponge boots, or by the smith's rasp in shoe-
ing, water enters the hoof very quickly, and leaves it as
quickly, taking with it the moisture which the varnish had
previously retained.

Then, to make a rigid, strong foot elastic, the horn should
be saturated with water, and to keep it elastic, the ointment
should be applied before the water evaporates. To keep a
thin weak foot as hard and unyielding as possible without

MANAGEMENT OF THE FRET. 127

making it brittle, an ointment should be applied to prevent
the absorption of water.

The times of anointing must vary with the state of the foot,
and the state of the road. During wet weather the thin foot
should be oiled before the horse goes out, and the strong
thick foot after the horse comes in. When the air is hot and
dry, or the road deep and sandy, the ointment will generally
require to be renewed every second day.

Fish oil is in general use for anointing the hoof; tar, lard,
oil, and bees'-wax, melted together in equal proportions, form
a better and more durable application. Pitch, applied warm,
lasts still longer, but it does not look well. It may be useful
when the horse is going to grass. The hind feet are often
anointed, but they seldom need it. The hoofs of cart-horses
are usually coated with tar when they are shod, and, if they
need such an application at all, this is the time to make it.
[We have great doubts as to the utility of oiling the horse's
hoof, and in any event, it should be done with great caution.
Youatt says, that oils and ointments close the pores of the
feet, and ultimately increase the dryness and brittleness which
they were designed to remedy.]

Moisture to the Wall, besides softening the horn, has
considerable influence upon its growth. In some horses the
horn grows very slowly, in others very quickly. A deficiency
is common among heavy draught-horses, and is often a serious
evil. There are only two ways of increasing the growth :
the one is to blister once or twice around the coronet, the
other is to keep the foot constantly saturated with water. In
both cases the horse must be thrown off work. Moisture
might be applied to any extent in the stable, and the horse
still kept on duty. But then the horn yields so much that
this remedy creates as great an evil as it removes. The horn
grows in more abundance, but the sole sinks till the foot is
almost or totally ruined. This happens, however, only to
horses of great weight. It is necessary, therefore, in apply-
ing much moisture to their feet, to turn such horses into a
marsh for two or three months with grass plates. There the
foot will receive moisture to increase its growth, and the sole
will receive sufficient support to prevent its descent. These
two, moisture and support, can not be fully obtained while the
horse continues in work. The clay-box is a tolerable substi-
tute for a marsh.

When the secretion of horn is deficient in horses of less
weight, with soles less flattened, moisture may be applied to

128 STABLE ECONOMY.

the wall without materially interfering with the horse's duty
Sponge boots, leather boots lined with sponge, and shod with
iron, are too expensive, for they are soon destroyed. A boot of
any kind will do if filled with cold bran-marsh, changed every
time the boot is applied. The moisture must never be applied
so long as to render the foot extremely soft, yet the horn must
never be allowed to become very dry. The boot should never
be on more than three or four hours in the twenty-four, and
the foot should be anointed, both sole and crust, whenever the
boot is removed. An ordinary and simple way of applying
moisture to the wall, is by means of what is termed a swab,
that is, a double or treble fold of woollen cloth, shaped like a
crescent, and tied loosely around the top of the hoof, so that
it may lie upon and cover all the crust. This is kept con-
stantly wet. It soon dries, and requires more attention than a
boot ; but many horses stand in the swab that tear off a boot ;
and by means of a swab, moisture can be applied to the wall
without softening the sole or the frog.

The Clay-Box. — In some establishments, the upper half of a
stall, or one corner of a loose box, is laid with wet clay. A
horse having tender, contracted, or brittle fore-feet, is put into
this for one or two hours every day. Sometimes the floor of
a loose box is entirely covered with the wet clay, and the
horse turned into it all day, being stabled at night, that he may
lie dry. The clay-box is good for some feet, and bad for oth-
ers. It is used with too little discrimination for all defects
of the feet, real or supposed. "When the clay is very wet,
the moisture softens the horn, increases its growth, expands
the hoof, and brings down the sole. It also cools the foot, and
tends to subdue inflammation. When the horse is of little
weight, his feet strong, contracted, rather hot, and the heels
high, the clay may be thoroughly soaked with water ; the
horse's shoes had better be off, and he may stand in the clay
all day fo "r eight or ten successive days, if not at work. If
working, one or two hours every second day will be sufficient.
When the crust and sole are rather thin and weak, the latter
tending downward, the growth of horn deficient, the clay
should be tougher, having no loose water about it, the horse's
shoes should be kept on, and he may stand in the clay two
hours every day. In the first case the sole is to be lowered,
the foot expanded and cooled ; in the second, the growth of
horn is to be stimulated, and the sole supported. The horn
would grow faster if there were more moisture ; but were the
clay softer, it would not afford sufficient support Additional

MANAGEMENT OF THE FEET. 129

moisture may be given to the crust by means of a swab. The
clay -box is not good for thrushy feet, but in trifling cases
the frog may be protected by a pitch or other waterproof cov-
ering.

Shoeing. — Many stablemen, especially those employed in
livery stables, are very careless as to the state of the horse's
feet and his shoes. The shoes are often worn till they drop
off in the middle of a journey, and time is lost, the foot bro-
ken or destroyed, and very likely the horse lamed. This is
not the only evil. If the horse be doing little work, or be
very light on his shoes, they may remain on too long. Fast-
working horses require to have the feet pared down once every
month, whether they need new shoes or not. When the horn
is permitted to accumulate, the horse's action is fettered ; he
can not step out ; he can not place his foot firmly on the ground,
and he is very liable to corns. If he had no shoes, the horn
would be worn away faster than it could be replaced, but the
shoe prevents nearly all wear, and does not stop the growth.
Hence at certain intervals the superfluous horn must be pared
away. A month is the usual time. Some horses having a
deficiency of horn, may go five weeks or more ; while others
that wear their shoes very fast, may require a new set every
three weeks. Farm-horses often go for six or eight weeks
with one set of shoes. If the heels be strong they may not
be injured by this. Their work is different, and their feet
are different. If the shoes of fast-workers are not worn out
at the end of a month, the feet should be pared, and the old
shoes can' be replaced. When the heels are weak, or the
seat of corns, the shoes may require removal every three
weeks

The snoe and its mode of application must always vary
according to the horse's weight and action, the state of his
foot, the rate at which he travels, the state of the road, and
.he nature of his work in reference to carrying, drawing, and
leaping. To shoe horses properly, all or the most of these
circumstances have to be considered. But this is not the
place to describe either the kind of shoe, or the mode of ap-
plying it. In general, both should be left to the smith. He
knows little about his business if he requires instructions
from his employer. Those who work in large towns and
have much to do, know all the books from which an employ-
er derives that which he would teach.

The shoes should be examined when the horse comes from
his work, and again when he is going to it. If there be a

130 STABLE ECONOMY.

loose or broken nail, or a clench started, or if the horae bo
cutting, let the smith be called at once.

The Unshod Feet of Colts are often neglected. Some
colts contract thrushes before they are stabled ; without look-
ing for them occasionally, they may do much mischief before
they are discovered by accident. They ought not to be neg-
lected a single day. Others, especially those that do not
stand very well on their legs, frequently wear down the in-
side of the foot so much more than the outside, that the limbs
become more and permanently distorted. The feet should be
dressed every five or six weeks.

Horses standing in Loose-Boxes, as stallions, hunters,
and racers, often are, for several successive weeks, frequently
have their shoes taken off. This is seldom a good practice,
but much depends upon the floor of the loose-box, if paved,
and not completely covered with litter, the bare feet are al-
most sure to receive injury. Pieces of the horn are broken
off, or the toe is worn down by pawing and scraping, to which
idle horses are much addicted. If the horse were to stand
here for twelve months, his feet in that time would become
tougher and more solid; but in the first three or four months
they are injured more than improved. The horse is wanted
before improvement has begun. If his foot be contracted, it
may be expanded a little by letting him stand unshod ; but
the floor must be soft and damp, or moist. If the sole be thin
and flat, yet strong enough to bear the horse's weight, it will
receive more support when the shoe is off than when it is on.
It will be less likely to descend farther. But the floor must
be such that it will press equally upon every part of the sole.
If a clay floor be improper, the box may be laid with tanner's
bark. Saw-dust, when in sufficient quantity, and frequently
changed, answers very well for a thin sole, and fine sand has
been employed for the same purpose. Short, soft litter, how-
ever, may supply the place of either. All that is wanted is
gentle and uniform pressure. A contracted foot may require
moisture, which maybe given apart, in the- clay-box, or by
means of swabs. Racers often have the hoof much broken,
and with no spare horn at the time they go into loose-boxes.
Further injury may be prevented by putting on narrow shoes,
like racing-plates, which save the crust, and permit the sole
to receive all the benefit of support, which a common shoe in
some measure prevents.

In the Straw-Yard, a flat foot is sometimes injured by
excess of moisture, and thrushes always spread in this, olace.

OPERATIONS ON THE STABLE. 131

When horses with such feet must go to a straw-yard, they
ought previously to be shod with leather soles. All the ground
surface of the foot may be covered with a piece of bend-leath-
er, upon the top of which the shoe is nailed. To exclude the
dirt and moisture, the sole must be stopped with tow and pitch,
composed of tar and rosin melted together, and run in hot.
Greasy stopping is never so good. [All this is of more than
doubtful utility ; and experience showrs it to be at least useless
in all cases, and dangerous in many.]

OPERATIONS ON THE STABLE.

Bedding. — To a hard-working horse, a good bed is almost
as essential as food. Many stablemen can not make it. It
should be as level and equal as a mattress. There should
be no lumps in the litter ; it should come well back, and
slope from each side, and from the head toward the centre.
Farm-servants and carters never give the horse a good bed,
although their horses need it fully as much as any other.
They generally have the litter all in a heap, or in a number
of heaps, upon which the horse can not lie comfortable for
more than half an hour. The effort such a bulky animal
must make to rise and change his position, completely awa-
kens him. His rest is broken, and his vigor never fairly re-
cruited. Now, it is not difficult to make a good bed ; any
body with hands may learn it in a few days. But no one
thinks of learning such a thing. Those who become expert
at it can not help their expertness. They never tried to ob-
tain it ; practice gave it them before they knew it was of any
use. But for all this it may be learned. Show the man how
to use the fork, and how to spread the litter ; give him a pat-
tern-oed in one stall, and make him work in the next, two
hours every day /or a week. If he can not learn it in this
time— the operation is really worth such trouble- -the man
will never learn anything.

The bed is generally composed of wheat straw ; but there
are several other articles which are used occasionally, and
might be used oftener. Saw-dust, wood-shavings, dried tan-
ner's bark, and leaves, have been employed where they are
easily and cheaply procured. They are not better than straw,
nor so good ; but a very good bed may be made out of either
of them. In some Eastern countries the dung, after being
dried in the sun, is used as bedding ; it is finer than saw-dust.

Oat straw is softer, but not better than that of wheat. The

132 STABLE ECONOMY.

straw of beans or peas never makes a good bed. I believe
these straws might be employed more profitably as fodder, and
on some farms they are. In some places it is usual to cut the
bundle of straw across into two with a hay-knife. It spreads
better, and a saving is made, for long straws are often wasted
at only one end.

Some people give the horse no bedding, or almost none.
Whether they have ever been able to show that he prefers
lying on the stones, I have not heard. But it is well enough
known that the want of litter prevents repose, and blemishes
the knees, the hocks, and the haunches.

Changing the Litter. — In well-managed stables the dung
and soiled litter are removed every morning at the first stable
hour ; or, if the horses are going to work or exercise, this
operation is delayed till they are gone. The dry litter i*
thrown forward, or put into an empty stall. That which is
soiled is carried to the manure pit, or laid 'out to dry The
stalls and gangways are then swept clean ; and sometimes a
pailful or two of water is thrown over them to render the puri-
fication more complete. After the floor is dry, a portion of
the litter is spread out, levelled on the top, and squared behind.
Everything in and about the stable is set in order, and the
whole is clean and neat. By constant or frequent attendance,
it is kept in this state all day. At night more litter is laid
down, spread deeper, and farther back.

In farm and many other stables the soiled litter, if removed
at all, is removed at night when the horses come in, and are
being supped. This is not right. It fills the stable with
noxious vapors at the very time it has most need to be pure.
When the horses go out in the morning, the litter should be
changed before or immediately after they are gone ; the floor
left bare, and the doors and windows open all day. At night
the litter may be laid down just before the horses are fed

Formerly it was customary to let the soiled litter remain
too long below the horse. Even in racing stables it was not
usual to clean out the stall oftener than once a week. All,
or most of the wet litter was allowed to remain for several
days. That which was trampled among the dung was carried
out, but the remainder was covered by fresh straw, and left
till the day of purification arrived. Now, however, in these
and some other stables, the litter is completely removed every
morning. It is impossible to have the stable warm, and at
the same time wholesome, without doing so.

This is a great improvement ; but as yet it has not been

OPERATIONS ON THE STABLE. 133

generally introduced. In cavalry, hunting, racing, and some
of the superior coaching-stables, the stalls are completely
emptied every morning ; but in very many others, though
there may be a general and complete purification once or twice
in a month, yet at other times much of the rotten and wet litter
is left to form a bed for the new straw. While not in sufficient
quantity to produce any sensible impurity of the air, it can
only be called a slovenly, not a pernicious practice. But the
stables of farmers and carters are in general too bad. Their
horses never have a decent bed. There are no fixed times
for changing the litter. When it becomes so wet and filthy
that the keeper is somewhat ashamed to see it, he throws down
some fresh straw to conceal that which ought to be taken
away. That is done, perhaps, every day ; but it is not till the
horse is standing fetlock-deep in a reeking dunghill, that the
stall is cleaned to the bottom.

Upon such a bed the horse can never obtain unbroken rest ;
and the stable can never be comfortable. The noxious vapors
arising from the rotting litter are destructive to the eyes, the
lungs, and to the general health or strength. When there is
a circulation of air sufficient to carry off these vapors, the
stable is cold. While the horse is lying, the cold air is blow-
ing over him on the one side, and the dunghill is roasting him
on the other.

This is an old practice, and, of course, not to be abandoned
without a struggle. The farmer contends that it is the right
way to make good manure, and the carter that it saves the
consumption of straw. Manure may be made in this way,
perhaps, well enough ; but horses are surely not kept for that
purpose. Visit the stables of those who have been successful
farmers. See how they contrive to obtain manure.

Day Bedding. — Among veterinarians it has been a disputed
point whether or not the horse should have litter below him
during the day, some contending that he should, others that
he should not. The straw, it is said, heats the feet, produces
constaction, tenderness, and thrushes. It does nothing of
the kind, never did, and never will. It does no harm what-
ever. There is no need for either argument or experiment
to decide this matter. It has already been tried on many
thousand horses, and thousands more may be seen every day,
who stand on straw twenty hours out of the twenty-four without
receiving the slightest injury from it. If the straw be rotten
dung, hot and wet, thrushes will be produced ; but this dung-
hill, which some people call bedding, will do the feet no other

12

134 STABLE ECONOMY.

injury. It is more pernicious to the eyes and the throat, pro-
ducing coughs and blindness.

Horses that do little work may have no need for day bed-
ding ; but there are some who will not urinate upon the bare
stones, and this is sometimes an evil. The water splashes
upon his legs and annoys him, and he retains his urine till it
gives him more uneasiness or annoyance than that produced
by wet legs. This is more particularly the case with horses
having greasy heels, or bare legs. If required to take the
road with a distended bladder, he can not work. He soon
becomes dull and faint, and perspires very profusely. If he
had been standing on straw, his bladder would never have
become so full. Then, there are horses that constantly paw
and stamp the ground ; on the bare stones, they slip about,
and sometimes lame themselves ; and they often break the
nails by which the shoes are held. Many, too, are disposed
to lie during the day ; without litter they can not, or ought not.
The more a horse lies, the better he works. Lame or tender-
footed horses can not lie too much ; and a great deal of stand-
ing ruins even the best of legs and feet. Except the cost,
there is no objection to day bedding. Some horses do not
need it ; many are the better of it ; none are the worse of it.

Washing the Stable. — In some places the floor is washed
every morning, in others only once a week ; in very many it
is never washed. The water, with the assistance of a broom,
clears the grooves, and prevents the stones from becoming
slippery. In a causewayed stable it removes the dung and
urine which lodge between the stones, and contaminate the
air. But, while water cleans the floor, it renders the stable
cold and damp. On close or cold days the process should be
omitted. If the horses all go out in the morning, the floor
should be washed after they are gone ; the doors and windows
being set wide open till they return. After washing, the
floor is sometimes strewed with sand or saw-dust. This
absorbs the water, roughens the stones, and gives an air of
cleanliness and comfort to the whole stable. It is very use-
ful when the floor is naturally damp, or when wet operations
are performed in the stable.

Besides the daily, weekly, or monthly washing, which in
some places is made upon the floor, the whole stable requires
a general purification once or twice a year. All the wood-
work, travises, doors, mangers, and racks should be thoroughly
washed every six or twelve months ; and the stall or stable
in which a horse having glanders has stood, should not be oc-

OPERATIONS ON THE STABLE. 135

eupied by any other horse till it has undergone purification,
which, in such a case, must be performed with great care.
Hot water, soft, soap, and a hard brush, when properly applied,
will loosen and dissolve the dirt, and the whole may be re-
moved by boiling water and a mop, such as is used for wash-
ing coaches. The windows may be cleaned often. The
walls and ceiling may be whitewashed with a solution of lime.
When the stables are well lighted, a white color is rather
glaring, and is supposed to injure the eyes. A little clay dis-
solved along with the lime, produces a fine stone color. The
walls and roof, however, can not be too white, if the stable
has not sufficient light.

A warm windy day should be chosen'for this operation. If
the stable contain more than two or three horses, and is never
empty, only two stalls should be washed in one day. The
whitewashing may be done in one, and this process should
precede the wood-washing. When a large stable is all wash-
ed on the same day, it remains cold and damp for a week
afterward. The woodwork absorbs much moisture, and does
not part with it very readily. It is better not to do much at
a time, unless the horses can be kept out till the whole is
dry.

The underground drains, where there are any, should be
examined occasionally before they become clogged, or much
injured by rats. 'Defects in the pavement, breaches in the
wood, decay of anything, or of any place, should be repaired
at once. Attention to these, and to many other little things,
of which a good stableman need not be reminded, saves a deal
of trouble and expense. An industrious groom will keep the
stable, and all belonging to it, clean and in order ; a lazy fellow,
at most only puts them in order, and everything goes wrong
at the intervals of his working fits.

136 STABLE ECONOMY.

THIRD CHAPTER.

STABLE RESTRAINTS. II. ACCIDENTS. III HABITS—

IV. VICES

RESTRAINTS.

By these I mean all those abridgments of the horse's liber-
ty in the stable which prevent him from injuring himself or
others. The twitch, the arm-strap, and the muzzle, are spoken
of in connexion with the dressing of vicious horses. The
partition between the horses is an abridgment of their free-
dom ; its use and abuse are considered under the construction
of stables. There are, however, some other restraints, of
which tying up is the principal. Those connected with vice,
or peculiar habits, are described in their proper places.

TyIxNG-up. — In the stable, horses are tied up by collars,
neck-straps, or halters. They are attached to the manger, or
to a ring driven in one corner, or in front, of the stall-head.
The horse's head must have some play, the rein must be long
enough to let him reach the hay -rack, and to let him lie down,
yet so short that he can not turn in the stall, and attached to
the stall in such a way that it can not get entangled among
the feet.

The Halter is made of rope. Sometimes the head-piece
and nose-band are of web, which is better than rope : the nose-
band is a running noose. The halter is seldom used for tying-
up a horse ; by good stablemen never, without casting a knot
upon the nose-piece, to prevent it from running ; but among
inferior or ignorant grooms the halter is in common use ; want-
ing a throat-lash, it is very easily cast. The horse can throw
It. off whenever he chooses. It often injures vhe mouth and
the muzzle. The nose-band being a running noose, the least
strain upon the rein draws the noose so tightly that it forces
the cheeks between the back teeth, where they are cut, and,

RESTRAINTS. 13?

oeing commonly made of rope, its constant or frequent use
produces a depression across the nose, or baldness, or a sore.
The head-piece being always of the same length, can not be
altered to suit the horse ; it is often too long, it falls back upon
the neck two or three inches behind the ears, and if the horse
happens at this time to hang back, his neck receives a twist
from which it does not always recover. A long head-piece
permits the nose-band to fall upon the nostrils, and if the
shank be strained the horse is choked. The halter is not a
proper article for tying up the horse ; it may be employed to
lead him to the door, to the shoeing forge, or to exercise, or
to tie him to the door while he is being dressed, but it should
have no other uses.

When taken out with a halter, a cinch, that is, a coil of the
halter shank, is sometimes placed in the mouth to act as a
bit, and give the man more command over the horse. He is
often tied up with this cinch in his mouth, and if he happens
to throw any strain upon the shank, his tongue is severely in-
jured ; I have repeatedly seen it cut through, and the horse
thrown off his feed, unable to eat for two or three weeks.
When the cinch remains an hour or two thus tightened around
the tongue and the jaw, a large portion, two or three inches,
of the tongue mortifies and has to be removed, or it falls ofF.
When the horse must be tied up with a halter, see that the
head-piece be close behind his ears : cast a knot on the shank
to prevent the nose-band from running ; keep it clear of the
nostrils, and never tie the horse with a cinch in his mouth.

The Collar is made of leather. The nose-band should be
sufficiently wide to let the horse open his mouth to more than
its full extent. The head-piece has a buckle, by which it
can be lengthened or shortened according to the size of the
horse's head. When adjusted, the nose-band should be four
inches clear of the nostrils ; among valuable horses this is
the article almost invariably used for tying up ; it is usually
termed a stall collar. [In America the word collar is not
used in this sense. Leather head or halter is the term.]

The Neck- Strap is much used in the stables of hard-work-
ing horses, those employed in public conveyances. It is
merely a leather band, two inches broad and a yard long, hav-
ing an iron D or triangle for attaching a rope or chain, and a
buckle for uniting the ends. It is preferred to the halter be-
cause it is cheaper, and for many horses more secure : when
sufficiently tight no horse can cast it ; but it permits him to
turn half round in his stall, which is an inconvenience.

12*

'38 STABLE ECONOMY

Alone, it is hot a good binding for biting horses, for it gives*
the man no control over the head : it ruffles the mane ; but
where straps are used, this is of no consequence. When on.
it should be so tight that it can not pass over the ears, yet
loose enough to admit a man's hand under it.

The Rein by which the horse is bound to the stall has sev-
eral names. In different places it is termed a collar-rein, a
collar shank or shaft, and a binding ; most usually, shaft and
shank are confined to the halter. For ponies it is sometimes
made of leather, which is too weak for strong horses : in gen-
eral it is rope, but a chain is in common use. In a perma-
nent establishment chains are cheaper than ropes, and more
secure, since some horses break or bite the ropes to get free ;
but they are weighty and noisy.

Sometimes two are employed to each horse, but in general
one is sufficient for working horses : when two are necessary,
the rings through which they pass are usually fixed on the
manger breast, and distant, one from another, about three feet
six inches. Some horses require a double rein, but not all ;
when one will serve, it may be attached to the middle of the
stall on the manger breast ; or, if the manger be in one cor-
ner, the rein ring may be in the other corner, or directly in
front, on the head wall ; it should be three feet three or six
inches from the ground. The ring through which the rein
runs is attached by an iron staple driven into the wood ; it
answers the purpose very well in ordinary cases. In the sale
stable of Mr. Laing, Edinburgh, a kind of pulley is used ;
the rope runs easier, and requires less weight to sink it.
(See Fig. 6, page 41.)

The Sinker \_or Weight]. — The weight attached to the col-
lar or halter rein, is usually a ball of wood loaded with lead.
Where chains are used, the sinker is sometimes a lump of
lead or a cast-iron bullet, weighing about four pounds, and at-
tached immovably, so that neither the chain nor its appenda-
ges can be taken away. In posting and coaching-stables this
is a necessary precaution against loss and theft. Tying the
rein to the ring, or loading it with a straw wisp, are both im-
proper, and among restless horses, dangerous.

ACCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH RESTRAINT.

Some of these accidents arise from peculiar habits of the
horse, others frjm carelessness or ignorance on the part of
his groom,

ACCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH RESTRAINT. 139

Getting Loose. — Some horses are very cunning and pei-
severing in their efforts to get loose ; they often succeed
during the night, and wander over the stable in quest of food
quarrelling and playing with the other horses, disturbing their
rest, and laming them. Some slip the halter over their ears
these must be tied by- a neck-strap ; or the throat-lash, by be
ing set out from the head-piece, can perform the office of a
neck-strap : others bite the rope through ; the only remedy
for them is a chain. In admitting a strange horse to a large
stable, it might be prudent to tie him up as if he were known
to be in the habit of getting loose ; it will soon be seen
whether or not the precaution be necessary.

Hanging in the Halter. — Many horses attempt to get
free by falling back upon the haunches, and throwing their
weight upon the halter-rein ; there they hang for a while till
some part of the rein gives way, or till they find it too strong
for them. This is the true breaking loose ; cutting the rope
with the teeth and casting the halter are merely slipping loose.
Such a forcible mode of getting free, or attempting to get
free, is attended with some danger. If the tie suddenly give
way, the horse falls back with such violence tha . he is gen-
erally lamed or injured. The haunch bones are sometimes
broken, and the hocks seldom escape a severe contusion ; oc-
casionally the head is cut, either by the fall or by the strain
of the halter. I know of only two ways in which a cure is
attempted ; one consists in giving the horse a good fright and
a tumble, by freeing the rope at the moment he is trying to
break it. This, however, is not a cure : it seldom prevents
the horse from repeating the attempt ; it only puts him on his
guard against the sudden rupture of the tie ; he still persists
in his efforts to break it, but he takes care not to fall back-
ward. The other way is to tie him so strongly that no force
he can exert will free him. After he has made a few unsuc-
cessful trials, he appears to conclude that the thing is not
practicable, and he desists. For an experiment of this kind
a leather halter is too weak, the head-piece upon which the
stress falls, should be of strong rope, sitting close behind the
ears. If the manger is not sufficiently firm, the ring should
be sunk deep in the wall.

I believe that the use of a neck-strap, instead of the ordi-
nary halter, deters many horses from this trick of breaking
loose ; I have seen it succeed in several cases. As additional
security, the halter may be put on too ; it keeps the head
straight, so that the neck may not be twisted when the strain

140 8TABLE ECONOMY.

is on the strap. The halter-rein should be as long as the
strap-rein. Whenever the horse is observed hanging in the
halter, with the purpose of breaking loose, he should be well
flogged always from behind.

This trick is often the result of bad management. An
awkward or rude groom, by the manner in which he ap-
proaches a horse or works about the head, often frightens or
pains him. The horse should never be struck on the head
or neck, nor a blow threatened by a person standing before
him ; it makes him draw back. The halter already spoken
of, and the ordinary mode of filling the hay-rack, may each
have something to do in producing the habit.

A few horses of determined temper will not be tied up
after they have succeeded several times in breaking loose.
They struggle so long and with such violence, that they in-
jure themselves even when they do not get free. A loose
box is the proper place for these.

Standing is the Gangway. — When first stabled, horses
are much disposed to stand as far out of the stall as they can
get. They dislike the confinement ; they want to see about
them, and they dislike the impure air so often found at the
head of stalls when damp or soiled litter is thrown below the
manger. The habit of standing in the gangway is incon-
venient, particularly in double-headed stables, and injury is
sometimes done by the efforts to prevent it. The horse may
be tied short, close to the rack or to the manger; but hard
work, tender feet, or bad legs, may forbid this, since it pre-
vents lying. The only alternative is to hang a bale be-
hind him, upon which a furze-bush may be fastened. By-
and-by, when the horse becomes accustomed to stand within
the stall, the bale may be removed. It is seldom, however,
that the habit is attended with so much inconvenience as
to require this. The usual practice of suddenly striking or
whipping the horse when he is found in the gangway, is
foolish, and often dangerous. The horse makes a violent
spring into the stall, and when his feet happen to slip, he
receives a severe wrench, producing stifle, or hip lameness,
or sprained loins. I have seen the thigh-bone broken in
this way, and the horse had to be destroyed.

Lying in the Gangway is common among those horses
that stand in the gangway. They lie so far out of the stall
that the halter-rein is put upon the stretch, and the horse's
head has not sufficient freedom to let him rise. He must be

ACCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH RESTRAINT. 141

unbound before he can get up. He has to lie perhaps all
night on one side in an awkward position, and next day he is
stiff and sore all over, and as unfit for work as if he had
rested none all night. The only way of preventing this is by
suspending a bale behind him, in the same manner as for pre-
venting the habit of standing in the gangway.

High and long travises are apt to make horses occupy the
gangway both for standing and for lying. A horse that is
very troublesome in either way, may be tried in a baled stall,
or in one having low and short travises.

Rolling in the Stall. — Many horses are much ad-
dicted to this, especially during the night. Some practise it
the moment they come off the road. They lie down, harness
and all, and roll over from one side to another two or three
times, and then rise and shake themselves as if much the
better of it, and highly delighted with the feat.* It appears
to do him good, and ought to be permitted when possible, the
harness or saddle, however, being previously removed. Some
manage it very clumsily. In the morning they are often
found in an awkward or painful position, lying across the
stall, or on one side of it, with 'the fore legs bent upon the
chest, and the hind legs out of the stall altogether, projecting
into the next. The horse can not stir, and must be righted
before he can rise. His head must be liberated. By casting
ropes or straps, two or three stirrup-leathers buckled together,
over his legs, he may be turned over ; or he may be drawn
away from the travis by pulling at the mane or tail ; or, in
the same way, he may be drawn entirely out of the stall.
When the horse is lying on his back, it is sufficient to cast a
rope or strap across his hind legs, and pull him over.

As long as the horse appears able to taite care of himself
in his rolling fits, he may be allowed to enjoy them; out,
when he is subject to accident, the rolling must be prevented,
at least during the night, when there is no one to render as-
sistance. All risk of injury is avoided by putting the horse
in a loose box with his head free. In the stall, rolling may
be prevented by a short halter-rein. It should be long enough
to let the horse lie down, but so short that he can not get his
head fiat on the ground. Except in the pains of colic, no
horse will roll without getting his head as low as his body.

* When a horse rolls more than once, or at the most twice, after his work,
and lies as if he were in pain, paws the ground, or looks at his flanks, expres-
sing uneasiness, he is unwell ; he has colic, and should be put under imme-
diate treatment.

142 STABLE ECONOMY.

When the manger is too low, this can not be done, for it pre-
vents the horse from reaching the hay-rack. The manger
should be raised. This plan interferes in some measure
with the horse's rest. If he has to work all day, a wide
stall with long travises had better be tried, in preference to
shortening the halter-rein. A travis ten, or more than ten
feet long, may prevent the hind legs from getting across the
next stall, where they are apt to be trampled upon by the
neighboring horse.

Turning in the Stall. — Small horses often get into a
habit of standing across the stall, or of turning round in it,
head out and tail in. Injuries of the back, the head, the neck,
and some lamenesses, are occasionally produced by a sudden
and violent effort of the horse to right himself. He should be
fastened by a halter rather than by a neck-strap, which gives
him too much liberty ; and he should have two reins to the
halter, each of the proper length.

Lying below the Manger. — I have spoken of horses
that stand out of the stall, and lie so far back that they can
not rise till the head is liberated. Others lie too far forward.
For some reason which I can not discover, unless it be to lie
well upon the litter, they throw themselves so far forward in
lying down, that the head goes under the manger, or abuts
against the wall. The horse can not obtain complete repose,
and when not young and active, or when the manger is too
low, he can not rise from this position. He must be drawn
back before he can get up. The space below the manger
may be boarded up, and the litter should be spread well back.
Perhaps the halter-reins might be attached to the travises in-
stead of the manger ; placed so far behind the head, they
would keep the horse back ; but I have never seen this tried.

Halter-Casting. — This is the most dangerous accident to
which the stabled horse is liable. The horse often scratches
his neck, ears, or some part of his head, with a hind-foot. In
doing that, or rather in drawing back the foot after that is done,
the pastern is sometimes caught by the halter-rein. In a
moment the horse is thrown upon his broadside, while his
head and the entangled foot are drawn together. The neck
is bent at an acute angle, the head lying upon the shoulder,
and in this position it is retained by the hind-foot. The inju-
ry which the horse receives varies according to the violence
of his struggles, and to the time which he lies in this painful
situation. The pastern, or some part of the leg, often the
thigh, is sometimes deeply cut ; but. this is not the worst pari

ACCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH RESTRAINT. 143

of the accident. Frequently the neck is bent so much to one
side, and so severely twisted, that weeks must elapse before
the horse is able to move it freely, and sometimes it remains
permanently distorted, the head being carried awry. The
neck has been completely broken in this way, and after the
horse was liberated, it was discovered that he could not move
a limb, nor make the least motion of any kind, with the ex-
ception of breathing, swallowing, and a few movements of the
ears, eyes, and mouth. The remainder of the body was quite
powerless, and the horse died through the course of the day.
This fatal result is not common.

When the horse lies long he is always a good deal bruised
and very stiff, unable to get up without assistance. Some-
times the back is injured so as to produce partial palsy of the
hind-legs. When the horse happens to fall upon the leg that
is drawn up, his head is below him, and if not immediately
relieved, he is soon suffocated.

In the most of cases this accident may be prevented. All
that is necessary is to keep the halter-rein clear of the feet.
It should not be needlessly long ; it should always be loaded
with a sinker, and the ring, through which it runs should be
at the proper height. Two reins prevent the horse from get-
ting his head too far round on either side. As greater securi-
ty, the rein may be made to pass behind the manger, and in
that case one rein is sufficient. (See Fig. 2, page 26.)
When the manger is low and the rack high, the rein must be
long, and can not be kept tense, for the sinker can not descend
far enough. The manger should be raised, or the rehiring
placed higher, by some other contrivance.

Treatment of Stall-cast Horses. — The first thing to be done
is to liberate the head by cutting the rope, or the halter, if the
horse be bound by a chain. Place him in a favorable position,
and urge him to rise. After a horse has lain long in con-
straint, it is often difficult to get him up. Sometimes he is
perfectly unable to rise. His limbs are benumbed ; they are,
I suppose, in much the same state as our own when we say
they are asleep. The horse must have some assistance.
Let one stout fellow support the head, another the shoulder,
and place two at the tail, by seizing which they may lift the
hind-quarters. Draw the fore-legs out, but not too much ; the
horse rises head first. See that all hands be ready to give
their aid at the moment the horse makes an effort to rise, and
to this he may be urged by the lash. Wrhen on bis legs
steady him for a minute or two ; encourage him to urinate

144 STABLE ECONOMY.

Let his le,cs and the side upon which he lay, be well rubbed
If able to walk a few paces, it will help to circulate the blood.
If he can not walk at first, try him again after half an hour.
Examine him all over, lest he have received any injury re-
quiring immediate treatment. He will not be fit to work on
that day, and perhaps not the next.

Sometimes the horse can not be got upon his feet. ; he can
not even make an effort to rise. Turn him over to his other
side, and let that which was undermost be well rubbed with
wisp or brush ; manipulate the skin — that is, pinch it, and
raise it from the flesh, in order to restore the circulation of
blood through it. With the same intention let the legs be
rubbed, pulled, and the joints alternately bent and straightened.
Give the horse a good bed, and as much room as possible.
If the travis can be removed, take it away. If the horse have
no sign of fever, give him half a pint of sherry in cold water,
or a cordial-ball ; let him also have some water, and if he will
eat oats, give them. By these means the horse may recover
his strength and the use of his limbs sufficiently to rise with
assistance. A trial should be made every half hour ; when
not successful, there is nothing for it but the block and tackle,
which maybe fixed to some beam or support across the stall.
Pass a couple of strong ropes round the chest, and attach
them to the pulley ; pad them' with straw where they are like
ly to cut the skin. If the horse can not stand when thus
raised, support him a little in the ropes ; place his legs fair
below him, and let his weight upon them very gradually. If
he can not use them at all, let him down again, and make
other efforts to restore his activity ; give more wine, rubbing,
food, and water. Turn him often, and raise him again in an
hour. — In a few cases the horse never recovers the use of
his legs. He dies, or is destroyed. This happens from in-
jury of the back, the neck, and the head. But I have seen
the horse completely paralytic, when there was no appearance
of injury in these parts.

The treatment here recommended for stall-casting, is* equally
applicable to horses that have been cast in the field, in a ditch,
or any situation where they have lain long in a position of
constraint. The wine-cordial some people will object to, but
it is an excellent remedy against exhaustion.

Stepping over the Halter-Rein. — This and the last-
mentioned accident arise from the same cause. The binding
is too long, or tied to the ring unloaded by the sinker, and the
horse is apt to get his fore-feet over it. If he be a steady

ACCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH RESTRAINT.

145

pacific animal, no harm will be done ; he will wait for assis
tance. But a troublesome or timid horse often injures him
self. By attending to the length of the rein, and to the mode
of securing it, this accident need never happen. A liberating
ring, however, has been invented, and is used in some places
to guard against it.

Fig. 14.

The ring, made of malleable iron, is attached to a cast-iron
bolt, which slides into a socket of the same material, and is
retained by a spring. This socket is fixed to the manger,
with its open end down. As long as the ring is pulled up or
back, it remains fast ; but when pulled downward, it comes
away, and the horse is free. This is useful where the manger
is too low, and can not be raised, but it gives little security
against halter-casting. When the hind-foot gets over the rein,
the strain is rather downward, but chiefly backward ; and a
back pull will not free the ring. Still it may possibly be
drawn out in the horse's struggles. The bolt should be pulled
out occasionally and oiled, that it may not rust, and stick too
firmly in the socket.

Leaping into the Manger. — Young idle horses sometimes
set their fore-feet into the manger, for the purpose, I suppose,
of looking about them. This can rarely happen when the
manger is at the proper height, and the halter-rein of the
proper length. When a horse is observed in this situation^
he must not be rashly struck to bring him down. Go to his
head, loose the binding, and set the horse back, keeping his
head well up, and rather off you. I remember a very trouble-
some horse that had a trick of leaping into the manger. One

13

146 STABLE ECONOMY.

day he had been put into a strange stable where the mangej
was low, deep, narrow, and sparred across the top. He go)
into it, and resisted all the keeper's efforts to get him out of
it. He could not, or would not descend. Two stout pieces
of board were procured, and laid across the manger top. By
placing first the one foot and then the other upon these boards
he was brought down, merely by pushing him back.

STABLE HABITS.

Among stablemen the word habit is applied only to pecu
liarity of conduct, to some unusual or objectionable action.

Kicking the Stall-Post. — Many idle horses, and mares
during the spring, more than geldings, amuse themselves at
night by kicking at the stall-post, the travis, or the wall.
They often injure the legs ; the point of the hock is generally
bruised and tumifled, and the horse frequently throws his
shoes. Some are much worse than others. I have known
them demolish the travis, break down the walls, and injure
themselves very severely. In the Veterinarian, a horse is
spoken of that persisted in kicking till he broke his leg. The
habit, I think, is sometimes a species of insanity. There is
no accounting for it. The horse may be perfectly peaceable
in all other respects. Some seem to intend injury to horses
standing next them. But many kick all night, though there
should be no other horse in the stable. Few take to the habit
while they are in full and constant work, and many give it
over partly, or entirely, after their work becomes laborious.
If curable, it will be cured by work. Nothing else brings
them so effectually to their senses.

Once confirmed, however, the habit is very rarely cured.
When first observed, some means should be taken to check
it. Most of them kick all to one side. Such should be tried
in another stall, having a short travis on the kicking side, and
no horse in the next standing. The groom sometimes nails
a whin-bush against, the post, and that appears to succeed in
a few cases, especially with mares that kick only in spring.

Clogs fastened to the legs prevent kicking, and if constantly
worn for a long time, perhaps they might cure it. The horse
might forget the habit, but in general he has a good memory.
The second, if not the first night in which he finds himself
unfettered, he recurs to his old trick.

The clogs are applied to different parts of the leg ; to the
pastern, to the leg directly above the fetlock, or to the ham,

STABLE HABITS. 147

above the point of the hock. The clog in most common use
is a piece of hard wood, or a wooden bullet, weighing two
or three pounds, and attached to a light chain from twelve to
twenty-four inches long. The other end of the chain is
fastened to the pastern by a strap. This is applied only to
the leg with which the horse kicks. When he strikes with
both, a clog is required for each. The horse should be fa-
tigued when the clog is put on for the first time. The only
objection to a clog of this kind is its liability to be trampled
on by the other foot ; but the horse soon learns to take care
of that. Sometimes the chain, without a bullet, suffices.
Sometimes the chain is much shorter, and the strap buckled
above the fetlock, not on the pastern, so that the clog lies
upon the hoof without touching the ground. In this way the
clog should be long or egg-shaped rather than round. The
strap requires to be tighter than when it is placed upon the
pastern, otherwise it falls down. A broad strong strap, ap-
plied very tightly above the hock-joint, with or without a
clog, prevents kicking, but it also prevents the horse from
lying down ; it often marks the leg and makes it swell. The
legs are sometimes shackled together. But this is seldom
needful or right. The horse is apt to hurt himself, and he
can not lie. I have met with cases in which all these means
failed to prevent nocturnal kicking.

Weaving. — This habit consists in darting the head from
side to side of the stall. The horse stands in the middle of
the stall, with his fore feet somewhat apart ; the motion of
his head is constant and rapid, as if he were watching some-
thing running from end to end of the manger. Sometimes he
performs a kind of up-and-down motion, perhaps when he
gets tired of the lateral. I am unable to discover the origin
or object of this habit. Some horses are fond of playing
with the halter-chains. They are of an irritable, restless
disposition, desirous of constant employment. They seem
to have pleasure in making a noise with the chains, by draw
ing each alternately and rapidly through the rings. Possibly
this may have something to do in the production of weaving
Whatever be the cause, the habit is harmless. A dark stall
has been recommended ; but at this moment I know a con-
firmed weaver who is perfectly blind. In general the horse
should be tied with only one rein.

Pawing. — Hot-tempered horses are much in the habit of
scraping away the litter and digging their fore feet into the
ground, as if they meant to tear up the pavement They

148 STABLE ECONOMY.

wear down their shoes very fast, break the nails, and keep
their bed always in disorder. When the horse uses only
one foot in pawing, a clog may be put upon it similar to that
employed against kicking. It may be fastened to the pas-
tern, to the leg above the fetlock-joint, or above the knee-
joint. In general, that is the most successful which is attached
to the fetlock. The chain should be just long enough to let
the clog hang against the hoof. When the horse paws
equally with both feet, a clog may be placed on each, or the
two may be shackled together without clogs.

Shackles, or fetters, are two straps, one for each pastern,
connected by a light chain ten or twelve inches long. The
last link at each extremity of this chain is triangular, for ad-
mitting the straps, which should be about twelve or fourteen
inches long, lined inside with soft leather or cloth, and so
broad that they can not cut the skin, from which the edges
are a little raised by the inside lining. These fetters are
objectionable ; they prevent the horse from lying down.
They are sometimes employed for other purposes than that
of preventing pawing. In the racing-stables, I believe, they
are occasionally applied to keep an irritable horse from
striking and wounding his legs while under the operations of
his groom, and they are sometimes put on horses when they
are turned out, to be retaken in an hour or two.

Wasting the Grain. — Playful, lively horses, sometimes
waste a great deal of their oats. They seize a large mouth-
ful, look about while masticating, and suffer much of it to
drop among the litter. Often more than half of the feed is
lost. This may be partly prevented by giving a small quan-
tity at a time, by spreading it thinly over the bottom of the
manger, by shortening the halter-rein, and by placing the
horse in a remote stall, where nothing will attract his atten-
tion at feeding-time. Some waste the grain in another way.
They drive it out of the manger by a jerk of the muzzle.
The cross-spars, already spoken of, prevent this habit.

Shying the Door. — While leaving or entering the stable,
the horse frequently gets a fright. The posts catch his hips
or some part of the harness, and besides being alarmed he is
sometimes seriously injured. After this has happened several
times to an irritable horse, he becomes somewhat unmanage-
able every time he has to go through a doorway. He ap
proaches it with hesitation, and when urged forward he
makes a sudden bound, so as to clear the passage at a leap
He is repeatedly injured by his own violence, and is ulti

STABLE HABITS. 14£

mately so terrified and unruly, that he must be backed out.
This habit may be prevented by wider doorways, and more
care in going through them. When attempted early, it may
be so far overcome that it will be unattended with danger or
difficulty. The horse ought to be always bridled when led
out or in. He should be held short and tight by the head,
that he may feel he has not liberty to make a leap, and of
itself this is often sufficient to restrain him. Great care must
be taken to keep him off the door-posts. Punishment, or a
threat of punishment, is improper. It is only timid or high-
spirited horses that acquire the habit, and rough usage in-
variably increases their agitation and terror. The man must
be gentle and quiet. After the habit is fairly established, it
is seldom entirely cured ; the horse may become less un-
manageable, but still continue to require precaution. Some
are much worse than others. Some may be led out, quite at
leisure, when blindfolded ; others when they have the harness-
bridle on ; a few manage best when neither led nor re-
strained, but allowed to take their own way ; and a few may
be ridden through the doorway that can not be led. When
the horse is very troublesome, each of these ways may be
tried. Some shy the door only in going in, others in coming
out.

Eating the Litter is sometimes regarded as a peculiar
habit. It does not, however, deserve this name. If the
horse have too little hay he will eat the straw, selecting the
cleanest and soundest portions of it. But this is not what is
meant. He eats the dirty litter, the straw which has been
soiled by the urine. This he does only at times. It indi-
cates a morbid state of the stomach and bowels. Put a lump
of rock-salt in the mang'er. It is the salt contained in the
litter that induces the horse to eat it.

Licking themselves, other horses, the mangers, the ground
and the walls, and eating earth or lime, arise from the same
cause. The hair of horses often contains a good deal of salt
deposited in perspiration, and it is to obtain this that the
horses lick the skin of themselves and others. Give a piece
of rock-salt, and if the horse eat earth, or lick a lime-wall,
let him have a lump of chalk in addition to the salt. Place
them in the manger and leave them there. The lick is some-
times connected with fever, and requires other treatment.
[Clay is very beneficial occasionally in small quantities, when
snow is on the ground, or horses are so confined that they
can not get to the ground ; or a few roots with the dirt at-

150 STABLE ECONOMY.

tached to them. But one must be careful not to give so
many as to cause scouring.]

Wind-sucking and Crib-biting are spoken of in connexion
with the management of defective and diseased horses.

STABLE VICES.

Horses are often termed vicious when they have no vice.
Docile but bold horses may be excited to retaliate upon those
who abuse them. They never strike but when they are
struck ; they are obstinate, but should not be called vicious ;
they are sullen and often refuse to perform painful exertions ;
they require nothing but gentle treatment. Punishment in-
variably makes them more dangerous, and ultimately quite
vicious, even to ferocity ; they learn to give injury when none
is offered. Some, especially mares, often feign that they are
going to bite or strike, yet never do any intentional mischief ;
they merely desire to attract attention, and to be made pets
of. The very best of horses often have this peculiarity. A
foolish or timed groom is apt to deal too harshly with them.
They may scowl and grind their teeth ; they may present
their quarters, and even lift a foot as if in the act to strike, or
they may fix their teeth in the man's jacket, but it is all in
play. The best way is not to mind them, or at most to give
tnem warning with the voice. It is a pleasing kind of fa-
miliarity which need not offend nor alarm any one. Good
horsemen generally like it as indicative of energy and en-
durance ; and I think such horses become sooner and more
warmly attached to persons about them than others of a heed
less disposition.

Some horses are perfectly quiet to the groom, but very
quarrelsome in the company of other horses ; this is the case
with mares more than with geldings, but it is common enough
in geldings too : they bite or strike a strange horse the mo-
ment he comes in reach, but seem to get reconciled to him
after a little acquaintance. Horses of this kind should always
work with the same companion, and stand in the next stall to
him ; they never work well with strangers ; and in the stable,
when standing beside strangers, they are so intent upon mis-
chief, that they neither feed nor rest.

All vicious horses are most easily managed by one person.
I have often met with instances of balling, shoeing, and
similar operations, being strenuously resisted when attempted
by a number of persons, and yet easily performed when taken

STABLE VICES. 151

in hand by one. The horse appears to get alarmed, to expect
something painful, when surrounded by a crowd. It is not
wonderful that he should, for there are always several as-
sistants at the performance of painful operations.

Some are awed when harshly commanded and boldly ap-
proached ; some must be soothed and cherished ; and some
must occasionally be well flogged. There are many that, to
be managed at all in safety, must be managed in perfect
silence. To horses of this kind, every word increases their
suspicion and terror ; they must be treated as if they were
quite docile ; an attempt to bite or strike should pass without
the least notice, and this sometimes confounds and tames the
horse more than anything that could be said or done to him.
Caresses and chastisement are equally pernicious or useless.

Grooms and others often err in their treatment of vicious
horses. They punish those that are not to be improved by
punishment, and they apply the lash either before the horse
has done anything to merit it, or some time after he has for-
gotten the offence. No horse should ever be chastised with-
out knowing why ; the object should be to prevent repetition
of the offence ; but this is seldom thought of; the horse is
flogged merely because the man is angry. There is a very
common piece of stupidity which may be cited in illustration
of this. By some means the horse gets free and runs off or
scampers about, giving the man a great deal of trouble to
retake him. While free, he gets kind words, he is called in
a soothing tone, and perhaps coaxed to submit himself to the
halter by an offer of oats ; he is patted and caressed till he
is fairly secured, and then he is flogged, kicked, and knocked
about, as if he had been caught in the act of committing a
great crime. If this is ever to do any good, it should be
done directly after the horse deserves it. As it is, he can
not understand why he receives this treatment, or he must
suppose it is the penalty of submitting himself, and the next
time he gets free, he will delay surrender as long as possi-
ble. This is but a sample of the way in which a horse, and
especially a vicious horse, is often chastised : he is caressed
and soothed till it is convenient and safe to punish him, and
by that time he has forgotten the crime. If correction can
not instantly follow the offence, none should be given. The
horse may be injured, and there is not the least chance of
his being improved.

Biting. — There are horses who delight in biting. Some
are so much addicted U it that it is not possible to enter their

152 STABLE ECONOMY.

stall without obtaining substantial evidence 01 their prowess in
this respect. An experienced biter gives no warning. He
knows the extent of his reach, and abstains from all demon-
stration of hostility until the man comes up to the proper place ;
then, quick as lightning, he darts at the intruder, and generally
succeeds in tearing off some part of his clothing. Many are
content with this triumph, and crouch into a corner of the
stall, trembling, and expecting the accustomed punishment.
Others, however, are not so easily satisfied. A single snatch
is not sufficient. A ferocious horse makes repeated efforts
to seize the man, and he is not content with a tug at the
clothes, even when he can carry off half a yard of fustian.
He takes a deeper and firmer hold ; he will struggle to seize
his enemy ; he will shake him, lift him off the ground, and
perhaps throw him down, and then attack him with the fore-
feet, striking and trampling upon him. There are several
instances of men having been killed in this way, generally by
stallions.

I have seen biters punished till they trembled in every
joint, and were ready to drop ; but have never, in any case,
known them cured by this treatment, nor by any other. The
lash is forgotten in an hour, and the horse is as ready and
determined to repeat the offence as before. He appears un-
able to resist the temptation. In its worst forms biting is a
kind of insanity. There are various degrees of the com-
plaint. Constant and laborious work often converts a fero-
cious into a very tame biter. So far as I know, there are no
means of effecting a complete cure ; but, by careful manage-
ment, mischief may be prevented, even in the worst cases.
When not very resolute, the horse may be overawed by a
bold groom. He may warn the horse by speaking to him ;
and he may enter the stall with a rod,, held in view of the
horse, and ready to fall should he attempt to bite. After get-
ting hold of the head, the man is safe. He may then apply
a muzzle, or tie the horse's head to the hay-rack, if there be
anything to do about him, such as dressing or harnessing.
When grain or water is to be delivered, muzzling or tying
up is not necessary. The man has only to be upon his
guard till he get hold of the head, and retain his hold till he
get clear of the horse. That he can easily manage by push-
ing the horse back till he can clear the stall, by one step,
after he lets go the head.

When the rod is not sufficient to intimidate the horse, a long
rope must be fastened to his halter. This must run through

STABLE VICES.

i3ii

Via. 15. — Stall for a Biter.

a ring in the head of the stall, or in the head-post on the left
side, and proceed backward to the heel-post, where it is se-
cured. This enables the man to draw the head close up to
the ring, and to keep it there, till grain or water is delivered,
till the horse can be bridled, muzzled, harnessed, or dressed.
Of course the head is to be released, after the man leaves the
s'all ; but the rope remains in place, attached to the halter,
and ready for use.

A muzzle alone is often sufficient to deter some horses from
biting ; or attempting to bite. These do not require to be tied
up when under stable operations. But some, though muzzled,
will strike a man to the ground ; for these there is no remedy-
but tying up.

Kicking. — This vice is not so common as that of biting ;
but it is much more dangerous, and the mischief is not so
easily avoided. Some strike only at horses, and never attempt
to injure persons. These have little chance of doing harm
when placed in the end stall of a single-headed stable, whera

!34

8TABLE ECONOMY.

other horses will never have occasion to siand or pass behind
them. Those that kick at the groom, or persons going about
them, are always most dangerous to strangers. A great many
can be intimidated by threatening them with the whip. Pre-
vious to entering the stall, the man warns the horse by speak-
ing roughly to him ; and by placing him on one side, he may
be approached on the other. A drunken, or awkward groom,
however, is almost sure to receive injury from a confirmed
kicker ; and a timid man is never safe. Vicious, and perhaps
all kinds of horses, discover timidity very quickly ; those that
are so inclined soon take advantage of the discovery. Many
kickers give warning. They whisk the tail, present the
quarters, and hang the leg a moment before they throw it out.
Others have more cunning, and give no notice. They often
let a man enter the stall, when they turn suddenly round and
strike out, either with one foot or with both. Some strike
only as the man is leaving the stall with his back to the horse ;
some are slow, and some so quick that the motion is scarcely
seen till the blow is struck. Some strike with the fore-feet but
these are easily avoided when the vice is known.

Fig. 16. — Stall for a Kicker.

STABLE VICES. 155

Timid grooms are always too close, or too far away from
a kicker. When the man must come within reach of the
heels, he should stand as close to them as possible. A blow
t^rus becomes a push, seldom injurious.

When the horse is a ferocious kicker, so malicious and
determined that it is very hazardous to approach him even
with a rod — which in such a case, however, oftener irritates
than intimidates — he must be placed out of the way in a re-
mote stall, the partitions of which should be high and long.
A long rope must be attached to the head, nearly the same as
for a savage- biter ; but this, instead of drawing the horse's
head up to a ring at top of the stall, draws him backward so
far that the head can be seized before entering the stall. As
long as the man keeps well forward with his hand on the head,
he is safe from the heels. This rope is not attached at the
stall-head ; it is supported in front by a ring placed in the
travis near its top, and about three feet from the head-post.
In some cases, a small door in the partition is requisite, through
which the horse is fed and watered. When the door is large
enough to admit a man, and the horse not a biter as well as
a kicker, it renders a side-line unnecessary.

Refusing the Girths. — Some horses are difficult to
saddle. When the girths are tightened, or as the man is in
the act of tightening them, the horse suddenly drops on his
knees as if he were shot. Sometimes he rears up and falls
backward. This is a rare occurrence. It is generally termed
a vice, but it is difficult to understand it in that light. The
horse sometimes cuts his knees to the bone by the violence
with which he falls, and I should think he would not do that
if he could help it. I am inclined to believe that the fall is
involuntary, but how a tight girth should produce it, can not
be told. In one horse that often, but not always threw himself
down when the girths were tightened, I thought I could discover
something like a broken rib, yet it was doubtful ; I could not
be sure about it.

Whatever be the cause, the horse should stand deep in
litter when he is saddled, and the girths should be tightened
by degrees. Let him stand a few minutes after the saddle is
on, before the girths are full drawn, and never make them
needlessly tight.

There are one or two other stable vices so unimportant,
that I think they deserve no notice. Refusing the crupper
and shying the bridle are among them. These, and similar

156 STABLE ECONOMY.

trifles, can hardly be called vices. They require a little tact,
perhaps, but no particular mode of treatment.

On the Habits and Vices connected with Work, I had written
a section of some length ; but the press of other matter com-
pels me to exclude this, which belongs to horsemanship more
than to Stable Economy.

WARMTH. 157

FOURTH CHAPTER

WARMTH.

Hor Stables have been condemned by every veterinarian
who has had occasion to mention them. They have been
blamed for producing debility, inflamed lungs, diseased eyes,
chronic cough, and recent cough, distemper, and some other
evils, direct or indirect ; and a cold stable has been recom-
mended, times out of number, for preventing them. I have
elsewhere stated, that a hot stable and a foul stable have al-
ways been confounded one with another, as if they were not
different. Mr. Youatt is the only exception that I know of.
He seems to regard a heated and an impure atmosphere as
two. His distinction is not, indeed, very broadly marked, yet
it can be traced. It is not wonderful that it should have been
overlooked by others. Heat and impurity, almost uniform-
ly arising from the same source, must as uniformly co-exist
and operate in combination. Hence the common error of con-
sidering them as inseparable, or as a single agent. It must
be obvious, however, that a heated atmosphere is capable of
producing one series of effects, and an impure atmosphere
another. The evils arising from impurity are described in
connexion with the ventilation of stables. This is the proper
place to consider the effects of heat. There is some difficulty
in ascertaining precisely what they are. Some experiments
would almost be necessary to arrive at accurate conclusions.
We have ample opportunity of examining hot stables, and of
observing the health and condition of their occupants. But
thes^ hot stables rarely have a pure atmosphere. The air, as
I ha"ve elsewhere observed, is never perfectly pure in any oc
cupied stable ; but by pure I here mean comparatively pure
quite wholesome, yet not quite free from extraneous matters
An atmosphere of untainted purity can not be obtained in tlu
neighborhood of breathing animals, and it appears quite cer
tain that it may suffer deterioration to a certain extent, without

14

158 STABLE ECONOMY.

producing any evil. The only mode of learning the effects
of a hot atmosphere, would be to place a number of horses in
an apartment heated by fire or steam, and so well ventilated
that emanations from the lungs, the skin, and the evacuations,
would escape before they had time to operate in combination
with the heat. The keen advocates for hot stables might try the
experiment for a few weeks or months, and such an experiment
would tell us at once what heat will, and what it will not do.
So far as I have been able to observe, by close attention to a
great number of horses confined in all kind of stables, it would
appear that

The Effects of Hot Stabling are only three in number. The
first is a fine, short, glossy coat ; the second, a strong disposi-
tion to accumulate flesh ; and the third is an extreme suscep-
tibility to the influence of cold. These are the permanent
effects. Those produced by sudden removal from a cold to
a warm stable are somewhat different. For the first week
the horse looks as if he were a little fevered. He does not
feed well, but drinks much. Sometimes he is dull, and some-
times restless, fidgety. If somewhat lusty, or if he eat and
drink tolerably well, he often sweats in the stable, particular-
ly about the flanks, the groin and quarters. In a few days he
seems to become accustomed to the high temperature. His
coat lies smoothly ; it glitters as if it were anointed ; the horse
recovers his appetite, and rapidly takes on flesh.

The short glossy coat, is not in this country any evil. The
accumulation of flesh is not always desirable, but the stables
are never cooled for the purpose of preventing it. The third
effect, that is, the intolerance of exposure to cold, produced by
hot stabling, is a serious evil. If all the diseases, mostly of
a dangerous character, which are ascribed to sudden exposure
in a cold atmosphere, really have such an origin, a hot stable
can hardly be more destructive than a foul one. It is univer-
sally acknowledged, that sudden exposure to cold; that is,
rapid abstraction of heat, is dangerous, but whether it have all
the power which some attribute to it may be doubted. That
cold often does mischief can not be denied, and that the hot
stabled horse is in greatest danger is, I think, as unquestion-
able. The least exposure makes him shiver, and everybody
knows that this shivering is very often followed by a deadly
inflammation.

I do not say that hot stables will produce no other effect.
~ speak only from my own observation, and of a stable without
apparent impurity. V^hen the air is tolerably pure, the heat

WARMTH. 159

san not rise to a great height, unless it be produced by artifi-
cial means. 1 have never seen a stable heated by fire, and
can not say what would be the result of excessive heat.
Diseased liver, debility, a broken constitution, are said to be
the consequences of a long residence in a hot climate, but
whether a hors.e's work and temperance save him from these,
or whether an elevated temperature alone will produce them
in him, I do not know. There is little analogy between a
horse living in a hot stable, and a European living in a hot
climate. Other circumstances differ so much that nothing
could be learned by contrasting them.

Warm Stables. — [When exposed to an average tempera-
ture of 60 to 65 degrees, to keep up a healthy animal heat,
the horse expires every twenty-fours, 97-|- ounces of carbon.
The food which he eats supplies this carbon, and the oxygen
which is respired in the atmosphere, is its consumer. The
union of these two, carbon and oxygen, produces heat, and
this is all we know of it. The colder the atmosphere the
more oxygen it contains ; it follows, therefore, that the lower
the temperature to which animals are exposed, the greater the
consumption of carbon in their respiration, and the greater the
amount of food necessary to supply that carbon ; and this is
the reason why a horse in a warm stable fats faster, or is kept
in better condition with the same amount of food than in a
cold stable. A warmer atmosphere, or warmer clothing,
as stated by Liebig, is merely an equivalent for a certain amount
of food. The warming of stables is unnecessary except for
the racer or trotter when in training, and the hunter and stage-
coach horse at full work. For horses engaged in the ordinary
work of the farm or the road, they are extremely pernicious ;
for the moment they are exposed to a raw wind, or to standing
in the open air, they are liable to take cold, when inflammation
of the lungs, founder, and other diseases, are pretty certain to
follow. We are persuaded that roomy, well-ventilated stables,
of nearly the same temperature within as the atmosphere is
without, are decidedly the most healthy for the horse ; and
that he will do more ordinary work during the winter thus
lodged, than if kept in a heated atmosphere, and be a hardiej
and longer-lived animal. If the cold weather makes his hair
a little longer, or his coat somewhat the rougher, this is of
no consequence, when by it we secure greater hardihood, con-
stitution, and endurance Our rule is to feed horses well ;
keep them dry and clean ; use them fairly within their pow-
ers ; walk them cool after being heated ; then take them to

160 STABLE ECONOMY.

their stable, and properly clothe them if the weather requires
it. When well-bred, thus treated, horses may attain an aver-
age working life of twentyrfive years.]

Temperature of the stable. — When the stable is prop-
erly constructed, and not too large for the number of horses,
it need never be heated by fire or steam. These conditions
being observed, I know of no case in which it is necessary to
produce an artificial supply of heat for healthy horses. The
heat which is constantly passing from the horse's body sool
warms the air, and judicious ventilation will keep it sufficient
ly comfortable ; but in no case should a high heat be purchased
by sacrificing ventilation so far as to produce sensible contam-
ination of the air. It is better either to employ heavier cloth-
ing, or to heat the stable by fire.

Slow-work horses, and all those that are much exposed to
the weather, and especially those that have to stand out of
doors, must not have hot stables, yet they should be comfort-
able.

The temperature of stables is generally regulated by open-
ing or shutting the windows. On very hot days, it may be
proper to sprinkle clean water on the floor, or about the ground
outside the doors. .

Sudden Transitions should be carefully avoided, most es-
pecially when the temperature of the stable is habitually very
low or very high. Whether the transition from heat to coldT
or that from cold to heat, be most pernicious, is still a subject
of debate. But it is admitted by all that both are injurious
My own experience leads me to believe that cold does much
more harm to a horse that has just been severely heated, than
heat ever does to a cold horse. Either transition, however,
should be effected by slow degrees. To a certain extent the
horse may be inured to an alteration either way, without suf-
fering any injury, if time be allowed for the system to adapt
itself to the change.

When the horse himself is very hot, he may be refreshed
by standing about three minutes in a cool stable, but he must
not stand there till he begin to shiver. Neither must a hot
horse be put into a hot stable, especially if he have been much
exhausted by his work. It makes him sick, and keeps up the
perspiration, and some faint outright. A very cold horse
should not be put into a very hot stable. If he be wet there
is little danger, but if dry he becomes restless and somewhai
feverish, and in this state he remains ill he begins to per
spire.

WARMTH. 161

Clothing. — When it is desirable to keep the horse warm
without endangering the purity of the -air, he maybe clothed.
Coarse slow-working horses require clothing only when sick.
A fine coat is not much wanted in these animals ; yet if they
have to stand in cold stables, and especially when the stables
are not fully occupied, even these would be none the worse
of a cover during some of the sharp winter weather. In the
hunting and racing stables, clothes are used nearly all the year
round, and they should be so wherever it is important to make
the coat lie smoothly. The stable may be more completely
ventilated when the heat of the horse's body is retained by
appropriate clothing. Stage-coach and post-horses are not
usually clothed, but a few covers are always kept for the sick
and the delicate. The cavalry horses are never clothed.

Clothes are of different Kinds. — There is one suit for win-
ter and another for summer ; besides extra-heavy clothing,
used in hunting and racing stables for sweating the horses.
The last are termed sweaters, and consist of one or more
sheets of blanket-like stuff. Sometimes when copious sweat-
ing is necessary, a single blanket is put on and covered by
several old or half-worn quarter-pieces. These require to be
frequently washed. That which lies in contact with the skin
is apt to become hard and dirty. Unless it be soft and clean
it galls the horse, and refuses the perspiration. When soaked
in sweat it should be rinsed in cold water before being dried.
When two hoods are put on, the outermost alone should have
ear-pieces. That below it requires only ear-holes.

A full Winter Suit is composed of a hood, which envel-
opes the head and neck, a breast-piece for the bosom, and a
quarter-piece for the body. This is sometimes termed a ker-
sey-suit. It is made of a stuff so called, and is edged with
worsted tape. A woollen rug is often employed as an addition
to the ordinary suit, for very cold weather. Hoods are not
much used except in hunting or racing-stables ; they are use-
ful, however, at times, for sick horses, for sweating, and for
exercise under physic, or in severe winter. The clothing in
most general use for winter is merely a horse-blanket, or rug
of sufficient size to cover all the body. The girth which se-
cures the clothing is termed a roller, or surcingle. It should
be broad, that it may be tight without producing uneasiness,
and padded, that it may not lie upon the spine. When the
horse is narrow-loined, a breast-strap made of web is neces-
sary to keep the cloth and girth from slipping back.

The summer-clothing is composed of white or striped cloth,

14*

162 STABLE ECONOMY.

linen, or calico. It consists of a single sheet of small dimen
sions. It is almost entirely an ornamental covering, but it is
useful to keep off flies and dust, and to prevent the hair from
staring.

Weather Clothing. — When horses go to exercise, they usu-
ally go out in the stable-clothing, to which a hood and a blanket,
or quarter-piece, may be added, if the weather demand them.
But many require some defence while performing their work.
This is particularly the case with carriage horses that have to
stand for two or three hours exposed to the night air. A
small quarter-piece, made of Mackintosh's water-proof cloth,
is getting into use. It is thrown over the harness, to which
it is attached ; it keeps the horses dry without heating them.
Heavier clothing wonld be desirable when the horses are
standing, but it would make them sweat profusely, even at a
slow pace, and is therefore objectionable. A good driver will
endeavor to keep his horses in motion. At night, when a
crowd renders motion impracticable, he might be, and often is,
provided with a pair of rugs, which can be thrown over the
horses till they be ready to start. Long standing in the cold,
however, always benumbs a horse's legs, and should be avoided
as much as possible, by occasional or constant motion. Du-
ring wet weather, a piece of oil-cloth is sometimes worn across
the loins of cart-horses ; it keeps the rain off parts that have
little motion and no natural defence. Some also use a neck-
piece. The owners of horses employed in street-coaches,
are becoming more careful than they were wont. They gen-
erally have some sort of covering for the horses when stand-
ing in the weather. Water-proof sheets.of different sizes, to
cover one, or a pair of horses, are in use to protect them from
rain. This stuff, however, is apt to make them perspire very
much, when they are the least heated.- Stage-coach horses
usually have a light quarter-piece put on with the harness,
and withdrawn when the coach is ready to start.

Tearing off the Clothes. — Some horses destroy a great
many clothes. They endeavor to pull them off, and tear them
all to pieces. There are only three modes of preventing this
trick; the hinder portion, or the whole of the quarter-piece,
may be made- of hair-cloth, lined by a softer material to lie
next the skin. Few horses like to touch this harsh substance
with their teeth and lips ; but some will not rest till they
manage to tear it off. A staff of wood is sometimes used;
one extremity is attached to the collar, the other to the sur-
^jde. This prevents the horse from turning his head round

WARMTH. 163

to get at the clothing, but it also prevents him from lying
down. The other mode is to tie the horse's head to the hay-
rack ; of course he must be liberated when he is to lie down
or to feed.

In some stables the clothing is removed every night. The
clothes last a great deal longer, but the practice of removing
them at night, is advisable only when the clothing is light, or
when the stables are warmer at night than in the daytime,
which is generally the case.

Application and Care of the Clothes. — In putting on the
hood, care must be taken that the ears are fairly inserted, the
eyes clear, and the strings sufficiently tight to keep the hood
in its place without galling the skin. The breast-piece must
not be drawn up so much as to press upon the windpipe when
the horse's head is directed to the ground. The quarter-
piece should be thrown well forward and subsequently adjust-
ed by drawing it back, so as to lay the hairs, not to raise
them, by pulling the cloth forward or sidewise. The sur-
cingle is to be placed on the middle of the back, and the pad
fairly adjusted, Both the surcingle and the breast-band are
to be just tight enough to keep the clothing in place. Sweat-
ing-clothes are to be closely and generally applied, but must
not descend so far upon the horse's legs as to encumber his
action. The breast-band and the breast-piece are to be quite
slack. The saddle alone keeps them from shifting backward.

All the clothing is to be shook and dried every morning,
after dressing the horse. The loose hair and dust can be
removed by beating and brushing. A small birch broom is
convenient for taking off loose hair ; that which is packed
and woven into the cloth does no harm. When soiled by
urine, the clothing must be wholly or partially washed with
soap and water. The summer clothing is to be repaired,
washed, dried, and laid carefully away, on the approach of
winter. Now and then it may be examined and aired. The
woollen articles, when out of use, are to be kept perfectly
dry ; they should be examined every month, brushed, and
aired in the sun.

164 STABLE ECONOMY.

FIFTH CHAPTER.

FOOD.

1. ARTICLES OF FOOD II. COMPOSITION OF FOOD III. PREP-
ARATION OF FOOD IV. ASSIMILATION OF THE FOOD V. IN-
DIGESTION OF THE FOOD VI. PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING—

VII. PRACTICE OF FEEDING VIII. PASTURING — IX. SOILING

•X. FEEDING AT STRAW-YARD.

r

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD.

Kinds of Food. — In this country horses are fed upon oats,
hay, grass, and roots. Many people talk as if they could be
fed on nothing else. J3ut in other parts of the world, where
the productions of the soil are different, the food of the horse
is different. " In some sterile countries, thev are forced to
subsist on dried fish, and even on vegetable mould ; in Ara-
bia, on milk, flesh-balls, eggs, broth, &c. In India, horses
are variously fed. The native grasses are judged very nu-
tritious. Few, perhaps no oats are grown ; barley is rare,
and not commonly given to horses. In Bengal, a vetch,
something like the tare is used. On the western side of In-
dia, a sort of pigeon-pea, called gram (cicer arietinwn), forms
the ordinary food, with grass while in season, and hay all the
year round. Indian-corn or rice is seldom given. In the
West Indies, maize, Guinea-corn, sugar-cane tops, and some-
times molasses, are given. In the Mahratta country, sa<t,
pepper, and other spices, are made into balls, with flour and
butter, and these are supposed to produce animation, and to
fine the coat. Broth made from sheep's-head, is sometimes
given. In France, Spain, and Italy, besides the grasses, the
leaves of limes, vines, the tops of acacia, and the seeds of
the carab-tree, are given to horses."*

[In the United States many different kinds of natural and
cultivated grasses, green or dried as hay, are used in feeding

* Loudon's Enc. of Agric, p. 1004.

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 165

horses ; also Indian, Egyptian, and broom corn, their blades
and stalk ; sugar and wild cane tops, and molasses drippings ;
rice, wheat, and other straw of different kinds, and their
grain and bran ; beans, pease, and their pods and vines ; ar-
tichoke and potato tops and their roots, together with many
other vegetables ; pumpkins, squash, and other vine fruit ; flax
and flaxseed ; sunflower seed ; acorns and other nuts ; the
twigs, buds, and leaves of trees ; apples and other fruit ; cab-
bage.]

The articles upon which horses are fed in this country are
usually arranged into three classes. That which possesses
the least nutriment in proportion to its bulk, is termed fodder,
and consists of grass, hay, and straw ; that which possesses
the most nutriment, in proportion to its bulk, is termed corn.
This word is often used as if it belonged exclusively to oats ;
but it is a general name for all the kinds of grain and pulse
upon which horses are fed. In this work it is used only in
its general sense. Roots, such as carrots, turnips, and pota-
toes, form the third kind of food. In relation to their bulk,
they have less nutriment than grain, and more than fodder. I
do not think this classification is of any use, and here it will
not be regarded, but it is well to know the meaning usually
attached to the terins.

Green Herbage. — There are several kinds of green food,
but the individual properties of each are so little known, that
much can not be said about them.

Grass is the natural food of horses. It is provided for him
without the interference of art. It is composed of a great
number of plants, differing much or little from each other in
structure, composition, and duration. Some of the natural
grasses are to the horse mere weeds, destitute of nutriment,
though not positively injurious. Several are rejected, or eaten
only when there is nothing else to eat, and none are sufficient-
ly rich to maintain the horse in condition for constant work,
even though the work be moderate. At a gentle pace he may
travel a few miles to-day, but he is unfit for a journey to-mor-
row. By cutting the grass and bringing it to the stable, the
horse may be saved the labor of collecting it ; but still he can
render very little service.

Grass, however, or green herbage of some kind, is given
to almost all horses during a part of the year. The young
animals, from the time they are weaned till they are fit for
work, receive grass as long as it can be had Hunting and
racing colts excepted, they receive little else.

166 STABLE ECONOMY.

It is commonly believed that grass has some renovating
and purifying properties, not possessed by hay nor by grain.
It is true that all the kinds of green herbage, including clover,
saintfoin, lucerne, tares, and ryegrass, produce a change upon
.he horse. But whether the change be for better or for worse,
is another question. For the first two or three days, green
food relaxes the bowels and increases the secretion of urine
and of perspiration. Very often it produces an eruption on
the skin, particularly when given along with a large allow-
ance of grain. When the horse is permitted to eat what he
pleases, the belly becomes large. These effects may be
termed immediate. They are most apparent at the com-
mencement, but are visible so long as the horse receives any
considerable quantity of grass. Green food produces other
effects not so easily traced. Wounds heal more kindly, in-
flammatory diseases are not so fatal, and chronic diseases fre-
quently abate, or they entirely disappear under the use of
grass. The horse, however, is always soft, when fed much
on green food. He sweats a great deal, and is soon exhaust-
ed by his work.

Clover, Ryegrass, Tares, Lucerne, Saintfoin, and the Oat'
Plant, are all used as green food. So far as the horse is con-
cerned, one seems to be as good as any of the others. They
appear to produce the same effects as grass. Amid such
variety we might expect to find some difference ; but I have
not been able to perceive any. Some horses, indeed, like
one article better than another, but this seems to be mere taste,
for no one of them appears to be generally preferred nor re-
jected. There are various opinions, however, as to the com-
parative value of these articles. Some affirm that clover is
less nutritious than ryegrass, some that tares are poor watery
feeding, and others that lucerne and saintfoin are the best of
the whole lot. But opinion on the subject seems to be quite
vague. Whatever one affirms, another will be found to deny.
In Scotland, lucerne and saintfoin are very little used ; but
clover, ryegrass, and tares, are given each in their season, as
if one were equal to another.

Beans, wheat, rye, and oats, the whole plant, are some-
times, but very seldom, and never regularly used as food
for horses. Cabbage, and some other green articles, are eat-
en, but they deserve no particular notice. Several, which
form the ordinary green food of horses in other countries, are
not grown here. The leaves and clippings of the vine are
much used in many parts of France.

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 167

Whin, Furze, or Gorse. This is an abundant and cheap
plant. It is very good green food for horses, and is procured
when there is no other. To sick horses it is an excellent
substitute for grass, and many will eat it when they will eat
nothing else ; but it has been extensively tried as an article
of ordinary feeding. It has long been used in many parts
of Wales, and of Scotland, and in several of the Irish coun-
ties. Mr. Tytler of Balmain was the first, I understand, to
publish a useful account of its properties. His essay will
be found in the fifth volume, of the Highland Society's Trans-
actions. " It appears that, for five successive years, Mr.
Tytler fed his farm-horses from the beginning of November
to the middle of March, on furze and straw*, with a very mod-
erate allowance of oats during only a part of that time. At
first oats were given throughout the winter, but afterward
only from the beginning of February, and then only at the
rate of three pounds two ounces, or about one third of a peck,
of average quality, to each ; the daily allowance of furze
during the first period being tweny-eight pounds, and during
the second, eighteen pounds, with fourteen of straw."

Furze is generally used on the frontiers of France and
Spain ; and the British cavalry while in the Pyrenees, under
tlte duke of Wellington, had no other forage.

According to the Mid-Lothian Report (Appendix No. VI.,
p. 56), it has been found that an acre of whins is sufficient
for six horses, during four months ; that they require two
years to produce them ; that horses, with whins, and one feed
of grain, were in as good order as with two feeds and straw ;*
that all the straw and one feed of oats were thus saved ; that,
valuing these at sevenpence a-day each horse, the saving in
seventeen weeks amounted on the six horses, to £\1 17.?. —
from which, deducting five shillings a-week as the expense
of cutting and bruising, there would remain .£13 12s., as the
product of two acres. f

Dry Herbage. — In this country the dry herbage consists
of hay and straw. In France the vine-leaves are collected
and stored for winter fodder. In the West Indies the tops
of the sugar-cane are deemed highly nutritious, after they are
dried and sweated a little in heaps. In a season of abun-
dance, ricks of the cane-tops the but-ends in, are made in a

* The " order," I suspect, would be nothing to boast of.

f British Husbandry, vol. i., p. 135. See also the Annals of Agriculture
vol. xxxv., p. 13. Ency. Brit., art. Agriculture. Farmer's Mag., vol. xx.,
p. 282. Comp. Grazier, fifth ed., p. 559 ; and Quar. Journal of Agric., No.
xi.

168 STABLE ECONOMY.

corner of each field, to supply the want of pasturage and
other food. These are chopped small, and mixed with com-
mon salt, or sprinkled with a solution of molasses. Maize
is sometimes made into hay. " When Guinea or Indian corn
is planted in May, and cut in July, in order to bear seed that
year, that cutting properly tended, makes an excellent hay,
which cattle prefer to meadow hay. In like manner, after
the corn has done bearing seed, the after crop furnishes abun-
dance of that kind of fodder which keeps well in ricks for
two or three years."* " In some places dried ferns, reeds,
flags, small branches, or twigs, are dried and used as substi-
tutes for hay."f Doubtless there are many other plants made
into fodder in different parts of the world. Where Canary
corn is raised, the chaff' and straw are given to horses, from
which it is said they derive more nutriment than from hay.

Hay. — In Scotland, most of the hay used for horses is
composed of ryegrass, or ryegrass and clover. The natural
hay, which is not very much used here, contains several
plants. Much of the hay in Scotland is bad. A good deal
is grown on poor land, and this is soft, dwarfish, and desti-
tute of nutriment. But hay in general is not well made. In
the south it is cured with more skill, and preserved with more
care. The best we have in the west of Scotland is procured
from Stirlingshire, and is composed of ryegrass and a little
clover.

In England clover-hay stands in high repute for hard-work-
ing draught horses. In the market it brings 20 per cent, more
man meadow or ryegrass hay. Hard upland meadow hay is
preferred for hunters and racers, because, I suppose, they are
apt to eat too much of the clover. In Scotland, ryegrass, or
a mixture of ryegrass and clover, is considered the best for
.ill horses. Here we have almost no good meadow hay, and
most of that made from the natural grasses is hardly worth
preserving.

Good Hay is about a year old, long and large, hard, tough ;
its coior inclining to green, rather than to white ; it has a
sweet taste and pleasant smell ; the seed is abundant ; in-
fused in hot water, it produces a rich dark-colored tea. The
less dust it has about it the better ; but, from the soil, and the
way in which hay is made here, it is seldom free from dust.
In damp weather hay absorbs much moisture, and weighs a
a good deal the heavier. In England, the market weight of

* Bracy Clark's Pharmacopoeia Equina,
t Blaine's Outlines of Vet. M^d.

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 1C9

new hay is sixty pounds per truss till the 4th of Septembei
The truss of old hay contains only fifty-six pounds.

New Hay is purgative and debilitating. It seems to be
difficult of digestion. [American hay is drier and better
cured than English, and we believe that it contains more sac-
charine matter ; these observations, therefore can hardly ap-
ply to it.] The horse is fond of it, and will eat a large quan-
tity, much of which passes through him little altered by the
digestive process, and probably retaining a good deal of its
nutriment. On the other hand, hay which is very old is dry,
tasteless, and brittle. The horse rejects much and eats lit-
tle. Old hay is much recommended ; but by old I suppose
is meant hot new. In the south, perhaps, stacked hay does
not so soon degenerate as in the north, where it is certainly
old enough in one year.

Heated Hay, sometimes termed mowburnt, is that which
has undergone too much fermentation. In curing hay it is
thrown in a heap to sweat, that is, till a slight degree of fer-
mentation takes place, which is arrested by exposing the hay
to the air. This, it appears, is necessary for its preservation
in the stack. But sometimes the process is carried too far,
or, more frequently, it is re-excited, after the hay is stored
past. Hay that has been thus injured is not all alike. Some
of it acquires a very sweet sugary taste ; and this portion is
eaten ; some of it is changed in color to a dark brown, and
has its texture altered ; it is short, brittle as rotten wood, and
has a disagreeable taste ; this portion seems to be rejected ;
another portion of the same stack is mouldy, stinking, quite
rotten, and no horse will eat this. All kinds of hay, however
good originally, may suffer this injury. When the damage
has been slight, most horses will eat certain portions of the
hay very greedily ; they seem to be fond of it for the first'
week, but subsequently it is rejected in disgust. Upon the
whole, I believe it is the most unprofitable fodder that horses
can receive. When very bad it is dear, though obtained in a
gift, for it often does much mischief, particularly to horses of
fast-work. Much is wasted, and that which is eaten does
little good. It is almost as poisonous as it is nutritious. Slow
draught-horses may not, indeed, be greatly injured by it. But
good wheat-straw may be better. To fast, hard-working
horses, such as those employed in mails, it is a strong diu-
retic ; and its diuretic power does not diminish by use. Hay
forms an important part of the horse's food, particularly of
those horses that receive no roots nor boiled meat. Bad

15

170 STABLE ECONOMY.

hay will change the horse's appearance and condition ir.
two days, when he has an unlimited quantity of corn. By
bad hay I mean that which is unwholesome. It may be
poor, having little nutriment, but sweet and digestible, with-
out being pernicious. But good straw is better than un-
wholesome hay for all kinds of horses. The kidneys are
excited to extraordinary activity. The urine, which, in this
disease, is always perfectly transparent, is discharged very
frequently and in copious profusion. The horse soon becomes
hidebound, emaciated, and feeble. His thirst is excessive.
He never refuses water, and he drinks it as if he would never
give over. The disease does not produce death, but it ren-
ders the horse useless, and ruins the constitution. Should
he catch cold, or take the influenza, which prevailed so much
in Glasgow daring the winter of 1836, glanders is seldom far
off.* This worthless hay is always sold at a lower rate, and
much of it enters the coaching-stables, but I am perfectly
sure that it would be cheaper to pay the highest price for the
best. One ton of good hay will, unless the men be exces-
sively careless, go as far as two tons of that which is bad.
To slow-work horses, mowburnt hay may be given with less
detriment, but it is less unprofitable when consumed by cattle.

Musty Hay is known by its bad color, its unpleasant
smell, and bitter taste. It is soft and coated with fungi. Like
all other hay, its smell is most distinct when slightly damped
by breathing upon it. Old hay is often musty, without having
been heated. None but a hungry horse will eat it, and when
eaten in considerable quantity it is said to be " bad for the
wind." In truth, it is bad for every part of the body. In
some places they sprinkle this musty hay with a solution of
sale, which induces the horse to eat it ; but even thus it an-
swers better for bedding than for feeding, and to that purpose
the horse applies the most of it.

Weather-beaten Hay is that which has lain in the sward
exposed to the rain and the sun. It is musty, full of dust,
sapless, bleached, or blackened, and destitute of seed. Such,
also, is the state of that which has stood too long uncut. All
hay should be cut a few days before the seed is quite ripe.
After it has lost most of its seed, and its juices, little is left
to afford nutriment.

* The influenza I mean, was not at all similar to a disease which went
under the same name at the same time in England. We had almost none
of the English influenza till the last week of May. 1S37. In the month of
June it was very prevalent.

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 171

Salted Hay, that is, hay with which salt has been mingled
at the time of stacking it, is not much used in Scotland. It
is not to be had. I can tell nothing about it. Horses are
said to prefer it to any other. But the principal motive for
salting hay is to preserve it when the weather requires that
it be stacked before it is sufficiently dry. Salt prevents or
checks fermentation. It darkens the color of the hay and
makes it weigh heavier, for salt attracts moisture. Salt, I
think, should not be forced on the horse. It may excite too
much thirst. Given apart from the food, he may take all
that is good for him. Damaged hay is often sprinkled with
salt water, which seems to render it less disgusting, and may
possibly correct its bad properties. It should be wetted as
wanted, for it soon becomes sodden and rotten.

The Daily Quantity of Hay allowed to each horse must
vary with its quality and the work. If the grain be limited,
the horse will eat a greater weight of poor hay than of that
which is more nutritious. If it be damaged, he must con-
sume more than if it were sound, for he rejects some, per-
haps a half, and that which he eats does not furnish so much
nutriment. When the work is fast, the horse must not have
so much as to give him a large belly. Eight pounds of
good hay is about the usual allowance to fast-working hor
ses, who may receive from twelve to fifteen or eighte ex-
pounds of grain. Large draught-horses will consume frorp
twenty to thirty pounds, but the quantity is seldom limited
for these. Much, however, depends upon the allowance of
grain. A German agriculturist calculates that eight pounds
of meadow hay, or seven of that made from clover, tares, or
saintfoin, afford as much nourishment as three pounds of
oats. Of the hay raised on poor soils, nine pounds may be
required.

A horse can. live on hay and water, and when thrown off
work for a considerable period, he often receives nothing else.
This is not always right. The horse becomes so feeble and
so pot-bellied, that it is long ere better food will restore his
condition for work. A little grain, some roots, or a bran-
mash, though given only once in two days, will help to keep
him in flesh. I have heard of the horse being kept almost
entirely on hay, receiving grain only when he was to be used.
I would recommend the owner to confine himself to bread
and water for a week or two, and then trv what work a beef-
steak will enable him to do. There is a material difference
between eating to live and eating to work The stomach

172 STABLE ECONOMY.

and bowels will hardly hold sufficient hay to keep even an
idle horse alive.

The only preparation which hay receives before it is given
is that of cutting it into chaff, into short pieces. When given
uncut, the groom does, or should, shake out the dust before
he puts it in the rack.

Hay Tea. — An infusion of hay made by pouring boiling
water upon itf and covering it up till cool, has been recom-
mended as an excellent nutritious drink for sick horses, and
also for those in health. It might perhaps be a very good
substitute for gruel ; possibly a quart or two of the tea might
not be a bad thing for a racer, given between heats, and tow-
ard the end of the day, when the horse is beginning to get
exhausted from fasting, but it has not been tried.

Hay-Seed. — In Scotland, and wherever the hay is made
chiefly from rye-grass, the seed is often made use of in feed-
ing. It is sometimes mixed with the oats to prevent the
horse from swallowing them whole, but most generally it is
given along with the boiled food, either to divide it or to soak
up the liquor. It contains more nutriment than the hay itself,
but probably not a great deal, unless the hay has stood too
long uncut. Some people say that hay-seed is bad for the
wind, but I have never been able to trace any evil to its use.
There is always much dust mingled with it, and this should
always be removed by washing. Sometimes the seed is
boiled, and sometimes merely added to the boiled food while
it is hot. I do not know that boiling improves it, but it is
much better liked after boiling or masking than in its raw
state.

Straw. — There are five kinds of straw used as fodder.
[Of their relative value for food see page 199.] Straw, how-
ever, is little used here. In many parts of Europe, wheat,
barley, or rye straw forms the whole or greater part of the
dried herbage, hay being almost unknown. In some of the
towns, wheat and oat straw are occasionally given to cart-
horses, and in some cases to coaching-horses. In the
country both white and black straw are in common use as
winter fodder for the farm-horses. It is very probable tha
wheat-straw, and perhaps some of the others, may soon be
used much more extensively than they are at present. Good
straw is certainly better than bad hay, and possibly, by in
creasing the allowance of grain, and cutting the straw, hay
might be almost entirely dispensed with. Though containing
much less nutriment, it still contains some, and it serves quite

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 173

as well as hay to divide the grain and give it a wholesome
size. It must be understood that food ought to possess bulk
proportioned in some degree to the capacity of the digestive
organs. Nutriment can be given in a very concentrated
state, yet it is not proper to condense it beyond a certain
point. Grain alone will give all the nourishment which any
horse can need, but he must also have some fodder to give
bulk to the grain, though it need not of necessity yield much
nutriment. Straw, therefore, may often be used where hay
is used. This has been proved very fairly in this country.
The late Mr Peter Mein, of Glasgow, kept his coaching-
he /ses in excellent order for nearly eight months, without a
single stalk of hay. During dear hay seasons it is the cus-
tom with many large owners, to make straw form part of the
fodder. Wheat-straw is preferred, but few object to that of
the oat.

But when horses are living chiefly on hay, as many farm-
horses do, during part of the winter, it must not be supposed
that an equal quantity, or indeed any quantity of straw, will
supply the place of that hay. The stomach and bowels will
hardly hold hay enough to nourish even an idle horse, and as
straw yields less nutriment in proportion to its bulk, enough
can not be eaten to furnish the nutriment required. The de-
ficiency must be made up by roots or grain.

When much straw is used, part or the whole ought to be
cut into chaff". It is laborious work to masticate it all, and in
time it will tell upon the teeth, which in old horses are often
worn to the gums, even by hay and grain.

I had written thus far on straw in previous editions of this
work. Yet Nimrod, in the " Veterinarian," for 1839, at page
330, wishes " Mr. Stewart had said something of wheaten
straw, the use of which for certain work, he is inclined to
think well of." That I had said something may be seen by
consulting the first and second editions, both published before
1839. Why Nimrod should have a wish implying that I had
omitted to notice this article, must be explained by the gen-
tleman himself.

Nimrod's residence in France seems to have given him a
very favorable opinion of wheat straw. He says: "I am
not only convinced that to the fact of horses in France eating
as much straw as hay, is to be attributed their generally
healthy condition, and also the non-necessity for physic, even
to those who work hard and eat much grain (post and diligence
horses for example) ; but I was informed by Lord Henry

15*

(74 STABLE ECONOMY.

Seymour, at Paris, last March twelvemonth, that his race-
horses, then of course doing good work, were eating nothing
but wheaten straw and grain." — P. 514.

It need not be supposed, from what Nimrod or any other
body says, that straw is, in any respect, better for horses than
good hay. When straw is given instead of hay, the allow-
ance of grain must be enlarged, and it will depend upon the
relative cost of all the three, which of them should be given.
It is not every horse, however, that will eat straw.

Bean-straw is tough and woody, and horses soon get tired
of it. But I am persuaded that it might be advantageously
made into tea. Bean-straw tea is much esteemed as a drink for
milch-cows, and if not found equally good for horses, no harm
can be done by trying it. Pea-straw also makes very good
tea, but the straw itself can be entirely consumed as fodder.
The white straws seem to make a very weak infusion. All
the kinds of straw soon grow sapless and brittle. They
should be fresh.

Barn Chaff. — The shell which is separated from wheat
and oats in thrashing is often given to farm-horses. It seems
to be very poor stuff. It looks as if it contained no nutriment,
yet it may serve to divide the grain, to make the horse masti-
cate it, and to prevent him from swallowing it too hurriedly.
In this way it may so far supply the place of cut fodder. But
the barn chaff is usually mingled with the boiled food, and if
the articles be very soft, the chaff may give them consistence,
but it does little more. The coving chaff of beans is said to
form a very good manger food.

Roots. — Potatoes, carrots, and turnips, are the roots chiefly
used for feeding horses. Parsnips, sugar beet, mangel-wur-
zel, and yams, are occasionally employed.

Potatoes are given both raw and boiled ; in either state
they are much relished by all horses as a change from other
food. They are rather laxative than otherwise, and especially
when given uncooked. Given raw and in considerable quan-
tity to a horse not accustomed to them, they are almost sure
to produce indigestion and colic ; when boiled or steamed
they are less apt to ferment in the stomach. For horses that
do slow, and perhaps not very hard, or long-continued work,
potatoes may, in a great measure, or entirely, supersede grain.
They are little used for fast-work horses, yet they may be
given, and sometimes they are given, without any harm. On
many farms they form, along with straw fodder, the whole of
the horse's winter food. In Essex, farm-horses have been

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 175

kept throughout the winter entirely upon steamed potatoes
Each horse got fifty pounds per day, and did the ordinary
work of the farm with the greatest ease. Some salt was
mixed with them, and occasionally a little sulphur, which is
quite superfluous.

According to Professor Low, fifteen pounds of raw potatoes
yield as much nutriment as four and a half pounds of oats.
Yon Thaer says, that three bushels are equal to 112 lbs. of
hay. Curwen, who aied potatoes very extensively in feeding
horses, says that an acre goes as far as four acres of hay.
He steamed them all, and allowed each horse daily 21 lbs.,
with a tenth of cut straw, which he preferred to hay for this
mode of feeding.

The potatoes should be of a good kind and not frosted.
They should always be cooked either by steaming or boiling.
They are best when steamed. Horses like them as well
raw, but they are excessively flatulent, and this bad property
is much corrected by cooking, and by adding some salt.
When boiled, the process should be performed with little
water, and as quickly as possible. When nearly ready, the
water should be altogether withdrawn, and the potatoes al-
lowed to dry, uncovered, on the fire for a few minutes. They
should be put on with hot water. They are always over-
boiled. Horses prefer them when haflfl at the heart. There
is a general prejudice against the liquor in which potatoes
are boiled. It is said to be injurious. In small quantities it
certainly produces no apparent evil. I often see it given, not
as a drink, but along with potatoes, beans, and chaff, which
are all boiled together and mixed into a uniform mass, in gen-
eral too soft. In some places the potatoes are not washed
when boiled. If the earth do not relax the bowels, I am not
aware that it does any injury, and the horses do not appear
to dislike it. When the mass, however, from the addition of
chaff, requires much mastication, this sand or earth must
wear down the tec'h very fast.

Turnips are in very general use for farm and cart-horses.
Of late they have also been used a good deal in the coaching-
stables ; in many they have superseded the carrot. The
Swedish variety is preferred. Common white and also yel-
low turnips are almost worthless. According to Von Thaer
100 pounds of Swedes are equal in nutriment to 22 of hay.
For slow horses, turnips to a certain extent supersede grain
but for fast- workers, they save the hay more than the grain.
They have a fine odor when boiled, and this seems to make

176 STABLE ECONOMY.

the horse feed more heartily. They fatten the horse very
rapidly, and produce a smooth glossy coat and loose skin.

They are sometimes washed, sliced, and given raw, but in
general they are boiled, and occasionally steamed. In the
raw state they excite indigestion very readily, and are not
much liked. Few horses get them oftener than once a day
They may be given oftener, but the horse soon begins to re-
fuse them. If they are to be used for several successive
weeks, they should not be given oftener than once in twenty -
four hours, or at most twice, and then not in very large quan-
tities. When the quantity of food is limited, the horse will
be glad to get them at all times, but in that case he must have
little work. Straw, or hay, and turnips, will make an idle
horse fat ; they will enable him to do some slow work, but to
perform full work the horse will not, or can not eat enough
to keep him in condition : and for fast work he would eat
more than he could well carry. Most usually they are given
only once a day, and at night after work is over ; chaff or
hay-seed, and some grain, generally beans, are boiled along
with them. They should always be washed. They require
much boiling, and when large they may be cut.

Carrots. — This root is held in much esteem. There is
none better, nor perhaps so good. When first given it is
slightly diuretic and laxative. But as the horse becomes ac-
customed to it, these effects are not produced. Carrots also
improve the state of the skin. They form a good substitute
for grass, and an excellent alterative for horses out of con-
dition. To sick and idle horses they render grain unneces-
sary. They are beneficial in all chronic diseases of the or-
gans connected with breathing, and have a marked influence
upon chronic cough and broken wind. They are serviceable
in diseases of the skin. In combination with oats, they re-
store a wornout horse much sooner than oats alone.

Carrots are usually given raw. Sometimes they are boiled or
steamed, but horses seem to like them better raw. They are
washed and sliced. They are often mingled with the grain, but
I think they ought to form a separate feed. They diminish the
consumption of both hay and grain. Some tell me that six, oth-
ers that eight pounds of carrots, are equal to four pounds of oats.
But the calculation can not be much depended upon, for the
horse may eat more or less hay without the difference being ob-
served. According to Curwen, a work-horse getting from eight
to twelve pounds of grain, may have four pounds deducted foi
every five he receives of carrots. Fir fast-working horses,

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 177

carrots never entirely supersede grain. Mention is made, in-
deed, of an Essex sportsman who gave his hunters each a
bushel of carrots daily with a little hay, but no grain ; the
horses are said to have followed a pack of harriers twice a
week, but the possibility of doing this needs further proof.
For slow-working horses, carrots may supply the place of
grain quite well, at least for those employed on the farm.
Burrows, an English agriculturist, gave his farm-horses each
seventy pounds of carrots per day, along with chaff and barn-
door refuse, with which the carrots were sliced and mixed.
He gave a little rack-hay at night, but no grain. He fed his
horses in this way from the end of October to the beginning
of June, giving a little less than seventy pounds in the very
shortest days, and a little more in spring. The tops of the
carrots have been given to horses, and it is said they were
much liked and quite wholesome.

Parsnips. — This root is used a good deal in France : in
the neighborhood of Brest, parsnips and cabbages are boiled
together and given to the horses warm, along with some buck-
wheat flour. In the island of Jersey the root is much culti-
vated, and is extensively used for fattening stock, and for the
table of all classes. It is said not to be generally given to
horses, for it is alleged that their eyes suffer under its use.
Arthur Young, however, assures us, that the horses about
Morlaix are ordinarily fed upon parsnips, and that they are
considered '' the best of all foods for a horse, and much ex-
ceeding oats." They are eaten both raw and boiled. They are
most usually washed, sliced, and mixed with bran or chaff. The
leaves, mown while in good condition, are eaten as readily as
clover.

Mangel-wurzel, Yams, and the Turnip Cabbage, have each
been employed as food for horses, but I have not been able
to learn with what effect.

Grain. — In this country the grain consists chiefly of oats,
beans, and pease, but barley is now in very common use, and
wheat is occasionally given. The last two articles, however,
are rarely used to the exclusion of oats, but are generally
mixed with them in certain proportions. Rye, buckwheat,
and maize, are used as grain in various parts of the world,
but very little or not at all in this.

Oats. — There are several varieties which need not be de-
scribed.

Good Oats are about one year old, plump, short, hard, rat-
tling when poured into the manger, sweet, clean, free from
chaff and dust, and weighing about forty pounds per bushel

178 STABLE ECONOMY.

New Oats are slightly purgative, indigestible, and unprofit-
able. They seem to resist the action of the stomach, and to
retain their nutriment. They make the horse soft ; he sweats
soon and much at work. [Oats, and indeed all kinds of
grain, are less watery, and therefore more nutritious and
sweeter, grown in America than in Great Britain ; so that
these observations will not hold good entirely, applied to this
country.] If they must be used when under three or four
months old, they may be improved by kiln-drying. They are
not good, however, till they are about a year old. They may
be kept till too old, when they become musty and full of in-
sects. The period at which oats begin to degenerate depends
so much upon the manner in which they are harvested and
preserved, that the age alone affords no rule for rejecting them.
They can be kept in good condition for several years.

Fumigated Oats are those which have been exposed to the
vapor of ignited sulphur. They are put through this process
to improve their color. A good deal of the sulphur adheres
to the husk of the oat, which is of a pretty color. A little
sulphur can not do the horse any harm, but light small oats
absorb a considerable quantity. The sulphur is easily de-
tected by rubbing the oats between the hands a little warmed.
When the sulphur is in large quantity, the horses refuse the
oats, or they do not feed heartily. I do not perceive that
fumigated oats are objectionable in other respects.

Kiln-dried Oats are those which have been dried by the
application of fire. They are generally blamed for producing
diabetes ; but though this disease is common enough, it does
not appear wherever kiln-dried oats are used. In many parts
of Russia, oats and all other kinds of grain are kiln-dried in
the straw before they are stored. It is not likely that this
would be the case if it were so prejudicial to the oats as
many people imagine. Most of the kiln-dried oats which are
given to horses have been damaged before they were dried,
and I suspect that the injury received in harvesting or in
storing has more to do with diabetes than kiln-drying has.

Bad Oats. — Some oats are light, containing little nutriment
in proportion to their bulk ; some contain much dust and
chaff, small stones, and earth ; these can hardly be called
good oats, yet there are others which are much worse.
Light, husky, and ill-cleaned oats may be sweet and whole-
some ; if they do little good they do no harm, but some oats
are positively injurious to the horse. They may please the
eye tolerably well, but they have a bad smell and a bitter

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 179

disagreeable taste. Horses do not like them. After the first
day or two they begin to refuse them. That which they eat
produces diabetes, a disease which goes under various names,
the most common are staling evil and jaw-piss. I do not
know how the oats obtain this diuretic property : many, as I
have said, attribute it to kiln-drying, many to the oats having
been heated, undergone a little fermentation in the stack or in
the granary, and a few ascribe it to the oats being ill-
harvested, musty, or half-rotten, before they are got off the
field. Oats may be frost-bitten, damaged by insects, or in-
jured in various other ways, but it seems yet uncertain what
condition they are in when they produce diabetes ; or what
makes them so strongly diuretic. There is no doubt but
heated oats will produce diabetes ; but whether any other
alteration in the oat will have the same effect I do not know.
Whatever be the cause, the oats must be changed as soon as
it is discovered that they produce

Diabetes. — It is the same disease as that which arises from
the use of mowburnt hay. The horses urinate often ; the urine
is quite colorless, and it is discharged in immense quantities.
The horse would drink for ever, and the water is hardly down
his throat till it is thrown among his feet in the form of urine.
In a day or two his coat stares, he refuses to feed, loses
flesh, and becomes excessively weak. He may for a time
continue at work ; but if he catch cold, and remain at work
while he has both the cold and the diabetes upon him, he
often becomes glandered.

The horses may not all be alike. In a large stud some are
always more affected by these bad oats than others. The
worst must go out of work for a while, and some others must
be spared as much as possible, while a few may continue at
their usual employment. The oats must be changed. Give
plenty of beans, some barley, and good hay. Let each horse
have a lump of rock-salt, and a piece of chalk in his manger.
Put some clay and bean-meal in the water. Carrots, whins,
or grass, may be given with benefit. But by changing the
oats, and diminishing the work, the disease will generally
disappear. If all these means fail, medicine must be tried.
A. veterinarian will furnish that of the proper kind. But
nothing will arrest the disease permanently unless the oats be
changed. If not very bad, they do for horses in easy work.
But while a horse has diabetes, he can not maintain his con-
dition for full work. He would lose flesh though he stood up
to the knees in grain.

180 STABLE ECONOMY.

There is a kind of diabetes which does not proceed from
bad food. It is accompanied with a good deal of fever, and
requires different treatment ; it may be suspected when the
food has not been changed ; but the eye is red, and the mouth
hot, and the horse is dull for a day or two before the staling-
evil is upon him.

Preparation of Oats. — Most frequently oats are given raw
and whole. But occasionally they are bruised, or coarsely
ground. Sometimes they are boiled, and sometimes germina-
ted. There is no objection to bruising but the cost ; grinding
is never useful, and sometimes it is improper ; boiling does
not seem to improve oats, and, after the first week, high-fed
horses prefer them raw ; germination is rarely practised, and
only for sick horses. In Lincolnshire oats are malted in salt
water, and given for three weeks or a month in spring. •

Oats are sometimes given in the straw, either cut or uncut
The cost of thrashing is saved, but that is no great gain. It
can not be known how much the horse gets. One may be
cheated altogether out of a meal and another may be sur-
feited. There is always some waste, for the horse must be
getting very little grain if he eat all the straw he gets along
with it, and if he get more, some of the grain is left in the straw.

The Daily Allowance of oats is very variable. Hunters and
racers receive almost as much as they will eat during the
season of work. The quantity for these horses varies from
twelve to sixteen or eighteen pounds per day. Stage and
mail horses get about the same allowance. Some will not
consume above fourteen pounds, others will manage nearly
eighteen. In most stables some other grain is used. For
every pound of barley or beans that may be given, rather
more than an equal weight is taken off the ordinary allowance
of oats. Saddle-horses receive about twelve pounds of oats,
cart-horses from ten to fourteen. Those employed on the
farm get from four to twelve pounds. The ordinary feeding-
measure in Scotland, termed a lippy, holds from three to four
pounds of heavy oats.

Substitutes for Oats have been frequently sought. Many
experiments have been made to ascertain how far their use
might be dispensed with. Roots and bread have both been
tried, and the results have shown that horses of moderate
work, or even laborious work at a slow pace, can be kept in
good condition on carrots or potatoes, with some fodder and
no grain. The bread has been njade from grain, but it does
not seem to have been productive of any economy. Edrley

ARTICLES JSED AS FOOD. lBl

beans, peas, and wheat, are partial substitutes for oats. They
may form a large portion of the grain ; and in Spain barley
forms the whole of it. But in this country oats are in general
as cheap as any of the other kinds of grain. It has been
alleged that oats contain some aromatic, invigorating property,
not possessed by other articles ; and it does appear that horses
fed on roots to the exclusion of grain, are not so gay as grain-
fed horses. But whether oats, in equal weight, give the
horse more animation than other kinds of grain, is not known
with certainty, although common opinion is in their favor.

Oat-Dust is a dirty, brown, useless-like powder, removed
from the oat in converting it into meal. It is sometimes
mixed with the boiled food. It does not appear to contain
any nutriment ; and it is blamed for producing balls in the
bowels and obstructing them.

Oat-Meal Seeds. — The husk of the oat, as it is sifted from
the meal, is sometimes given to horses. This stuff is termed
seeds. It always contains a little meal ; but is often adul-
terated by adding what are called the sheeling seeds, the husk
without any meal. It does very well as a masticant ; and
may be mingled with oats, beans, or barley, to make the
horse grind them, but it can not yield much nutriment, and
many horses will not eat it.

Gruel is made from oat-meal. It is very useful for sick
horses : and after a day of severe exertion, when the horse
will not take solid food, gruel is the best thing he can have.
Few stablemen are able to make it properly. The meal is
never sufficiently incorporated with the water. One gallon
of good gruel may be made from a pound of meal, which
should be thrown into cold water, set on the fire and stirred
till boiling, and afterward permitted to simmer over a gentle
fire till the water is quite thick. It is not gruel at all if the
meal subside and leave the water transparent. Bracy Clark
recommends that the meal be well triturated with a little
cold water, in a beechen bowl, by a heavy wooden pestle. He
thinks the trituration necessary to effect, a union between the
water and some constituent of the meal. This seems to be
one of .the " not a few useful and important discoveries" for
which Mr. Clarke so clamorously demands our homage.

Oaten Bread is sometimes given to sick horses. It may
tempt the appetite and excite a disposition to feed. — See
Bread.

Barley. — There is much difference of opinion concerning
this article. Some consider it quite as good as oats in everv

16

182 STABLE ECONOMY.

respect ; others allege that it is too laxative ; others that it
is heating ; some that it is cooling ; and some that it is
flatulent. In Spain, and in some other places, horses and
mules receive no grain but barley ; in this country it is very
often boiled and given once a day, and sometimes a little ia
given raw with every ration of oats ; and one or two pro-
prietors have used, and perhaps still use it to the entire ex-
clusion of oats. I can not, from personal observation, tell
what are its effects when given habitually without mixture.
But when given along with a few oats or beans, so as to form
only a part of the feed, I know that barley has none of the
evil properties ascribed to it. I am daily among a large
number of horses, both fast and slow-workers, who receive a
considerable quantity in the course of the twenty-four hours.
At first, it relaxes the bowels a little, and unless it be min-
gled with chaff the horses swallow the grain whole. They
seem to swallow it more readily than oats. After a week or
two the bowels return to their ordinary state. The skin and
the coat are almost invariably improved by barley, particularly
when boiled and given warm. Like every other kind of
grain, it is somewhat indigestible, until the stomach becomes
accustomed to it. If much be given at first, the horse is
likely to take colic. But by gradually increasing the quan-
tity from day to day, deducting the oats in proportion, the
horse may be safely inured to barley without any other grain.

White tells us of a Southampton postmaster, who fed his
horses entirely on barley and cut straw. They were given to-
gether, and the barley was steeped in water twelve hours before
it was given. Two pecks of barley and one bushel of straw
formed the daily allowance. It is said that, upon this, " the
horses did more work, and were in better condition, than
others at the same task upon the ordinary feeding." This
is the usual story whenever any new mode or article is rec-
ommended. But nevertheless, it seems sufficiently clear
that barley is not much, if at all inferior to oats. The price
should influence the choice. Spotted or dark-colored barley,
though rejected for malting, may be quite good enough for
food, and it is often to be bought at the price of oats. It
weighs about fifty pounds the bushel. Giving weight for
weight of oats, at forty pounds the bushel, there are only ten
feeds, while barley gives twelve and one half.

Bulled Barley is used chiefly among stage, cart, and road
horses. It is rarely given to the racer or to the hunter, ex-

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 183

rept when sick. Boiled to jelly, it is good for a hard dry
cough, when there is no fever.

Barley Mash. — Barley steeped or boiled.

Malted Barley is that which has been germinated. It is
steeped or moistened, and spread in a layer till it sprout. In
that state it is given, though not very often. Horses are
very fond of it, and they will take a little of this when they
refuse almost everything else. But I do not know how they
would do upon it for constant use.

Malt is used a good deal on the continent, and is supposed
to be highly nutritious, more so than the raw barley. But in
this country the heavy duty upon malt forbids its use for
horses ; and it is not certain that the process of malting im-
proves the grain so much as to pay its cost. [Malting and
cooking are valuable where it is required to lay on flesh ; but
for working condition the food should be dry.]

Malt Dust, in some places termed cumins, is that portion of
barley which sprouts in germination. It is generally given
to cattle, but horses sometimes get it mixed with the boiled
food. They seem to like it very well. I do not know any
more about it.

Grains, the refuse of breweries, are sometimes given to
horses, and are eaten greedily ; but it is alleged that, when
given constantly, and so as to form the bulk of the grain, they
produce general rottenness, which I suspect in this case means
disease of the liver. They are also blamed for producing
staggers and founder.

[The cart-horses of the breweries of London are fed on
grains. But they are horses largely disposed to fat, and have
small lungs and livers. The well-bred horse when in quick
work does not take on fat readily ; his lungs and liver are
large. Grains consist of carbon and fecal matter. In the
cart-horse, a part of the carbon of the grains is consumed in
breathing, and the balance is deposited in the cellular tissue
as fat. In the horse of quick work, the lungs and liver take
up all the carbon, which being in excess acts to produce large
quantities of bile ; this bile is passed off by the bowels, occa-
sioning purging, and by reaction, costiveness. The bowels
and the liver sympathize until the liver becomes diseased :
and this disease usually is imflammatory in its early stages,
ending in death by inflammation immediately or by ulceration
ultimately. In the southern country, well-bred horses in quick
work, fed on Indian corn (which abounds largely in the fat-
forming principle), suffer in the same manner. The well-bred

184 STABLE ECONOMY.

or blood horse, not in quick work, fats rapidly on corn, b.sA
would doubtless on grains. Where Indian corn is fed ex-
clusively, as in the southern states, diseases of the liver are
very frequent and fatal, and so are inflammation of the bowels
and colic. The mule, in comparison with the blood-horse,
has small lungs and liver, and is slow in his paces. He does
better on Indian corn, especially if ground with the cob on,
and this meal is fed to him. In the training stables of both
the south and the north, in this country, little Indian corn is
fed and this is cracked coarse like hommony.]

Barley Dust is rather better than oat dust, but it is fitter for
cattle or swine than horses.

Wheat. — There is a general prejudice against wheat as
horse-grain, especially in its raw state. It is supposed to be
poisonous ; and without doubt many horses have been destroy-
ed by it. Horses eat it very greedily, and are almost sure to
eat too much, when permitted. Fermentation, colic, and
death, are the consequences ; but these are easily avoided.
The grain seems difficult to masticate and also difficult to
digest, and colic may be produced more readily by one meas-
ure of wheat than by two of oats. I have never known it
used to the exclusion of oats, but it is sometimes given in
quantities not exceeding four pounds per day, and that divided
among five feeds. Given in this quantity and in this way, it
does no harm that any other grain will not do ; and it appears
perfectly to supply the place of the oats which are withheld
for it. For every four pounds of wheat, four pounds, or near-
ly four and a half, may be deducted from the ordinary al-
lowance of oats.

Still, unless the use of good wheat renders the feeding
cheaper, I do not see that it has any good property to recom-
mend it. If a stone of wheat can be bought for less money
than a stone of oats or beans, it may form a part of the grain,
■using it at first very sparingly, and not exceeding the quantity
I mention, four pounds per day. A larger quantity may be
tried on two or three horses, but as I have not seen it tried
to a greater extent, I can not tell what might be the result.

Wheat slould never be given alone. Chaff, straw-chaff is
best, serves to divide it, and ensures complete mastication.
The wheat mixes better with the chaff when it is flattened
between a pair of rollers.

Boiled wheat is in common use. It is boiled with beans
and chaff, and generally forms the last feed, or the last but
one, at night. It soon gets sour, and makes the mangers of

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD 185

wood very foul. No more should be boiled nor given than
will be consumed before next morning. It should not be
boiled to a jelly. It should always be mixed with chaff.

The Husk of Wheat is very useful, and employed in all
town stables. It goes under several names, of which the
principal are bran, and pollard, hen-meal, and gudgings.
There are two kinds, the one much finer than the other.
The coarsest is most usually termed bran ; pollard is supposed
to contain and to yield more nutriment ; but the difference
does not appear to be great.

Bran is seldom give in its dry state, but when beans or peas
form the bulk of the grain, some dry bran is added, to make
the horse masticate them, and to correct the constipating
property of these articles.

Bran-Mash is the usual food of sick horses ; it relaxes the
bowels. Its laxative property has been supposed to depend
upon mechanical irritation, which can not be true, since bran
is constipating to dogs. It contains little nutriment, but sup-
plies the place of grain to an idle or a sick horse, when he
must be kept low ; and it helps to keep the bowels in order
when the horse is confined to hay without grain. The bran-
mash is given either cold or warm. Some horses like it bet-
ter in one way than another ; some will not eat it when mash-
ed, but will take it dry, and a few seem to dislike it altogether.
The cold bran-mash is usually made with cold water ; as much
being poured upon the bran as it will absorb. The warm
mash is made with boiling water. The mash should be close-
ly covered up till cool enough to be eaten. When oats, beans,
and hay, form the ordinary feeding, it is usual to give a large
bran-mash, about half a pailful, once a week. It relaxes the
bowels, operating upon them very gently, and clearing out
their contents. In Scotland, road and canal-horses work none
on Sunday. On Saturday night they get a bran-mash instead
of their ordinary feed of grain ; but when grass or boiled food
is in season, bran is not generally used in this way. When
the horses are in high condition, with bowels liable to con-
stipation, the bran-mash prevents any evil that might arise
from Sunday's rest ; but when low in flesh, doing all the work
they can bear, they can hardly afford to lose a meal, even
though they rest on Sunday. [Mashes are laxative, and of
course debilitating. They should not be given to lean horses,
that are to continue in hard work. But when they are to
stand idle, or it is desired to make them fat, mashes act as an
alterative and are therefore beneficial.] If the bowels be

16*

186 STABLE ECONOMY.

costive, the mash may be given, but the grain should be given
loo; not both together, for a bran-mash almost compels the
horse to swallow his corn without mastication.

Many stablemen add bran to the boiled food. They seem
to think its use indispensable ; they talk as if the food could
not be eaten or not boiled without the addition of bran. This
is nonsense. The food may be of constipating quality, and
bran will be wanted to correct that ; or the horse's health or
his work may make bran a useful article in his food. But to
give bran as nourishment to a horse under ordinary circum-
stances, is to give him almost the dearest food he can live
upon even when his work does not absolutely demand stronger
food. A shilling's worth of oats is a great deal more nourish-
ing than a shilling's worth of bran. To the horse, bran is
just what gruel is to man ; but the relative cost of the two is
very different.

Wheaten Bread, either brown or white, is much relished by
nearly all horses. Occasionally it may be given to a horse
that has been tired off his appetite, or to an invalid. It should
never be less than twenty-four hours' old, and it should be
given only in small quantity. Bakers sometimes give their
horses a good deal of it ; but it ought to be mixed with chaff.
Some will not eat it till it is mashed by pouring boiling water
over it.

Buck-Wheat, or Brank, is hardly known in this country.
It is used on the Continent, and the horses are said to thrive
on it. Young says that a bushel goes farther than two of
oats, and that, mixed with at least four times as much bran,
one bushel will be full feed for any horse for a week. The
author of the Farmer's Calendar thinks he has seen it produce
a stupifying effect ; and Bracy Clarke says it appeared to him
to be very laxative. In Holland, and many parts of Germany
and Norway, it is made into a black bread, with which the
horses are fed.

Maize, or Indian-Corn, is much used as a horse-food in
America, and in various parts of Europe. Cobbett recom-
mended its introduction, and among its other uses, spoke of
horse-feeding. I do not know that it has been tried sufficiently
to determine whether it might be used with advantage during
a scarcity of other grain. Probably it ought to be boiled and
mixed with chaff, but horses eat it greedily when raw. Bracy
Clarke says it is apt to clog the stomach and affect the feet
in such a singular way, that the hoofs frequently fall off when
the horse is on a journey. He allur! es to founder, but seems

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 187

ignorant that any kind of grain, when improperly given, will
produce the same effect. Maize does it more readily [per-
haps on account of its greater amount of carbon or the fat-
forming principle].

Rye is used in Germany, but generally in the shape of bread
made from the whole flour and bran ; and it is not unusual,
in travelling through some parts of that country, and of Hol-
land, to see the postillions help themselves and their horses
from the same loaf.*

Beans. — There are several varieties of the bean in use as
horse-food, but I do not know that one is better than another.
The small plump bean is preferred to the large shrivelled kind.
Whichever be used, the beans should be old, sweet, and
sound. New beans are indigestible and flatulent ; they pro-
duce colic, and founder very readily. They should be at least
a year old. Beans are often ill-harvested ; and when musty
or mouldy, though quite sweet internally, horses do not like
them. They are often attacked by an insect which consumes
much of the flour, and destroys the vitality of the rest. The
ravages of the insect are plain enough. The bean is ex-
cavated, light, brittle, and bitter tasted. A few in this state
may do no harm ; but when the beans are generally infected,
it is not likely that they are eaten with impunity, and very
often the horse refuses them altogether. Damp, musty, ill-
kept beans, though old, are as flatulent as those which are
new. All kinds are constipating.

Though in very general use for horses, beans are not so ex-
tensively employed as oats. According to the chymists, they
contain more nutriment ; and in practice it is universally al-
lowed that beans are much the stronger of the two. The com-
parison, however, is almost always made in reference to a
measured quantity. A bushel of beans is, beyond all doubt,
more nutritious than a bushel of o- ,rf, but it is questionable
whether a pound of beans is suonger than a pound of oats.
Beans weigh about sixty-three pounds per bushel, and if given
in an oat measure, the horse may be getting nearly double al-
lowance. This, I am persuaded, often happens, and hence
arise those complaints about the heating, inflammatory nature
of beans ; [they are constipating and their heating quality is
secondary, by inducing fever as a consequence of costiveness.]
The horse becomes plethoric ; the groom says (he humors
are flying about him. It is very likely that he would be in

* British Husbandry, vol. i., p. 146.

188 STABLE ECONOMY.

the very same state if he were getting an equal weight of
oats.

If beans do not afford more nutriment, weight for weight of
oats, they at least produce more lasting vigor. To use a com-
mon expression, they keep the stomach longer. The horse
can travel farther ; he is not so soon exhausted. " I remem-
ber." says Nimrod, " hearing Mr. Warde exclaim, as his
hounds were settling to their fox, ' Now we shall see what
horses eat old oats, and what eat new.' I am inclined to
think that this distinction may be applied to horses that eat
beans, and those that eat none, for they help to bring him
home at the end of a long day, and support his strength in the
run." I believe Nimrod is quite right. In the coaching-
stables beans are almost indispensable to horses that have to
run long stages. They afford a stronger and more permanent
stimulus than oats alone, however good. Washy horses,
those of slender carcass, can not perform severe work without
a liberal allowance of beans ; and old horses need them more
than the young. The quantity varies from three to six pounds
per day ; but in some of the coaching-stables the horses get
more, a pound of oats being deducted for every pound of beans.
Cart-horses are often fed on beans, to the exclusion of all
other grain, but they are always given with dry bran, which
is necessary to keep the bowels open, and to ensure mastica-
tion. Beans are not in general use for racehorses, but are
sometimes given to bad eaters. They are usually split and
hulled, which is a superfluous process. For old hrrses they
should be broken or bruised.

The bowels are very apt to become constipated, and danger-
ously obstructed when the horse is getting a large allowance
of beans. They are so constipating that, as they are increased
in quantity, bran must be' added in proportion. Beans, and
bean-straw, which is as constipating as the beans, should not
be both used at the same time.

Some horses will not eat beans. The Irish horses, when
first brought to this country, always refuse them ; they invari-
ably pick out the oats and leave the beans. It does not ap-
pear that they dislike them, for after they begin, they feed as
well as other horses. Ultimately, they seem to discover that
beans are for eating, although it is often a long time ere they
make the discovery.

The horse, however, may soon be taught. Let him fast
for an hour beyond the feeding-time, and then give him half
a ration of beans without oats. If he still reject them, offei

ARTICLES USED 4S FOOD. 189

them split or broken, or moisten them, and sprinkle a little
oatmeal over them, sufficient to make the beans white. If he
still demur, put another horse, a hungry one, beside him, and
he will soon teach his ignorant neighbor ; if he do not, I can
not tell what will.

Bean meal, or flour, is sometimes added to the boiled food ;
Lut it is oftener given in the water to cure the staling-evil.

Peas are seldom used without beans, with which they are
mixed in large or small quantities. They may be given
without either beans or other grain, but much care is neces-
sary to inure the horse to them. Peas seem to be very in-
digestible, more so than beans, and perhaps as much so as
wheat ; but when given very sparingly at first, they may be
used with perfect safety. It is often said that peas swell so
much in the stomach as to burst it. This is an error. Peas
do absorb much water, and swell more perhaps than beans,
but they never swell so much as to burst the stomach, for the
horse can not or will not eat such a large quantity. When
the stomach is burst, it is from fermentation, not from swel-
ling of the peas. All kinds of food will produce the same
result when the horse is permitted to gorge himself, or when
he is fed in full measure upon food that he has not been ac-
customed to ; but peas seem to be rather more apt to ferment
than some other kinds of grain.

Peas should be sound, and a year old. They weigh, on
an average, sixty-four pounds per bushel. Pea-meal is
sometimes given in the same way, and for the same purposes
as that of the bean. Some prefer it for diabetes, and in a
few places it is given in the water for baiting on the road.

Vetch Seed has been employed for feeding horses, but I
have learned nothing of the result.

Bread. — In former times it was customary to feed horses
with bread, and the statute book is said to contain several
acts of parliament relating to the manner of making it. Ger-
vase Markham, a very old author, says, " Horse bread which
is made of clean beans, clean peas, or clean fitches, feedeth
exceedingly." It is not many years since a bread, com-
posed of wheat, oats, barley, and beans, ground and mixed in
varying proportions, was used in the racing-stables. The
bread was well baked, and given when sufficiently old to
crumble down and mingle with the grain. Eggs and some
spices wiere sometimes introduced in making it. Nothing of
the kind, so far as I know, is now used in this country.

In different parts of Europe bread forms the customary

90 STABLE ECONOMY.

food of the horses. A French periodical of 1828 mentions
an agriculturist " who fed his horses with a bread composed
of thirty bushels of oatmeal, and an equal quantity of rye-
flour, to which he added a portion of yeast, and nine bushels
of potatoes reduced to a pulp. With this bread he kept seven
horses, each having twelve pounds per day in three feeds. It
was broken into small pieces, and mixed with a little moist-
ened chaff." He had fed his horses in this way for four
years. Previously he had used oats, hay, and straw chaff.

The Magazine of Domestic Economy, February number
for 1837, tells us that one ton of oats made into bread yields
more nutriment than six tons of the raw article, and that in
Sweden this has been proved by experience. It has never
been proved in Scotland, and I dare say it never will. It is
true, however, that a bread composed of oatmeal and rye, in
equal quantities, has long been used for horses in Sweden.
It is broken down and mixed with cut straw. It is in com-
mon use over different parts o£ Germany. I can not learp
any particulars as to the mode of making, nor of the quantity
given, nor of the horses' condition. In France, many at
tempts have been made to produce a bread that would wholly
or partially supersede oats, which seem to be comparatively
precious on the continent. Buckwheat, rye, barley, wheat,
and potatoes, have been tried in varying proportion, and, ac-
cording to several accounts, with success. But it does not
appear very distinctly why these articles should be converted
into bread, which is a costly process, rather than given raw
or boiled. It is indeed alleged that some of the constituent
principles are not digestible until they have undergone fer-
mentation ; and it may be so, but no proof is shown that I
have seen.

Linseed in small quantities, either, whole or ground, raw
or boiled, is sometimes given to sick horses. It is too nutri
tious for a fevered horse, but is very useful for a cough, and
it makes the skin loose and the coat glossy. Half a pint may
be mixed with the usual feed every night. For a cough it
should be boiled, and given in a bran mash, to which two or
three ounces of coarse sugar may be added.

Oil Cake, ground and given in the boiled food, when not very
rich, consisting chiefly or entirely of roots, is much stronger
than bran, and stronger, perhaps, than oatmeal seeds. Two
to four pounds per day is the usual allowance. It makes the
hair glossy. Horses seem to tire of it soon, but the farmer
will find it useful for heroine his horses through the winter.

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 191

Hempseed used to be given to racers a few days before
running. It was supposed to be invigorating and " good for
the wind." I believe it is not now employed, except occa-
sionally to stallions, during the travelling season. Some give
four or six ounces every night.

Sago. — In the year 1839, this article was a good deal spo*
ken of as an excellent food for horses. Mr. Ritchie, veteri-
nary surgeon of Edinburgh, made some experiments with it,
and detailed them in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.
He tried it with only one horse. He gave daily three pounds
of sago stirred into two gallons of boiling water ; and this
quantity was divided into three feeds. After a few days he
found that this feeding made the horse sweat more at his
work. He then gave the sago nearly dry, or just moistened,
by adding to it about four ounces of water ; and thus fed, the
horse perspired no more than he had done upon oats and hay.

I have no doubt but sago might be used partially as a sub-
stitute for oats, and possibly it might, under certain circum-
stances, be used to the exclusion of other grain. But from
my own experience of it on several horses, I found,

1. That no horse would eat it unmixed with other grain.

2. That very few would eat it raw, even when mixed with
oats.

3. That none refused it when it was boiled with oats or
beans.

4. That it is not profitable if it costs more than twelve shil-
lings per cwt., while oats are twenty shillings per boll.

Sugar. — Mr. Black, veterinary surgeon of the 14th Light
Dragoons, informed me that sugar was tried as an article of
horses' food during the peninsular war. The experiment was
made at the Brighton depot, upon ten horses, during a period
of three months. Each got eight pounds per day at four ra-
tions. They took to it very readily, and it was remarked
that their coats became fine, smooth, and glossy. They got
no grain, and only seven pounds of hay, instead of the ordi-
nary allowance, which is twelve pounds. The sugar seemed
to supply the place of grain so well, that it would probably
have been given to the horses abroad ; but peace came, and
the circumstances which rendered the use of sugar for grain
desirable ceased. The horses returned to their usual diet ;
but several of those who were the subjects of this experiment
became crib-biters. [Sugar wants nitrogen, but abounds in
carbon. It would not, therefore, answer as a horse food.
The food must contain nitrogen to form muscle.]

192 STABLE ECONOMY.

That the sugar might not be appropriated to other purposes
it was slightly scented with assafoetida, which did not pro-
duce any apparent effect upon the horses.

" Fruit, as pumpkins, apples, &c, and sweet potatoes in
America, figs and chestnuts in Spain and Italy, apples in
some parts of France, and numerous other fructified exotics,
are occasionally employed as food for horses."* Horse
Chestnuts, it is said, " would probably form a valuable article
of medicinal food for horses. In Turkey the nuts are ground,
and mixed with other food ; and they are regarded as a rem-
edy for broken wind, and serviceable to horses troubled with
coughs."f Haws, the fruit of the hawthorn, have been em-
ployed by West, of Hampshire, as an article of food for farm-
horses, with what profit. I have not learned. *' The people
of Medjid feed their horses regularly on dates. At Deyrach,
in the country of the Flassae, dates are mixed with the clover.
Barley, however, is the most usual food in all parts of Ara-
bia.":);

Flesh. — The structure of the horse does not seem adapted
to the assimilation of animal food. But some seem to have
no dislike to it ; and it is well to know that it may, to a cer-
tain extent, supply the place of grain. I have seen them
lick blood repeatedly and greedily. Bracy Clark says he has
" seen a well-attested account in a magazine, of a colt that
was in the habit of visiting a pantry window wrhich looked
into his paddock, and of stealing and eating mutton, beef,
veal, and poultry. Pork he seemed to reject. In the East
Indies, meat boiled to rags, to which is added some kinds of
grain and butter, is made into balls and forced down the
horse's throat. — Carpenter 's Introduc. to the Wars of India.
Also sheep's heads during a campaign are boiled for horses
in that country. "||

" While at the stable of Mr. Mellings, of Wakefield, the
groom would let me see a flesh-eating horse. He brought
about a pound of roasted beef and as much raw bacon, which
he warmed. I took away the horse, while the groom put the
meat in one corner of the manger, and a feed of oats in the
other. I put in the horse and directed his nose to the oats;
out he darted from that to the bacon, which he greedily de-
voured. He then ate his oats. The groom said this horse

* Blaine's Vet. Outlines, p. 94. London, 1832.

f Comp. Grazier, p. 529. 1S33.

i Past and Present State of the English Racer. Hookham. 1836,

\ Clarke, Pharmacop. Equina. London, 1S33.

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 193

would finish the bone of a leg of mutton in a few minutes,
and that roasted meat was his favorite dish."* The wealthy
people of Medjid frequently give flesh to their horses, raw as
well as boiled, together with all the offals of the table. " I
knew a man at Hamah, in Syria, who assured me that he
had often given his horses washed meat after a journey, to
make them endure it with greater facility. The same person
related to me, that, apprehensive of the governor of the town
taking a liking to his favorite horse, he fed it for a fortnight
entirely on roasted pork, which raised its mettle to such a
height that it became absolutely unmanageable, and could no
longer be an object of desire to the governor. "f

Fish. — " In Iceland, it is stated by Buffon, that dried fish
is made the food of horses ; and my friend William Bul-
lock, senior, lately informed me that he saw them in the same
practice in Norway. "|

Eggs are sometimes given to stallions in the travelling sea-
son, for exciting desire, and to other horses for producing a
smooth coat. They are quite useless for either purpose, at
least as they are given, only one or two at a time. If they
are to do any good the horse would need a dozen of them, or
thereabouts, I should think. One or two, however, can have
no good effect. The egg is chipped, starred, as they call it,
all round, and given raw, like a ball.

Several, many horses have been lost by the egg sticking in
the throat, and producing suffocation. If eggs must be given,
let them be broken and mixed with a mash, or boiled hard
and added to the grain. But I see no need for them in any
shape.

Milk. — In this country, milk is not used as an article of
food for grown-up horses. Occasionally it is given to stallions
in the covering season. A mash is made of milk, bran, and
oil-cake, ground ; and in Ayrshire, whey is frequently given
to stallions as a drink. It is supposed to be " amatory food."
The Arabs, in traversing the desert are said to give their
horses camel's milk when forage fails. Major Denham,
speaking of some horses he met with among the Tiboos, says :
" Two of them were very handsome, though small ; and on
remarking their extreme fatness, I was not a little surprised
to learn that they were fed entirely on camel's milk, grain be-

* The Veterinian, vol. v., p. 25. Letter from Mr. Garland, V. S. Wake-
field,
t Past and Present State of the English Racer. 1836-
J B. Clarke, Pharm. Eq.

17

194 STABLE ECONOMY.

ing too scarce and valuable an article for the Tiboos to spare
them. They drink it both sweet and sour ; and animals in
higher condition I scarcely ever saw."*

Mare's Milk. — For the first six months of the young horse's
life, his principal food is mare's milk. He begins to eat much
sooner, but few are entirely weaned before this time. Farm
mares are usually put to gentle work two or three weeks after
parturition. Her work should be moderate, and her diet sub-
stantial. She is often treated as if work could have no in-
fluence on the milk. When she has much to do, the milk is
neither good nor abundant, and the foal is half-starved. The
foal is sometimes permitted to follow his dam to the field,
where he may occasionally suckle her. This renders the
foal familiar, and at an early age reconciles him to subjection,
and it prevents engorgement of the udder. Bad weather, or
the nature of the mare's work, may forbid the practice. When
the mare comes home, the foal is put to suck her. In some
places, the milk is previously stripped on to the ground, and
the udder bathed with cold water, or vinegar and water. This
is not necessary, it is supposed that the milk is injured and
pernicious when the mare is overheated ; but, in the first
place, her work should never be so severe as to overheat her ;
and, in the second, the milk is not apparently altered when
she is. Hard work will diminish the quantity of milk, and
render it less nutritious, but it will do no more. [Hard work
diminishes the carbonaceous portion of the food ; it contains
less sugar of milk and less oil.] If the foal, be withheld till
the udder be gorged and distended, a little inflammation will
take place, and the milk will be bad. In such case it is
proper to draw ofT a portion before the foal is put to it ; and it
may also be proper to bathe the udder with cold water. But
to empty it or to bathe it merely because the mare has been
perspiring, is absurd ; and to neglect both mare and foal till
the udder needs such treatment, betrays very bad manage-
ment.

Sometimes a mare, especially with her first foal, will not
permit sucking. She requires to be held, to have the udder
rubbed with the hand and stripped. Hold her by the head
and keep her steady till the foal is satisfied. Do so five or
six times a day. On the third day, or thereabouts, she usually
begins to perform her duty without interference. In general,
the mare is merely restless ; she will not stand quiet till the
foal suckles her; but sometimes she is ill-natured or vicious

* Denham's Travels in Africa.

ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 195

If she strike at the foal, threaten her with the lash, and hold
up one of her fore-feet. If she continue obstinate and resists
the repeated efforts of the foal so long that he is likely to get
exhausted, put the twitch on the mare's nose. But, if possi-
ble, she must be managed without this, and every time the
foal is to suckle her, she must be patiently tried before apply*
ing the twitch. It is not good to meddle with the foal by way
of assisting or directing him to the udder. He may be very
awkward, but he soon learns. It is sufficient to control the
mare, and this often requires a great deal of patience and
perseverance. After the foal has been permitted to suckle
her, she is reconciled to it in a day or two, and may afterward
prove a very good nurse. Confinement in a dark loose box
sometimes renders her kinder.

Unless the mare be very obstinate, or the foal very weak
and awkward, no cow's milk should be given to it. If its
hunger be appeased by drinks, it will make no attempt to
suckle, and it is only by constantly persevering with the
mother that she can be brought to her duty.

Cow's Milk. — Should the mare die, or become unfit, from
sickness or a diseased udder, to suckle her foal, it must be
fed with cow's milk. If a week or two old, it may be fed
from a pail in the same way as calves. The man puts his
hand into a pail of milk, with his fingers projecting above the
surface. The calf or foal seizes the fingers, and sucks up the
milk, which should always be new and warm from the cow.
In a little while the young animal learns to drink it. If so
young or stupid that it can not be fed in this way, the milk
must be poured into its mouth. Take a teapot, or teakettle
with a small spout. Surround the spout with three or four folds
of linen cloth, sufficient to make it soft, but not too large.
Place this prepared spout in the foal's mouth, and it will suck
the milk from the vessel. An article might be made for the
purpose, of tin. The aperture in the spout should not be much
more than an eighth of an inch in calibre, otherwise the milk
will come faster than the foal can swallow it. Let the spout
rise from the bottom of the vessel, so that the air can not get
into it when the foal is sucking.

I do not know how much milk a foal will consume. It
should be given four or five times a day.

Weaning. — When the foal is to be taken from the udder, he
is either shut up in a loose house by himself, or turned to
pasture ; in either case his cry must not be heard by the dam.
When within hearing, both become fretful, the one unwilling

196 STABLE ECONOMY.

to work, and the other refusing to eat. Once or twice a day
they rejoin each other for ^ short time, in order that the foa.
may empty the udder, and not be suddenly deprived of its
natural food. When the foal is removed all at once, as by
death, the mare's udder should be stripped once or twice a
day, for perhaps a week ; but at no time need it be quite
drained. Spare diet, harder work, or milk physic, will di-
minish the secretion of milk, and one or another should be
employed, if the mare must give up nursing while her milk is
abundant.

In connexion with foals, I will just observe here, though
out of place, that the young animal should be well fed from
the day he is born. A starved foal or colt is almost never
well made when he arrives at maturity. He is always, as
stablemen say, a weed; and though bad shapes, such as light
carcass and spare quarters, are not supposed to have any con-
nexion with the feeding, I am well persuaded that a poor diet
is a common cause of them.

COMPOSITION OF FOOD.

The articles used as food for horses have been submitted
to chymical examination, with the purpose of ascertaining the
amount of nutritive matter yielded by each in proportion to its
bulk.

The Nutritive Matter of plants consists of starch, sugar,
gluten, and extract. These four substances exist together in
varying proportions. In some vegetables, as carrots, the
sugar is most abundant ; in many, as in the different kinds of
grain, starch predominates. Gluten abounds in grain and
pulse, while it is deficient in the most of grasses. Extract is
wanting in grain and several of the roots, while beans, peas,
herbage, plants, and grasses, possess a considerable quantity.

It is not known whether a certain quantity of any one of
these substances will produce the same effect as an equal
quantity of any other ; starch and sugar, though both nutritive
articles, are very different in many respects, and it is not like-
ly that the one can perform all the functions of the other.
But this subject, so far as I know, has not been put to trial.
I am disposed to believe that each of the nutritive matters
performs its own duty ; that life may be maintained for a time
by any one of them ; that certain combinations will produce
results different from other combinations ; and that it is very
desirable to know the power of each individual substance, and

COMPOSITION OF FOOD. 197

the power of every possible combination, which must vary ac-
cording to the number of the nutritive matters, and their re-
lative proportions.

The animal economy exists in very different states at dif-
ferent times. It is almost certain that in all states it demands
and consumes more than one of the nutritive articles ; but it
is probable that in particular states there is a predominating
demand for sugar, in another for starch, and so on. From
one or two circumstances, it would appear as if sugar were
useful or necessary for making fat, while a large quantity
may be pernicious if severe labor forbid the formation of fat.
Diabetes may perhaps be explained upon this supposition.
Mowburnt hay, which contains a large quantity of sugar, may
be eaten with impunity by idle or half- worked horses. It is
said to make them fat. But in the coaching-stables it is a
destructive poison. The sugar enters the circulation, but the
system can not appropriate it, and the kidneys have to labor
incessantly in order to eject it with the urine, a large quantity
of which must be made to carry off the sugar. This is en-
tirely a conjectural explanation, the truth or error of which
can not be proved without experiments.

If it were possible to learn what combinations are merely
fattening, what invigorating ; what producing bone, what
flesh, what milk ; and what the signs which indicate a demand
for one substance more than for another, the feeding of horses
and other animals would become a science. It is possible
that we often err in giving that which is rejected at the time,
but which might be highly acceptable in some other state of
the system. If we knew, for instance, what combination of
gluten, starch, and sugar, were invigorating and what fatten-
ing, it would be absurd to give the former to an ox while pre-
paring for the butcher, or the latter to a racer while preparing
for the course. The ox wants no vigor, and the racer wants
no fat. That which is not wanted may be inconvenient, or
it may be rejected as useless, the system of the animal not
demanding it, or his habits forbidding its appropriation. It
will be long, however, ere the feeding of live stock becomes
a matter of such accuracy, and perhaps it is not attainable.
But it may be good to reme:;.ber that what the chymists term
nutritive matter, is composed of four substances, which do not
each produce the same effect ; that in combination, it is prob-
able the effects vary according to the proportions in which
the substances operate together ; and that, in particular states

17*

198 STABLE ECONOMY.

of the system, one or two may be in greater request than th«
others.

Besides the Nutritive Matter, food contains other
substances. Roots, and herbage undried, contain a large
quantity of water ; and new grain and new hay have more
than the old. In many articles there is much woody fibre,
which passes through the stomach and bowels like inert
matter, having no nutritious nor any medical property. This,
however, is useful ; for, to be in health, it is necessary that
the stomach and bowels suffer a moderate degree of distention,
which is most cheaply, and perhaps most safely produced by
the woody fibre. Bean straw, I believe, furnishes more in
proportion to its bulk than any other fodder : grains and roots
have not much. Hay stands next to straw. It is probable
that several kinds of food, possibly all the kinds, contain some
ingredients neither inert nor nutritious, but still very useful.
To digest the food, the stomach must be in a particular state ;
the food itself excites that state ; but it is not likely that every
portion or ingredient of the food is equally able to rouse the
digestive process. In some articles a bitter ingredient is
found, which is supposed to stimulate the stomach, and other
portions of the digestive apparatus to action. It has been
termed.

Bitter Extract. — It is distinguished from all other in-
gredients chiefly by its bitter taste. In some plants it is found
in great abundance, in some others, not at all, or only in cer-
tain stages of their growth. It maintains some relation to the
amount of nutriment. Those plants which have little nutri-
tious matter have much of the bitter principle, and grain has
most before it is ripe.

" It seems to be as essential to herbivorous, as salt is to
carnivorous animals. It acts as a natural stimulant. Several
experiments have proved that it passes through the stomach
and bowels without suffering any diminution in quantity, or
any change in composition. No cattle will thrive upon food
which does not contain a portion of this bitter principle. The
researches of the late Mr. Sinclair, gardener to the Duke of
Bedford, fully established this fact. As recorded in the Hor-
tus Gramineus VVoburnensis, they show that, when sheep are
fed exclusively upon yellow turnips, which contain almost no
bitter matter, they instinctively seek and devour any proven-
der which does. If unable to find it, they sicken and die."

[A Table of the Comparative Value of different
Kinds of Fodder for Cattle has been published by M

rOMTOSITION OF FOOD.

199

Antoine, in France, and is the result of experiments made by
the principal agriculturists on the continent, Thaer, Gemer-
hausen, Petro, Rieder, Weber, Krantz, Andre, Block, De
Dombasle, Boussingault, Meyer, Plotow, Pohl, Smee, Crud,
Schwertz, Pabst. It is unnecessary to give the figures which
each of these experimentalists have set down, but the mean
of their experiments being taken, there is more chance of the
result being near the truth. Allowance must be made for the
different qualities of the same food on different soils and dif-
ferent seasons. In very dry summers the same weight of
any green food will be much more nourishing than in a drip-
ping season. So likewise any fodder raised on a rich dry
soil will be more nourishing than on a poor wet one. The
standard of comparison is the best upland meadow-hay, cut
as the flower expands, and properly made and stacked, with-
out much heating ; in short, hay of the best quality. With
respect to hay, such is the difference in value, that if 100
lbs. of the best is used,. it will require 120 lbs. of a second
quality to keep the same stock as well, 140 lbs. of the third,
and so on, till very coarse and hard hay, not well made, will
only be of half the value, and not so fit for cows or store cat-
tle, even when given in double the quantity. While good
hay alone will fatten cattle, inferior hay will not do so with
out other food.

100 lbs.

of good hay is equal in nourish-

400 lbs.

of Dried stalks of Indian com

ment to

250

(i

ii

Millet straw

102

u

" Lattermath hay

201

ii

ii

Raw potatoes

90

tt

" hay-made Ciover, when

the

175

.i

ii

Boiled do.

blossom is completely

de-

220

ii

it

White Silesian beet

veloped

339

ii

ii

Mangel-wurzel

88

a

" Ditto, before the blossom

ex-

504

ii

ii

Turnips

pands.

276

ii

ii

Carrots

98

u

" Clover, 2d crop, is equal

in

287

ii

ii

Cohlkalis*

nourishment to

308

a

ti

Swedish turnips

98

u

" Lucerne hay

350

ii

ii

Do. do. with the leaves on

89

II

" Saintfoin hay

54

ii

u

Rye

91

II

" Tare hay

45

a

ii

Wheat

90

II

" Spergula arvensis, dried

54

ii

ii

Barley

146

11

" Clover hay, after the seed

59

ii

ii

Oats

410

II

" Green clover

50

ii

ii

Vetches

457

II

" Vetches or tares, green

45

ii

ii

Peas

275

II

" Green Indian corn

45

ii

ii

Beans

425

II

" Green spergula

64

a

ii

Buckwheat

325

II

" Stems and leaves Jirusa'

em

57

ii

ii

Indian corn

artichoke

32

ii

ii

French Beans, dried

541

II

" Cow-cabbage leaves

47

ii

ii

Chestnuts

600

1'

" Beet-root leaves

68

it

ii

Acorns

300

II

" Potato halm

50

ii

a

Horse-chestnuts

374

II

" Shelter wheat-straw

62

ii

ii

Sun-flower seed

442

II

" Rye straw

69

ii

u

Linseed cake

195

((

" Oat, straw

105

ii

11

Wheat bran

153

II

" Peas halm

109

ii

11

Rye bran

159

II

" Vetch halm

167

ii

11

Wheat, peas, and oat chaff

140

II

" Bean halm

179

ii

11

Rye and Barley chaff

195

II

" Buckwheat straw

73

!#!

11

Dried lime-tree leaves

170

II

" Dried stalks of Jerusalem

ar-

83

II

11

" oak leaves

tichokes

I 67

II

II

" Canada poplar leaves.

200 STABLE ECONOMY.

Lattermath hay is good for cows, not for horses. The
second cut is generally considered as inferior in nourishment
to the first. New hay is not wholesome. At Paris, when a
load of 1,000 kilos is bargained for, the seller must deliver —
if between haymaking and October 1, 1,300 kilos— from Oc-
tober 1 to April 1, 1,100 kilos — and after April, only 1,000.
This is fair, and allows for loss of weight in drying. In Lon-
don a load of new hay is 20 cwt., of old hay, only 18 cwt.

The dried halm of the trifolium incarnatum, after the
seed is ripe, is little better than straw. Clover, lucerne,
and saintfoin, are generally supposed to lose three fourths
of their weight, in drying ; but in general they lose more,
especially in moist climates, where the sap is more di-
luted. When touched by the frost, they become very -m-
wholesome, and should never be given to cattle except quits

dry.

Straw is, on the whole, but poor food, and unless cattle
have something better with it, they will not keep in any con-
dition ; when given with turnips or other roots, straw corrects
their watery nature, and is very useful ; cut into chaff it is
very good for sheep when fed on turnips and oil-cake, and
when newly thrashed is as good nearly as hay. By a judi-
cious mixture of different kinds of food, a more economical
mode of feeding jnay be substituted for a more expensive one,
and the same result obtained. The value of straw depends
much on the soil ; a very clean crop will not give so nourish-
ing straw as one containing many succulent weeds. Peas
and vetch halm are superior to straw, especially when cut
into chaff; it is by some thought equal to hay. The same
may be said of bean halm not left too long in the field, and
cut before it is completely dry. Buckwheat halm is of little
value : it is thought unwholesome if given to sheep.

16 lbs. of raw, or 14 lbs. of boiled potatoes will allow a
diminution of 8 lbs of hay.

Turnips will feed store pigs, but they will not fatten on
them. Carrots and parsnips are excellent for horses, and,
when boiled, will fatten hogs. Ruta-baga is liked by horses :
it makes their coats fine, but must not be given in too great
quantity, or it will gripe them.

Feeding. — A certain quantity of food is required to keep
an animal alive and in health : this is called his necessary
ration of food : if he has more he will gain flesh, or give milk
or wool.

A horse usually requires 2\ per cent, of his live weight in

PREPARATION OF FOOD. 201

hay per day if he has no other food ; if he works, 3 per cent. ;
an ox, 2 per cent. ; if he works, 2-J per cent. : a milch cow,
3 per cent. : a fatting ox, 5 per cent, at first ; 4J per cent,
when half fat ; and only 4 per cent, when fat ; or 4-i on the
an average. Sheep grown up take 3^- per cent, of their
weight in hay per day, to keep in store condition.

Growing animals require more food, and should never be
stinted.*

The table below shows the relative value of different ar-
ticles of food, as ascertained by practice ; good meadow hay
being taken at 100.

Hay

100

Carrots -

-

- 250 to 300

Clover hay

- 80 to 100

Turnips -

-

500

Green clover -

- 450 to 500

Cabbage -

-

- 200 to 300

Wheat straw -

- 400 to 500

Peas and beans

- 30 to 50

Barley straw -

- 200 to 400

Wheat -

-

- 50 to 60

Oat straw

- 200 to 400

Barley

-

- 50 to 60

Pea straw

- 100 to 150

Oats

-

- 40 to 70

Potatoes

200

Indian corn

-

50

Old potatoes -

400

Oil cake -

-

- 20 to 40

The above table represents the average results from a num-
ber of experiments made in France and Holland.]

PREPARATION OF FOOD.

Some of the articles used as food frequently undergo prepa-
ration before they are given : they are dried, boiled, bruised,
^ut, and so forth.

One object is to economize the consumption ; another to
render the food more easily eaten ; a third to correct some
unwholesome quality ; a fourth to give it a new property ; a
fifth to ensure complete mastication ; a sixth to ensure delib-
erate ingestion ; and a seventh to preserve the food. These
will be best illustrated by considering the processes to which
the food is submitted.

Drying need hardly be mentioned. Its principal object is
to preserve the food. Besides depriving it of a large quan-
tity of water, it seems, in some cases, to alter the article in
other respects. New oats are purgative ; those which are
kiln-dried are diuretic. The drying in this case gives a new
property, which is not beneficial, but can not, perhaps, be
avoided. If the change were effected entirely by taking
away water, the food should be restored to its original state
by moistening it. This does not happen. Drying renders
grain and fodder constipating; new grain and new hay are
always laxative. Grass, when converted into hay, suffers
fermentation, and lo^es more than half its weight. According

* Jour. Roy. Ag. Soc.

202 STABLE ECONOMY.

o Sinclair, 7,829 pounds of rye grass lost 4 -194 in drying
It becomes still drier as it becomes older.

Cutting the Fodder. — Hay, straw, and grass, are some-
times cut into short pieces. A portion of this is mixed
with grain, and another portion is given by itself, instead of
rack hay ; in a few cases the grain is given oftener than usual,
and divided among all the allotted quantity of fodder. Chaff-
cutting is general on the continent. In this country it pre-
vails only in large establishments, and not in all of these.
When the fodder is cut, it is teamed chaff, and the cutting-ma-
chine is termed a chaff-cutter.

The Chaff-Cutter varies ii power and in construction.
Some are worked by the hand, others are driven by a horse
or an ass, a few by steam, and a few by water. Some have
the cutting-knives attached to the fly-wheel, and others have
them mounted on a skeleton cylinder. Models are to be seen
in most of the agricultural museums ; and the machines
themselves are kept at the makers of agricultural implements.
With an ordinary chaff-cutter two men may easily cut 200
stones of hay per week, working ten hours per day. One
feeds, and another turns the knives ; each changing place
with the other as he gets tired. At the same, or less cost, a
much larger quantity can be cut by using horse-power. The
chaff, whether of hay or straw, is all cut very short, perhaps
from a fourth to a half inch ; the shorter the better, if it is to
be mixed with grain.

The Utility of Cutting has been much exaggerated. There
are five or six advantages alleged to be gained by cutting,
two of which are in favor of the horse ; the others in favor of
economy. By cutting the hay it is said that waste is pre-
vented ; that mastication of the grain is ensured ; that dam-
aged provender is consumed ; that chaffjs easily eaten : that
it is easily and accurately distributed ; and that horses like a
mixture of chaff and grain better than grain alone. All this
requires some elucidation.

Prevention of Waste. — It has been said that cutting the
hay is attended with a saving, according to some, of one
fourth ; or, according to others, of a third, and even a half, in
the whole consumption : that is to say, a stone of chaff will
go as far as two stones of hay. This is very like nonsense.
Bui the accounts,, though different, are probably all true,
Much may be saved, yet all the saving must not be attributed
to cutting, but to greater care of the hay after it is cut. The
chaff is no *uore nutritious than the hay ; the horse needs as

PREPARATION OF FOOD. 203

much, and will eat as much of the one as of the other ; but a
smaller quantity being given at a time, the horse has it not in
his power to waste so much. The chaff is supplied in lim-
ited measure ; it is put into the manger ; if the horse is not
hungry it lies there till he isv But it is different with hay
The rack often receives as much at one time as might serve
two days. After the horse has appeased his hunger, he amu-
ses himself by pulling the hay among his feet, and, selecting
such portions as suit his palled appetite, the remainder is
wasted. All this is lost through carelessness. As much
chaff might be wasted, but it is not so easy, not so conveni-
ent, there is no inducement to give so much at one time ; and
the horse can not so readily destroy that which he is not dis-
posed to eat. If the hay could be given in measured quanti-
ties like the chaff, and the horse prevented from wasting any,
cutting, it is obvious, would effect no saving whatever. This
can be done well enough. The hay can be weighed and
supplied in small quantities ; by giving it oftener than usual
— no more at a time than the horse will eat — none will be
lost. There would be additional trouble in doing so ; but the
trouble of cutting and serving chaff is greater.

Mastication of the Gram Insured. — By mixing chaff with
the oats and beans, these articles must be broken down before
they can be swallowed. They can not be entirely separated
from the chaff; and the chaff is too sharp to be swallowed
without a good deal of mastication. In grinding the chaff,
the horse must grind the grain. This is the most important
use of chaff. Many horses swallow both oats and beans
without chewing them. That which is unbroken passes
through the body entire, and, affording no nutriment, is lost.
Chaff prevents this. Still, when the grain is bruised before
it is given, chaff may be dispensed with. The horse might
swallow much of it as he received it, yet it would be digest-
ed ; we rarely, almost never, see broken beans or broken oats
among the evacuations. Once broken, they must be dis-
solved before they escape. Nevertheless, if mastication and
digestion of the grain are to be promoted, it is a better prac-
tice to mingle chaff with it than to bruise it.

Deliberate Ingestion Insured. — Many horses swallow their
grain in great haste ; when much is eaten, this in dangerous.
The stomach is filled, overloaded, before it has time to make
preparation for acting upon its contents. The food ferments,
and the horse takes colic, which is often fatal. By adding
ihaff to his grain, the horse must take more time to eat it

204 STABLE ECONOMV.

Satiety takes place before trie stomach is overloaded, and
time is given for the commencement of digestion, before fer-
mentation can occur. In this way chaff is very useful, espe-
cially where the horses receive large meals after long fasts.

Consumption of Damaged Provender Promoted. — When the
hay is not of the best quality, the bad is rejected and lost ;
but by converting it into chaff, the horse must either eat the
whole or leave the whole. He can make.no selection. This
is a favorite argument, and often urged on the side of cutting.

When the fodder is damaged in only a slight degree, the
mowburnt or musty hay may be eaten by some horses with
impunity ; and, to make them eat it, they may have it cut
down and mixed with a better article. But this will not do
for horses in constant and laborious employment. In coach-
ing stables, the hay, if cut into chaff, must all be of the best
quality ; if bad, it is cheaper to convert it into litter than to
make the horses eat it. If eaten, the horses arerin a manner
poisoned ; if rejected they are starved. The bad being mixed
with the good, the horse has no power of selection. He eats
some, but he does not eat so much as if it were all good ;
and his work requires all that he can eat of the very best.

Chaff quickly eaten. — It is eaten in less time than an equal
quantity of hay. For old horses, having bad teeth, and for
those that work all day, it is desirable that the food be easily
eaten, in order that they may have as much rest as possible.
When the hay is given long, the horse has to do with his
teeth all that is done by the machine when it is made into
chaff. The time and labor saved to him is not a great deal ;
perhaps half an hour, or, at the most, a whole hour, makes all
the difference, supposing the hay easily taken from the rack,
and all so good that the horse need lose no time in selection.
Horses' having bad teeth, particularly heavy draught-horses,
seldom eat a large allowance of fodder. Their teeth are so
ineffective that the jaws tire before the horse is satisfied
These, under all circumstances, except when out of work
should have both grain and fodder broken down.

But for horses that perform their daily work in two hours,
and perhaps in less time, it is not an advantage to have the
food easily and quickly eaten. From the long time they
stand in the stable, these horses require something to engage
their attention. They are apt to get troublesome, pawing the
ground, breaking loose, eating the woodwork and the litter,
and teazing their neighbors. A little hay, in a close-sparred
rack, gives them something to do. As they have plenty of

PREPARATION OF FOOD. 20,1

spare time it is needless to cut their food, merely to save
their time. To give chaff for the purpose of insuring masti-
cation of the grain,, is another affair : all horses should have
sufficient for this purpose.

Accurate Distribution obtained. — Chaff is easily weighed
or measured. The allotted quantity can be served to within
an ounce. Hay also can be given quite as exactly, but it is
not so easy. The difference is so insignificant, and there
are so very few cases in which a very accurate distribution
of fodder is necessary, that it would be folly to cut it merely
for this purpose.

The Mixture preferred. — It has been said, that after horses
have been accustomed to feeding on grain and chaff mixed,
they prefer it to oats or beans without chaff. This is untrue.
He who said it must have been misinformed.

Objections to Chaff. — It has been urged that the cost of
converting the hay into chaff is greater than the grain ; tha.
some horses will not thrive without an allowance of rack fod-
der; that the horse must be often fed, otherwise the chaff
will be wasted as much as hay.

The first of these objections may have some truth in it, but
the assertion requires limitation. The cost of the cutting
machine is always spoken of as a great matter itself. It va-
ries in price from three to six or more pounds. In a small
establishment, containing, perhaps, twenty horses, the grain
that would be saved by mixing it with chaff, would soon pay
the cost of a small machine ; and as it is not necessary to
bruise the grain, the cost of that process is avoided. The
saving of grain, therefore, pays the machine, and the cost of
that article should not be included, except where only one or
two horses are kept.

But to cut all the fodder may, in many cases, be too costly
a practice. Heavy draught-horses consume a great deal.
Some may be saved by cutting it, yet, perhaps, not sufficient
to pay the cost of cutting. Much depends upon the care of
the stablemen. If they will give the hay often, and in such
quantities that none will be wasted, there is no need to cut
more than enough to mingle with the grain. In such a case
it would be a loss to cut all the fodder. But such care can
not always be obtained.

The cost of cutting may be calculated. If it be twenty
shillings per week, the owner has only to inquire whether
good hay to that amount be wasted. He can easily ascertain
how long a certain quantity serves a certain number of horses

18

206 STABLE ECONOMY.

The allowance for horses of different kinds varies from eight
to twenty pounds per day. Some will eat more, but others
will eat less. Taking the whole, he will find how much
more hay is consumed than the horses should eat. When it
is not necessary to employ additional men to cut the hay, that
makes a difference ; some portion of it is always saved by con-
verting it into chaff, but the quantity will depend upon the dis-
position of the horses to waste, and the care of the stableman
in preventing waste. The cost of cutting that which is to
mingle with the grain is not great. There is always some ,">ne
about the place having half an hour to spare for this purpose

Some horses will not thrive without an allowance of rack
fodder. This is positively asserted by men who have tried
cutting very extensively. It may be so ; but I have never met
with any very clear proof of it. They say that horses will
leave the chaff before them, to devour the same hay uncut,
and I have seen them do so, though I can not understand it.
The chaff ought to be as acceptable as the hay. Perhaps the
circumstance might be attributed to the use of damaged hay.
When cut into chaff the horse may refuse it, and yet seem to
eat it uncut. He takes the good and rejects the bad. With
chaff he has no choice. With horses, unaccustomed to this
mode of feeding, and long used to the other, the habit of tear-
ing hay from the rack, and selecting the most esteemed por-
tions, may perhaps have become a source of gratification. If
there be any, however, who will not thrive as well upon chaff
as upon hay, the number must be very small. At first, the
horse may not feed so heartily, but, in general, this happens
for only a short time.

When the fodder is all cut, the horse must be often fed.
If he gets more than he is disposed to eat, he soon learns to
shake it up and turn it over till he extracts all the grain. In
doing so he soils the chaff, makes it wet, and the moisture
spoils it in two or three hours. The horse will not eat this.
At next feeding hour another allowance is added to that which
was left ; and a horse is induced to feed, but he does not feed
heartily. The only remedy lies either in giving less at a time,
or in giving none at the next feeding hour, when it is found
that the preceding allowance has not been finished ; or, after
the horse is done feeding, that which he leaves may be taken
away. All this care is seldom bestowed, especially by strap-
pers. Chaff-feeding does require almost or quite as much
care to prevent waste as hay-feeding. This is not denied even
by the strongest advocates of the system. Without care the

PREPARATION OF FOOD. 20?

chaff mixture is wasted, and the horses are cloyed, thrown off
their feed ; having corn always before them, they never ob-
tain a sharp appetite.

Then, to sum up this matter, which seems to be very ill un-
derstood, it appears,

That, where the stablemen are careful, waste of fodder is
diminished, though not prevented.

That where the racks are good, careful stablemen may pre-
vent nearly all waste of fodder, without cutting it.

That an accurate distribution of fodder is not a very impor-
tant object.

That no horse seems to like his corn the better for being
mingled with chaff.

That, among half-starved horses, chaff-cutting promotes the
consumption of damaged fodder.

That full-fed horses, rather than eat the mixture of sound
and unsound, will reject the whole, or eat less than their work
demands.

That chaff is more easily eaten than hay; that this is an
advantage to old horses, and others working all day ; a disad-
vantage when the horses stand long in the stable.

That chaff ensures complete mastication and deliberate in-
gestion of the grain ; that it is of considerable and of most im-
portance in this respect ; that all the fodder need not be min-
gled with the grain, one pound of chaff being sufficient to in-
sure the mastication and slow ingestion of four pounds of grain.

That the cost of cutting all the fodder, especially for heavy
horses, is repaid only where the hay is dear, and wasted in
large quantities.

That, among hard-working horses, bad fodder should never
be cut.-

Mixing. — When a number of articles having different prop-
erties are to be mingled together, some trouble must be taken
to mix them equally. I often see beans, barley, bran, and
chaff, thrown into a bucket hardly large enough to contain
them. An attempt is always made to stir them up and min-
gle one with another ; but either from the laziness of the man,
or from the want of proper utensils, the attempt frequently
fails. Hence some of the horses are fed on that which is too
rich, and they are surfeited, while others receive little but
chaff, and are starved. The mixing vessel ought to be large
enough to hold double the quantity ever put into it.

The whole of each article ought not to be put in at once.
Suppose boiled beans, boiled barley, chaff, and roots, or bran,

208 STABLE ECONOMY.

are to be mixed ; the beans, barley, and roots, are boiled to
gether ; ' a measure of chaff is thrown into the tub, then a
measure of the boiled food, then a measure of bran, and lastly
a measure of the boiled liquor. These are well mingled by
means of a wooden spade ; another measure of each article
is then added, and the whole again incorporated together.
In this way the man proceeds, adding the ingredients to each
other in small quantities, and mixing them thoroughly at each
addition, till a quantity taken from one part of the vessel is
quite the same as a quantity taken from any other part of it.

In mixing dry grain with chaff, the same plan is to be fol-
lowed. If seven bushels of chaff, one of barley, one of
beans, and five of oats, are to be mingled together, mix the
grain and pulse first, in six or seven layers, and toss them to ■
gether with a wooden shovel ; then mix one bushel of chafl
with one of the mixed grain ; in another place mix a like quan-
tity, and after all is divided in this manner into seven parcels,
each containing an equal quantity of each article, throw the
whole into one heap, and toss it over two or three times. Un-
less the ingredients be thoroughly incorporated, the horses
can not be equally served. There is error in mixing very
much, and also in mixing very little. The man may soon dis-
cover in what quantities he can manage to make the most equal
mass.

Washing. — Turnips, carrots, potatoes, and other roots, are
generally washed before they are given. In some places,
however, they are given with the mud about them, which I
think is not a good practice. It is an unpleasant thing to hear
the sand and mud grating on the horse's teeth, and it can not
surely be very agreeable to him. When the roots are boiled
without washing, a dirty mess is produced having little re-
semblance to food. It has been alleged that the earth u
wholesome : but I rather think this is a discovery made by
laziness. On some soils, the mud, when adhering to the roots
in considerable quantity, has an effect slightly laxative. It
may be desirable that the food should occasionally, but I
should think not constantly, possess this property. I have
never seen the mud do either good or ill. The horse at first
seems soon tired of it, but at last he eats quite heartily. The
sand may perhaps wear the teeth a little too fast.

The best machine for washing roots, such as potatoes and
small turnips, is a sparred cylinder, set in a trough which is
filled with water. A door in the cylinder admits the roots
it is placed on axles, and turned by a crank.

PREPARATION OF FOLD. 209

Hay seed, when used as food, should always be washed.
It contains a great deal of sand and dust, which are easily
separated by throwing the seed into a tub of water, and stir-
ring it about with the hand. The seed swims and the impu-
rities fall to the bottom. To get rid of the water, skim off
the seed into a sieve, or a tub having a perforated bottom, and
let it drain there for ten minutes.

Bruising. — Grain and pulse are broken, or bruised, by pas-
sing them between a pair of metal rollers. The only object
of this practice is to insure the digestion of these seeds, which
do not resist solution when their husk is broken. If the horse
would masticate his food sufficiently, there would be no need
to bruise it ; But some have bad teeth, and others feed in
haste ; and by both much of the grain is swallowed entire,
and passes through the digestive apparatus without yielding
any nutriment. The skin which covers oats, beans, and some
other seeds, seems to resist the action of the stomach. It
will not dissolve, or at least it is evacuated before it is dis-
solved, and it prevents solution of the meal which it covers.
In some horses, the quantity that passes off entire is very con-
siderable : it has been estimated at one sixth of all that is
eaten. But the quantity is not certain ; and there is seldom
such a loss as this. Still the saving effected by preventing it
pays for the cost of preventing it. If the husk of the seed
be broken, the farina will be dissolved.

There are hand-mills of different sizes for bruising grain.
Beans are seldom submitted to the process. Horses are not
so apt to swallow the entire beans ; yet some do, especially
those having bad teeth. There are mills for bruising beans,
[also for grinding corn with the cob, oats, and other small
grain].

In this town the grain is generally bruised at the public
mills. But when only three or four horses are kept, it is bet-
ter to have the bruising performed at home. The bruised
grain rapidly absorbs moisture and becomes musty. A hand-
mill furnishes it always fresh ; enough for only one or two
days should be prepared at a time. [In the drier climate of
America, meal will keep sweet for weeks or months.]

Bruised grain mixes readily with chaff, and it saves an old
horse some trouble. It has little more to recommend it. If
the horses be young, the addition of chaff will compel them
to do that which is done by the mill, and they are able enough
to do it. But when chaff is not used, the grain should be
bruised for all kinds of horses.

18*

210 STABLE ECONOMY.

Grinding the grain has been recommended for facilitating
its digestion ; but whether it be more rapidly digested, 01
whether it be right to make it so, is yet unknown. When
ground grain is given without admixture, the horse appears to
have some difficulty in managing it. The meal requires
much saliva, but very little mastication. The secretion of
saliva is stimulated, and its supply regulated by the act of
mastication. Hence the food that requires the most moisture,
should also require the most mastication. With ground grain
this order is reversed, the horse fills his mouth with flour too
dry to swallow, and too fine to produce saLva. He always
requires more time to consume a pound of oatmeal than a
pound of oats ; and many will not, or can not eat a whole
feed of it. When put into the manger in a heap, the broken
husks run down the sides and accumulate ; the portion having
most of the husk is eaten before the flour ; this shows which
the horse likes best. Flour or meal, however, is a useful ad-
dition to boiled food ; and when given with chaff it may be
better than alone.

Grinding, I believe, is always performed at the meal-mills.
When the grain is soft or new, it is previously dried or baked.
The husks are not separated from the meal.

Germinating. — In this process the grain is steeped in
water for twelve or twenty-four hours, and afterward exposed
to the air til 1 it begins to sprout, when it is ready for use. In
the stable this preparation is termed " malting." Barley and
oats are occasionally submitted to the process. Other kinds
of grain, and perhaps pulse, may be thus treated, but I have
not heard of any experiments upon them.

The time required for producing germination varies in dif-
ferent kinds of grain ; and it is influenced by the degree of
heat, the quantity of moisture, and the -access of light. The
steeped seed is usually spread upon the floor of a warm and
dark apartment ; the layer should not exceed an inch thick,
and it should occasionally be turned over. The grain swells,
becomes warm, bursts, and springs ; it is fermenting ; in this
state it is given to the horse. When germination in barley is
checked by a dry heat, the grain is fully malted ; but malt is
not employed as an article of food for horses. The heavy
duty forbids its use, and I do not know that it is wanted.
When merely sprouted, it is said to be much relished by
horses of defective appetite, and useful to those recovering
from sickness. It is supposed to be more easily digested, and
less inflammatory than the ra'v grain.

PREPARATION OF FOOD. 211

Steeping consists in throwing the grain into cold or tepid
water for twelve or twenty-four hours. It absorbs much wa-
ter, it softens, and it is easily eaten ; but I know not that
anything is gained by such change. If the grain be drier
and harder than usual, or the horse's teeth bad, or his mouth
sore, steeping may be of some service. The horse drinks
less water, but perhaps he receives as much with the grain
as he refuses from the pail.

Masking. — When hay is steeped in boiling water, it is
said to be masked. The juice, and perhaps all the nutritive
matter, is extracted from the hay and dissolved in the water.
This liquor, termed hay-tea, is seldom given to horses, and
indeed horses do not appear to be very fond of it. Some,
however, have tried it, and they say that it makes a lean
horse put up flesh very rapidly. Perhaps it might be useful
after a day of extraordinary exertion, when the horse is more
disposed to drink than to eat. it might be tried as a substi-
tute for gruel. For this purpose clover hay is better than
ryegrass. It should be of the best quality ; the water boil-
ing, and the vessel closely covered till the tea be cool enough
for use.

Mashing is nearly the same as masking ; but both the sol-
id and the fluid are given. A warm bran-mash is made by
pouring boiling water upon the bran and covering it up till
cool. Tepid water, it is supposed, does not answer so well ;
does not render the bran so digestible and mucilaginous as it
becomes by steeping in boiling water. A cold mash is made
at once, by pouring cold water upon the bran ; but if it be
irue that the bran is improved by heat, hot water should be
used, and the mash exposed till cold. After all, there may
be no difference. Barley and oats are each occasionally
made into mashes ; that is to say, they are steeped in water,
hot or boiling, and the water is given with the grain. When
the surgeon orders the horse to be put on mashes, he always
means those made of bran.

Boiling. — The articles usually boiled are turnips, potatoes,
grain of all kinds, beans, and peas. It is not likely that
boiled food has exactly the same properties as that which is
raw. To the eye and to the taste it is different, and proba-
bly it is different to the stomach also. It may yield more nu-
triment ; it may yield less ; possibly it may furnish nutriment
of a different kind, or, without any alteration in the quantity
or quality of the nutriment, the food may be more or less
rapidly or easily digested : but there is no positive proof, no

212 STABLE ECONOMY.

well-conducted experiments, to decide these conjectures It
is known, however, that turnips and potatoes are more digest-
ible when boiled than when raw. They are not so liable to
produce colic, a disease arising from fermentation of that
food over which the stomach has little power. Boiled grain
seems to assimilate very quickly with the living solids and
fluids. It restores vigor more rapidly than raw grain ; but
that vigor does not last so long. Whatever be the changes
produced upon the food by boiling, it appears probable that
some articles are more improved than others, and that a few
are better in the raw state.

Agricultural* and coach horses generally receive one feed
of boiled food every day during about four months of the
year, commencing at the end of autumn. Some horses get
it all the year, except when grass is to be had. This boiled
food is composed of several articles. Barley, beans, and tur-
nips, form a mixture in common use, to which chaff, hay-seed,
and perhaps bran, may be added. Oats often supply the place
of barley ; and potatoes that of turnips. Wheat is not a
great favorite ; but it is sometimes given for barley. The
mixture is given warm, and is generally the last feed. For
all hard-working horses this is a good system. They are
fond of food thus prepared and mixed. They eat more of it.
They always look better, have a finer skin, carry more flesh,
and perform their work with less fatigue than when fed in
the ordinary way upon raw oats and beans. In cold wet
weather the warm boiled food is particularly beneficial. It
makes the horse comfortable, and sets him soon to rest.

I believe that much of the good ascribed to boiled food may
be attributed to its warmth. [Cooking renders it more di-
gestible, and it is more easily assimilated. The absorbing
vessels are thus enabled more readily and fully to act. Ani-
mal heat is necessary for digestion ; therefore cooking ren-
ders food more nutritious.] No horse likes it when cold,
many refuse it, and most of them prefer the raw article to
that which has been boiled and become cold. The heat
which boiled food should contain is conveyed into the sys-
tem, or, at least, it saves the expense of producing all the
heat which cold food takes from the system.

There are two other circumstances which probably con-
tribute a good deal to improve the horse's condition. The
boiled food is rarely composed of the same articles. If oats
and beans be given during the day, and barley, or barley and
oats at night, the horse has the advantage of a mixed diet.

PREPARATION OF FOOD. 213

which is always better than that into which only one or two
articles enter. The other circumstance I allude to is an in-
creased consumption of food. The horse eats a larger quan-
tity of this boiled food, partly because it is boiled, and partly
because it contains articles to which he is less accustomed,
and which are therefore more agreeable, and because he likes
variety.

It is not usual to give boiled food to v jrking horses oftener
than once a day Slow, and even fast-workers do, however,
sometimes get it twice or thrice a day. Heavy draught-
horses may have it thus often without disadvantage. But it
is complained that those employed at fast-work, and on long
journeys, become soft when they get boiled food so frequently.
They perspire a great deal ; their vigor is not lasting ; they
are sooner exhausted than horses that receive less boiled and
more raw food. Whether this be true or not, the approach
of hot weather always produces a dislike for boiled food.
The horses, particularly fast horses, may take one feed, but
few are fond of more. In coaching-stables, the boiling is
discontinued as the weather becomes warm. It is not dis-
carded all at once. Instead of giving boiled food every night,
it is given only thrice a week; after a while, only once a
week, and ultimately not at all. The practice commences in
the same way, about the end of autumn.

In boiling grain, care must be taken to prevent it from ad-
hering to the bottom of the pot, where it gets burned, and be-
comes nauseous. It must be often stirred. As the water*
evaporates, more should be added. Never let the liquor boil
over. It contains a great deal of nutriment, extracted from
the food. I often see it running to waste, the vessel being
too small, or the attendant careless. Give the grain plenty
of water, more than it will take up, and either give the liquor
as a drink, or add chaff or bran to imbibe it.

All the kinds of food are generally over-boiled. The horse
dislikes slops. His food should be firm, hard enough to give
the teeth some employment. Neither roots nor grain should
be boiled to a jelly. They should be a little hard at the heart.
The skin of grain and pulse, however, should be burst. When
ready, the mass is emptied into a cooler, which is just a tab
or trough, sometimes placed on wheels. In this, other arti-
cles, such as chaff, bran, and meal, which do not require
boiling, are added, and the whole incorporated into an equal
mass.

Oats require more boiling than beans, beans more than bar

214 STABLE ECONOMY.

ley, carrots and turnips more than potatoes. To have non«
overdone, the articles which require the most should be put
on some time before the others.

There are some other things connected with boiling which
1 have not been able to learn. It would be well to know how
much each article gains or loses in weight and in bulk, and
in what time it may be sufficiently boiled. A few simple and
not costly experiments would decide these, and they may be
made by any person who has time to perform them. The
following table taken from the Quarterly Journal of Agricul-
ture, shows only the increase of bulk which certain grains
suffer in boiling : —

4 measures of oats, boiled to bursting, fill 7 measures.

4 of barley, 10

4 of buckwheat or brand, .... 14

4 of maize, rather more than . • 13

4 of wheat, little more than . 10

4 of rye, nearly 15

4 of beans, 8-J

Steaming. — In some places the food is cooked by steam.
Whether it be better to steam it or to boil it, must depend
upon circumstances. In a large establishment, if the food
be very bulky, consisting chiefly of roots, it may require a
vessel inconveniently large to boil it all at one time ; and in
such a case steam is to be preferred. But where roots are
not used, and the number of horses does not exceed fifty, the
ordinary iron boiler answers the purpose well enough.

As far as the food is concerned, I believe it is, with one
exception, a matter of indifference whether it be cooked by
steam or water. This exception refers to potatoes, which
are drier, and according to some people more wholesome
when steamed than when boiled. With the other articles I
do not know that there is any difference.

In favor of the steamer, it may be urged that it does all
that the boiler can do ; that it never burns the food ; [that it
does not require the labor of stirring ;] that it is more easily
managed than a very large boiler ; and that it admits of the
best mode of cooking potatoes, which the boiler does not.

The apparatus may be very simple ; and after the attendant
has had a little practice, it is easily worked. A steam-tight
boiler is erected, having a funnel and stop-cock for admitting
water ; a pipe for conveying the steam to its destination ; and
a safety-valve to prevent explosion. Sometimes the valve is

PREPARATION OF FOOD.

215

Fig. 17. — Steaming Apparatus.

wanting ; and when the steam-pipe is short and wide, per
haps the valve is of no great use. It is right, however, that
there should be one. In connexion with the boiler there is
a tub for holding the food. This has a false bottom, per-
forated with numerous holes, and resting upon steps, within
three or four inches of the true bottom ; the steam is admitted
between them ; the steam rises upward, is diffused through
the food, and retained by the lid, which should be made to
lift off entirely, so that the food may be the more easily taken
out. After the food is mixed and washed, it is thrown into
the tub. A layer of chaff may previously be spread in the
bottom, to prevent the grain from falling through the perfora-
tions ; and another thick layer, may, if there be room, spread
on the top of all. As the steam condenses, water accumu-
lates in the space between the true and false bottoms ; oc-
casionally this should be drawn off ; if it rises on the food it
will be boiled instead of steamed. There is a hole for the
purpose of withdrawing the water. When potatoes alone are
steamed, this fluid is to be thrown away, but that which
comes from other articles is to be given as a drink, or along
with the food ; it is rich and palatable. That which comes
from potatoes is said to be unwholesome.

The steaming apparatus varies much in construction ; the
simpler it is the better. Those to, whom its management is
intrusted are in general sufficiently stupid, not able to com-
prehend a complex arrangement. Sometimes the boiler is at

216 &TABLE ECONOMY.

a distance from the steam-tub. They are not easily attended
when closely connected. Sometimes the tub is adjusted to
the rim of an ordinary boiler, and this is the simplest of all
methods, but inconvenient when there is much to be cooked.
Sometimes a steaming-tub is employed for each horse ; it is
just like a stable-pail. Several are arranged in a row, and
each has a branch-tube from the steam-pipe. Complication
and expense attend this method, without any adequate advan
tage.

Baking. — Potatoes are the only article to which this pro-
cess has been applied. I have not seen any detailed account
of the practice, nor has it come under my own observation.
There is some notice of it in the fourth volume of Communi-
cations to the Board of Agriculture.

Seasoning. — The custom of seasoning the horse's food is
of recent origin, and, as yet, it is not. general. Stablemen
have indeed, from time immemorial, been in the habit of mix-
ing nitre with all boiled food, and occasionally with the raw.
but this is not what I mean by seasoning. Nitre, or salt-
petre, as it is commonly called, does not render the food
more palatable, nor aid its digestion, nor is it given for such
purposes.

Salt is the only article employed in this country. In India,
and perhaps in other places, the horse receives, at certain
times, a dose of pepper, or some other stimulating and ar-
omatic spice ; and in hot countries, such things may be use-
ful, as to a certain extent, they are in this.

There are two modes of giving salt, and a kind of salt for
each mode. Some give one or two ounces of common table-
salt, every night, along with the boiled food, with which it is
well mixed ; others give six or eight ounces at a time, and
only once a week, generally on Saturday night, if the horses
be idle all Sunday. By the former mode it is said to promote
digestion, and to render the food more palatable ; by the latter
it relaxes the bowels, and increases the flow of urine. In
both cases the salt excites considerable thirst, especially al
first, before the horse becomes accustomed to it. When
given only once a week, he never becomes accustomed to it.
The same effects are produced every time the salt is given.

I have no reason to approve much of either of these modes.
Fast-working horses, either from the laxative property of the
salt, or from the quantity of water which it makes them drink,
are very apt to purge, and to sweat easily and copiously.
Some horses, too, are not partial to salt, at least they do not

PREPARATION OF FOOD. 217

always like it. Its effects, when constantly used, &re of such
a doubtful nature, that I think every horse should have it in
his power to take or to refuse it as he is disposed. That he
may do so, he should be supplied with

Rock Salt. — The salt which is sold under this name in
Glasgow, is brought from Cheshire, and is employed chiefly
for cattle. It is procured in large masses, of a stony hard-
ness. It is somewhat different from common salt, of which,
however, it contains 983 parts in 1,000 ; the rest is sulphate
of lime, muriate of lime, muriate of magnesia, and some in-
soluble matter. It is not likely that these make it different
to the horse from common salt. It is better, only, I believe,
because it can be obtained in a solid form. Most of the
coach proprietors in this neighborhood give it to theii horses
all the year round, and they give no other. It is not mixed
with the food. A lump, weighing perhaps two or three
pounds, is placed in the manger ; when all consumed, it is
replaced by another piece. With few exceptions the horses
seem to be very fond of it ; some always refuse it ; and
many reject it at one time, who greedily devour it at another.
Those that have not been used to the salt, are apt to eat a
large quantity on the first day, and, in general, these are
slightly purged on the next. Afterward, instead of eating the
salt, the horse contents himself with licking it. The per-
manent result is not always apparent. In very many cases
I have never been able to trace either good or evil to its use.
In some there has been a remarkable change, the lean and
spiritless becoming plump and animated.

Nitre, I have said, is frequently given in boiled food.
Many foolish stablemen keep it constantly by them as an ar-
ticle of indispensable utility. They say it cools the blood,
and takes away swellings of the legs.

Nitre is a diuretic of considerable power, and like all
others, tends to reduce watery swellings, such as those to
which the legs of horses are subject when they stand much
in the house, when they are too highly fed, and when the
legs are not sufficiently hand-rubbed. It excites the kidneys
to secrete more urine : the urine is a certain portion of the
blood, and, to replace what is lost by the kidneys, that which
is superfluous about the legs or the sheath is taken up. To
speak of nitre cooling the blood is nonsense, very evident to
any body not very ignorant. [It promotes evacuation by the
kidneys and skin, and by reducing the system, it acts to cool.

19

218 STABLE ECONOMY.

It is anti-febrile. To the human patient it is administered as
a febrifuge.]

As an article of constant or frequent use it ought to be
abolished. In large quantities, it weakens a working-horse
precisely in the same way that heated oats and musty hay
weaken him. In smaller, but more frequent doses, it injures
the kidneys [by reaction when omitted], and renders them
unable to throw off all the superfluous and watery portion of
the blood ; this, when not evacuated in the shape of urine, is
deposited in the legs, the sheath, and other parts ; hence the
constant use of nitre ultimately produces the evils it is at first
given to cure. An occasional dose to a half-worked, full-fed
horse may do good, particularly when he is to stand idle on
the following day. When the grain or hay is not very good,
and is apt to excite diabetes, no diuretic medicines should
ever be given but under the directions of a professional man.
A veterinarian was once called to examine some horses that
were sadly emaciated from the staling evil. The hay was
bad ; but it was changed, and other measures taken to arrest
the disease. They appeared to have the desired effect
always till Sunday, when all the horses became nearly as ill
as ever. At last it was discovered that the man put two
pounds of nitre among the boiled food every Saturday night.
This explained the repeated relapse. The fellow pretended
to be a foreman — to know, not only his own business, but also
something about the veterinarian's.

ASSIMILATION OF THE FOOD.

By the assimilation of the food, I mean its conversion into
a part of the living body. This is effected by a series of
processes, each of which is preparatory to that which follows
it. Most of them have been named.

Prehension is the act by which the food is taken into the
mouth. At pasture the grass is seized by the lips, com-
pressed into a little bundle, and placed between the front
teeth, which separate it from the ground, by incision, aided
by a sudden jerk of the head. In stable-feeding, the lips and
teeth are used in nearly the same way. They seize the food
and place it within reach of the tongue, but they produce no
change upon it. The front teeth have less to do in stable
than in field-feeding, but in neither case do they masticate
the food. Prehension of fluids is performed by sucking.
The lips are dipped in the water, and the cavity of the mouth

ASSIMILATION OF THE FOOD. 219

is enlarged by depressing the tongue, by bringing it into the
channel — the space between the sides of the lower jaw.
Prehension may be difficult or interrupted by palsy or injury
of the lips, soreness of the tongue, or loss of the front teeth.
Colts often experience difficulty in grazing while changing
the teeth. They lose flesh for a while, and, if they lose much,
some rich fluid or salt boiled food may be given till the
mouth get well. Horses that have lost one or two of their
fore-teeth by falls, become unfit for turning out. Those that
have lost a large portion of the tongue can not empty a pail.
They can drink none unless the nostrils be under water ; but
when only a small portion of the tongue has been lost, they
have no difficulty. They can empty the pail. No horse can
drink freely with a bit, particularly with a double-bit, in his
mouth. It confines the tongue, and prevents close contact
of the lips at the corners ; as much air as water enters the
mouth.

Mastication, the act of grinding the food, is performed
altogether by the back-teeth. The food is placed between
them by the tongue. Mastication is the first change which
the food undergoes. It is broken into small particles, easily
penetrable by the juices in which the food is about to be dis-
solved. In many old horses, and even in some young ones,
mastication is imperfect, from irregularity or disease of the
teeth. When the horse feeds slowly, holds his head to one
side, drops the food from his mouth half-chewed, and passes
a large quantity unaltered, his teeth should be examined.
One may be rotten, broken, or projecting into the cheek, or
into the gum opposite.

Insalivation. — The food suffers mastication and insaliva-
tion at the same time. While under the operation of the
grinders it is moistened and diluted by a fluid which enters
the mouth at many little apertures. This fluid is almost
transparent ; it is tasteless ; it is termed saliva. Much of it
is furnished by two large glands, which are situated at that
part of the throat where the head joins the neck. These two
glands pour their secretions into the mouth by means of two
tubes which open near the grinding-teeth. Some have sup-
posed that the only use of this fluid is to dilute the food, and
to facilitate mastication and deglutition ; others, that it also, in
a slight degree, animalizes the food. Hence it has been argued
that the food should not be too soft, too easily eaten, lest it be
swallowed without insalivation, and without the animalization
which saliva ought to produce. It has been urged, as proof

220 STABLE ECONOMY.

that horses do not thrive so well when fed entirely upon boiled
food. The illustration seems to be well established. Horses
do not appear to possess lasting vigor and great energy when
fed exclusively upon soft food ; but whether this proves that
msalivation is animalization may be doubted. There is no
proof of a positive kind, whether it is or is not. It would be
easy to argue on either side, but it would be fruitless.

Deglutition is the act of swallowing. The food, aftel
being ground and moistened, is rolled into a ball by the tongue,
and placed at the back of the mouth, where a compressing ap-
paratus forces it into the gullet. The gullet, exerting a con-
tractile power, forces the ball into the stomach. Deglutition
may become difficult, or it maybe partially suspended by sore-
ness of the throat. When the throat in much inflamed, the
horse may be anxious to eat, yet unable to swallow. When
great pain attends the effort he forbears further trial ; he
chews the food and then throws it out of his mouth, being
able perhaps to swallow only the juice. In less severe cases,
he makes a peculiar motion of the head every time he swal-
lows ; and in drinking, he drinks very slowly, and art of the
water returns by the nostrils. In this state the horse should
be put under medical treatment.

Maceration. — Many of the articles upon which horses
feed are hard and dry. They require to be softened before
they can be dissolved, or before they will part with their nutri-
tive matter. One end of the horse's stomach seems designed
for macerating these substances. It is lined by a membrane
void of sensibility. All the food is first lodged in this macera-
ting corner, from which, when sufficiently softened, it passes
into the other extremity. Refractory matters are either de
tained or returned till they are ready to undergo the digestive
process.

Digestion consists in the extraction of the nutritious from
the inert portion of the food. It is not a simple process, nor
is it all conducted in the same place. It begins in the stomach
and terminates in the bowels, probably at a considerable dis-
tance from the point at which the residue is evacuated. The
stomach of the horse is very small. There must be some
reason why it is so, but none has ever been discovered.* [In
the horse's stomach digestion is very rapid. Hence a small

* Inquiry seldom acknowledges defeat. A large stomach, it is said
"would interfere with the horse's speed. Perhaps it might. But it does not
appear that the stomach was made small that he might be swift. Look af
the pace of a camel and the size of his paunch.

ASSIMILATION OF THE FOOD. 221

stomach only is necessary. If it were large, it would dimin-
ish the size of the lungs. But large lungs are necessary for
rapid and continuous action. Hence the necessity of a small
stomach. But food in sufficient quantity is necessary, and
thus the rapid digestion of the horse.]

It can not retain the food very long ; the horse is almost
constantly eating. At grass he eats as much in an hour, per-
haps in half-an-hour, as would fully distend the stomach, yet
he continues to eat for several hours in succession. The
change, therefore, which the food undergoes in the stomach
must be rapidly performed. The nature of this change is not
precisely known. It is supposed that the gastric juice — that
is, a juice or secretion furnished by the stomach — seizes the
nutritive matter of the food, and combines with it to form a
white milk-like fluid termed chyme. This, accompanied by
the food, from which it has been extracted, enters the intes-
tines, and there another change of composition takes place.
Juices from the liver, from peculiar glands, and from the in-
testines itself, are added, and the whole combine to form a
compound fluid termed chyle. This adheres to the inner
surface of the bowels, from which it is removed by an infinite
number of tubes, whose mouths are inconceivably minute, to
the eye invisible. These little tubes or pipes, are termed
lacteals or absorbents ; they converge and run toward the
spine, where their contents are received by a tube which
empties itself into the left jugular vein. Accompanied by the
blood, the chyle proceeds to the lungs, passes through them,
and becomes blood. Having undergone sanguification, this
chyle, the product of digestion, is as much a constituent of
the living animal as any other part of him.

It is not necessary to trace the food further. Its nutritive
matter having been extracted, and annualized bv combination
with animal juices, the product is removed as the mass travels
through the intestines. By the time it has arrived at the
point of evacuation, the food has lost all or most of the nutri-
tive matter, and the residue is ejected as useless.

The nutritive matter is carried from the intestines to the
blood-vessels, where it is mingled with their contents. To
follow it further would be to trace the conversion ot the Wood
into the solids and fluids of which the body is conapo^e^ In
this work such an inquiry is not necessary-

19*

222 STABLE ECONOMY.

INDIGESTION OF THE FOOD.

Men, particularly household men, who do not work for
what they eat, often have indigestion for several successive
years. They are said to have a weak stomach, or to be
troubled with bile. They are always complaining, never
quite well, yet never very ill. The stomach is truly weak.
It wants energy, it acts slowly, often imperfectly ; yet it is
not wholly inactive. It rarely loses all control over the food.
The horse seldom suffers under a similar complaint ; when
indigestion does occur in him, it is a serious affair, soon cured,
or soon producing death. In men the disease usually termed
indigestion, ought perhaps to have another name, for all or
most of the food does undergo the process of digestion al-
though it may be performed very slowly. The indigestion I
am about to speak of in the horse, has been termed acute. It
ought to be called complete ; or rather, that in man should
be termed difficult. After this explanation, the reader need
not confound indigestion in man with indigestion in the horse.
They are totally different. The structure of the horse's
stomach, and the nature of his food, account to a certain ex-
tent for the difference. But in men the digestion is difficult,
in the horse it is not performed.

It is very obvious that the stomach in health must exercise
a peculiar control over the food, which does not putrefy, or
ferment, as it would, were it kept equally warm and moist in
any place but the stomach. So long as the stomach is able
to digest, the food suffers neither putrefaction nor fermenta-
tion. But it sometimes happens that the stomach loses its
power. It becomes unable to digest the food, or to exercise
any control over its changes.

Now, when the horse's stomach ceases to digest, one of
two things usually takes place. Either the food remains in
the stomach without undergoing any change, or it runs into
fermentation. In the one case the horse is often foundered ;
in the other he is griped, he takes what I shall here call colic.

Founder is an inflammation of the feet, generally of the fore-
feet, but sometimes of them all. It is not apparent why a load
of undigested food in the stomach should produce a disease
in the feet ; yet it is well known that it does so. There
seems to be some untraced connexion between the feet and
the stomach, and some theories have been made on the sub-
ject, but I have heard none worth notice ; we do not even
know why in one case the food remains unchanged, and in

INDIGESTION OF THE FOOD. 223

another undergoes fermentation. Perhaps it depends a good
deal upon the quantity of water that happens to be present
with the food. [This is all idle speculation and not to be de-
pended on ; founder never springs from this cause.]

An overloaded stomach is one of the causes of indigestion.
If a horse reach the grain -chest, or in any other way obtain
a large meal of grain, he will be very likely to take colic in
an hour or more after he gets water. If water be withheld,
he may founder ; but colic will not occur, unless there be much
water previously in the stomach or bowels. Those who are
experienced in these matters know how to manage a horse
after he has been gorged with food. They give him no water
all that day, and none on the next till evening. Then they
give only a little at a time, and often, till thirst be quenched.
If he be a slow horse he goes to work, but if his work be fast
he must remain at home, having, however, a good deal of
walking exercise. In this way the stablemen prevents what
he calls the gripes, colic, or batts. He is ignorant of the
mode in which water operates, but experience h^s taught him
that it has something to do with the disease. Founder, it is
true, may happen, but that is usually regarded as a more
curable malady than the other. It is not so deadly, but I shall
presently show that colic can be cured sooner, and with more
certainty, than founder.

Staggers. — A kind of apoplexy is sometimes produced by
the presence of undigested food in the stomach. In this
country the disease is not common, and there is nothing like
it when the food ferments. Obstinate constipation, and some-
times complete obstruction of the bowels, are the occasional
results of indigestion.

The Process of Fermentation must be familiar to almost
everybody. Grain, or other vegetable matter, when thrown
into a heap, moistened, and heated to a certain point, soon
undergoes a change. The principal phenomenon attending
which is the evolution of air in great abundance, more per-
haps than twenty or thirty times the bulk of the articles from
which it is extricated. When this process takes place in the
stomach, the horse's life is in danger, for he has no power
like some other animals to belch up the air. Distension
of the stomach and bowels rapidly succeeds, and runs so far
as to rupture them. If the stomach or bowels do not give
way, life may be destroyed by inflammation or strangulation
of the bowels, or the mere pain of distension may produce
death before there is time either for rupture, inflammation, or

224 STABLE ECONOMY.

strangulation. The disease sometimes cures itself, the air
not being very abundant, or being evacuated by passing
through the bowels ; but very often the horse dies in from
four to twelve hours. Sometimes he dies in two, and some-
times not till he has been ill for eighteen or twenty-four. The
disease goes under various names. In different places it is
termed gripes, the batts, fret, colic, flatulent colic, spasmodic
colic, enteritis, inflamed bowels, and acute indigestion. It
has been described by only one author with whom I am ac-
quainted, and he speaks of it as a rare disease. All who have
written treatises on veterinary medicine, have seen the disease
several times, but they mistake it for some other to which
they have given names, according to the appearances they
have seen on dissecting the horse after death. Thus, one
describes the symptoms, and attributes them to inflammation
of the bowels ; another to spasms of the bowels ; a third to
strangulation ; a fourth to rupture of the diaphragm, and soon,
with far too many more. All these, and several others, are
the effect of fermentation of the food either in the stomach or
in the bowels. The cause has been overlooked, and death
traced only to the effects of the cause. The disease which
is treated and described by authors and teachers as inflamed
bowels, spasmodic colic, strangulation, ruptured stomach,
ruptured diaphragm, is in 136 out of 137 cases, neither more
nor less at the beginning than a distension of the stomach
and bowels by air. I know this from my own practice, of
which, in reference to this disease, I have kept a record dur-
ing 18 months. For the sake of brevity in reference, I shall
term it

Colic — I go a little out of my limits to speak of this dis-
ease. I do so for four reasons. In the first place, the dis-
ease is deadly ; it destroys more heavy draught-horses than
all others put together. In the second place, 1 can show how
it may be cured with infallible certainty, if it be taken in
time. In the third place, the disease requires immediate re-
lief ; the horse may be dead, or past cure, before the medical
assistant can be obtained. And in the fourth place, the na-
ture of the disease and its treatment, are not known, or they
are too little known by the veterinarian. These circumstan-
ces induce me to digress a little from the proper object of this
work ; and I think they are of sufficient importance to render
apology unnecessary. I will, however, be brief. In another
Jlace I will enter into details which would be improper in this.

The Causes of Colic are rather ^numerous. I have already

INDIGESTION OF THE fOOD. 225

said that an overloaded stomach is one, particularly when
water is given either immediately before, or immediately af-
ter an extraordinary allowance of food ; but water directly
after even an ordinary meal is never very safe. [It suspends
digestion and occasions fermentation.] Another cause is vi-
olent exertion on a full stomach ; a third cause, is a sudden
change of diet, from hay, for instance, to grass, or from oats
to barley ; but an allowance, particularly a large allowance, of
any food to which the horse has not been accustomed, is lia-
ble to produce colic. Some articles produce it oftener than
others. Raw potatoes, carrots, turnips, green food, seem
more susceptible of fermentation than hay or oats, barley
more than beans ; wheat and pease more than barley. Such
at least they have seemed to me ; but it is probable that in
the cases from which I have drawn my conclusions, sudden
change and quantity may have had as much to do in pro-
ducing colic, as the fermentable nature of the food. Haste
in feeding is a common cause ; if the horse swallow his food
very greedily, without sufficient mastication, he is very liable
to colic.

Heavy draught-horses are almost the only subjects of colic,
and among the owners of them it is difficult to meet with an
old farmer or carter who has not lost more than one. Light,
fast-working horses are rarely troubled with it, and few die
of it. The difference is easily explained. Heavy, slow-
working horses are long in the yoke, they fast till their appe-
tite is like a raven's ; when they come home they get a large
quantity of grain all at once, and they devour it in such haste
that it is not properly masticated, and the stomach is sud-
denly overloaded. Possibly the quantity may not be very
great, yet it is eaten too fast. The juice by which the food
should be digested can not be made in such a hurry, at least
not enough of it ; and add to this the rapid distension of the
stomach ; more deliberate mastication and deglutition would
enable this organ to furnish the requisite quantity of gastric
juice, and to dilate sufficiently to contain the food with ease.
In fast feeding, the stomach is taken too much by surprise.

Light horses are usually fed oftener, and with more regu-
larity. They receive grain so often that they are not so fond
of it ; not disposed to eat too much ; and the nature of their
work often destroys the appetite, even when abstinence has
been unusually prolonged.

The bulk of the food, however, has a great deal to do with
this disease. An overloaded stomach will produce it in any

226 STABLE ECONOMY.

kind of horse, but those who have the bowels and stomach
habitually loaded are always in greatest danger. Horses tha
get little grain must eat a large quantity of roots or of fodder
as much as the digestive apparatus can control. The stomach
and bowels can not act upon any more, and that which they
can not act upon runs speedily into fermentation.

This seems to me the principal reason why slow-work
horses are so much more liable to the disease than fast-
workers. When the pace reaches seven or eight miles an
hour, the belly will not carry a great bulk of food, and so
much grain is given that the horse has no inclination to load
his bowels with fodder. There is never, or very rarely, mon
food than the stomach, the bowels, and the juices of these,
can act upon.

Symptoms of Colic. — The horse is taken suddenly ill. If
at work, he slackens his pace, attempts to stop, and when he
stops, he prepares to lie down ; sometimes he goes down as
if shot, the moment he stands or is allowed to stand ; at slow
work he sometimes quickens his pace and is unwilling to
stand. In the stable he begins to paw the ground with his
fore feet, lies down, rolls, sometimes quite over, lies on his
back ; when the distension is not great he lies tolerably qui-
et, and for several minutes. But when the distension and
pain are greater, he neither stands nor lies a minute ; he is
no sooner down than he is up. He generally starts all at
once, and throws himself down again with great violence.
He strikes the belly with his hind feet, and in moments of
comparative ease he looks wistfully at his flanks. When
standing he makes many and fruitless attempts to urinate ;
and the keeper always declares there is " something wrong
with the water." In a little while the belly swells all round,
or it swells most on the right flank. The worst, the most
painful cases, are those in which the swelling is general ;
sometimes it is very inconsiderable, the air being in small
quantity, or not finding its way into the bowels. As the dis-
ease proceeds, the pain becomes more and more intense.
The horse dashes himself about with terrible violence. Ev-
ery fall threatens to be his last. The perspiration runs off
him in streams. His countenance betrays extreme agony,
his contortions are frightfully violent, and seldom even for an
instant suspended.

After continuing in this state for a brief period, other symp-
toms appear, indicating rupture or inflammation, or the ap-
proach of death without either. These, and the treatment

INDIGESTION OF THE FOOD. 227

they demand, I need not describe here. The horse may
either be cured, or a veterinarian obtained, before inflammation
or other consequences of the distension can take place.

Treatment of Colic. — The treatment consists in arresting
the fermentation, and in re-establishing the digestive powers.
There are many things that will do both. In mild cases a
good domestic remedy in common use among- oldfashioned
people who have never heard of inflamed, spasmed, or stran-
gulated bowels, is whiskey and pepper, or gin and pepper.
About half a tumbler of spirits with a teaspoonful of pepper,
given in a quart bottle of milk or warm water, will often
afford immediate relief. If the pain do not abate in twenty
or thirty minutes, the dose may be' repeated, and even a third
dose is in some cases necessary. Four ounces of spirits of
turpentine, with twice as much sweet oil, is much stronger
but if the horse is much averse to the medicine, turpentine is
not always quite safe.

There is, however, a better remedy, which should always
be in readiness wherever several draught-horses are kept.
Take a quart of brandy, add to it four ounces of sweet spirit
of nitre, three ounces of whole ginger, and three ounces of
cloves. In eight days this mixture or tincture is ready for
use ; the cloves and ginger may still remain in the bottle, but
they are not to be given. Set the bottle away, and put a la-
ble upon it ; call it the " Colic Mixture." The dose is six
ounces, to be given in a quart of milk or warm water every
fifteen or twenty minutes till the horse be cured. Keep his
head straight, and not too high when it is given. Do not pull
out his tongue, as some stupid people do, when giving a drink.
If the horse be very violent, get him into a wide open place,
where you will have room to go about him. If he will not
stand till the drink be given, watch him when down, and give
it, though he be lying, whenever you can get him to take a
mouthful. But give the dose as quickly as possible. After
that, rub the belly with a soft wisp, walk the horse about
very slowly, or give him a good bed, and room to roll. In
eighty cases out of ninety this treatment will succeed, pro-
vided the medicine be got down the horse's throat before his
bowels become inflamed, or strangulated, or burst. The de-
lay of half an hour may be fatal.

When the second dose does not produce relief, the third
may be of double or treble strength. I have given a full
guart m about an hour, but the horse was very ill.

228 STABLE ECONOMY.

In many cases the horse takes ill during the night, and is
far gone before he is discovered in the morning. In such a
case this remedy may be too late, or it may not be proper ;
still, if the belly be swelled, let it be given, unless the veter-
inary surgeon can be procured immediately. In all cases it
is proper to send for him at the beginning. You or your ser-
vants may not be able to give the medicine, or the disease
may have produced some other, which this medicine will not
cure. If the veterinarian can be got in a few minutes, do
nothing till he comes. But do not wait long.

The horse is sometimes found dead in the morning ; his
belly is always much swelled, and the owner is suspicious of
poisoning. I have known much vexation arise from such
suspicion, when a single glance at the belly might have shown
from what the horse died. There is no poison that will pro-
duce this swelling, which is sometimes so great as to burs*
the surcingle. On dissection the stomach is frequently burst,
the belly full of food, water, and air, and the diaphragm rup-
tured. When death is slow, the bowels are always intensely
inflamed, sometimes burst, and often twisted. But these
things will never happen when the treatment I have recom-
mended is adopted at the very beginning.

The horse sometimes takes the disease on the road. If
his pace be fast, he should stop at once. To push him on
beyond a walk, even for a short distance, is certain death.
The bowels are displaced, twisted, and strangulated, partly
by the distension, but aided a great deal by the exertion ; and
no medicine will restore them to their proper position. A
walk after the medicine is good, and the pace should not pass
a walk.

PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING.

The principles of feeding are facts which influence and
ought to regulate the practice of feeding. The word feeding
refers to the manger-food, given at intervals, not to the hay
or fodder, which is almost constantly within the horse's reach.

People who are unacquainted with stable affairs make many
blunders in the management of their horses, and particularly
in feeding them. They reason too much from analogy. The
rules which regulate their own diet are applied to that of the
horse. Medical men are remarkable for this. A skilful sur-
geon expressed his conviction, that stablemen are full of er-
ror and prejudice regarding the diet of horses. He said : ' I

PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING. 229

order my patients to live on plain food, on that which does
not tempt excess ; and I tell them to eat when they are hun-
gry, and to desist when satisfied. It is thus I treat my horse,"
continued he ; "I give him plain wholesome food, as much
as he likes, and when he likes."

This is sufficiently absurd ; it is a common way of speak-
ing only with the ignorant. It might be a very good rule, if
there were no food for the horse but grass, and none for man
but bread. Horses may eat more grain, and men more beef
than their work requires ; or the plain, wholesome nourish-
ment, as it is called, may not suffice for certain kinds of
work. It is this, it is the work which renders care and sys-
tem so necessary in the feeding of horses. Men have to
work, too, but very few have labor bearing any resemblance
to that of the horse, and those few are compelled to regulate
their diet by rules which are not known to the bulk of man-
kind. The diver, the boxer, the runner, and the wrestler,
must not live like other men. The fermentable nature of the
horse's food, and the peculiar structure of his stomach which
forbids vomition, and the abstinence from food and drink oc-
casionally required by the work, are other circumstances
which demand particular attention to the mode of feeding.

Slow Work aids digestion, empties the bowels, and sharp-
ens the appetite. Hence it happens that on Sunday night
and Monday morning there are more cases of colic and
founder than during any other part of the week. Horses
that never want an appetite ought not to have an unlimited
allowance of hay on Sunday ; they have time to eat a great
deal more than they need, and the torpid state of the stomach
and bowels produced by a day of idleness, renders an ad-
ditional quantity very dangerous.

By slow work, I mean that which is performed at a walk,
not that which hurries the breathing, or produces copious
perspiration. The moderate exertion of which I speak does
not, as some might suppose, interfere with the digestive pro-
cess. It is attended with some waste ; there is some ex-
penditure of nutriment, and that seems to excite activity in
the digestive apparatus for the purpose of replacing the loss.
Farm and cart-horses are fed immediately before commencing
their labor, and the appetite with which they return shows
that the stomach is not full ; but,

During Fast Work digestion is suspended. — In the gene-
ral commotion excited by violent exertion, the stomach can
hardly be in a favorable condition for performing its duty

20

230 STABLE ECONOMY.

The blood circulates too rapidly to permit the formation of
gastric juice, or its combination with the food ; and the blood
and the nervous influence are so exclusively concentrated and
expended upon the muscular system, that none can be spared
for carrying on the digestive process.

The Effects of Fast Work on a Full Stomach are well enough
known among experienced horsemen. The horse becomes
sick, dull, breathless. He is unwilling, or unfit to proceed
at, nis usual pace ; and if urged onward, he quickly shows all
the systems of over-marking, to which I allude among the
accidents of work. The effects are not always the same.
Sometimes the horse is simply over-marked, distressed by
work that should not produce any distress. Some take colic,
some are foundered, some broken-winded. The most frequent
result is over-marking in combination with colic. Perhaps
the colic, that is, the fermentation of the food, begins before
the horse is distressed ; but whether or not, his distress is
always much aggravated by the colic.

These effects are not entirely produced by indigestion.
The difficulty of breathing may be ascribed to mere fulness
of the stomach. Pressing upon the diaphragm, and encroach-
ing upon the lungs, it prevents a full inspiration ; and its
weight, though, not, perhaps, exceeding eight or nine pounds,
must have considerable influence upon a horse that has to
run at full speed, and even upon one who has to go far, though
not so fast.

Some horses commence purging on the road, if fed directly
before starting They seem to get rid of the food entirely or
partly : for these, which are generally light-bellied horses, do
not suffer so much, or so often, from any of the evils con-
nected with a full stomach. The purgation, however, often
continues too long, and is rapidly followed by great ex-
haustion. They should be kept short of water on working
days, and they should have a large allowance of beans.

All work, then, which materially hurries the breathing,
ought to be performed with an empty stomach, or at least
without a full stomach. Coaching-horses are usually fed
from one to two hours before starting, and hay is withheld
after the grain is eaten. Hunters are fed early in the morn-
ing ; and racers receive no food on running days till their
work be over. Abstinence, however, must not be carried so
far as to induce exhaustion before the work commences.

After Fast Work is concluded, it is a little while ere
the stomach is in a condition to digest the food. Until thirst

PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING. 23

has been allayed, and the system calmed, there is seldom any
appetite. If the horse have fasted long, or be tempted by an
article of which he is very fond, he may be induced to eat.
But it is not right to let him ; a little does him no good, and
a full feed does him harm. The stomach partaking of the
general excitement, is not prepared to receive the food. Fer-
mentation takes place, and the horse's life is endangered ;
or the food lies in the stomach unchanged, and produces
founder.

Food, then, is not to be given after work till the horse be
cool, his breathing tranquil, and his pulse reduced to its
natural standard. By the time he is dressed and watered, he
is generally ready for feeding.

Salt and Spices aid Digestion. — On a journey, or after
a severe day, horses often refuse their food. When fatigued,
tired of his feed, a handful of salt may be thrown among the
horse's grain. That will often induce him to eat it, and it
will assist digestion, or at least render fermentation less
likely to occur. Some, however, will not eat even with this
inducement. Such may have a cordial ball, which in general
produces an appetite in ten minutes. I am speaking of cases
in which the horse has become cool, and those in which the
work has not fevered him. The horse should always be
cool before food is offered ; and if his eye be red, and pulse
quick, cordials, salt, and the ordinary food, are all forbidden.
The horse is fevered.

Abstinence unusually prolonged is connected with in-
digestion, and it produces debility.

The Indigestion of Abstinence may in some cases arise
from an enfeebled condition of the digestive apparatus. The
stomach and bowels may partake of the general languor and
exhaustion, and be in some measure unable to perform their
functions ; but of this there is no proof. When a horse has
fasted all day, he is very apt to have colic soon after he is
fed at night. It happens very often. The voracious manner
in which the horse feeds has something to do with it. He
devours his food in great haste, without sufficient mastication,
and he often eats too much. The sudden and forcible dis-
tension of the stomach probably renders it unable to perform
its duty. The quantity, the quality, and the hurried ingestion
of the food, account for the frequency of colic, after a long
fast, without, supposing that the stomach is weak. The ap«
petite seems to indicate that it is not.

The result may be prevented. Give the horse food oftener

232 STABLE ECONOMY.

When prolonged abstinence is unavoidable, give him less
than he would eat. Divide the allowance into two feeds,
with an interval of at least one hour between each. In this
way the appetite dies before the stomach is overloaded. To
prevent hurried ingestion, give food that is not easily eaten.
Boiled food, after a long fast, is unsafe, and grain should be
mixed with chaff.

The Debility or Inanition of Abstinence is denoted by dul-
ness. The horse is languid, feeble, and inoffensive. Want
of food tames the very wildest ; and sometimes vicious horses
are purposely starved to quietness. The time a horse may
fast before he lose any portion of his vigor, varies very much
in different individuals. In some few, it may depend upon
peculiarity of form. Light-bellied narrow-chested horses
can not afford to fast so long as those of round and large car-
case. But in general the power of fasting depends upon
habit, the kind of food, and the condition of the horse. When
accustomed to receive his food only twice or thrice a day, he
can fast longer by an hour or two, without exhaustion, than
when he is in the habit of eating four or five times. As a
general rule, liable, however, to many exceptions, it may be
held that a horse begins to get weak soon after his usual hour
of eating is past. The degree and rapidity with which his
vigor fails depend upon his work and condition. If idle, or
nearly so, for a day or two previous, he may miss two or
three meals before exhaustion is apparent. Languor is
probably felt, sooner. If in low condition, he can not fast
long without weakness. He has nothing to spare. If his
usual food be all or partly soft, he can not bear abstinence so
well as when it is all or partly hard.

Horses in daily and ordinary work should seldom fast more
than three or four hours. They generally get grain four or
five times a day, and between the feeding hours they are per-
mitted to eat hay ; so that, except during work, very few
horses fast more than four hours. But some, such as hunters
and racers, are often required to fast much longer. Hunters
are sometimes out for more than nine hours, and they go out
with an empty stomach, or with very little in it. The only
evil arising from such prolonged abstinence is exhaustion, and
among fast-working horses that can not be avoided. The
work and the abstinence together may produce great ex-
haustion and depression, and the horse may require several
days of rest to restore him. But if he had been fed in the
middle of this trying work, he would have been unable to

FRINCIPLES OP FEEDING. 233

complete it. The evils arising- from prolonged abstinence are
less dangerous than those arising from fast work on a full
stomach.

The work which must be performed with an empty stom-
ach, should be finished as quickly as circumstances will per-
mit. In order that the racer or the hunter may have all the
vigor he ought to have, his work should be over before ab-
stinence begins to produce debility. How long he must fast
before he is fit to commence his task, must depend upon the
pace, the distance, and the horse's condition. The stomach,
after an ordinary meal of grain, is probably empty in about
four hours. For a pace of eight or ten miles an hour, it does
not need to be empty ; if the food be so far digested that it
will not readily ferment, a little may remain in the stomach
without rendering the horse unfit for exertion of this kind.
Coaching-horses, therefore, go to the road in from one to two
hours after feeding. For a hunting-pace, perhaps a digestion
of two hours will secure the food from fermentation : and in
that time, after a moderate meal, the weight and bulk of the
food which remains in the stomach will not encumber the
horse nor impede his breathing. For a racing-pace the
stomach must be empty, and the bowels must not be full. I
do not know exactly how long racers are fed before com-
mencing their work. The time appears to vary, spare feed-
ers not being required to fast so long as those of better ap-
petite. I rather think that they are often, or sometimes, kept
too long without food ; but I have little right to venture an
opinion on the subject. It appears that racers sometimes re-
ceive no food on running days till their work is over. If hay
were withheld for twelve hours, and grain for three or four
before starting, I should think such restriction would be
sufficient. These horses, however, are always in high con-
dition ; they can afford to fast for a long time before fasting
produces exhaustion, and the distance they run is so short
that the expenditure of nutriment is not great. With horses
in lower condition, having less spare nutriment in them, a
fast of twelve hours produces a sensible diminution of energy,
and in this state he is not fit to perform all that he could per-
form after abstinence of only four or six hours. In the course
of training, either for the course or the field, the groom should
learn how long the horse can bear fasting without losing
vigor, and that will tell him how to regulate the diet on the
day of work.

When the distance is considerable, or the work requiring

20*

234 STABLE ECONOMY.

several hours of continuous exeit.ion, the waste of nutriment
is greater than when the distance is short, or the work soon
over, and the abstinence must be regulated accordingly. For
a long road, the sooner a horse is fit to begin his task after
feeding, the less will he be exhausted at the end of it.

To prevent, in some degree, the debility of abstinence when
the work forbids food, it is not unusual, I believe, to give a
little spirits of wine. Between the heats of a race a pint of
sherry or two glasses of brandy may be given in a quart of
wrater. The horse will drink it, and I do not know of any
objection to such a practice. The energy it inspires is over
in about an hour, and it is not developed in less than ten
minutes. From ten to fifteen minutes before running is
therefore the proper time to give it ; the horse may run in
five, but in that case the race will be over before the stimulant
operates. [We must discountenance spirituous stimulants to
give temporary energy. If any be necessary, a nervous one
should be used.]

I have said that the only evil arising from prolonged absti-
nence is exhaustion. There is, however, one more, and
though of little consequence, it deserves notice. When the
stomach is empty, and the bowels containing very little, the
horse is sometimes troubled with flatulence. The bowels
seem to contain a good deal of air. They are noisy : the
horse has slight intermitting colicky pains, which do not last
above a minute, are never violent, and cease as the air is ex-
pelled. I have never known this require any particular
treatment ; but a little spirits, or half a dose of the colic mix-
ture, or a feed of oats, or a cordial ball, removes it at once.

Inabstinence. — It often happens that horses who are much
in the stable, and receiving an unlimited allowance of
food, are never permitted to fast. They get food so often,
and so much at a time, that they always have some before
them. This is not right. A short fast produces an appetite,
and induces the horse to eat more, upon the whole, than
when he is cloyed by a constant supply. If not on full work,
the horse eats too much, although not so much as he would
after short and periodical fasts. Still he eats more than his
work demands. He should not have an unlimited quantity.
The food is wasted, and the horse becomes too fat. But
when the work is so laborious that the digestive apparatus
can not furnish more nutriment than the system consumes,
then the more the horse eats the better ; and a short fast
prior to every feeding houi creates an appetite. When grain

PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING. 235

is always before him, ne never becomes sufficiently hungry
to eat heartily. In some places thirty or forty minutes are al-
lowed to feed ; and when the time expires, a man goes round
the mangers and removes all the grain that is left. In other
places the left grain is not taken away, but, if not all eaten
before the next feeding hour, no more is given at that time.

The Hours of Feeding must vary with the work ; when
that is regular, the hours of feeding should be fixed. After
the horse has become accustomed to them, they should not be
suddenly changed. When the work is irregular, the horse
often called to it without much notice, and when it does not
demand an empty stomach, the horse should be fed often. By
giving the allowance at four or five services, instead of two or
three, the horse is always ready for the road. He can never
have so much in his stomach at any time as if he were fed
seldomer. On a posting establishment, all the horses that are
in should not be fed at the same time ; one pair, or two, or
more, may be kept in readiness for work, not fed till some
others are ready.

It is probable that fixed hours of feeding are favorable to
digestion, and it is certain that any sudden and considerable
change of hour is attended with disadvantage. When the in-
terval of abstinence is abridged, the horse does not eat so
heartily ; and when prolonged, he becomes exhausted. But
when there are no fixed hours observed, the horse's appetite
is the only guide. When the feeding hours are variable, the
horse gets hungry only when the system wants nutriment ;
when the hours are fixed, the stomach demands a supply,
whether the system wants it or not.

The Bulk of the Food is an important consideration in
the feeding of horses. When fed entirely, or chiefly, upon
hay, grass, or roots, they are not fit for fast work. There are
three reasons why they are not. Bulky food distends the
stomach and makes it encroach upon the lungs, and impede
breathing ; its weight encumbers the horse ; and it does not
yield sufficient nutriment. The horse may be able enough
for slow work, because that work does not demand all the
energies of the system. But hunting, coaching, and racing,
are tasks of such labor, that the least impediment to breathing
renders the horse unable to perform them. Hay or grass
alone will yield sufficient nourishment to an idle horse ; but
he must eat a great deal of it ; so much that his belly is al-
ways very large ; the bowels must be constantly full. Such
a load is not so easily carried in the belly as on the back

236 STABLE ECONOMY.

This weight, and the difficulty of breathing, are sufficient, to
render bulky food unfit for fast- working horses. But even
slow work, when exacted in full measure, demands food in a
condensed form. The work, though slow, requires more nu-
triment than a bellyful of hay or grass will yield. The nour-
ishment extracted from hay, straw, or potatoes, may be quite
as good as that extracted from oats ; but the stomach and the
bowels can not hold enough of these bulky articles.

A horse may gallop at the top of his speed for a few mo-
ments, even when his bowels are loaded with bulky food ;
but he soon stops or staggers, over-marked, or broken-wind-
ed, or he takes colic ; one or all of these evils may be ex-
pected when he is put to fast work with his bowels loaded.
Bulky food also renders the horse exceedingly liable to colic ;
and to me this appears to be the principal reason why the
disease is so much more common in draught than in saddle
horses.

Condensed Food, for reasons already stated, is necessary
for fast-working horses. Their food must be in less compass
than that of the farm or cart horse. But to this condensa-
tion there are some limits. Grain affords all, and more than
all, the nutriment a horse is capable of consuming, even un-
der the most extraordinary exertion. His stomach and bow-
els can hold more than they are able to digest ; [or, if it
could be digested, it would furnish more nutriment than could
be assimilated ; or, if assimilated, than the system demands.]
Something more than nutriment is wanted. The bowels
must suffer a moderate degree of distension ; more than a
wholesome allowance of grain can produce. They are very
capacious. In the dead subject nearly thirty gallons of wa-
ter can be put into them. It is evident they were not intended
for food in a very condensed form ; and it seems that they
require a moderate degree of pressure or dilatation to assist
their functions. It is not certain that their secretions, sensa-
tions, and contractions, are altered by emptiness, but it is
probable. They must have something to act upon.

When hay is very dear, and grain cheap, it is customary,
in many stables, to give less than the usual allowance of hay
and more grain. The alteration is sometimes carried too
far, and it is often made too suddenly. The horses may have
as much grain as they will eat, yet it does not suffice with-
out fodder. Having no hay, they will leave the grain to eat
the litter. A craving sensation of emptiness seems to arise,
and the horse endeavors to relieve it by eating straw The

PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING. 237

sensation can not be the same as that of hunger, otherwise
the horse would devour his grain. While he has plenty of
grain, and plenty of litter, the diminished allowance of hay
is borne with impunity. [The bowels need distension ; hay
contains a large amount of woody fibre ; this produces dis-
tension, and is ejected as fecal matter. Without distension
and abundant fecal matter, there can be no health.]

When sufficiency is not obtained in any shape, the horse
loses appetite, emaciates ; his bowels are confined ; his
flank sadly tucked up — his belly indeed almost entirely
disappears ; in general he drinks little water, and when
he takes much he is apt to purge. His belly is often
noisy, rumbling of the bowels ; apparently containing a good
deal of air, which occasionally produces slight colicky pains.
These horses are said, and I believe truly said, to be very
liable to crib-biting and wind-sucking. It is certain that
the diseases are exceedingly rare among those that live on
bulky food.

When the ordinary fodder, then, is very dear, its place
must be supplied by some other which will produce a whole-
some distension, though it may not yield so much nutriment.
Straw or roots, either or both, may be used in such cases.
The excessively tucked-up flank, and the horse's repeated
efforts to eat his litter, show when his food is not of sufficient
bulk.

When work demands the use of condensed food in a horse
that has been accustomed for some time to bulkier articles,
the change should be made by degrees. Coming from grass,
or the straw-yard, the horse, for a time, requires more fodder
than it would be proper to allow him at his work.

Hard Food. — For a long time it has been almost univer-
sally supposed that the greatest and most lasting vigor could
not be obtained without an ample allowance of hard, substan-
tial food, such as raw oats and beans with hay. But within
a few years there have been several attempts to show that
these articles are improved by cooking. It has been argued
that steaming or boiling partially digests the food, or renders
it more easy of digestion.

It is nonsense to say that cooking is digestion. The
stomach is not a boiler. It does its work in a way of its
own, not to be imitated by any culinary process.

Food which has been softened by steaming, maceration, 01
boiling, may possibly be more quickly digested. The nutri
tive matter may be more rapidly and more easily extracted

238 STAELE ECONOMY.

from food after this preparation. Granting that it is so, there
is still room, I think, for doubting whether it is advantageous
to have all the food rapidly digested. Stablemen,, who ought
to know best, admit the propriety of giving one feed of boiled
food every day during cold weather. But they declare that
more sickens the horse, and makes him soft ; he perspires
profusely, and his energy is soon exhausted. This refers
only to horses of fast work, in constant employment.

The opinions of stablemen on this subject have been much
ridiculed. They are too apt to theorize. Instead of telling
what they see, they tell what they think. They contend that
hard food produces hard flesh, and everybody knows that no
horse is at his best when his flesh is soft. This is a fine
opening for a mere theorist, who knows anything about anat-
omy. Instead of seeking the foundation of the theory, he
attacks the theory itself. " This notion about hard food,5
he says, " is all nonsense. All the food, whether hard or
soft, must become a fluid before it can form any part of the
system. Therefore, the softer it is when given, the sooner is
it dissolved."

It is quite true, and easily proved, that no food can afford
nourishment till it assumes a fluid form. But this is not the
way to settle the question. Some men are such inveterate
theorists that they always argue when they ought only to ex-
periment.

Place two or more horses, similar in size, age, condition,
power, and breeding, at the same work and in the same sta-
ble. To one give the food all soft, to another all hard, and
to a third give it partly hard and partly soft. Continue the
experiment for a month, and then reverse it, by giving to one
the food which was given to another. Observe the condition
of the horses from beginning to end, and be careful that the
result is not influenced by some circumstances not operating
equally upon all. One might catch cold, fall lame or sick,
and he would not be a fair subject for comparison. This is
the proper way to decide the matter. If conjecture should
settle it, conjecture is easily made. Thus, soft food contains
a deal of water ; probably this water enters the system along
with the nutritive matter, and though it may fill up the tis-
sues, and produce plumpness, yet it confers no vigor. The
nutritive matter which has been obtained from this soft, wa-
tery food, has entered the system too rapidly — before it has
been sufficiently annualized to form any durable part of the
system. I is, therefore, soon and easily evacuated. Ima

PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING. 239

gme this to be true — it is very like the stuff found in the
treatises on dietetics — and there is no difficulty in seeing the
superiority of hard food. Without any theory, however,
upon the subject, appearances seem in favor of the common
opinion.

The continuous use of Hard Food is supposed to produce
progressive increase of vigor for several months, or, accord-
ing to some, for several years. Among stablemen it is a com
mon way of recommending a horse, to say that he has got
year's hard keep in him. Nimrod has gone much further
Speaking of post-horses, the work they do, sometimes sixty
miles in a day, and the abuse they suffer from exposure to
the weather, from bad stables, and bad grooms, he alludes to
their condition, and asks how it is that, in defiance of such
hard usage, they look so well and do so much. " Is it," he
says, " their natural physical strength ? Is it the goodness
of their nature ? My reasoning faculty tells me it is neither
— they would both fail. No ! it is solely to be attributed to
the six, eight, ten, twelve, perhaps fourteen years' hard meat
which they have got in them — to that consolidation of flesh,
that invigorating of muscle, that stimulus to their nature,
which this high keep has imparted to them — which give
them, as it were, a preternatural power."

Had Nimrod always written thus, he should never have
been quoted by me. There is not, in all his letters, another
passage so remarkable for bad reasoning and bad writing.
No one ever knew a post-horse twelve or fourteen years on
the road without interruption. If he had occasionally to per-
form a journey of sixty miles in one day, he would often, in
the course of so many years, require to be thrown off work
for several successive weeks, either for lameness or for sick-
ness ; and every time such a horse is idle for a number of
weeks, he loses all the vigor which previous work and solid
food had conferred.

When horses are well fed, they are generally well worked.
In the course of time they acquire strength and endurance,
which the undomesticated horse can never rival. Solid food
has perhaps a good deal to do in the production of such vigor,
but the work has much more. Without work, no kind nor
quantity of food will make a hunter or a racer. To encounter
extraordinary labor, the horse must be trained to it ; and, while
training, he must be fed on solid food, or at least upon rich
food.

It appears that solid is better than soft food for such work ,

240 STABLE ECONOMY.

but how long the horse must be accustomed to this hard food
before he becomes as vigorous as it can make him, is still an
undecided question. The improvement is progressive, but it
must have some limits. So far as I have been able to observe,
it appears that in one year judicious feeding and work will in
all cases render a mature horse as fit for his work as he will
ever be. Many can be seasoned in less than three months,
and a great number receive all the improvement of which they
are susceptible in less than six ; I do not believe that any
mature horse improves after he has been on solid food and in
work for one year, and this period includes the time allotted
to training.

A Mixed Diet is, in some cases, better than that composed
of only two or three articles. Oats and hay form the ordinary
food of stabled horses. In summer, a little grass is frequently
added, and in winter, roots. But a great number of horses
kept in towns receive nothing but oats and hay all the year
round. For those that do only moderate work, these two
articles, with a weekly feed of bran, seem to be sufficient.
But others, whose work is more laborious, and often perform-
ed in stormy weather, are, I think, the better of a more com-
plicated diet, more especially when the ordinary food is not
of the best quality. Beans form a third article, and to hard-
working horses they are almost indispensable. During the
trying months of winter, the diet may be still further varied
by barley, or wheat, or rye. These may be boiled, and given
only once a day, or they may enter into every feed. The
change should be made slowly ; the new articles, at first, not
exceeding a fourth or fifth part of the whole, and an equal
quantity of the ordinary food being withheld. As the horse
becomes used to them, the quantity may increase, if a larger
quantity be deemed useful.

The horses to whom a mixed diet is most necessary, are
those that perform the severest work. The principal advan-
tage derived from the combination of seveial articles, is that
of tempting the horses to feed more heartily. They eat more
of this mixed food than of the simple, because one or more
of the articles are new to them. The horses, therefore, main
tain their condition better. It may also be. that the use ot
several articles enables the system to obtain that from one
which Ccpi not be furnished by another.

Changes of Diet. — After the horse has been accustomed
to a certain kind or mixture of food, it is not to be suddenly
changed. By inattention to this, many errors prevail re

PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING. 241

garding a horse's food. It is extensively believed that boiled
food, barley, carrots, and some other articles, produce purga-
tion— that raw wheat is poisonous — that peas swell so. much
as to burst, the stomach — that potatoes, and many other things,
are flatulent.

The truth is, a sudden change of diet produces evils which
would not occur were the change made with care. The most
frequent result of a change is colic, next to that, purgation,
and after these come founder, surfeit, weed, constipation, and
apoplexy. Some of these, perhaps the whole of them except
purgation, may arise as often from the horse eating too much,
as from the sudden change. But it appears quite certain that
the stomach and bowels require some little time to adapt them-
selves to articles upon which they have not been accustomed
to act. The horse eats too much, because the new article is
more palatable than his ordinary food ; and the groom often
gives too much without knowing it. ; he gives barley and beans
in the same measure that he gives oats. These articles, and
wheat, are much heavier in proportion to their bulk. An
equal weight of oats might not be eaten, though it were given,
and the horse would suffer no evil ; but if the horse is not
used to beans or barley, he will eat a greater weight of those
than of his oats ; if an equal quantity, by weight, were given,
the horse would be in less danger ; but still it is not safe sud-
denly to substitute one article for another.

If it were determined to use a certain portion of barley in-
stead of oats, say an equal quantity of each, the change is not
to be made in one day nor in one week. At first give the
barley in only one of the daily feeds, and in small quantity,
so that, during the first week, one feed will consist of three
parts oats, and one part barley — the other feeds will be the
same as usual ; in the second week, one feed will be half oats
and half barley ; in the third week, give two of those feeds
every day ; in the next, three, and so on till the horses receive
the allotted quantity.

One dose of physic, perhaps two, may be useful when the
diet is altered ; but if the horses be seasoned, and in full work,
it is seldom necessary. It is most required when the food is
richer and more constipating than that to which they have
been used.

The Quantity of Food may be insufficient, or it may be
in excess. The consumption is influenced by the work, the
weather, the horse's condition, age, temper, form, and health *.

21

242 STABLE ECONOMY

these circumstances, especially the work, must regulate the
allowance.

When the horse has to work as much and as often as he it
able, his allowance of food should be unlimited.

When the work is such as to destroy the legs more than i
exhausts the system, the food must be given with some re
striction, unless the horse be a poor eater.

When the work is moderate, or less than moderate, a good
feeder will eat too much.

When the weather is cold, horses that are much exposed
to it require more food than when the weather is warm.

When the horse is in good working condition, he needs less
food than while he is only getting into condition.

Young, growing horses require a little more food than those
of mature age ; but, as they are not fit for full work, the dif-
ference is not great.

Old horses, those that have begun to decline in vigor, re-
quire more food than the young or the matured.

Hot-tempered, irritable horses seldom feed well ; but those
that have good appetites require more food to keep them in
condition, than others of quiet and calm disposition.

Small-bellied, narrow-chested horses require more food
than those of deep and round carcass ; but \e\v of them eat
enough to maintain them in condition for full work.

Lame, greasy-heeled, and harness-galled horses require an
extra allowance of food to keep them in working condition.

Sickness, fevers, inflammations, all diseases which influence
health so much as to throw the horse off work, demand, with
few exceptions, a spare diet, which, in general, consists of
bran-mashes, grass, carrots, and hay.

Deficiency of Food. — When the owner can afford to feed
his horse, he generally allows him sufficient. He soons dis-
covers that the work can not be done without it. He may
grudge the cost of keeping, but he soon finds that it is easier
to buy food than to buy horses. Starvation and hard work
quickly wear them out. Though nobody who can avoid it
will starve his working horses, yet many think it no sin to
starve idle horses. Colts, before they come into use, and
horses thrown out of work by lameness or other causes, are
often very ill fed, or, rather, they are not fed at all. The
privations of a farmer's stock during winter may not in every
case be avoidable, and when they can not be cured they must
be endured. But the allowance of food is often reduced too

PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING. 243

much, not because there is little to give, but because it is
thought unnecessary or wasteful to give more.

Both young and old horses suffer more mischief from want
of sufficient food than is generally supposed. The young,
however, suffer most. Starvation checks the growth and
destroys the shape. Horses that have been ill-fed when young,
are almost invariably small, long-legged, light-carcassed, and
narrow-chested. Some of them have a good deal of energy,
but all are soon exhausted, unfit for protracted exertion.
Grown-up horses, when much reduced by deficient nourish-
ment, require more food to put them into working order than
would have kept them for two or three months in the condi-
tion they require to possess when going into work. If the
horses are to be idle for twelve months, it may perhaps be
cheaper to let them get very lean than to keep them plump ;
but for a period of three or four months, during which farm
and some other horses are idle or nearly so, it is cheaper to
keep as much flesh upon them as they will need at the com
mencement of their labor.

When the horse is starved, besides losing strength and
flesh, his bowels get full of worms, and his skin covered witl
lice. Very often he takes mange, and sometimes he does no
moult, or the hair falls suddenly and entirely off, leaving tht
skin nearly bald for a long time. The skin of an ill-fed hors«.
is always rigid, sticking to the ribs, and the hair dull, staring,
soft, dead-like. I have never seen anything like permanent
evil arising from temporary starvation of mature horses. If
not famished to death, they recover strength and animation
upon good and sufficient feeding. But starvation always spoils
the shape of a growing horse.

Excess of Food. — When the supply of food is greater than
the work demands, the horse becomes fat. The superfluous
nutriment is no* all wasted. The system does not require it
at the time, but it may at some other. To provide against an
increased demand or a deficient supply, this redundant nutri
ment is stored away. It is converted into fat and deposited
into various parts of the body ; some is laid under the skin,
some among the muscles, but the largest quantity is found
among the intestines and inside the belly. When wanted,
this fat is reconverted into blood.

Slow-working horses may be fat and yet not unfit for work ;
but the weight of the fat is a serious encumbrance to fast-
workers, and its situation impedes the action of important
organs, particularly the lungs Horses at full and fast work

£44 STABLE ECONOMY.

never accumulate fat ; they can not eat too much. When the
work is irregular and fast, the horse sometimes idle and some-
times tasked to the utmost, he may eat too much. He may
become fat and unfit to do his work, which is the most ruinous
of all work.

To keep a horse in condition for fast work, his work should
be regular, and when it can not, his food should be given in
such measured quantities that it wrill not make him fat.

A sudden change from a poor to a rich diet does not at once
produce fatness. It is more apt to produce plethora, redun-
dancy of blood. The stomach and bowels, previously accus
tomed to economize the food, and to extract all the nutriment
it was capable of yielding, continue to act upon the rich food
with equal vigor. A large quantity of blood is made, more
than the system can easily dispose of. Were the horse
gradually inured to the rich food, there would be time to make
the necessary arrangements for converting the superfluous
nutriment into fat. But the sudden change fills the system
with blood. This often happens to cattle and sheep, but the
horse does not suffer in the same way as these animals.
Sheep and young oxen, after entering a luxuriant spring pas-
ture, take what is called the blood. All at once they become
very ill ; some part of the body is swelled, puffy as if it con
tained air: in two or three hours the beast is dead. Upon
dissection, a large quantity of blood, black and decomposed,
is found in the cellular tissue, where, in life, the swelling ap-
peared. This, if ever it occur in the horse, is exceedingly
rare. In him, plethora seems to create a strong disposition to
inflammation in the eyes, the feet, and the lungs. Sometimes
an eruption appears on the skin ; this is termed a surfeit heat.
The hair often falls off in patches, and the skin beneath is
raw or pimpled ; these are termed -surfeit blotches. The
horse is prone to grease. Those of the heavy-draught breed
often have what in some places is termed a weed, in others
a shoot of grease, in others still, a stroke of water-farcy. One
of the legs, generally a hind-leg, swells suddenly ; it is pain-
ful ; it is lame ; pressure inside the thigh in the course of the
vein, produces great pain ; the horse is a little fevered. In a
few cases, among the same kind of horses, there are numerous
puffy, painless tumors all over the body, especially about the
eyes, muzzle, belly, and legs. This is most commonly termed
water-farcy. The proper name is acute anasarca. The horse
may be left well, or apparently well at night ; in the morning
he is found with his eyes closed, buried in soft pitting tumors.

PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING. 245

and his muzzle so much swelled that he can not open his
mouth. All these evils are sudden in their attack. They
may arise from other causes ; but plethora suddenly attained
is the most common cause ; and is the result of feeding be-
yond the work.

Plethora may be produced without any alteration in the
quantity or quality of the diet. If the horse be suddenly
thrown out of full work, and receive all the food to which he
has been accustomed, the result will be very nearly the same
as if he were put upon a richer diet. It must be remembered
that excess in the supply is excess only when it is greater
than the work demands. An idle horse may be eating no
more than a working horse, or he may be eating less, yet it
may be too much.

The symptoms of plethora are easily recognised before it
has produced or contributed to the production of any cutane-
ous, anasarcous, or inflammatory disease. For one, two or
more days the horse is somewhat dull ; he eats his grain,
perhaps, but refuses his hay ; he drinks much, his coat is
dry ; on some places, across the loins, the face, and the poll,
it is soft and staring ; the eye is red, often yellowish ; the
mouth hot and dry ; the bowels costive ; the urine high-
colored. When the stables are shut, the horse sweats ; when
open, he shivers, or his coat starts on end. If put to work,
he is feeble and without animation ; he soon perspires, and
he is soon exhausted. In this febrile state he may remain
for several days. Perspiration seems to relieve him a little ;
but as the horse eats little, the natural cure is probably per-
formed by refusing to take more nutriment till the superfluity
be consumed. When the digestive organs continue to main-
tain their power, the appetite is not impaired, and the horse,
after pining two or three days, or a longer time, in the ple-
thoric fever, suffers from an attack of inflammation, or some
of the other evils already mentioned fall upon him. Swelled
legs and thrushy frogs are among the earliest and least seri-
ous consequences.

The treatment of plethora is very simple. Starvation alone
will effect a cure. Bleeding averts its consequences at once ;
but, in general, this operation is not imperiously demanded.
In ordinary cases, it is enough to diminish or withhold the
allowance of grain, to give a little green food, carrots, cr
bran-mashes ; as medicine, a diuretic or an alterative may be
given, or a dose of physic, which is better than anything else
and when the horse can be spared, it should be given. A

21*

246 STABLE ECONOMY.

gentle sweat is also a good remedy. As the horse recovers
his spirits, let him return by degrees to the diet which his
work demands.

To prevent plethora, it is customary, in hunting and other
stables where the work is only occasional, yet very severe
and requiring a liberal diet, to give an alterative now and
then. Black antimony, nitre and sulphur, four drachms of
each, form a useful alterative for blank days. Hunters of
keen appetite, and legs which will not stand full work, are
not easily kept in order : they may have a ball every week,
or twice a week during the working season. It should be
given an hour before the last feed, in a little bran-mash. On
the dav before work, it is forbidden.

Influenza and plethora* are often confounded. The symp-
toms of plethora are very like those which we have at the
beginning of influenza ; but the treatment is different, and
distinction must be made. If the symptoms of plethora ap-
pear without any change in the diet, or work sufficient to ac-
count for them, it is very likely the horse is taking the in-
fluenza, which, in many stables, is usually called the dis-
temper. A veterinarian ought to be consulted. Influenza is
in general accompanied by great weakness, often some sore-
ness of the throat, a little cough, a watery discharge from the
nose, swelling of the eyelids, stiffness, a peculiar state of the
pulse, and several other symptoms by which the veterinarian
can distinguish it from plethora.

Humors. — Everybody has heard of " humors flying about
the horse." It is an old stable phrase, and still a great favor-
ite. The horse is not well, vet he is not ill. There is al-
ways something wrong with him. One month he has swelled
legs, another he has inflamed eyes, another he has some tu-
mors about him, or some eruption on the skin, and so .on all
the year through. He is hardly cured of one disease till he
is attacked by some other ; and perhaps he never does any
good till he changes hands, when he soon becomes an excel-
lent horse, always ready for his food and for his work. This
often happens. Plethora, repeatedly excited, is the cause.

The stabling, or the grooming, may have been bad ; the
horse unequally fed, or irregularly worked — some weeks
half-starved, others surfeited to plethora — sometimes idle for
-, month, and sometimes over-worked for a month. He does

• I ought sooner to have mentioned, that among stablemen plethora is
dually termed foulness. The horse is said to be foul. I have rejected this
me, because, in Scotland, a glandered horse is termed foul.

PRACTICE OF FEEDING. 247

better, indeed quite well, when he is properly worked and
properly fed. The humors are blamed. According to the
groom there is some bad humor flying about the horse. He
gives his drugs to sweeten the blood, puts in rowels to drain
off impurities, and plays numberless other tricks, such as
ignorance alone could suggest. Little, in truth, is required
but to get rid of that which plethora has already produced,
and subsequently to give regularity to the work and to the
feeding, and to proportion the one to the other.

PRACTICE OF FEEDING.

In well-managed stables the practice of feeding is regula-
ted by the principles, so far, at least, as they are understood.
Nevertheless it may be useful to give a short account of the
matters and modes of feeding in reference to different kinds
of horses. I shall here state the general mode, so far as 1
have been able to learn it, and give a few examples.

The Farm-Horse is fed on oats, meal-seeds, corn-dust,
barley-dust, beans, barley, hay, roots, straw, and grass. The
grain is given raw and boiled, whole, bruised, or ground, and
with or without a masticant.* Wheat is seldom used, beans
only when the work is very laborious, and bran rarely except
to sick horses. The fodder varies with the work and the
season. In winter it consists of hay, and the different kinds
of straw, including that of beans and peas. The quantity is
unlimited, and it is rarely cut into chaff. Rye-grass, clover
and tares, are given while they are in season, to the exclusion
of other fodder. They are given in the stable or in the field,
and some horses are partly soiled and partly pastured. The
quantity of grain varies with the work and the size of the
horse. From fourteen to sixteen pounds is considered a
liberal allowance for a large horse in full work. The night
feed is vsually boiled so soon as grass fails. The quantity
diminishes as the days shorten. In some places the grain is
altogether withheld during a part of the winter, fodder being
given in the day, and some boiled roots at night.

Some farmers never give more than ten pounds of grain
per day. It is not possible to state the proper allowance. In
all cases the horse himself soon tells whether he is getting
too much or too little. He should be kept rather above than

* Masticant. — Any article — such as cut fodder, bran-chaff, hay-seeds, 01
meal-seeds — which ensures mastication of the grain with which it js min-
gled.

248 STABLE ElONOMT.

under his work ; and even when idle, or nearly so, he should
not lose flesh. If he be half-starved in winter, the spring
will find him very unfit for the labor which it brings, and it
costs more to put flesh on the horse than to keep it on.

" Mr. Harper of Bank Hill, Lancashire, ploughs seven acres
per week the year through, on strong land, with three horses,
each of which receive two bushels of oats per week, with
hay during the winter six months, and during the remainder
of the year one bushel of oats with green food.

" Mr. Ellam of Glynde, in Sussex, gives two bushels of
oats, with peas-haulm, or straw, during thirty winter weeks ;
and one bushel of oats, with green food, in summer."*

In Scotland, farm-horses are usually put upon hard food
by the beginning of October, receiving hay and a medium
allowance of oats, from six to nine pounds. In the months
of December and January, the hay gives place to straw, and
the oats are still farther reduced. In February, hay and a
full allowance of oats are given, and form the most of the
food till the commencement of June, when grass comes in.
The allowance of oats is then reduced, and the grass is either
given in the stable or in the field. f

As winter food, Professor Low recommends cut-hay, cut-
straw, bruised or coarsely-ground grain, and cooked potatoes,
in equal proportion by weight. Of this mixture he says 30 to
35 pounds, or, on an average, 32^ pounds, will be sufficient
for any horse during the twenty-four hours.

In the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, No. 21, the fol-
lowing mixture, in which there is no hay, is recommended
for its economy. The horse is fed thrice, receiving at each
time fifteen pounds : —

,, . , . ( 3k lbs. of oat and bean meal mixed with

In the morning he gets J j ,j (< cut.stmw>.

At mid-day, . . .
At night ....

It is unnecessary accuracy to speak of straw or potatoes
by half pounds. Two or three pounds, more or less, of
either, produce little actual, and no appreciable difference on
the horse.

In many, or most of the places in this neighborhood, farm
horses are fed four or five times while working nine or tei

* Complete Grazier, 181. Agricultural Survey of Sussex, pp. 378, 381.
t Low's Elements of Agriculture.

3

a

oat and bean meal, with

12

u

cut-straw.

1*

a

oat and bean meal,

2

it

cut-straw, and

11|

it

steamed potatoes.

PRACTICE OF FEEDING. 249

hours per day. In the morning, about five o'clock, they are
fed with grain ; they go to work till eight, when they are fed
again, sometimes on boiled roots, to which, corn-dust, light
oats, or meal-seeds may be added, and sometimes on raw
grain ; they work from nine till twelve or one — are fed a third
time ; return to work till six or seven — are fed a fourth time,
generally on boiled food, unless there be grass. Some give
a small quantity of grain about nine or ten o'clock, which
forms a fifth feed, but this is not common.

The farmers hereabout reserve the light husky oats for
home consumption. It is very well to do so, for they answer
as well as any others, if given in sufficient quantity. But I
often see much of this grain wasted. It is boiled with roots,
or it is scattered raw upon the boiled food and given along
with it. It does not soon burst in boiling, and the horse
swallows it whole. Such oats should either be bruised by
the rollers, or given raw, with a little chaff.

[The best food for ordinary working-horses in America, is,
as much good hay or grass as they will eat, corn-stalks or
blades, or for the want of these, straw, and a mixture of from
16 to 24 quarts per day, of about half and half of oats and
the better quality of wheat bran. When the horse is seven
years old past, two to four quarts of corn or hommony or meal
ground from the corn and cob is preferable to the pure grain.
Two to four quarts of wheat, barley, rye, buckwheat, peas, or
beans, either whole or ground, may be substituted for the
corn. A pint of oil meal or a gill of flax-seed mixed with the
other food is very good for a relish, especially in keeping up
a healthy system and the bowels open, and in giving the hair
a fine glossy appearance. Potatoes and other roots, unless
choked, do not seem to be of much benefit in this climate,
especially in winter — they lie cold upon the stomach and
subject the horse to scouring ; besides they are too watery
for a hard-working animal. Corn is fed too much at the
south and west. It makes horses fat, but can not give them
that hard, muscular flesh which oats do ; hence their softness
and want of endurance in general work and on the road, in
comparison with northern and eastern horses, reared and fed
on oats and more nutricious grasses.]

The cost of keeping farm-horses has been variously estima-
ted at from 15 to 40 pounds per year. There is, without
doubt, a good deal of difference in different places, dependent
upon the size and work of the horse, and also upon the
varying price of his food. Some feed at much less cost than

250 STABLE ECONOMY.

others, by employing cheap substitutes during the high price
of any article of ordinary consumption. When oats are dear,
wheat, barley, beans, or roots, may partly or wholly supply
their place, and hay may be entirely withheld if good straw
can be procured. It has been boasted that farm-horses may
be kept at summer work on cut green food, with almost no
grain. What the owner might call work is not known. But
in this country grass alone will not produce workable horses.
If food is not given, work can not be taken. Every man
who has a horse has it in his power to starve the animal ;
but that, I should think, can afford little matter for exulta-
tion.

Cart-Horses. — The cart-horses employed about towns
are fed on oats, beans, bran, and hay. Meal seeds, barley,
and corn-dusts, hay-seeds, and roots, are also in common use.
In winter, one feed is generally boiled and given the last at
night. If any be left, it is given the first in the morning. It
usually consists of beans and turnips, or barley and beans, to
which bran and hay, seed or barn chaff, are added. Straw is
almost never used as fodder for these horses. Hay is given
in unmeasured quantity, and it is seldom cut into chaff. In
summer, cut grass is used instead of hay, without any altera-
tion in the quantity of grain ; but boiled food is abandoned as
the grass comes in. Some give boiled food every Sunday,
once a day in summer, and twice in winter. It is supposed
to be less constipating than raw grain for the day of rest.
Raw beans, with dry bran, form the manger food of a great
many cart-horses during the winter. The last feed is boiled
with turnips and hay seed, and the rack is filled with hay.
Meal seeds are often given along with oats or beans, and some-
times alone.

The quantity of fodder is seldom limited. The horse eats
as much as he pleases, or as much as his owner can afford.
It will probably vary from 15 to 30 pounds in the twenty-four
hours. The quantity of grain varies from 12 to 16 pounds.
The oats and beans are seldom bruised.

When the work is regular, the horses are usually fed three
times in the stable, and not at all in the yoke. When irreg-
ular, and having many stoppages, the carter generally takes
out a small bundle of hay and a little grain along with the
horse. The grain is given in a nose-bag, a little at a time
and often, when the horse stands. The hay is carried in a
sack, and the carter often gives a little from his hand as th8

PRACTICE OF FEEDING. 251

horse travels. When stopping, the sack is thrown before him,
or attached to the cart-shaft, and the horse helps himself.

Messrs. Wiggins of Londo?i keep upward of 300 cart-hor-
ses, which are nearly all of the largest size. The grain con-
sists of oats, barley, beans, pease, and bran. In summer, oats
are preferred to beans ; and in spring, barley is supposed to
be better than either. But the choice is determined by the
price. It is all given by weight, and whichever kind of grain
be used, no difference is made in the quantity. When beans
are used, an extra allowance of bran is necessary to keep the
bowels in order. Swedish turnips and carrots are given oc-
casionally. The fodder consists of clover, or saintfoin hay,
and straw.

The beans are bruised, the oats sometimes coarsely ground,
and the barley germinated. The fodder is all cut into chaff.
The bruising and cutting are performed by machinery, which
is worked by a single horse. Two lads, one to feed the ma-
chine, and one to unbind and deliver the hay, cut a load in
three hours. It does not appear that any of the food is boiled.

The daily quantity allowed to each horse varies a little with
his size. The largest receive about 18 pounds of grain, 16
of hay, 4 of straw, and 2 of bran ; in all, 40 pounds. For
some of the horses, 33 or 36 pounds of this mixture is found
sufficient. The whole is given as manger-food. There is
no rack fodder.*

Messrs. Hanbury 6f Truemau, London, keep above 80 hor-
ses, all of large size. They are fed on oats, beans, hay, and
straw. In summer, beans are denied. The oats and beans
are bruised, the fodder all cut. The daily allowance to each
horse consists of oats 14 pounds, beans 1, with 18 of fodder,
in vhich there is one pound of straw to every eight of hay.
The food is never cooked. Salt is given every week on Sat-
urday night and Sunday morning, four ounces at a time. In
this way it relaxes the bowels. f

Mr. John Brown of Glasgow. — The cart-horses are fed
three times a day. They receive oats and a few beans in the
morning before going to work, which, in summer, is at six
o'clock, in winter at seven. They come in at nine and get
another feed, also of oats and beans. They return to work
at ten, and do not come home till six, often not so soon. The
third feed consists of beans, barley, and hay-seed, all boiled

* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, No. 11. British Husbandry, vol i., p
141.
t Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, No. 11

252 STABLE ECONOMY.

together and given warm. The fodder consists entirely of
hay, except for a short time in summer, when cut grass ia
given. The fodder is not limited ; each horse is permitted tc
consume as much as he pleases. Few in the twenty-four
hours use more than sixteen pounds. In winter, a few Swe-
dish turnips are added to the other boiled articles.

These horses are in excellent condition all the year. They
work from ten to twelve hours per day. I have known them
out occasionally for fourteen. They are employed in carting
goods to short distances. The draught is seldom more than
25 cwt. They receive neither fodder nor grain while in the
yoke. Each driver has the stable management of his own
horse. The whole are superintended by a foreman, who
measures out the grain. The horses' legs and feet are washed
and dried every night after work. The stables are visited
every morning by a veterinary surgeon.

Messrs. J. <Sf W. Harvey, Distillers, near Glasgow. — The
cart-horses are fed on oats, beans, barley, hay-seed, hay, and
cut grass. The grain is not bruised, and the fodder is not
cut. In winter the last feed is boiled, and in summer grass
renders boiling unnecessary.

The allowance per week to each horse is three bushels of
oats and half a bushel of beans, besides the boiled food,
which consists of barley,' beans, and hay-seed. One bushel
of each feeds ten horses. Few consume more than half a
stone (7 lbs.) of hay per day, but the quantity of grain is un-
commonly large. They are fed four times. They are em-
ployed chiefly on the road, travelling from 8 to 10 or II hours
per day, at from 3^ to 4 miles an hour, with a draught of 30
to 35 cwt., cart included.

Carriage, Gig, Post, Noddy, Cab, Omnibus, and Street-
Coach Horses. — All these, with few exceptions, have for many
years been fed in the same way, and upon the same articles
as at present. In general they receive three or four feeds per
day, consisting of oats and beans, unbroken and uncooked.
The quantity varies from 12 to 16 pounds ; and the fodder,
of which hay is the only kind, is rarely limited. It is not cut.
During the summer some grass is given, and in winter it is
customary to give a large bran-mash instead of grain, once
a- week, generally on Saturday night if the horse be idle on
Sunday. The horses that stand in the streets are fed three
times in the stable, and get some grain and hay in the yoke.

In large posting and omnibus studs some alteration has ta-
fcen place. 1 he horses are fed according to that system

PRACTICE OF FEEDING. 25c.

which has been most extensively adopted by large coach pro-
prietors.

Mail, Stage, and Fast-Boat Horses. — Many of these
horses are fed in the old way. In winter they receive oats,
beans, bran, and hay; in summer, oats, beans, hay, and grass,
all given without preparation, and only three times a day.
But a new mode has been much adopted by the owners of
nearly all the large studs. The food consists of more arti-
cles ; it is often prepared with a degree of care that in the
good old times would have been deemed preposterously troub-
lesome ; the horses are fed oftener, and articles are used which
many still deem unfit for horses, and even poisonous.

Mr. Lyon of Glasgow was the first to introduce the hay-cut-
ting system into the west of Scotland. It has been practised
in his establishment for fifteen years back. For a long while
he bruised the oats and split the beans, but now both are giv-
en entire. The chaff, without a portion of which grain is
rarely given, ensures the mastication of these articles.

The ordinary feeding consists of oats, beans, and hay ; but
barley is often given both raw and boiled. Every horse re-
ceives about six or seven pounds of rack hay at night. There
are rive feeding hours ; the first at six, the others at nine, one,
five, and eight. At each time the horse receives one half-peck
of a mixture which usually contains 5 bushels of oats, one of
beans, and 6 of chaff. The last is in heaped measure. In
five feeds of this mixture, there are one peck and a quarter of
grain, and as much chaff. The daily allowance will therefore
be, of fodder, cut and uncut, about 9 or 10 pounds, and of
grain about 13 or 14 pounds. The quantity, however, is not
precisely limited. Some horses will eat less, and others
more. They get what they will take, the feeder being care-
ful not to give more at one time than the horse will eat.

In winter the horses get boiled food every night. It is com-
posed of barley and beans, to which a few turnips are some-
times added. Three measures of barley and one of beans go
over as many horses as four of oats and one of beans. Some
hay chaff is added, and this mixture forms the fifth feed.
Carrots are given raw during the day ; but when considerably
dearer than turnips, turnips supply their place. Grass is some-
times given in summer, but not generally. A certain quantity
is taken in every morning for the sick, the feeble, and the
lame ; if not all consumed by these, the remainder is given to
others -

22

254 STABLE ECONOMY.

When there is neither grass, carrots, nor any boiled lood,
the horses receive a large warm mash of bran on Saturday
night. They work none on Sunday. Salt is not generally
used ; never except, for the lick or the staling-evil, and then a
lump of rock-salt is placed in the manger.

Barley is sometimes given raw. The mixture then con-
sists of oats six bushels, of beans three, of barley three, and
of chaff six. The horses are fed the same number of times,
and from the same measure. This mixture is most esteemed
when the work is more than usually laborious.

Wheat is sometimes used ; six bushels of chaff, six of oats,
three of beans, and three of wheat, form the wheat mixture,
which is given in the same way as the others.

Mr. Lyon has tried meal-seeds. The feeding contained
eight bushels of chaff, six of oats, four of barley, four of
beans, and three of meal-seeds. In this mixture, there is a
larger proportion of grain ; but the work was severe, for there
were few spare horses.

In dear hay seasons Mr. Lyon has given straw chaff, but
he thinks it is not profitable while good hay is to be obtained
at a moderate price. The hay-seed is all sold. The horses
are always in excellent condition. Their legs are never
washed without permission. They are watered four or five
times a day. They stand always on litter, except on working
days, when the litter is entirely taken from the stall, until the
horse returns from work. Much straw is saved by this ar-
rangement, but horses that will not urinate on the bare stones
may be sent to the road with a full bladder. From this, how-
ever, I have not observed any injury. The foreman resides
in the stable -yard. He is authorized to hire and discharge
strappers. The stud is visited every morning by a veterinary
surgeon, and a stable, containing three loose boxes, is set
apart for sick and lame horses.

Mr. Walker of Glasgow gives his stage-coach horses five
feeds per day. They are fed at six, nine, twelve, four, and
half-past six, or at seven. In winter the first four feeds con-
sist of oats and beans, which are given by measure. Eleven
of the feeds form one imperial bushel. The quantity of beans
varies according to the condition of the horses, and the qual-
ity of the oats. Sometimes less than a fourth of the feed is
beans ; at other times the oats and beans are in equal propor-
tions. The last feed is boiled, and generally composed of
barley three, and beans two. Straw or hay chaff, and some-
times turnips, are added. Of the beans and barley mixed,

PRACTICE OF FEEDING. 255

forty feeds go as far as fifty of the oat and bean mixture. The
fodder, clover, and rye-grass hay, is given in the racks without
limitation. Some hay, and occasionally straw, is cut into
chaff for mixing with the grain, which is not bruised. In win-
ter, delicate horses get carrots. As summer approaches, the
boiled food is given up. For a while it is given every other
night, then twice a week, then once, and at last it is abandoned
altogether. In autumn it is introduced in the same gradual
manner ; grass is very little used. It is consumed chiefly
by the defective or spare horses, who get a little only while it
is good.

Although the grain is given at regular hours, and in meas-
ured quantities, the horses receive as much as they will eat.
Some do not consume their allowance, and that which is left
is given to others of keener appetite, or put into the boiler, and
less is given out at the next feeding hour. All the horses have
full work, many of them for part of the year running sixteen
miles for six days a week at eight miles per hour in two sta-
ges. The stables are good, and the stud is visited by a vet-
erinarian every morning. The horses always stand on litter.
Their legs are not washed in cold weather. In hot summers
the horses are bathed all over after work.

The late Mr. Peter Mein of Glasgow tried several modes
of feeding. In winter he employed hay, and oat or wheat-
straw, as fodder ; oats, beans, barley, wheat, and turnips, as
grain. The fodder was all cut, the raw grain all bruised, the
beans were given whole ; the wheat, barley, and turnips, were
usually boiled.

The horses were fed eight times every day ; the first feed
was given at five in the morning, the last at ten in the evening.
The daily allowance to each horse used to be eight pounds of
fodder, and sixteen of grain. The fodder was one half straw,
another half hay ; the grain, three fourths oats, and one fourth
beans. They were always mixed, neither grain nor fodder
being given alone. During cold weather, one feed of this mix-
ture was withheld, and replaced by an equal quantity of boiled
food, which consisted of beans, barley, and chaff; Swedish
turnips were also used, but no carrots nor any bran, except to
sick horses. The cooked food was given as the first after
work ; horses that seemed very fond of it got another at night.
In general, each horse got only one ration of boiled food in
the twenty-four hours. Some grass was used in summer;
while young it was given alone ; as it got old, hard, and dry,
it was cut and mixed with the chaff and grain. When old

256 STABLE ECONOMY.

and not cut, the horses wasted much of it. Cutting prevent,
ed all waste.

In the winter of 1836, the horses got no hay. Mr. Mein's
stock was exhausted by the 20th of September, and at that
time hay was both dear and bad. He used straw instead of
hay, from the 20th of September till the 15th of May. Each
horse got eight pounds, with sixteen pounds of grain, prepared
and served in the same way as the hay. The allowance of
turnips was rather larger. After May, good straw could not
easily be procured, and from that time to July, 1837, one half
of the fodder was given in hay.

Mr. Mein tried raw wheat. He gave three pounds per day
to each horse, deducting three pounds of oats. The horses
worked and looked as well as usual, but their bowels seemed
to. be out of order, for the dung was pale, clay-like, and fetid.
There was no other objection to the wheat.

Mr. Croall of Edinburgh gives oats, beans, hay, grass, and
carrots. The hay is all cut, and given along with the grain ;
the oats are bruised, and the beans split or broken fresh every
day. The winter allowance of grain is 14 pounds per day.
The beans are one to three of the oats, by weight. In sum-
mer only twelve pounds are given.

Hunters. — The horses employed in the field vary so much
in size and breeding, and are treated so variously in different
places, that it is difficult to give any useful account of the
mode in which they are fed. Those who follow the hounds
only once or twice a month usually do so upon their hack, an
ordinary road-horse, whose labors as a hunter do not require
any particular difference in his feeding. During the hunting
season he may receive more than his usual allowance of
grain, but in other respects he is treated as a saddle-horse.
He is stabled all the year, and his work,, never very great, is
not such in winter as to demand the repose which is given to
hunters for two or three months in summer.

But in all hunting establishments the horses are treated in
a different manner. Their labors for the season generally
commence about the end of October or beginning of Novem-
ber, and terminate in March or April. From this time till the
month of July, when training for the ensuing winter commen-
ces, the horses are idle, or nearly so. Hence there is much
difference between the summer and the winter feeding. In
winter the food consists of oats, beans, and hay ; carrots and
barley are sometimes, though very seldom, added to these.

But there are two modes of summering the hunter : by one

PRACTICE OF FEEDING. 25"7

he is turned to pasture, and fed entirely upon grass ; by anoth-
er, he is kept almost constantly within doors, receiving a little
grass, some hay, and a small allowance of grain. The last is
the mode recommended and introduced byNimrod. Former
ly it was the custom to turn all hunters to grass as soon as
hunting was over ; but in many parts ol England this practice
has been abandoned. For a long time it was universal. It
was supposed that the horses were as well at grass as they
could be in the stable, and they were kept at much less cost.
Possibly some people might believe that -summer grazing was
necessary for the horse's health, but that does not appear to
have been insisted on until Nimrod began to deny the propri-
ety of turning out. Numerous scribblers appeared to oppose
him. It was contended that a summer's run at grass is abso-
lutely necessary, exclusive of its economy. The labors of the
winter, it was said, have shattered the constitution, the legs,
and the feet. The horse has been injured by his work. Rest
and his natural food alone can restore him to usefulness. The
moisture of the ground is good for his hoofs, and the open air
for his lungs. Grass is the most salubrious food the horse can
have ; it is cooling, refreshing, alterative ; it allays the excite-
ment produced by work and high keep ; it clears away obstruc-
tions, sweetens the blood, relaxes the bowels, purges off the
humors, renovates the whole body, and puts the inside to
rights. Moreover, the repose which a horse obtains at grass,
rectifies, braces, and strengthens, all the parts that his hard
work had shaken and relaxed. Moreover, again, it would be
the very death of a hunter, and very cruel, to keep him stabled
all the year.

I dare say it is evident that the most of this is sad non-
sense. Grass and fresh air can be given in the stable quite as
well as in the field. Moisture is easily applied to the feet ; and
for rest, if rest be necessary, the stabled horse has decidedly
the advantange.

Objections to Grazing Hunters. — There are only two. The
horse loses his hunting condition, and he acquires so much
flesh that his legs and feet are apt to be injured in taking the
superfluous flesh off him. It is true that a pasture may be so
bare or so crowded that an accumulation of flesh or fat can
not take place. The horse may even be starved to emacia-
tion. Still he would lose his hunting condition, even though
he obtained neither more nor less flesh than he might carry
at work. Unless the horse have more exercise, a faster kind
of exercise than he takes at grass, he can not keep his hunt

22*

258 STABLE ECONOMY.

ing condition. He becomes weak and short-winded, whether
he have much or little food.

There are no other real objections, unless it be one that the
horse is liable to receive the bot-worm into his stomach ; but
this has never been urged against grazing.

One party has magnifiedf or rather multiplied, the virtues,
and another the evil of a summer's run. Pastured hunters,
it is said, are liable to kicks, sprains, and other injuries, in
playing or quarrelling with their neighbors ; that the feet are
often injured by stamping the ground when it is hard, and the
flies irritating ; that splints and ringbones are sometimes pro-
duced in the same way ; that the act of grazing is pernicious
to the back-tendons ; that broken-wind, roaring, and exces-
sive emaciation, have been the results of a summer's run. But
these are not the necessary consequences of turning out ; they
are merely accidents arising from mismanagement or want of
care. Some of the alleged evils have no existence. Ring-
bone, if ever produced at grass, is the result of inattention to
the feet, and splints do no more harm by appearing while the
horse is at pasture than if he were stabled. They would
come whether or not. It has never been proved that grazing
injures the back-tendons.

The pages of the sporting periodicals abound with what
are called arguments, or what is meant for argument, for and
against grazing hunters. With the exceptions to which I
have briefly alluded, nothing has come under my notice wor-
thy of particular attention. Enough has been written, if it be
measured by quantity ; but writers on stable affairs are, in
general, not very good writers. They tell stories which nei-
ther interest nor instruct, neither refute nor confirm. In
truth, they are often entirely destitute of any connexion with
the subject of discussion. There are numerous accounts of
horses gv^ing to grass without fault, and returning with dis-
ease, or acquiring disease soon afterward. The circumstance
is supposed to be conclusive in favor of the in-door system.
On the other side, similar tales are told of horses not doing
well in the house. They reason like children. If they see
two things at the same time, they immediately believe that
one is the cause of the other. If a horse die, or fall lame,
while getting grass, that, and nothing else, was the cause. If
a hunter die that had got no grass, no physic, nor any alter-
ative medicine, the want of one or other is the reason he dies.

If a horse could be kept in hunting condition while at
grass, o: prepared without hazard, and in time to follow

PRACTICE OF FEEDING. 259

hounds after a summer's run, as well as by keeping him in
the stable, there could not, I think, be any reason for keeping
him at home. This could be done, but it would require more
care, and the cost would be as great as if the horse were kept
entirely in the stable.

Nimrod's Mode of Summering Hunters. — This gentleman,
whose real name is Apperley, has acquired considerable ce-
lebrity in the sporting world by his writings in favor of home
summering. He was the first to introduce the system which
bears his assumed name. His remarks were originally pub-
lished in the Sporting Magazine, between 1822 and 1828.
They formed a series of letters, which have recently been
collected into a single volume ; from this I extract the follow-
ing account of the mode in which he kept six hunters during
the summer of 1825. The quotation is considerably abridged.

Food. — The horses had received alteratives during the
hunting season, and required no physic when it terminated,
which was on the 20th of April. They got their usual food,
with very gentle exercise, till the 7th of May — seventeen
days. From this time till the 19th — that is, for twelve days
— they received some grass during the day, and hay at night.
They were soiled a second time for ten days, from the 11th
to the 20th of June. They were then prepared for physic,
which was given on the 22d. Four of the six horses got no
more grass. The other two got about an armful of vetches
daily, mixed with their hay, till the sixth of July. Each
horse had three quarterns* of oats per day, and three had a
single handful of beans in every feed.

Care of the Feet. — The shoes were taken from all the hor-
ses on the 7th of May ; the hoofs were closely pared, the
soles thinned, and frogs let down to the ground. The horses
stood barefoot till the 6th of July, a period of sixty days
Each stood two hours every day in a clay-box, a building ten
feet by twelve, the floor of which was covered with clay, oc-
casionally moistened by dashing water upon it.

Lodging. — Nos. 1 and 2 were in a building sixteen yards
by six. It was well littered, and had an outlet to a small
green yard, in which there was a running stream. No. 3
was in a covered building, twelve yards long and six broad.
One half of the floor was littered, the other half paved with
brick. No. 4 was in a loose box, six yards square, kept
quite dark to exclude flies, of which the horse was uncom-
monly terrified He was turned into a paddock forty yards
* A quartern is the fourth of a peck.

260 STABLE ECONOMY.

square, about six times in the course of summer, after sun
set, but the fence would not confine him. No. 5 was fired,
and stood in a stall all day ; in the cool of evening and early
at morning he went to the paddock. No. 6 was kept in an
airy box, but being vicious, was not so often in the paddock
as she should have been.

Medicine. — The first dose of physic was given on the 22d
of June : on the 18th of July each horse got a second dose,
which was mild. In the month of August, each horse re-
ceived one half pound of antimony, an ounce at a time for
eight successive days. More physic, it was expected, would
not be required till after Christmas, but some of the horses
had got an alterative ball every week.

Comparative Cost. — To avoid fractions, the period may be
called nine weeks. During the hunting season the horses
consumed three hundred-weight of hay per week ; but in
these loose places some is wasted, and more is eaten, the
horses having less grain. The quantity consumed by the six
horses may be calculated at five hundred-weight per week.

Forty-five cwt. of hay, at £4 per ton, - - - £9 0 0
Seventy-one bushels of oats at 4s. per bushel - - 14 4 0
Beans 1 10 0

24 14 0
Six horses at grass for 9 weeks, at 4s. each per week 10 16 0

Difference 13 18 0
About three pounds of the stable outlay would return for
manure ; and if any one of the horses were sold at the com-
mencement of next hunting season, his condition would be
such that he would bring at least twenty-five pounds more
than if he had been summered at grass.*

According to this account, it appears that each horse costs
about five shillings more per week in the stable than at grass.
I am, however, inclined to think that the difference will be
be fouD'l considerably greater when other items are taken into
consideration. The cost of grass for soiling, of straw for lit-
ter, of attendance, of stable-room, and a few other little arti-
cles, is omitted. To the proprietor of an established stud the
expenditure for these is insignificant ; but every charge on
both sides should be known before it can be told whether the
horses may be stabled or grazed.

Objections to Home Summering. — The expense attending
the in-door system is the only objection that can, I think, be
* Nimrod on the Condition of Hunters, pp. 258, 260.

PRACTICE OF FEEDING 261

justly urged against it. As far as the health and vigor of the
hunter are concerned, experience seems to have fully proved
which of the two plans is the best for him. Most of those
who have opposed the home summering, persist in magnify-
ing and multiplying the good effects of grazing ; but little is
said against Nimrod's system, except that it deprives the
horse of all the advantages of grazing, and that it is cruel.
The cruelty has been much insisted on, but without any rea-
son. If it can be shown that the stabled hunter has more
vigor at the commencement of his labors than he that has
summered abroad, it is sufficient proof that the horse has not
been uncomfortable. He has not, indeed, experienced the
delight of galloping in freedom with his companions, but nei-
ther has he suffered the pains of freedom. On the hot days
he has been reposing at ease in the stable, while others were
scorched by a burning sun, and persecuted by multitudes of
winged enemies. If the horse himself be consulted, it will
be found that, though he likes now and then to have a day 01
two to himself in a good pasture, yet he prefers home. If
every horse that has been long stabled had his own will, he
would walk from the field to the stall upon the third or fourth
day.

I see no objection to let the hunter out for two or three
weeks, while the grass is young. In such a short period he
would not suffer much loss of condition — none but what
might be easily and safely restored before he is wanted for the
nounds. Yet I do not think he would derive any benefit
from this, if the pleasure it would give him be excepted.
There are cases in which a summer's grass may be quite ne-
cessary, demanded by the state of the horse's health. But I
am not speaking of these, nor of those to whom grazing
would be more than usually injurious. Thef e are exceptions,
and have nothing to do with the question. Hunters in full
work are generally lean, something exhausted, and have their
legs a little the worse for wear, at the end of the hunting sea-
son. Some may have become very lame, and these are not
fit for grass ; others may have been sadly over-marked, and in
bad health ; these would be much the better of the young
grass, the gentle and regular exercise, and the open air which
they would procure at pasture. But in all ordinary cases, it
appears that hunters can be better managed at home than
abroad.

They are not to be constantly tied in stalls, nor even kept
loose boxes. If the legs be good the horses should have

262 STABLE ECONOMY.

walking and trotting exercise every day, or every second
day, during the first six weeks. Afterward the exercise
must be fast enough to give good wind. If the legs be de-
fective, the horse may need absolute rest, or he may have
walking exercise in moderation every day.

The Winter Food of Hunters consists of oats, beans, hay,
and bran. The articles are generally of the best quality.
The quantity of hay is about 8 pounds per day, the one half
given at morning, the other at night. Many hunters would
eat more, and some may be allowed about 10 pounds. A
greater quantity makes the belly too large, and impedes the
breathing. The day before hunting, the horse should not
have more than 8 pounds. If he eat his litter, the setting
muzzle must be applied about 10 or 11 o'clock at nignt, or
after the allowance of hay is consumed. In such a case the
groom must be in the stable by 5 next morning, to remove
the muzzle and give the horse his first feed, along with 4
pounds of hay. For horses somewhat thick- winded, those
that breathe as if with great labor^ even 8 pounds of hay may
be rather too much on the day before work. Horses differ
much in the quantity of hay they may eat without inconve-
nience. The size of the belly is perhaps a good guide. If
8 pounds of hay make it too large for work, less must be
given. When the flank is tucked up, a larger allowance is
necessary. Hunters of light carcass and narrow chest sel-
dom eat too much of anything, and they are always poor hay-
feeders. The round-barrelled horse is most apt to overeai
himself. By giving more grain, he may have less disposition
to gorge himself with hay ; but, unless his legs be good
enough to stand much work, more grain will make him too
fat. These great eaters need physic often, and alteratives al-
most every week.

Hunters during the season, are generally fed five times a
day, consuming from 12 to 16 pounds of grain. The ordina-
ry feed is a quartern, in each of which there may be one or
two single handfuls of beans. The oats and beans are rare-
ly bruised, and the hay almost never cut into chaff. Occa-
sionally a few carrots are given. They are better after a
severe day than before it. Hunters seldom receive any boiled
food. Barley boiled, or germinated, is an excellent and
speedy restorative when the horse has been tired off his
feed. The quantity in such a case should not exceed half a
feed. Bran-mashes are given only when the horse shows
some signs of plethora, when under physic, when work has

PRACTICE OF FEEDING. 263

fevered him, when lameness, fatigue, or sickness, require rest.
To horses of keen appetite, it is usual to give a bran-mash
once in 8 or 10 days, instead of the customary feed of grain.
It keeps the bowels open and prevents plethora, but it is
purgative and debilitating, if given within 48 hours of going
to hounds. Horses that purge on the road or in the field
never need it while able for work.

The Saddle-Horse is fed in nearly the same manner as
hunters. He generally gets more hay and less grain. Three
feeds per day, about 10 pounds, is the usual allowance, with
12 of hay. Those in full work may be fed in the same way
as hunters, or stage-coach horses. When the work is moder-
ate, the feeding may be the same as that of cavalry-horses.

The cost of keeping a horse at livery, varies from 17s. to
25s. per week.

The Cavalry-Horses used to be fed on barley and hay.
At present they get 10 pounds of oats, and 12 of hay. They
are fed thrice. In the morning they get 3 pounds, at mid-day
4, and at night 3. For six or seven weeks in summer they
get cut grass. They have no beans, no boiled food, nor chaff.
The oats are not bruised. Once a week a bran-mash is given
at night instead of oats. Sick horses get bran-mashes, boiled
oats, raw potatoes, and hay or grass. Each horse is allowed
8 pounds of straw every day for litter.

Race-Horses. — I have never been at Newmarket, and
have had so little to do with race-horses that. I can not say
much about them. The few remarks I here make, are not
derived from extensive personal observation, and I am not sure
that my authorities know any more about the matter than my-
self. The account which I offer of what is, and of what
should be, in the feeding of racers, can not be the same as if
it had been written at the headquarters of racing. I would
not'have either the theories or the practice much trusted in.

It seems that race-horses, when in work, live chiefly upon
oats, beans, and hay. The quantity of oats varies from 15
to 20 pounds per day ; nobody can tell me how much hay is
allowed. The racer appears, however, to get as much as the
hunter, if he choose to eat it. Race-horses must have no
superfluous flesh about them, yet they must possess great vigor
and endurance. Some of them, many of them, are delicate,
jrritable animals, always lean, and often not eating sufficient
to confer the energy their work requires. These require
food that is both tempting and highly nutritious. They may
have as much oats as they will eat, and an allowance of beans

264 STABLE ECONOMY.

in each feed. The only danger of giving too much or too
often, is that of disgusting the horse and destroying his ap-
petite, for two or three meals. Clover hay may be given to
tl ese horses, and in what quantity they like. They should
be fel often, yet never till they are hungry ; others of robust
constitution, disposed to eat too much, that is, so much as to
produce fatness, in spite of all the work the legs will suffer,
must be fed somewhat sparingly. For these horses beans are
too strong, and clover too tempting. It is true, the more they
eat, the more work they will endure ; and the more work the\
get in training or racing, the more vigor they display on the
day of action. But there are limits to this. The legs fail ;
they become tumid, tender, and the fetlocks knuckle ; the
horse gets stiff, and his stride shortens. The work which a
greedy feeder may require to keep him free from superfluous
flesh, confers speed, and especially stoutness, but, carried
beyond a certain point, it ruins the legs. Hence it is neces-
sary to limit the allowance of food in proportion to the delicacy
of the limbs. If they threaten to fail, the work must be di-
minished, and, as the wTork decreases, so must the food ;
otherwise, stable-sweating or purging must be employed to
keep the horse spare.

Grass is sometimes given to racers. They work chiefly in
summer, but also in spring and in autumn. Between racing-
days they occasionally require to be soiled. If work be con-
cluded before grass is quite out of season, some is given, while
it lasts, to horses that are laid up for the winter.

When racing is over, which is generally by the end of
September, the horses are put into winter-quarters. Some
may have had much work ; they are emaciated ; the legs are
swollen out of shape ; some are lame ; some have galled
backs ; all have *he feet much injured, the hoofs broken and
reduced by frequent removal of the shoes. Those that have
been much reduced and knocked about, are put into loose
boxes, where they remain for two or three months, receiving
grass, carrots, hay, and oats. The quantity of food should be
sufficient to put flesh on the horse, but not to produce fatness.
If the legs or sheath swell, he must have physic, or an altera-
tive, exercise, and less grain, replaced by bran-mashes, more
particularly should there be a tendency to surfeit. When
bad weather or the state of the horse's legs requires that he stay
much in the house, he should have bran-mashes often, and the
loose box should be as large as possible, without being cold.

The horse is to be dressed every day ; the loose-box clean

PRACTICE OF FEEDING. 265

ed every morning. If the legs have not been much abused,
and the horse have no lameness, he ought to have exercise
every day. If the back sinews be much swollen, little or no
exercise should be given for the first four or six weeks. If
the horse be lame he must rest till sound. The feet should
always be defended by light shoes to prevent further injury of
the hoofs, and to permit of out-door exercise. Thrushes, if
there be any, are to be dressed every second day ; and if very
bad, a leather sole may be applied under the shoe. The shoes
need removal, and the feet dressing, every five or six weeks.
If the hoofs be much broken and of slow growth, the shoes
should be strong enough to wear at exercise for six or eight
weeks. At the end of four, they may be removed, eased off
the heels, and the nails driven in the old holes.

If the horse be rather lusty at the conclusion of his running,
he will require less grain, more exercise, and perhaps a dose
of physic. If the legs be good, he may have exercise every
day, and a sweating gallop once a fortnight. If the legs be
much out of order, the horse must rest, and get two or three
doses of physic. At first he should have little grain. He
must be reduced in flesh before his legs can be restored.

Some racers are stalled all winter, and if fit for daily ex-
ercise they are almost as well in stalls as in loose boxes.
But when lameness, injured legs, or great emaciation, forbids
exercise abroad, the horse, for a* while at least, must have a
loose box, where he will have motion enough to prevent
swelled legs, stiffness, repletion, and the fatigue and weari-
someness produced by long confinement.

Too much physic, I think, is given in the racing stables.
If the legs be good, and the horse- lean, he needs no physic
at the conclusion of his running. Engorgement of the legs
demands two or three doses, which, for a lean horse, should
be mild, for a lusty horse pretty strong. But it seems to be a
common practice to give three doses, whether the legs need
them or not. It is said, that the physic prevents the horse
from getting foul, that is, too plethoric : and for a time it does
so. But if other circumstances do not demand physic, would
it not be as well to limit the allowance of food ? It is the
high feeding, the system of feeding beyond the work, that
produces the plethora It would surely be easier and safer
to give less food, than to give physic for preventing or curing
the evils arising from too much food.

It appears to me that both hunting and racing grooms feed
the idle horses too fast. If lean when laid out of work, it is

23

266 STABLE ECONOMY.

right to have them plump, well filled-up ly the time they are
called into training. Racers are generally altogether out of
work for about three months, many of them for a longer, but
few for a shorter time. The whole of this period may be
necessary to restore the legs, but much less time suffices to
fill up an emaciated horse. If a tolerable feeder, six weeks
of repose on a generous diet will recruit the racer, even when
his work — to use a stable phrase — has drawn him very fine.
But it is not right to hasten flesh upon him so rapidly. If the
horse is to lie off for three months, and, in the first two, ac-
quires all the flesh he can carry in training, the last month
will load him with superfluity, which must be pulled off, at
the hazard of the legs, or by means of bleeding, physic,
sweating, or alteratives. In the first place, all the grain from
which the superfluous flesh is derived, goes to waste ; it is
lost. In the second place, the flesh must be removed at con-
siderable hazard to the horse, and a large expenditure of time,
trouble, and money, to the owner.

There are manv racers to whom these remarks are not an-
plicable. Those of light carcass and hot tempers rarely feed
so well as to accumulate fat. They may have what they will
eat and drink. But the others, those of deep chests, broad
loins, and keen stomachs, must have their allowance of grain
regulated by their work. The groom should know with what
flesh the horse can go to framing in spring, and he should take
care that the requisite quantity is not required too soon.

PASTURING.

In another place, I have spoken of grass as an article of
food. Its laxative and alterative properties are well known.
So far as mere health is concerned, grass is the most salubri-
ous food the horse can receive. When eaten where it grows,
the horse is said to be turned out — to be getting a run at grass
— or he is at grass. When cut, and consumed in the stable,
the horse is said to be soiled.

Pasture Fields differ very widely. Some are composed
of only two or three plants ; others of an endless variety. Of
the same field some parts are highly relished, and always
cropped to the root ; while many others, luxuriant, healthy,
and, to the eye, attractive, are never touched, or eaten only
when there is nothing else to eat. The soil is sometimes
hard and injurious to naked feet, sometimes soft and marshy
favorable to the growth of horn but not to a weak hoof. Pas-

PRACTICE OF FEEDING. 267

tures on the seashore, and occasionally laid undei salt-water,
are supposed to be more salubrious than others. They are
termed salt-marshes, saltings, or ings. For horses worn down,
by bad food, hard work, or disease, they are recommended by
several authorities as peculiarly renovating, but their supe-
riority is not unquestionable. Whatever be the nature of the
soil and of the herbage, there should be abundance of grass,
a supply of water, shelter from the sun and the storm, and
fences to enforce confinement.

It is probable that grass eaten m the field produces quite the
same effects as that eaten in the stable. But at pasture there
are several agents in operation to which the stabled horse is
not necessarily exposed. The exercise he must take, and the
position his head must assume, in order that he may obtain
food ; the annoyance he suffers from flies ; his exposure to
the weather ; the influence of the soil upon the feet and legs ;
and the quantity of food placed at his disposal, appear to me
to be all the circumstances which make pasturing different
from soiling. They deserve a little notice in detail.

The Exercise which the pastured horse must take as he
gathers his food, varies according to the state of the herbage.
When the ground is bare, the exercise may amount even to
work, but to a sound horse it is never injurious ; in cold
weather it keeps him warm, or, at least, prevents him from
becoming very cold. With a lame horse the case is different.
In some lamenesses, the slow but constant exercise which a
horse must take at grass is beneficial. It is so in the navicu-
lar disease, and in all other chronic diseases of the joints ;
of which, however, there are not many in the horse. The
exertion which a bare pasture demands, is unfavorable to any
sprain or lameness arising from disease in the ligaments and
tendons. Lameness when very great, no matter where seat-
ed, forbids pasturing, even though the herbage be knee-high.
The pain of standing, and moving on two or three legs, may
be so great that the horse will be compelled to lie before he
has obtained half a meal. In a rich pasture he will lose flesh,
and in a bare one he will starve. I have seen groggy horses,
even where the grass was abundant, so much reduced that
they could hardly move. They could not stand till they ob-
tained sufficient food, and they could obtain none when lying.

It is for slight lameness only that horses should be turned
out ; and the pastures should be such as to afford sufficient
nutriment, without giving the horse more exercise than is
good for the disease.

268 STABLE ECONOMY.

The legs of" fast-working horses often become tumid, shape
less, tottering, bent at the knee, and straight at the pasterns
These always improve at pasture, as, indeed, they do in the
stable, or loose box, when the horse is thrown out of work
Grazing exercise does not appear to be unfavorable to their
restoration ; but when the knees are very much bent, the
horse is unfit for turning out ; he can not graze ; when his
head is down he is ready to fall upon his nose, and it costs
him much effort to maintain his equipoise.

Young horses in good condition take a good deal of exer-
cise in playing with their companions. I have never known
any take too much. Some are sprained or otherwise injured,
m galloping or leaping ; but these are the accidents of pas-
turage, not the necessary concomitants.

The Position of the Head in the act of grazing is un-
favorable to the return of blood from the brain, from the eyes,
from all parts of the head. Horses that have had staggers*
or bad eyes, those that have recently lost a jugular vein, and
those that have any disease about the head — strangles, for in-
stance— should not be sent to pasture. The disease becomes
worse, or if gone, it is apt to return. Even healthy horses
are liable to attacks on the brain when turned to grass, par-
ticularly when the weather is hot, and the herbage abundant.
1 have not met with such cases, but they are somewhere on
record.

It has been said that horses prefer feeding from the ground,
to feeding from the manger; but that is not true. Colts are
indifferent about it. They have always been accustomed to
grazing, and the act gives them no uneasiness. But horses
that have been more than a year in the stable, and especially
those that have been reined up in harness, often experience
considerable difficulty in grazing. The neck is rigid, and
the muscles which support the head are short. It is often
several weeks before an old coach-horse can graze with ease.
For the first two or three hours after turning out he seems to
manage tolerably well, but subsequently he gets wearied, and
may be seen in a ditch, feeding off the banks. He loses
flesh during the first two or three weeks, but afterward he ac-
quires greater facility in grazing. Some, however, do not. I
have known one or two remain out for a month, and require
to be taken home to prevent death by starvation. Very old
coach-horses that have short, stiff necks, should not be turned

* Phrenitis or apoplexy.

PASTURING. 269

out when they can be kept in. If they must go, they should
be watched, lest they die of want.

Exposure to the Weather. — Wet cold weather always
produces emaciation and a long eoat. If the horse be put out
without preparation, he is apt to have an attack of inflamed
lungs, a sore throat, or a common cold, with discharge from
the nose. He may sicken and die. Many people seem to
think no usage too bad for the horse, if it do not immediately
produce some deadly disease ; that is to say, they do not care
for consequences, unless they are sure their interest will be
materially affected. A fool will often sacrifice his interest to
a certain extent, rather than be guilty of kindness to his hoise,
or give himself any trouble. He may know that cold will
make the beast lean for certain, and that it will cost so much
grain to restore his flesh ; and he may know that sickness may
arise from sudden exposure ; but that is only probable, and he
incurs the risk rather than take the trouble of putting his horse
under cover when a wet night or a cold day comes. Early
in spring, or late in autumn, he is turned out of a warm com-
fortable stable, and left to battle with the weather as he best
can. He crouches to the side of a hedge, shivering and
neglected, as if he had no friend in the world ; and of all
who pass him, no one seems to think he is suffering any hard-
ship, while those who have imbibed the " manly bravery of
British subjects" consider him a fair mark for a stone or a
jest.

In time, the horse becomes inured to the weather, if he do
not sink under it. But sometimes he comes home with dis-
eased lungs, and very often with a cough which never leaves
him, and which produces broken wind.

Shelter is too much neglected, especially in winter pas-
tures. It is easily provided, at the cost of a few rude boards.
A hovel, covered on three sides, the fourth open to the south,
and just high enough to admit the horse, will answer the
purpose. The bottom should be sloping, elevated, and quite
dry. When litter can be afforded, it will tempt the horse out
of the blast. There may be hay-racks and mangers, strong,
though of rude construction. In summer the horse can re-
tire here during the heat of the day, and in winter he can
avoid the storm of suow or rain.

Exposure to hot weather is not so pernicious, yet it always
produces pain, if the horse be turned out in the middle of sum-
mer. For a while he is fevered all day and loses flesh ; but
he soon recovers. The parts that arc most apt to suffer are

23*

270 STABLE ECONOMY.

the brain and the eyes. Staggers, that is, an affection of the
brain, is not common, and the eyes never suffer permanent
mischief. They are inflamed by the flies, but the brain is in-
jured, partly by the heat, a»d partly by the pendent position
of the head, aided perhaps by plethora.

The Fltes. — The horse is persecuted by at least three
kinds of flies. One, the common house-fly, settles on his
ears and different parts of his body, tickling and teasing him.
Another is a larger fly, termed the gad or cleg ; it is a blood-
sucker, bites pretty smartly, and irritates some tender-skinned
horses almost to madness. They gallop about the field in
every direction, stamp their feet, tear up the ground, and of-
ten kick as if something were behind them. Sometimes they
rush into the water to escape the attacks of these formidable
insects. It is this fly, I suppose that produces the bot-worm,
so often found in the stomach of a horse that has been at
grass. [The bot-fly never bites the horse. He irritates him
merely. The gad-fly, which so much annoys the horse, is a
different one from the bot-fly.] The female deposites her eggs
on the hair about the shoulder, neck, and knees ; a glutinous
matter in which they are enveloped fastens them to the hair.
When the horse or his companion licks these places, he swal-
lows some of the eggs, which are hatched in the stomach.
The worms are each furnished with two little hooks, by which
they adhere to the surface of the stomach till spring arrives,
when they are evacuated, and soon become flies like the
parent.

There is a third kind of fly, which annoys the pastured
horse a good deal. I do not know its name. It is a small
insect, and lives on blood. It attacks those parts where the
skin is thinnest ; the eyelids, inside and outside, the sheath,
and the vagina, are often much bitten by it. The eyelids es-
pecially always swell where this fly abounds, and the swel-
ling is sometimes so great as to make the horse nearly blind.
The eye is red and weeping. Some suffer much more than
others. I have never seen any permanently injured.

The principal defence the horse has against these puny,
but tormenting enemies, is his tail. On some parts of the
body the horse can remove them with his teeth, and his feet ,
and that which the feet and the teeth can not do is done by
the tail. But in this country, so eminently the seat of free-
dom and wisdom, the effective instrument with which nature
furnishes him is almost invaiiably removed before the horse
has attained maturity ; as if the pains of servitude were not

PASTURING. 271

sufficiently great and numerous, domesticity is rendered still
more intolerable by caprice. The tail, though useful, is not
ornamental, and therefore it must suffer amputation. In such
works the lords of creation delight to exhibit their pride and
their power.

The Soil. — The influence of the soil upon the horse's
feet and legs has been much spoken of; but it has been much
exaggerated. Horses reared in soft marshy pastures have
large flat feet, low at the heels, and weak everywhere. On
dry ground the hoof is hard, strong, and small, the sole con-
cave, and the heels high. But to confer any peculiar charac-
ter upon the hoof, or produce any change upon it, a long and
continued residence upon the same soil is necessary. A pe-
riod of six months does, perhaps, produce a change, but in
general it is so insignificant that it is not apparent.

The low temperature at which the feet and legs are kept
in a moist pasture has probably some influence in abating in-
flammation in these parts ; but the benefit can not be very
great. The legs become finer, free from tumor and gourdi-
ness, but they would improve nearly or quite as soon, and as
much, in a loose box.

When the pastures are hard, baked by the sun, unshod
horses are apt to break away the crust, and they often come
home with hardly horn enough to hold a nail. Feet that have
never been shod suffer less ; others should in general be pre-
served by light shoes, especially on the fore feet ; kicking
horses, when shod behind, are rather dangerous among others.

It has been supposed that the act of grazing throws con-
siderable stress upon the tendons of the fore legs, and ulti-
mately impairs them. This has been urged against grazing
hunters ; but so far as sound legs are concerned, there seems
to be no truth in the supposition, and it has certainly never
been proved.

Quantity of Food. — In the stable a horse's food can be
given in measure proportioned to his wants. But at pasture
he may get too much, or he may get too little. This is a
strong objection to summering hunters in the field. It is dif-
ficult to put the horse where he will receive all the nourish-
ment he requires, and no more. In a rich pasture he may
acquire an inconvenient load of fat ; in a poor one he may be
half starved. If he must go out, he may be taken in before
he becomes too fat, or he may be placed in a bare pasture,
and fed up to the point required, by a daily allowance of
grain.

273 STABLE ECONOMY.

In winter, few pastures afford sufficient nourishment to a
horse that must go to work in spring. A little hay is given,
but in many cases- some grain should be added. The horse
will pay for it when he goes into work. His condition, how-
ever, will tell what is wanted. He had better be rather lean
than too fat when he commences work, especially if the work
be fast.

Times of Turning out. — Horses are pastured at all
times of the year. Some are out for lameness, some for bad
health, and some that they may be kept at less than the stable
cost. The usual time of turning out is about the end of April
or beginning of May. Then the grass is young, juicy, ten-
der, and more laxative than at a later period. The spring
grass is best for a horse in bad health, worn out by sickness,
hard work, or bad food. The weather is mild, neither too
hot nor too cold ; when unsettled and backward, the delicate,
sometimes every horse, should come in at night and on bleak
days. Toward the end of summer, the' grass is hard, dry,
coarse, fit enough to afford nutriment, but not to renovate a
shattered constitution. The days are hot, the nights cold and
damp, the flies strong and numerous. This is not the time
for turning out a delicate, nor a thin-skinned horse. Those
that are to be out all winter may be turned off at any time in
September. Winter grazing is better for the legs than that
of spring or summer. The bareness of the pasture keeps
the carcass light, and the coolness of the atmosphere fines
the legs. But if the horse be very lame, the exercise may
be too much for him.

Preparation for Pasturing. — Grooms are much in the
habit of giving the horse a dose or two of physic before send-
ing him to grass. I do not think that any is necessary, yet
it appears to do no harm. Physic, they say, prevents the grain
from fighting with the grass ; but this is a nonsensical theory.
The horse may have tumid legs, or some other thing the mat-
ter with him, and for that physic may be useful. It would
be so whether the horse went to grass or remained at home.
But so far as the mere change of diet and lodging is con-
cerned, physic is quite unnecessary.

To prepare the horse for exposure to the weather, the
clothing to which he has been accustomed is lightened, and
then entirely removed, a week or two before turning out.
The temperature of the stable is gradually reduced, till it be
as cool as the external air. These precautions are most
necessary for horses that have been much in the stable, and

STURING. 273

particularly in a warm stable. If the horse go out at the end
of summer or in autumn, he should go before his winter coat
is ort. If its growth be completed in the stable, its subse-
quent increase may not be sufficient to keep the horse warm.
In autumn, he should not go out while moulting. For eight
or ten days previous he should not be groomed. The dust
and perspiration which accumulate upon the hair, seem in
some measure to protect the skin from rain and from flies.
The feet should be dressed, and the grass shoes, or plates,
applied a week before turning out. If injured by the nails,
the injury will be apparent before much mischief is done.
At grass it might not be noticed so soon. On the day of
going out, the horse should be fed as usual. If he go to grass
when very hungry he may eat too much. Indigestion will
be the result, and next morning the horse will be found dead.
Weather permitting, night is usually chosen for the time of
turning out. The horse is not so apt to gallop about. Let
loose in the daytime, many are disposed to gallop till they
lame themselves, and to try the fences.

In autumn, or early in spring, the stable preparation for
grass is often insufficient. If the horse be tender, or the
weather unsettled or cold, he may require to be taken home
every night, for perhaps the first week. For eight or ten
days longer, it may be proper to house him on very wet or
stormy nights. If there be no sheds in the field, it is an act
of charity to bring the horse home when there is snow on the
ground. The stable assigned to him should always be cool,
not so cold as the external air, but never so warm as if he
were accustomed to it.

Confinement. — Some horses are not so easily confined at
pasture. They break or leap the fences, and wander over
the country, or proceed to the stable. The fore feet are
sometimes shackled in order to confine them ; but these fet-
ters, if long worn, are apt to alter the horse's action, render-
ing it short, confined, irregular, at least for a time, till he re-
gain the use of his shoulders. Sometimes the horse is tied
by a rope to a stake driven in the ground. He requires
almost constant watching, for he must be often shifted as he
eats down the grass, and he may get his legs entangled in
the rope. He may cast himself, and receive severe injury,
without he be immediately relieved. Sometimes the horse
is Ted to a stake, which he can drag about the field. He
s jon finds that he can walk where he pleases, but he can not
run, and seldom atten pts to leap. This also is liable how

274 STABLE ECONOMY.

ever, to throw the horse down, or injure his legs by getting
them entangled in the rope. To prevent the horse from leap-
ing, a board is sometimes suspended round his neck, and
reaching to the knees, which it is apt to bruise. None of
these clumsy and unsafe restraints should ever be employed
when it is possible to dispense with them. Few horses,
mares in springs and stallions excepted, require them after
the first two days. For horses that are turned out only ac
hour or two during the day, they are as much used to render
the horse easily caught when wanted, as to prevent him from
wandering.

Attendance while Out. — Horses at grass should be
visited at least once every day. If neglected for weeks, as
rften happens, one may be stolen, and conveyed out of the
country before he is missed ; the fences may be broken ; the
vater may fail ; the horses may be lamed or attacked with
uckness ; one may roll into a ditch, and die there for want
)f assistance to extricate him ; the shoes may be cast ; the
heels may crack ; thrushes may form ; sores may run into
sinuses, or get full of maggots ; the feet and legs may be in-
jured by stubs, thorns, broken glass, or kicks ; the horses
may quarrel, fight, and wound each other. That these and
similar evils and accidents may be prevented, or soon re-
paired, the horses should be visited every morning. The
man set on this duty should be trustworthy, not a stupid fel-
low, nor one who will loiter in the tavern, and return without
seeing the horses. He should know what he has to look for.
It is not enough to stand at the gate and count the horses.
He must approach them, examine them one by one, looking
to their condition, their action, and their spirits, and not for-
getting to cast an eye upon the feet, the pasture, the water,
the fences, and the shelter-sheds. Let him take a bridle and
some grain with him, that he may catch any horse that seems
to require closer examination, and he can at once bring home
any horse that needs it.

The grain, hay, either or both, if any be given, should be
furnished at regular intervals ; when fed with grain, the
horses ought to be watched till it be eaten, lest they rob each
other, and lest a prowling thief rob the whole. Horses at
grass require no dressing. They should have none. It ex-
poses the skin too much. The shoes may be removed, and
the feet dressed every four or five weeks.

Treatment after Grazing. — When taken from grass to
warm stables, and put upon rich constipating food, horses

PASTURING. 275

frequently become diseased. Some catch cold, some suffer
inflammation in the eyes, some take swelled legs, cracked
heels, grease, thrushes, founder, surfeit, or a kind of mange.
These are very common, and physic is often, indeed gene-
rally, given to prevent them. They are produced by a com-
bination of circumstances ; by sudden transition from gentle
exercise to indolence or exciting work ; from a temperate to
a stimulating diet ; from a pure, cool, and moving atmosphere,
to an air comparatively corrupt, hot, and stagnant. These
changes must be made ; they are to a certain extent unavoid-
able, but it is not in all cases necessary that they be made
suddenly. It is the rapid transition from one thing to another
and different thing, that does all the mischief. If it were ef-
fected by slow degrees, the evils would be avoided, and there
would be less need, or no need, for those medicines which
ire given to prevent them.

During the first week the temperature of the stable ought
o be little different from that of the external air. Subse-
^ently it may be raised, by slow degrees, till it is as warm
,*« the work or other circumstances demand. The horse
should not at first be clothed, and his first clothing should be
light. Grooming may commence on the first day ; but it is
not good to expose^the skin very quickly by a thorough dres-
sing. The food should be laxative, consisting of bran-mashes,
oats, and hay, but no beans, or very few. Walking exercise,
twice a day, is absolutely necessary for keeping the legs
clean, and it assists materially in preventing plethora.

The time required for inuring a horse to stable treatment
depends upon several circumstances. If taken home in warm
weather, the innovation, so far as the temperature and purity
of the air are concerned, may be completed in about two
weeks. If not very lean, the horse's skin may be well
clean**.*} in the first week ; and to clean it, he must have one
or two gentle sweats, sufficient to detach and dissolve the
dust, mtid, and oily matter, which adhere to the skin, and
glue thti hairs together. All this, or as much of it as pos-
sible, mt'St be scraped off while the horse is warm and per-
spiring. Ir allowed to get dry before scraping, he is just
where h« was. If the weather be cold, there need be no
great hun f about cleaning him completely.

The propriety of giving physic after grazing has been often
questioned. In the stable its utility is generally acknowl-
edged. In books it is sometimes condemned as pernicious,
sometimes . s useless. The grooms say that physic prevents

278 STABLE ECONOMY.

swelled legs, bad eyes, and other plethoric affections it
which horses are so prone after being stabled. But some
people — among whom we often find medical practitioners — ■
who have more science than sense in these matters, declare
that they can not understand how physic should do anything
of this kind. Perhaps it is no great matter whether they
understand it or not. The question is, has the physic the
power ascribed to it? It has. There are many cases in
which physic is not required ; there are some in which it is
improper ; some in which it is absolutely demanded ; and
many in which it is useful. It is given too indiscriminately,
and generally before it is wanted.

To a lusty horse, one or two doses may be given for the
purpose of reducing him, for removing superfluous fat and
flesh. The physic may be strong, sufficiently so to produce
copious purgation. It empties the bowels, takes up the car-
case, and gives freedom to respiration ; it promotes absorp-
tion, and expels the juices which embarrass exertion. Work,
sweating, and a spare diet of condensed food, will produce
these effects without the aid of physic. But purgation
shortens the time of training, and it saves the legs. If the
horses must be rapidly prepared for work, with as little haz-
ard as possible to his legs, he must have^physic. The first
dose may be given on the day he comes from grass ; the
others, if more than one be necessary, at intervals of eight or
ten clear days.

A lean horse, newly from grass, requires no physic till he
has been stabled for several days, and perhaps not then. By
the time the horse has acquired flesh sufficient to stand train-
ing, his bowels are void of grass, and his belly small enough
to permit freedom of respiration. At the end of a fortnight
or three weeks, the lean horse ought to-be decidedly lustier.
If too much so, if acquiring flesh too rapidly, one dose of
physic may be given, strong enough to produce smart pur-
gation, and prevent the evils I have spoken of as arising from
plethora. If the horse is not taking on flesh so quickly as he
should, he may have two, perhaps three mild doses of physic,
just strong enough to produce one or two watery or semifluid
evacuations. If the horse eat a great deal without improving
in condition, he is probably troubled with worms, and half a
drachm of calomel may be added to each dose of physic. If
not feeding well, there is probably a torpid state of the diges-
tive apparatus, produced by a bad or deficient diet. In such
a case mild physic is still proper, and in addition, the horso

PASTURING. 277

may have a few tonic balls between the setting of one dose,
and the administration of another. Four drachms of gentian,
two of ginger, and one of tartar emetic, made into a ball with
honey, form a very useful tonic. One of these may be given
every day, or every second day, for a fortnight. If not im-
proved, or improving under these, the horse requires a vete-
rinary surgeon.

In some places the horse is bled upon coming from grass,
with what intention or what effect I can not tell. I should
think that the operation can not be very necessary to any
horse, and to a lean one it may be pernicious. If required at
all, it is probably after the horse is stabled and acquiring flesh
too rapidly.

The Mode of Grazing Farm-Horses requires a little notice.
Other horses are sent to pasture, and, with few exceptions,
remain at it for days or weeks without interruption. But those
employed in agriculture are pastured in three different ways.
By one the horse is constantly at grass, except during his
hours of work ; he is put out at night, is brought in next
morning, goes to work for two or three hours, and is then re-
turned to pasture for about two hours ; in the afternoon he
again goes to work, which may be concluded at five or six
o'clock, and from that time till he is wanted next morning the
horse is kept at grass. By another mode, the horse is turned
out only at night. During the day he is soiled in the stable
at his resting intervals. When work is over for the day, he
is sent out till next morning. By the third mode, which is
generally allowed to be the best, the horse is turned to grass
only once a week. He is pastured from the time his work is
finished on Saturday night till it recommences on Monday
morning.

If the horses have anything like work, the first two modes
of grazing are, I think, objectionable. There is much expen-
diture of labor in procuring the food, and there is a great loss
of time. It may cost the horse four or five hours' good work
to cut down the grass he eats. A man armed with a sythe
will do the same work with far less labor, and in a few
minutes. If there be nothing else for the horse to do, it is
very right to make him gather his own food. But, otherwise,
it is absurd to exhaust his strength and time in doing that
which a man can do so much more easily and quickly. Be-
sides this expenditure of the horse's time and strength, the loss
of manure, and the damage done to pasture by the feet, ought
to be considered.

24

278 STABLE ECONOMY.

The third mode of grazing appears to be less objectionable
The horses have no field labor on Sunday ; if the pasture be
good, the weather favorable, and the horses not fatigued, they
are better at grass than in the house.

In Scotland, the road-horses are sometimes put to grass on
Sunday. The practice has nothing that I know of to recom-
mend it. The weekly work of these horses in general de-
mands the rest which Sunday brings ; and if they run at a
fast pace, as all coach-horses do now, they are apt to eat so
much grass, and carry such a load in their belly, that on Mon-
day they are easily over-marked. The breathing is impeded
unless the horses purge, which a few do. They often come
from grass as haggard and dejected as if they had done twice
their ordinary work the day before.

SOILING.

When grass is given in the stable, the horse is said to be
soiled. From what the word is derived, or what was its
original meaning, I have not been able to learn. At present
the term is used as if it denoted purification, or wwsoiling.
Grass is often given in the stable, under a vague impression
that it removes impurities, or foulness, produced by the con-
tinued use of a strong, stimulating diet. By some, soiling is
regarded as an incomplete substitute : by others, as an equiva-
lent to pasturing ; while a few hold that it is the best mode of
giving green food.

When the horse has to continue at work, or when his al-
lowance of food must not be such as to produce fatness, or
when its bulk must not impede the breathing, soiling is to be
preferred to grazing. The allowance can be regulated in the
stable, but not in the field.

All horses do not require soiling. It is not true that green
food is absolutely necessary for any horse in health. In
many studs, an allowance of grass is given to each horse
every year, not because it is a cheaper or more wholesome
diet, nor because the horses are in bad condition, but because
it is supposed to be necessary for preventing disease. In all
large studs there are generally a few horses that require a
change of diet ; they may be out of work, or in bad health ;
reduced, perhaps, by sickless, lameness, bad food, or hard
work. For such, soiling may be highly beneficial. But it
does not follow that all should be soiled. They may, without
njury but it has never been proved that it is absolutely ne-

THE STRAW-YARD. 279

cessary they should. "When grass is abundant, and hay scarce
the former may wholly or partly supply the place of the lat-
ter. Without other fodder it is too laxative for fast-working
horses.

Cart-horses usually receive cut grass so long as it is in
seasop.. It is generally cheaper than hay ; when dearer it
may be dispensed with. I know not how much a draught-
hoise will consume in twenty-four hours. Professor Low, I
fhink, states it at 200 pounds, which seems to be a very large
quantity, and perhaps excludes grain. In the " British Hus-
bandry," the daily consumption, with a little grain, is supposed
to vary from 84 to 112 pounds.

In soiling horses upon a small quantity of grass, it is given
alone, or mixed with hay. Given by itself, it is apt to make
the horses refuse their hav. It is better that the two should
be mixed, especially when the hay is not very good. It is
usual to do so, but the grass and the hay are seldom well
mingled. They are so carelessly thrown together, that the
horse is able to pick out the grass, and throw the hay among
his feet. To mix them properly, they should be placed in a
heap, layer upon layer, pressed together, and allowed to stand
for two or three hours, so that the grass may communicate a
part of its succulence and flavor to the hay. Afterward they
may be incorporated by tossing the heap over two or three
times.

When only one or two horses are to be soiled, they should
be placed apart, or get the grass when the other horses are
out, otherwise they will refuse their food, and be much annoy-
ed to see their neighbors enjoying a luxury of which they can
not partake. They neither rest nor feed.

THE STRAW-YARD

Horses are sometimes turned out all winter to a place called
a straw-yard. It is, properly speaking, a manure-yard, a
dung-pit, a place fitter for manufacturing manure than for
lodging horses. It oiten contains oxen, calves, colts, and
swine, as well as horses. It is generally destitute of shelter,
and the food consists of straw and hay, or of straw only.
Often there is not even an allowance of water, except when
the man finds it convenient and not disagreeable to carry it.
People who bargain for a winter's run, or imprisonment, in a
straw-yard, do sometimes pay for a small daily allowance of
grain, which, however, is not always given.

280 STABLE ECONOMY.

A winter's keep in the straw-yard is going a good deal out
of fashion, at least with people not themselves proprietors of
such a place ; but it is still too common. The horse is no*
wanted till spring, or perhaps some lameness requires rest foi
two or three months, and, as he can be kept in a straw-yard
at little cost, to that place he is sent, abandoned to neglect,
and frequently to treatment worse than neglect. He returns
home a skeleton ; he has a cough, which is cured with diffi-
culty, or not at all ; his feet are destroyed by thrushes ; his
skin is covered by lice, and his bowels are full of worms.

When the horse must be sent to such a filthy place, he needs
neither physic nor bleeding. However lusty, he will require
all the blood and flesh he can carry before winter expires.
The only preparation he requires refers to the feet and to
temperature. The frogs should be coated with pitch or tar.
If very thrushy, they should be covered with leather soles well
stopped up. The horse should be well inured to cold. He
needs more preparation than when going to grass ; a straw-
yard does not demand, nor permit, the exercise which a pas-
tured horse must take. When he returns he must be treated
in nearly the same way as after a winter's run at grass. More
time is necessary to confer working condition ; and greater
care regarding hot stables. Some treatment will probably be
requisite to remove lice, and to expel worms.

Every straw-yard should have a covered shed, dry and clean.
It should have a constant supply of water, which should be
entirely changed every day, and placed in elevated troughs,
that it may not receive the evacuations. The fodder should
be placed in racks under cover, and the owner should visit his
horse every now and then.

WATER. 281

SIXTH CHAPTER.

WATER.

Thirst is a compound sensation. There are pain and a
desire for that which is known to remove the pain. The two
co-exist, but the pain always precedes the desire. The sen-
sation in ordinary circumstances is governed by the wants of
the body. Thirst depends not upon a particular state of any
one part, but upon a particular state of all parts, to whose wel-
fare fluid is necessary. Water }$ consumed in almost every
living process. Whenever a new supply is wanted, a painful
sensation arises which the animal hastens to relieve. The
pain does not cease till water has been taken in sufficient
quantity to meet the internal demand. If fluid can not be ob-
tained, the sensation, at first only a slight uneasiness, becomes
more vivid, and gradually proceeds to intense torture. Except
by accident, the thirst never acquires all the intensity of which
it is capable. But water is too often withheld till the desire
becomes very strong and painful. It is permitted to exist so
long that, the thirst can not be allayed at once, and by the
ordinary means. It is several minutes, possibly some hours,
before all parts of the body can be supplied with that which
they have so long and so urgently demanded. Thirst, there-
fore, continues for a good while after the stomach and bowels
have received sufficient to supply all the system. . The horse
continues to drink, however, until the pain of thirst is some-
what lost in the pain of distension. Very often he takes so
much as to hurt himself. When the horse has water always
before him he never does this. But it is still doubtful whether
all horses should have water as they please to take it.

Thirst makes a horse refuse his food, and makes him slug-
gish ; I am not sure if it produces any actual debility ; yet in
many cases it comes to the same thing. If he be unwilling
to go, a race may be lost as certainly as if he were unable to
go. When the pain of thirst becomes very intense, the horse
becomes unmanageable at the sight of water. Be will bolt

282 STABLE ECONOMY.

off the road and plunge headlong into a river, clearing every
obstacle in his way with astonishing alacrity.

The Kind of Water perferred for horses is that which is
soft. Hard water seems to be quite as good after the horse
has become accustomed to it. At first it disorders the skin
and the bowels a little. The hair stares and the skin is rigid ;
the bowels are relaxed, and at fast work the horse is apt to
purge. In two or three works, often in as many days, he re-
gains his usual appearance, and continues to thrive as well on
this hard water, as he previously did on the soft. How far
the sudden change may affect his speed or his spirit I do not
know. He may be weak ; and training grooms generally
avoid hard water, in fear of its influence upon the horse's
power. It is not likely that the skin and the bowels may be
thus disordered without alteration in other parts ; but I have
not been able to perceive any. Nevertheless a change from
soft to hard water ought, if possible, to be avoided on the eve
of a great performance. Hunters and racers travel to m&ny-
strange places ; and when immense sums are pending upon
their exertions, it is prudent to exclude the operation of every
dubious agent. Possibly water may be carried with the
horse, or inquiry may discover similar water in the neighbor-
hood of his destination.

Hard water may be softened a little by boiling it, and the
addition of about half on ounce of the carbonate of soda to every
pailful of water, renders it softer, but not, so far as I know,
more fit for drinking. A change from hard to soft water does
not seem to produce any visible effect upon the horse.

Temperature of the Water. — In the stables of valuable
horses, considerable attention is paid to the temperature of
the water. If too cold, or supposed to be too cold, it is warm-
ed, either by adding hot water, or by letting it stand a few
hours in the stable or in the sun before it is given. Some-
times a handful of meal or bran is thrown into the water, to
take the cold air off it. Prepared in any of these ways it is
termed chilled water, meaning, I suppose, un chilled. In the
stable there is a very common, though not a general dread of
cold water. It is often given in considerable quantity to
horses highly heated by exertion, and the men attempt to
justify the practice by declaring that the horse is not heated
at the heart. In theory it is always asserted that cold water
is dangerous to a hot horse ; but in practice the theory seems
often forgotten, especially among strappers and post-boys.
Training and hunting all the bred grooms practise in this in-

WATER. 283

stance as they preach. They never give cold water when
the horse is hot.

The Effects of Cold Water vary according to the quantity
given, and according to the state of the horse. Two or three
quarts will not do any harm, or at the most it will set the coat
on end. If the horse be very hot, this small quantity is very
refreshing to him, and may be given with perfect safety. If
the day be very warm, and the horse kept in gentle motion,
twice or thrice as much will do no harm, however warm the
horse may be. Yet none should be given till one or two
minutes after the horse is pulled up. Let him recover ms
wind for a minute before he drinks. A large quantity, say a
pailful, of very cold water, to a horse at rest, not heated by
exertion, may make him shiver, or it may produce pain in the
belly, cramp of the bowels. Both the shivering and the cramp
may be prevented by putting the horse in motion ; a brisk
walk or gentle trot. A horse much heated by exertion, which
has produced copious perspiration, will drink more than a
pailful, and the colder the water the more he will drink; if
he shiver, founder may be expected in the course of an hour
or two. If the same quantity be given when the horse is get-
ting cool, he is almost sure to take cramp of the bowels. So
far as my experience goes, it appears that cold water is most
dangerous, not when the skin is at its hottest, but when it is
becoming cool after being very warm. I have seen cold water
produce a kind of rheumatism. The horse is stiff all over,
and on one or more of his legs he is lame and cramped, and
it is several days before he recovers. I have never known
this happen except when the horse had drunk freely of cold
water, and eaten grain at the time he was much heated ; and
in all the cases he had been permitted to stand at rest. I re-
member only three cases of this kind, and it is possible the
rheumatism might not be altogether due to the treatment, I
suspect. This, however, a shivering fit, founder, and spas-
modic colic, are all the evils that cold water will produce.
I have never seen it produce any other. Their treatment,
their symptoms, and results, it would be improper to describe ;
but it may not be very much out of my province to mention
that shivering is prevented and cured by motion and clothing ;
and that cramp of the bowels may be cured by four ounces
of sweet spirits of nitre, given in a pint of warm milk, with
about a teaspoonful of ground ginger, mustard or pepper.

To prevent these the watei must either be warmed, or it
must be given oftener and in smaller quantity, A very thirsty

284 STABLE ECONOMY.

horse should never be permitted to take so much as he
pleases at one draught. A little, given at intervals of fifteen
or twenty minutes, till his thirst is quenched, will prevent all
danger, and the horse will take less upon the whole than he
would take at first in one draught. I do not approve of
chilled water for constant use. It makes the horse so tender
that a very little cold water has a great effect upon him. It
does no other harm. It need not, however, be given as it is
taken from a deep well, or from a frozen pond. As a gen-
eral rule, the temperature of the water should not be much
above nor much below that of the air which the horse is
breathing.

The Quantity of Water which a horse will consume
in twenty-four hours, is quite uncertain. It varies so much,
that one will drink as much as other two or three. It is in-
fluenced by the food, the work, the weather, and the number
of services. While getting grass or soft food, the horse
drinks less than wile his food is all dry ; those that eat much
hay need more than those that eat little. The demand in-
creases with the perspiration ; horses at fast work, and kept
in hot stables, need a large allowance, which must be still
larger in hot weather. When water is given only twice a
day, more is taken, or would be taken, than if it were given
three or four times. Horses of slow, or not very fast work,
may be permitted to take what quantity they please, provided
always that it be given before the horse becomes very thirsty.
For other horses, those of very fast work, occasional restric-
tion is necessary ; and many of these are subject to habitual
restriction.

Occasional Restriction is necessary. When the horse is
very thirsty, he will take more than he needs, and more than
is safe. This I have already explained. Restriction is also
necessary before fast work. In coaching stables the horses
are watered about an hour before going to work. Should
they be disposed to drink a great deal at this time, they are
not permitted ; half an ordinary pailful ought to suffice.
Twice as much might do harm. It might impede the breath-
ing, and produce purgation ; yet, very often, it does neither.
Given, however, immediately before starting, it is almost sure
to do both. When the horse purges, his breathing becomes
freer as he gets quit of the water. But especially on a long
stage, the purging is very debilitating, and it makes the horse
very lean in two or three journeys. Racers, it appears, re-
ceive no water on running days till their work is over, and

WATER. 285

they are even stinted the day before running. With hunters,
the restriction is carried nearly as far, though not so gener-
ally. This practice has always been condemned by veterina-
rians, and in truth it seems of very doubtful propriety. But,
notwithstanding what has been said against it, no proof has
been produced to show that it is really a pernicious practice
Much, after all, has not been urged against it ; but the same
thing has been said over and over again. It is always censured
as cruel and needless and erroneous. The horse, it is said,
must suffer a great deal from thirst, and he must be languid
and weak. Now, if the horse be fed on dry food, and receive
no water for twelve or eighteen hours before going to work,
there can be little doubt but he is very thirsty. If water be
offered he will drink it greedily. But this is not the ques-
tion. Stablemen do not inquire what the horse feels. They
are concerned only about what he will do. If it can be
shown that his speed, his power, or his endurance, suffers any
diminution when he is thirsty, the trainer will doubtless en-
deavor to prevent thirstiness. But this has never been
shown. No experiments have been made to decide the mat-
ter either one way or another. It seems certain that the
thirsty horse is less willing to work. He may need more of
the lash and the spur, but his ability to do the work, does
that remain the same ? An experiment must answer ; and
those who are most interested have means and opportunity to
make it.

If either racer or hunter were put to work with a bellyful
of water, no work like hunting or racing would be done. The
weight of the water, and the impediment it offers to breath-
ing, render the horse far less fit for his task than if he were
excessively thirsty. This is well enough established, and
needs no experiment to confirm it. But is it not possible,
by giving water often, and in very small quantity, to bring the
horse to his work, without thirst, and without an inconvenient
quantity of water in his bowels 1 If the horse were accus-
tomed to get water every two hours, it is probable that the
quantity he would take at one time would be all out of his
bowels by the time he received the next. He would take no
more than would serve for two hours, and between the wa-
tering-hours he could do his work undepressed by thirst. But
all this is good for nothing except to suggest inquiry anu ex-
periment. [We recently made the experiment of frequent
watering, during a joirney of 800 miles, in the heat of sum-
mer. In addition to what he would take at mealtime, we

286 STABLE ECONOMY.

allowed our horse to drink while on the road, every 4 to 7
miles, as near as convenient, or as opportunity allowed. He
would merely rinse his mouth in the water, or drink from
one to three quarts, which seemed to refresh him sufficient-
ly, without ever overloading his stomach or making him
heavy. He was a superior traveller, and averaged 45 miles
per day. From this and other shorter experiments we have
made at various times, we think that water every hour or
two, and ad libitum, is the best for a horse engaged in ordin-
ary hard work.]

Habitual Restriction. — It is Lawrence, I think, who re-
marks that grooms consider water as at best a necessary evil.
Among professional men, I mean among veterinarians, it is
the general opinion that horses should not suffer habitual re-
striction. It is admitted that the horse should not be permit-
ted to drink as much as he pleases when he is very thirsty,
nor when he is hot, nor to drink largely when he is just going
to fast work. But it is contended that, except under these
circumstances, he should have water as much as he pleases,
and when he pleases. A great many horses, hunters and ra-
cers especially, and some mail-horses, are never indulged
with an unlimited quantity of water. I have frequently in-
quired the reason of this. Some tell me that water in unlim-
ited quantity is dangerous ; others say that it would purge
the horse ; others, that it would break his wind ; others, that
it would make his belly too large ; and a few declare that
the horse will neither eat nor work if he be constantly
confined to a. small allowance of water. I would not speak
confidently, but I am disposed to believe that there is no good
reason for constant restriction, and that the evils which grooms
fear are those which arise from a large draught of water
given at once, and especially when the horse is going to
work. They carry restriction so far that the horse is always
thirsty, and if he accidentally reach a large quantity he is al-
most sure to drink too much. It is not considered that this
quantity would never be taken if water were given so often
that the horse could not become so thirsty. This appears to
me to be the foundation of the groom's fears.

But still there may be some other reason for withholding
water. It is quite possible that horses may be disposed to
consume more fluid than is good for them. They may be
stronger or swifter than if they were permitted to drink as
much as they pleased. This has never been proved, but a
few experiments would set the matte*- t rest, and a point of

WATER. 287

such importance ought not to remain unknown. We want to
know whether a horse acquires more speed, power, or endu-
rance, when his daily allowance of water is limited, than
when he has water always before him, to take in such meas-
ure, and in such quantities, as he pleases. Stable usages are
bo often founded on ignorance and hypothesis, that we may
well be excused for sometimes doubting their propriety, even
when subsequent investigation proves them correct.

It is certain, however, that a horse can be trained to
dispense with a considerable portion of the water that he
is accustomed to take when left to himself. By giving
the water in four or five services, he will drink a little less
than if it were given only thrice. But the quantity may be
further reduced, so that in the course of two or three weeks?
the horse will not desire more than two thirds of the quantity
he formerly consumed. Whether this be right or wrong, is
as I have said, not settled ; but it can be done. The quantity
must be diminished by slow degrees, not all at once, and sc
much must not be withheld on any day as to make the hors*
refuse his grain. At the end of a period varying from twf
weeks to four, the horse becomes accustomed to the spare
allowance of water. He drinks less than formerly. The
system, perhaps, learns to be more economical in the con-
sumption of fluid. Less urine and less perspiration may be
made, and less vapor may be exhaled from the lungs.

When the daily supply of water is very materially dimin-
ished, the horse refuses to feed. He eats some, but not so
much as he should. He soon loses flesh, and becomes unfit
for work ; and he does not recover until he either gets more
water, or until the system learns to do without that which is
denied. A certain quantity must be allowed, for the system
can not carry on its operations without it. When Mr. Lyon
first built his stables at Paisley, the well did not yield suffi-
cient water, and the horses were kept on short allowance. In
eight days they were not like the same animals ; they were
lean, dull, and feeble, and did not recover till more water was
obtained.

Modes of Watering. — When the horse is at home, he is
watered either in the stable from a pail, or in the yard from a
trough, which, in racing establishments, is provided with a
stout lockfast cover as security against poisoning. In gen-
eral the horse seems to care little how he gets the water :
but some will drink only from the trough, except when very
thirsty. I know of no objection to the trough, provided it be

288 STABLE ECONOMY.

kept clean, and that the horse do not tremble after drinking
from it. The water, however, is often very cold, and the
man is often so very lazy that he is unwilling to bring the
horse to the door, and he makes two services stand for three.
When the horse happens to be in the yard, he may get his
water before going in ; but at other times it is as well to
make it a rule that the water be carried to the stable. Com-
ing from a warm stable to the open air, and drinking cold
water, the horse is apt to take a shivering fit. Each stable
should be provided with water-pails always full, and standing
in the stable.

In watering with a pail, the bucket is either placed on the
ground, or raised manger-high to the horse's head. Old
short-necked horses drink from the ground with difficulty, yet
they always manage it. When the throat is sore, and when
the horse is stiff after a day of severe exertion, his water
should be held up to him. Some horses rarely drink well,
and the less they drink the less they eat. They often require
a little coaxing, and always a little patience. It is not
enough to offer water and run away with it immediately.
Hold the pail manger-high, and keep it before the horse for a
little ; after washing his mouth and muzzle he may take suffi-
cient to create an appetite.

Post-horses are often watered on the road. They usually
receive a little at the end of the stage, and also in the middle
of it, if exceeding 9 or 10 miles. On the way home the post-
boy permits the horse to drink once or twice at watering
troughs by the road-side. He has, or should endeavor to
have, his horse fully watered and cool by- the time they ar-
rive at stables. They are then ready for dressing and feed-
ing without delay.

Horses are often taken to water at' a pond or river some
distance from the stables. If they need exercise or are pas-
sing the water, there is no objection to this practice. But it
it is not proper to send working horses out of the stable for
the mere purpose of watering them. The weather, the state
of the ground, and the laziness of stablemen, render this mode
of watering extremely irregular. Boys, too, are often em-
ployed in this service, and they are never out of mischief.

With many grooms it is a common custom to give the
horse some exercise after drinking. Some give him a gallop,
while others are content with a trot or canter for a few hun-
dred yards. Exercise after a copious draught of cold wat6.
s very useful. It does not warm the water in the horse's

WATER. 289

belly, as the groom says ; but it prevents the evil effects
which I have adverted to, in connexion with the temperature
of water. Motion generates heat, and that which unites
with the cold water can be better spared than if the horse
were motionless. But the exercise need not be work. It is
sufficient if it produce the least perceptible increase of
warmth on the skin in 8 or 1 0 minutes. The man sometimes
starts from the water at a gallop, but no good groom is guilty
of this folly. Let the horse walk away for a few yards ;
from a walk he may proceed to a trot, and from that to a can-
ter. In warm weather a walk is sufficient, and the pace
need very seldom exceed a slow trot. The object is, not to
heat the horse, but to keep him warm, to prevent shivering.

Water is not often given more than three times a day. But
in hot weather, when the horse sweats much, he often needs
more water than it is safe to give at only three services. He
should have it four or five times, and the oftener he gets it,
the less he will take at once. Under ordinary circumstan-
ces two rules will guide the groom. The first is, never to
let the horse get very thirsty ; the second, to give him water
so often, and in such quantity, that he will not care to take
any within an hour of going to fast work. Water should
always be given before rather than after grain.

Broken-winded horses are usually much restricted in their
water. I know that in stage-coaching they are not the worse
of having as much as they please at night, provided it hi
given at twice or thrice, and not too cold.

«<3

230 STABLE ECONOMY

SEVENTH CHAPTER.

SERVICE.

I. GENERAL PREPARATION FOR WORK. II. PHYSIOLOGY OF

MUSCULAR EXERTION. III. PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK.

IV. PRESERVATION OF WORKING CONDITION. V. TREAT-
MENT AFTER WORK. VI. ACCIDENTS OF WORK. VII. KINDS

OF WORK. VIII. REPOSE.

GENERAL PREPARATION FOR WORK.

Breaking is the first process the horse undergoes to pre-
pare him for work. His education does not, however, come
within the limits of this treatise. It forms a part of horse-
manship, and is best performed by men who make it their
business. I am not intimately acquainted with the practical
details, and shall not attempt to describe them. But I would
make a few remarks upon what I consider the principles of
breaking.

The Objects of Breaking are the same in all cases, and they
are only three in number. It should teach the horse to yield
implicit submission to his ruler ; it should give him dexterity
in performing his work ; and it should confer a graceful car-
riage. When the horse has learned? all these, he has no
more to learn, or at least the breaker has nothing more to
teach him.

The Means employed to teach the horse vary a little, both
in degree and in kind, according to his disposition. There
are punishments to enforce submission, and rewards to en-
courage it. After that is obtained, the rest is easy. To pro-
duce dexterity at work, the horse needs nothing but practice.
In giving his first lesson the breaker has to take-certain pre-
cautions against awkwardness, timidity, and resistance on the
part of the horse. But, after the novelty of drawing or carry-
ing has worn ofT, daily practice is all the horse needs. The
difficulty is all in the beginning, and that is often much les«

GENERAJ Pl.x-JPAKATION FOR WORK. 291

sened by giving the horse an example. A steady companion
may be present at his first two or three lessons. If meant
for harness, he may be yoked with a steady horse, already
well broke and somewhat, stronger than himself. He re-
strains the colt, and serves as an example to him. Besides
learning the horse to work, the breaker has to give him a
graceful carriage. He must raise the head, set the horse
upon his haunches, and teach him precision in his motions.
Before the colt is broke, he carries the head low, leans over
his fore legs, and has a slovenly irregular gait. These the
breaker must correct. For a certain number of hours every
day the head is reined up. In the stable, the bridle-reins are
fixed one to each stall-post, and one to a surcingle on the
horse's back. While out of the stable, the head is supported
by the hand, by the surcingle, or by what is termed a dumb-
jockey, an apparatus like a St. Andrew's cross, fixed on the
horse's back. After a time, this elevated position of the head
becomes easy and habitual. The horse carries it so without
support. In old horses the position of the head and neck
can not be altered ; and when the neck is short, and set very
low on the shoulder, it can not be much raised, even in colts
By elevating the head and neck, the body is necessarily
thrown more upon the hind legs ; to use the breaker's phrase,
the horse is " set upon his haunches." This requires no
separate process. Good action, which is the most important
part of a graceful carriage, can not be given to all horses.
That of the colt always improves as he becomes accustomed
to his work. But a good horseman will produce the same,
or greater improvement, in less than half the time that work
alone would produce it. He employs the hand, the heel, the
voice, and the whip, to restrain, to steady, and to push the
horse. I think it is in this part of their business that break-
ers oftenest fail. Most of them can teach the horse to obey,
and to work, and to carry his head, with more or less anima-
tion ; but few seem able to confer the steady and graceful
action which makes a saddle-horse so valuable. Doubtless
there are many horses upon whom it can not be conferred ;
but very often the fault is in the teacher more than in the
taught.

I have not said by what means the horse is taught to obey.
It is obvious that he can not be taught to work unless he
yield obedience to the breaker. Sometimes the colt is so
rebellious that he must be mastered by force before he will
submit to any instruction. But this does not happen very

292 STABLE ECONOMY.

often. Many colts are obedient from their birth. These
have no need either for punishments or for rewards. They
may be stupid, awkward, or timid. But these faults are not
amended by punishment. If the colt endeavors to obey, it is
sufficient ; and the breaker can not be too gentle. Severity
produces stupidity or terror : the colt either stands stock still,
or he attempts to run away. He should never be punished
for misapprehension, nor for fear, nor for the disobedience
which fear sometimes produces.

The temper of a young horse is much influenced by the
manner in which he has been reared. If early accustomed
to be handled and to have people about him, and to be kindly
treated, he is easily subdued, even though his natural temper
may be none of the best. For the first two or three months
of his domestication, his anger and resentment should not be
excited by any painful operation, nor by requiring any painful
service from him. He may be haltered, groomed, clothed,
led about, over and over again, before he suffers anything
alarming or painful. In a short time the colt acquires com-
plete confidence in the people about him ; he yields obedi-
ence because he fears no evil. Ultimately, by the time he is
wanted for breaking, the habit of submission may be so com-
pletely established, that the colt will do much that he is not
fond of doing, and suffer a great deal before he rebels. But
if permitted to run wild till three or four years old, he is sure
to offer considerable resistance to the breaker ; and if never
accustomed to have men about him, except when he must be
harshly treated, he will be either a very timid horse or a very
savage one. It can not be otherwise. The young animal is
thus taught to regard man as his persecutor ; the timid fly,
and the bold resist or retaliate.

The breaker must modify his treatment according to the
temper of the colt. In general, I think he mingles endear-
ment and punishment so much that the colt is at a loss to
understand him. A silent breaker succeeds soonest, one
who says little or nothing, either to soothe or to threaten.
Much bustling and caressing often create suspicion ; an angry
tone or a touch of the lash rouses alarm or resentment, as
often as it produces obedience. When placed in a novel
situation, the colt should be allowed a little time to compose
himself. For example, when he is first backed, he may
stand still for a moment, or he may move on as he pleases ;
if disposed to plunge about, and attempt to unseat the rider
he must just be restrained, partly by the rider, and partly by

GENERAL PREPARATION FOR WORK. 293

an assistant. Upon no account should the rider come off, 01
be thrown off. If the colt will not move, if he can be neither
led nor driven forward, the lash must be applied. At this,
the first struggle, the colt must be compelled to obey. He
should be punished in good earnest. If he gain the first
battle he will be sure to make a struggle for the second, and
the third, until he acquires a habit of rebelling wherever and
whenever obedience is demanded. It is much better, how-
ever, if punishment can be dispensed with, especially at an
early stage of the breaking. Gentle measures are to be fairly
tried, and not abandoned till they have fairly failed. The
lash should be the last resource, and it ought never to be ap-
plied unless the horse can fully understand why.

Very rebellious colts are sometimes worked and starved
till they are a good deal reduced. It is a certain mode of
subduing the very wildest ; but must not be carried so far as
to injure the legs.

[A colt should be halter-broke at three weeks old, and may
be broken in to do very light work in harness at two years
old ; but should not be backed, except by a small boy, till
three years old, and a very light man, till four years old. If
he is backed earlier than this by a heavy man, the weight
upon him is so great, that he can not lift his fore feet suf-
ficiently high in his action, and he is consequently apt to
make a stumbler for life ; and he rarely carries himself with
that lightness, ease, and freedom, under the saddle, that he
otherwise would, if not backed by so heavy a weight at this
early age. It is also liable to injure the spine and make the
horse hollow-backed.

A simple bitting bridle is the best instrument to prepare the
horse for breaking. After being well bitted, he may be har-
nessed daily for a week or so, then be taken out and led by
the side of another horse ; then driven along some quiet place
with him ; then on the road ; and finally, hitched in along-
side vo a light vehicle, for regular work. After thus driving
him a few weeks, let him stand under the saddle a few days
then mounted and ridden by the side of a well-trained horse.
In learning him to back, commence on descending grouiia,
where the vehicle will run back of itself, and so gradually
come to ascending ground. We have broke many horses in
this way, several of which were naturally rather vicious, and
most of them very high-spirited, and yet we never had oc-
casion to strike a blow, or use any harsh means whatever to
accomplish our object. Horses only want to be properly

25*

294 STABLE ECONOMY.

taught to do ?U that can be reasonably required of them.
Their best instructer is onf of their own species, who is ac-
tive, patient, kind in temper, and perfectly broke, to work
alongside of till they have learned what is necessary. They
are creatures of imitation as well as man ; and they oftener
sin from ignorance, timidity, or fright, than from any other
cause. Give them a good example and they will generally
follow it. Something of their grace and ease of movement,
and quickness of walk, trot, and gallop, will depend upon the
person breaking and training them.]

Inuring to the Stable and Stable Treatment. — A
change of lodging, or of diet, is often a cause of disease.
When a fresh horse is procured, it is well to know how he
has been treated during tne previous month. If a valuable
animal, he will be worth this inquiry ; if low-priced he may
not. Horses that come from a dealer have probably been
standing in a warm stable, well-clothed, well-groomed, highly
fed, and seldom exercised. They have fine glossy coats,
they are in high spirits, they are lusty ; but their flesh is soft
and flabby. They are unfit for fast work. They are easily
heated by exertion, and when the least warm they are very
apt to catch cold. But wherever the horse come from, or
whatever be his condition, changes in reference to food, tem-
perature, and work, must be effected by slow degrees. It is
absurd and always pernicious to take a horse from the fields,
or a straw-yard, and put him in a warm stable, and on rich
food all at once ; it is not less erroneous to take him from a
warm to a cold stable, or to demand exertion to which he has
not been trained.

When the horse's history can not be traced, both his work
and his diet should at first be moderate t More of either than
he has been accustomed to, will do more harm than less of
either. It may, however, be soon known whether he has
been doing much work. It is ascertained by trying him.
If fit for work, he may be fed in proportion. The tempera-
ture of the stable had better be warmer than colder. If too
warm, the horse will perspire ; his coat, here and there will
be damp or wet. especially in the morning when the stables
are first opened. If it be too cold, the coat will stare and be-
come dim ; and the horse will catch cold. He will cough.

Inuring to the Weather. — The work of some horses
exposes them much to the weather. Those employed in
street-coaches, in the carriages of medical men, all those that
have to stand in the weather, can never do so with safety till

GENERAL PREPARATION FOR WORK. 295

they have been seasoned. In the cold rainy months, many
are destroyed ; and many more endangered by injudicious
exposure. Wet weather is the most pernicious, yet it is not
the rain alone that does the mischief. If the horse be kept
in motion, and afterward perfectly and quickly dried, or be
kept in motion till dry, he suffers no injury. His coat may
be bleached till it is like a dead fur ; but the horse does not
catch cold. If allowed to stand at rest with his coat drenched
in rain, the surface of the body rapidly loses its heat. There
is no stimulus to the formation of heat ; the blood circulates
slowly, accumulates internally, and oppresses vital organs,
especially the lungs. The legs become excessively cold and
benumbed ; the horse can hardly use them, and, when put in
motion, he strikes one against another. Exposure, when it
deprives the body of heat in this way, is a fertile source of
inflamed lungs, of thoracic influenza, catarrh, and founder.
When the skin is wet, or the air very cold, the horse should,
if possible, be kept in motion, which will preserve him, how-
ever little he may have been accustomed to exposure.

Horses that have been kept in warm stables, and never out
but. in genial weather, are in most danger. If they can not
be kept in constant motion, they must be prepared before they
are exposed. If they commence work in summer or early
in autumn, they will be fully inured to the weather before the
worst part of winter arrives. But if they commence at
this trying period, they should be out only one or two hours
at a time : on good days they may be longer. No precise
rule can be given. The length of time for which a horse
may be exposed without danger, varies with his condition,
the weather, and the work. It should shorten with the wet-
ness or coldness of the weather, and the tenderness of the
horse. If he must run rapidly from one place to another, and
wait perhaps half an hour at each, he is in more danger than
if the pace were slower, and the time of waiting shorter ; and
if moved about constantly, or every ten minutes, he suffers
less injury than if he were standing still. After a time the
horse is inured to exposure, and may be safely trusted in the
severest weather.

Repeated and continued application of cold to the surface
of the body stimulates the skin to produce an extra supply of
heat. The exposure of two or three days is not sufficient to
rouse the skin to this effort. It is always throwing off a
large quantity of heat ; but it is several days, with many
horses it is several weeks before the skin can assume activi*

296 STABLE ECONOMY.

ty sufficient to meet the demands of a cold or wet atmosphere
Ultimately it becomes so vigorous that the application of cold
whether wet or dry, is almost instantly followed by an in
creased production of heat. To this there are limits. By
exposure, gradually increasing in length and frequency, the
system may become able to maintain the temperature at a
comfortable warmth for three or four successive hours, even
when the horse is standing at rest in wet or cold. But he
can not endure this beyond a certain point. Exhaustion and
emaciation succeed, in spite of all the food the horse can eat.
The formation of so much heat consumes the nutriment that
ought to produce vigor for work. Hence, working horses
kept very much in very cold stables are always lean and dull.

It is chiefly the horses that have to stand in the weather
which require preparation for exposure. Bleeding, purging,
and other means, which debilitate or emaciate, are never
necessary in this process. Hunting, stage-coach, and cart
norses, seldom require any preparation for exposure. Thev
are in motion from the time of leaving till the time of re-
turning to the stable. They just require to be well and
quickly dried when wet.

Inuring to the Harness. — New horses are very liable
to have the skin injured by the harness. The friction of the
saddle, collar, or traces, produces excoriation. In some
horses this is not altogether avoidable, especially when they
are in poor condition. Their skin is tender, and a little mat-
ter exposes the quick. In all horses it is some time before
the skin thickens, and becomes sufficiently callous to carry
the harness without injury. The time it requires to undergo
this change is variable, and can not be materially shortened
by any means. But attention to the harness will frequently
prevent excoriation. After every journey the neck should be
closely examined. If there be any spot, however little abra-
ded, hot and tender, when pinched, that part of the collar
which produced it, should be cut out before the next journey.
The guard or safe, is a useful article to prevent galls of this
kind. It is merely a thin slip of soft leather, covering the
seat of the collar. It obviates friction, and prevents injurious
pressure from any little protuberance or hardness in the stuf-
fing of the collar. On the first or second journey a new
horse often comes in with his neck somewhat inflamed ; it is
hot, tender, and covered with pimples. In the stables it is
said to be Jired. A solution of common salt in water is usu-
ally applied, and it serves to allay the inflammation ; it should

GENERAL PREPARATION FOR WORK 297

De applied whenever the collar is removed. Tumors, con-
taining bloody water, frequently rise on the neck. They
should be opened immediately, emptied, and kept open for a
few days. The piece must be taken out of the collar, and a
safe used. On a hilly road the lower part of the collar often
galls the neck very seriously, in spite of every alteration in
the stuffing. A broad strap, attached to the top of the collar,
and passing over the windpipe, is the only remedy. The
strap should be two inches broad, and drawn tight enough to
keep the collar steady, and to make it stand nearly upright.
It should be adjusted before the head is put on the bearing
rein. It should be worn till the neck is quite sound. [A
broad breast band may be substituted for the neck collar, till
the neck and shoulders get well. A horse will pull about as
well in this as in the collar and names.] When the traces,
crupper, or pad, threaten, or produce excoriation, they must be
kept off by cushions placed behind, before, or to each side of
the part injured.

The back requires nearly as much care as the neck. A
new saddle is objectionable for a new horse, particularly when
he has to travel far under a heavy rider. A tender back may
be hardened by frequent use of the saddle, and a light weight.
The horse may stand saddled in the stable, and saddled when
he goes to exercise. When the back is hot, and the skin
disposed to rise in tumors, the saddle should remain on till
the back be cool. Slacken the girths, raise the saddle for a
moment, and then replace it. Its weight prevents tumors ;
excoriation and firing must be treated as on the neck. Al-
ways let the pannels of the saddle be dry before it is again
used, and put it on half an hour before the horse is to be
mounted.

Inuring to Exertion. — Horses from whom extraordinary
exertions are not demanded ; those that are never expected
nor required to do all that a horse is capable of doing, stand
in little need of inurement to work, and it is seldom that any
is intentionally given. When a saddle or draught-horse is
purchased, he is often put to his work at once without any
preparation. He is treated as if he were as able for the work
as it is possible to make him. So long as the work is slow,
and not very laborious, he may perform it well enough. But
this system will not do for full work, whether fast or slow. If
the horse have been idle for a month or two, he is weak. It
matters little that he is plump and in good spirits. He may
be able to draw a load of twenty r thjrtv hundred weight

298 STABLE ECONOMY.

with ease, and perhaps to draw it a considerable distance
But next, day he is sore all over, stiff, feeble, dull, almost un«
able to c; rry his own weight. If the same work be exacted
day after day, the horse loses flesh, and at last, becomes unfit
for any work. But if the work be less severe at first, and
gradual1 y increase from week to week, the horse at last ac-
quires strength and endurance greater perhaps than he ever
before possessed. He is then able to do with ease as much
in a week as would have completely knocked him up at the
beginning. For slow moderate wTork this is all the prepara-
tion the horse needs. At first let it be very gentle : and the
weight he is to carry or draw, and the distance he is to travel,
may be increased as he is found able to bear it. In preparing
the horse for work, such as hunting, racing, or coaching, the
treatment must be somewhat different. See the next two
sections.

PHYSIOLOGY OF MUSCULAR EXERTION.

By this I mean an account of what is going on in different
parts of the body during exertion. Motion produces certain
changes, and it is good to know what they are, and for what
reason they occur. All can not be traced ; but it is satisfac-
tory to know all that can be known. A few preliminary re-
marks are necessary upon

The Circulation of the Blood. — This fluid is dis-
tributed over every portion of the frame. Without its agency
there is nothing done in any part of the body ; and, in per-
forming its varied duties, it suffers some alteration, which
renders it unfit to reproduce the same effects, or perforin the
same functions, until it has acquired something it has lost, and
parted with something it has gained. The purification, or re-
generation, takes place chiefly in the lungs. To these organs,
which almost entirely fill the chest, the blood must be con-
ducted. It is collected from every tissue, by veins infinitely
numerous and small ; too numerous to be counted, and too
small to be traced even with the aid of optical instruments.
These, as they approach the heart, concentrate, become lar-
ger and fewer, till they end in two main trunks of very large
size, which pour their contents into a cavity on the right side
of the heart. The heart sends this blood to the lungs, by
one large tube. This, running into the substance of the lungs,
divides and subdivides, till its branches become so numerous
and minute that they can not be distinguished from the tissue

PHYSIOLOGY OF MUSCULAR EXERTION. 299

hi which they are embedded. Nevertheless these veins form
but a small portion of the lungs. There is another set of
vessels, equally minute and numerous, for taking the blood
back to the heart. In its passage through the lungs, the blood
is exposed to the air, which acts upon it, though covered from
actual contact. The blood is thus changed in composition. It
is purified, losing something or gaining something, and is
ready again to perform the duties of which it had previously
become incapable. In this state it is collected from the lungs,
and taken to the cavity in the left side of the heart, whence it
is sent by another set of tubes to be distributed over the
body. These are termed arteries ; as they pass into the sub-
stance of parts, their ultimate arrangement can not be traced.
In the hidden recesses, the blood performs its functions.
There it produces changes on the tissue, and is itself changed.
It suffers some deterioration, or alteration, which can not be
rectified till it reaches the lungs, to which the veins collect
and carry it.

The blood is in constant, motion. It is not all altered at
one time, nor at one place At some particular places the
alteration may be greater than at others ; but the best and the
worst are mingled together on their road to the heart. Under
ordinary circumstances, tbe purification keeps pace with the
deterioration. Both go on simultaneously, and to an equal
legree. But in some cases the equilibrium is deranged.

Muscular Exertion produces at least four important
changes. It quickens the circulation ; it quickens the breath-
ing ; it increases the formation of heat ; and it produces per-
spiration. The muscles are the active instruments of motion.
They act by alternate contraction and relaxation ; their active
state is that of contraction. They shorten, and their ends
being fixed to different bones, motion takes place from the
joints. The animal wills to move, and the muscles instantly
produce the motion desired. The direction and velocity, the
force and duration of the motion, are regulated entirely by
the will of the animal. But, in order that the muscles may
obey, it is an indispensable condition that they have an abun-
dant supply of pure blood. In action they consume more than
at rest.

Quickness of the Circulation is therefore a necessary con-
sequence of muscular exertion. The muscles demand more
blood ; and the heart hastens to furnish it by performing
double, treble, or more than treble its usual number of strokes.
When the horse is at rest, the heart contracts from thirty to

300 STABLE ECONOMY.

forty times in a minute. Every contraction drives a column
of blood through the arteries. At slow work the heart may
beat from fifty to seventy times per minute ; but at fast work
it sometimes makes more than one hundred and forty strokes
in a minute.

Quickness of the Breathing occurs almost simultaneously
with the quickness of the circulation. There is a little time,
however, it may be only a few seconds, between them ; the
circulation has the start. Acceleration of the breathing fol-
lows, in order that the blood may be purified as fast as it is
circulated. At rest, the horse respires from six to eight times
per minute ; at slow work he may breathe twice as fast, and
at very fast work, he may respire more than one hundred and
thirty times per minute. The velocity of the blood must
keep pace with the exertion of the muscles, and the respira-
tion must quicken as the circulation quickens. The action
of each is, in a certain measure, influenced by that of the
other, but each is also limited in its individual powers. The
muscles can not act if the heart do not give them sufficient
blood ; the heart can not give the blood if the lungs do not
purify it ; but the muscles may tire, even though well sup-
plied by blood ; or the heart may tire, though the lungs con-
tinue vigorous. Deficiency in either deranges the others.

Exertion may raise the pulse to one hundred and forty, and
the breathing to one hundred and thirty ; but at this rate,
neither the heart nor the lungs can work long. After a period,
which varies with the condition of the horse, the blood be-
gins to accumulate in the right side of the heart. It is diffi-
cult to say what part is first in fault. The heart may be ex-
hausted, unable to force the blood through the lungs : or the
lungs may be unable to purify and transmit the blood as fast
as the heart sends it ; or the muscles which produce breathing
ma^ tire, and become unable to expand the chest, sufficiently
to admit the blood and the air into the lungs ; or, possibly,
heart, lungs, and muscles, may all be at fault, some more, some
less : whichever way it happen, the blood begins to accumu-
late, first in the right side of the heart, and then in the lungs.
After this stagnation commences, the horse is not able to go
much further. The muscles do not leceive enough of blood ;
and that which they do receive is not good. The obstruction
in the lungs forbids perfect purification. The horse becomes
feeble, is disposed to slacken his pace, and some stand still
before they are very much distressed. But such is the dis-
position of certain horses ; one will run on till he is blind,

PHYSIOLOGY OF MUSCULAR EXERTION. 301

staggering, and stumbling ; at last he falls, and rises no more.
He dies suffocated. Upon dissection, the lungs are found so
gorged with blood that almost no air could enter them.

At the first indications of distress the horse should be pulled
up, or his pace should be slackened ; half a minute may be
sufficient to restore strength to the heart, the lungs, or the
muscles, whichever be in fault ; the stagnation or accumula-
tion ceases, and the blood passes on free and pure.

An increased formation of Heat is the third effect of muscular
exertion. The surface of the body becomes warm or hot ;
more than the usual quantity of heat is evolved. It has never
been supposed that this is a necessary or useful consequence
of exertion. Acceleration of the blood and of the breathing
must take place in order that the muscles may produce pro-
gression. But it is not believed that an extra quantity of heat
is useful either as an assistant or as a principal. It is well
known that fast work does least mischief in cool or cold
weather ; and it appears that there is a contrivance almost
for the express purpose of removing the superfluous heat.
Most probably the evolution of heat is' an unavoidable result
of increased velocity in the circulation.

Perspiration is the fourth effect of exertion. By this pro-
cess the body is relieved from superfluous heat, and super-
fluous fluid. It is always refreshing. It enables the horse
to perform his work with less distress ; but when he has
little superfluous fluid in him it always produces subsequent
exhaustion. A fat or plump horse may be all the better of a
good sweat ; he may be fitter for his work next day than if he
had not perspired. A very poor horse can not so well afford
such a loss of fluid ; the more he sweats to-day, the less spirit
and strength he has to-morrow. Both, however, are refreshed,
though not perhaps in equal degrees, by perspiring at their
work. In both, the perspiration combines with the super-
fluous heat, and carries it off in vapor. The evaporation
regulates the heat of the surface. If it were possible to con-
fine the heat which rapid exertion produces, it is probable the
horse would soon be fevered. But it is not possible to do this,
for whenever the skin becomes very warm, perspiration follows
almost immediately.

Some horsemen, and especially, I believe, post-boys and
stage-coachmen, are in the habit of throwing a pailful of cold
water over the horse's body in the middle of a long stage on
a hot day. Most people would regard this as a very violent
and thoughtless proceeding. To deluge a horse with cold

26

302 STABLE ECONOMY.

water, when reeking hot, and perspiring at every pore, ap-
pears to be a dangerous practice I can not speak from very
extensive experience of this, but so far as I have been able to
see, there is no danger in the case, so long as two rules are
observed : the effusion must not be carried so far as to make
the skin perceptibly cold ; — and the horse must be put in mo-
tion directly after it is done. One or at most two bucket-
ruls may be dashed over the body, as equally as possible ;
and the horse should immediately resume his journey ; or, if
his journey be over, the water must be scraped off, and the
horse moved about till he be quite dry. The danger lies in
letting him stand till he shivers. With these precautions, I
have never seen the cold effusion do any harm, and I know
well that it is highly refreshing to a heated and travel-worn
horse, on a hot day. The water withdraws the redundant
heat, which oppresses the horse, and which he can get quit
of only by a process comparatively slow in its operation and
expensive to the system. The fat, plump horse, having plenty
of superfluous fluid to spare, may not be so much in need of
the cold effusion, but he also is much refreshed by it, par-
ticularly after he has already perspired copiously. After the
temperature of the skin is fast sinking to its natural standard,
effusion is both useless and dangerous.

Acceleration of the circulation and of respiration, the genera-
tion of heat, and perspiration, are the immediate and most im-
portant effects of exertion. But there are other changes,
which can not be distinctly traced, either in number or in
order. The few that can be described do not appear to de-
mand any notice but what they obtain in other parts of this
work. A minute analysis is not necessary, though it might
be interesting, and to the practitioner useful. It may be suf-
ficient to observe in this place, that the nerves, the blood-
vessels, tbe muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints, undergo
a slight change of state every time the horse is put to work.
With some of these par's the alteration becomes apparent only
after the change has been produced often, and at short inter-
vals. The change of state, in whatever it may consist, is
beneficial to a horse that has been long idle. By degrees u
renders all the parts better able to perform their duties. Un-
der proper management the alteration goes on progressively,
until each part and each organ have attained all the improve-
ment of which they are susceptible. When muscular exer-
tion is pushed beyond a certain point, an injurious alteration
takes place in some of the organs connected with motion

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK. 303

Tne improvement of motive parts is considered in the nex;
section ; the deterioration in that which follows it.

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK.

The natural powers of the horse, contrasted with those he
acquires, are feeble beyond what a stranger can conceive.
Some people are prone to talk nonsense about nature. They
would have horses placed as nearly as possible in a wild state,
or a state of nature, which, I suppose, means the same thing.
In the open fields the horse, it is said, has pure air, a whole-
some diet, and exercise good for the limbs and the constitu-
tion. God never intended so noble an animal to suffer con-
finement in a dark and narrow dungeon, nor to eat the artificial
food provided by man. Much more is said ; but it is not worth
repeating. The truth is, setting argument aside, we must have
service, even at the hazard of producing diseases that never
occur in a state of nature. Before the horse can do all, or
half of all that he is capable of doing, he must be completely
domesticated. In the artificial management to which he is
subjected there are many errors ; but instead of condemning
the system by wholesale, it were wiser to rectify what is
wrong. A horse, kept in a state of nature, would not last
half a day in the hunting-field ; and at stage-coaching two or
three days would kill him.

Conditioning, Training, and Seasoning, as words, have
nearly the same meaning. The first is used most in reference
to hunters, but occasionally to all kinds of horses ; the second
is confined almost entirely to racers ; and the third to horses
employed in public conveyances, mails, stage-coaches, and so
forth. They relate solely to the processes and agents by which
strength, speed, and endurance, are conferred. The terms have
little or nothing to do with the precautionary measures con-
sidered in the first section of this chapter ; they are limited
to the means by which the horse is inured to severe exertion.
As I proceed I use the words synonymously, and employ
preparation, ox preparing for work, with the same meaning.

The Objects of Training, whether for the turf, the road,
or the field, are the same. They vary in degree only, not in
kind. For either of these purposes the horse must have
speed, strength, and endurance. This last word is not quite
so expressive as 1 wish. It is intended to signify lasting
speed ; it relates to the distance ; speed is in relation to time ,•
strength, to the weight carried or drawn. In stables, the

304 STABLE ECONOMY

words length and stoutness are used for endurance. These
three properties are common to all horses, but they exist in
various degrees of combination. The age, breed, formation,
and condition, exercise great influence upon them.* Young
horses generally have more speed than stoutness : at, and af-
ter maturity, stoutness is in greater perfection than speed.
What are termed thorough-bred horses have speed, strength,
and endurance, more of each in combination than any other
breed. It would require a long chapter to consider all that
might be said in connexion with formation ; I pass it over,
only observing that large, long-striding horses generall}- have
more speed, but less endurance, than lower compact horses.
The formation has a great deal to do with strength, and there-
fore this property is less under the influence of training than
the others are. Training does not enable the horse to carry
or draw much more than he can naturally, when in good
health and spirits ; but it enables him to carry a given weight
farther and faster. The condition of the horse is the last cir-
cumstance I mention, as influencing his working properties.
This is a matter of great importance. A horse, say a race-
horse, may be of the right age, his pedigree may have no stain,
and his formation no fault; he may be in perfect health, sound
in wind and limb, but notwithstanding all this, the horse may
be in a very bad condition ; that is, for running a race. He
may have too much carcass, he may have too much flc^h
about him, he may be short-winded, and his muscles may be
unfit for protracted exertion. To put these into that state
which experience has proved the best for a particular kind of
work, forms the business of training, conditioning, seasoning.
Before considering all the agents and processes employed by
the trainer, I would make a few remarks upon the size of the
oelly, the state of the muscles, the state of the breathing, and
the quantity of flesh.

Size of the Belly. — Horses that are fed on bulky food, and
those that are very fat, have a large belly. In one, its size
is produced entirely by the contents of the intestines ; they
may be laden with grass, hay, straw, or other food, of which
much must be eaten to furnish the required amount of nutri-
ment, and there is always a good deal of water along with
this coarse food. One dose of physic, or at the most two
doses, will empty the bowels. In another case the size of
the belly arises from an accumulation of fat inside. This is

* There are some others, particularly the temper and the state of the
legs.

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK. 305

•removable only by slow degrees. Purgation, sweating, and
other evacuants, take it away. In a third case, the size of
the carcass depends partly upon the intestinal contents, and
partly upon the accumulation of fat.

When the belly is very large, from either or both of these
causes, the horse cannot breathe freely. He can not expand
the chest, the contents of the belly offer a mechanical obstacle
to the elongation of this cavity ; and, as a necessary con-
sequence, sufficient air can not be taken in to purify sufficient
blood. But the weight of the fat, or of the food, is of itself a
great burden, and would tell seriously against the horse in
protracted exertion, even though it were placed on his back.

The trainer should know when the carcass is sufficiently
lightened. He judges by the horse's wind. When that is
equal to the work, further reduction in the size of the belly
may not be necessary. Hence, for some kinds of work, it
need not be so much lightened as for some others. Without
inconvenience the hunter may have a larger belly than the
racer, and the stage-coach horse larger than either. Hunters
and racers should have a straight carcass, not at all pro-
tuberant, and seldom much tucked up ; but it is often very
difficult or impossible to put a straight carcass upon flat-sided
horses.

After the carcass is sufficiently lightened, it is to be kept
within the prescribed limits by avoiding idleness and bulky
food . The work or exercise must be such as to prevent the
re-formation of fat, and the food such as to furnish the requir-
ed quantity of nourishment without occupying too much room.
Fast- working horses are kept on a limited allowance of fod-
der, and the usual allowance is further reduced on the day
preceding extraordinary exertion. This precaution, however
is requisite only with great eaters, or gluttons, as they have
been termed, employed at hunting or racing.

In former times the grooms had a strange mode of redu-
cing the belly. They bound a strong and very broad roller
round it, drew it as tight as a woman's corsets, and compelled
the horse to stand in it night and day. This absurd practice
is now out of fashion. Those who know their business know
that it will not produce the desired effect. But it is not un-
common, even yet, to find a broad surcingle applied as tightly
as it can be drawn, for the purpose, as they say, of drawing
up the belly. I have seen a good groom do this. It is a
mark of ignorance. The roller which was formerly used
might possibly have some effect, for it went over the belly ;

26*

306 STABLE ECONOMY.

but the surcingle now used acts altogether upon the ches-.
which training ought to expand rather than contract.

State of the Muscles. — Exertion, under certain regulations,
produces a particular state of the muscles, the parts of mo-
tion, and of the nerves, the blood, and the blood-vessels, by
which the muscles are supplied. Neither anatomy nor physi-
ology is able to describe the change which those parts under-
go in training. The eye, indeed, discovers a difference in
the texture and the color of the muscles. Those which have
been much in use are redder, harder, and tougher, than those
that have had little to do. They contain more blood, and
that blood is of a more decided red color. They are also a
little larger, when compared with a corresponding muscle of
less work. More than this dissection does not reveal. It is
known, without any dissection, that the instruments of mo-
tion exist in different states ; that in one state their action
is slow and feeble ; in another state it is rapid and powerful ;
and that in certain states they can maintain their action for a
much longer time than in certain other states.

For practical purposes it is not perhaps of much conse-
quence to learn all the changes which the muscles, the blood,
the blood-vessels, and the nerves, must undergo, before the
horse can possess the condition which his work demands. It
may be enough to know that the condition, in whatever it
may consist, can be conferred only by exertion. There are
numerous auxiliaries, and various modes of giving and of
regulating exertion ; but until it has produced the requisite
alteration in the muscles, and their appendages, there can
never be any remarkable degree of speed nor endurance.

State of the Breathing. — I have said that the horse's breath-
ing can not be free so long as a large belly interferes with the
action of the lungs. To lighten a large carcass is to improve
the wind. But I am persuaded that the lungs themselves may
undergo a change particularly favorable to protracted exertion.
Though I can not offer any proof of this, I think the alterations
which take place in other parts of the body make it appear
probable that the lungs also are altered. It is reasonable to
suppose that the tubes which carry the blood, and those which
carry the air, suffer some increase of calibre ; and that the
lungs taken altogether, become a little larger. Such an al-
teration seems necessary to account for the visible change
which takes place in the breathing. As training proceeds,
the horse becomes less and less distressed by exertion,
and ultimately acquires the power of doing that which

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK. # 307

would have killed him at the beginning ; and the cause of
death would have been found in the lungs. I can offer nc
other proof in favor of this supposition. It will be observed
in many parts of this work, that I am compelled to suggest in-
quiry when it would have been more pleasant to state the re-
sult of inquiry already made. But these matters have been
so much neglected, that it does not seem to have occurred to
anybody that investigation is needful. Our knowledge is in-
complete, yet no one speaks as if there were anything to
learn. [It is far more complete than our author thought. He
had not learned it himself, and commits the error of thinking
that no one else had.]

It is well enough known, however, that to improve the
wind the horse must have a great deal of exertion. Purging,
sweating, and other emaciating processes, remove all obstruc-
tion to the lungs ; exertion, at such a pace as to quicken the
breathing, does the rest. But all horses do not need the
same quantity of work to improve their wind. In some it is
naturally very good. They have large nostrils, a wide wind-
pipe, and a deep chest. By proper training their breathing
becomes remarkably free and easy ; hardly any pace or dis-
tance produces distress. They go as far and as fast as the
legs can carry them. When over- worked it is generally the
legs, not the lungs, that fail. There are as many other hor-
ses whose wind is bad, never very good by any manage-
ment. They have small nostrils, and a small chest, neither
deep nor wide. In these the wind fails before the legs ;
work makes the others leg-weary ; these it over-marks, pro-
ducing congestion, or inflammation in the lungs. These hor-
ses are never fit for long races.

However good or bad the wind may be before training, it
always improves more or less as training proceeds. It is im-
proved at the same time, and by the same means, that power
is giver, to the muscular system. But exertion may be so regu-
lated that the muscular system shall acquire all the energy of
which it is capable, and yet the wind may be neglected and
defective. Short distances give power and alacrity to the
muscles, but long distances are necessary to improve the
wind. The horse must go far enough and fast enough to
quicken the breathing, but not at any time so far nor so fast
as to distress him very much. When the chest is defective,
or when there is a strong tendency to the formation and accu-
mulation of fat, the horse may need a great deal of exertion to
render his wind fit for his work ; and, in either case, he must

308 STABLE ECONOMY.

have good legs to stand the exertion. When the legs and
'uhe chest are both defective, the horse will turn out a very or-
dinary animal. He will last longer at slow than at fast work.

Quantity of Flesh. — When the horse goes into preparation
for work he is sometimes lean. He may have been half
starved. He may be so low in flesh that he has neither abil-
ity nor inclination to make exertion. To get such a horse
ready for fast-work, we must begin with feeding. He may
require a little medicine, but in general it is sufficient to let
him have plenty of good food, and gentle exercise, enough to
keep him in health. As he takes on flesh his exercise must
increase both in pace and distance. Though not given in
such measure as to keep the horse very lean, it must must be
severe enough to prevent the formation of fat in his belly. To
keep his carcass light and his wind good, he must have an
occasional gallop.

But the horse is rarely very lean when he goes into train-
ing. Most generally he is plump, fat, full of flesh, and in
high spirits. In this state he is easily injured by exertion.
He has so much animation that he is willing: to do more than
is good for him. The very lean horse seldom has the incli-
nation.

Hunters and racers are idle, or nearly so, for two or three
months before they go into training. During this time they
are so well fed that they acquire much more flesh than they
can safely carry at work. The trainer has to remove a good
deal of this superfluous flesh. Why is it ever put on ? I have
elsewhere observed that I think these horses, while idle,
should be fed in such a way that they may not be fat, though
they may be plump and hearty by the time they go into train-
ing. But, possibly, there may be something which I have not
considered that may forbid this. I would recommend a trial
of one horse, or two only.

In all horses, not very lean, there are certain juices, solids,
and fluids, which do not contribute in any degree to produce,
or to aid, muscular exertion. Most of the superfluous matter
consists of fat. ; part lines the belly, part lies in the connex-
ions of the intestines ; some lies below the skin, and some
between the muscles, and in the texture of the muscles. Hor-
ses that are never accustomed to pass a walk or a slow trot,
carry a great deal of the fat in their belly ; others of fast
work carry the largest portion under the skin ; it covers the
libs, where it is carried with least inconvenience. This fat
is lodged in a tissue, which pervades all parts of the body, as

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK. 309

water lodges in a sponge, only there is no apparent commu-
nication between the cells of the tissue, for the fat lies where
it is placed, without sinking downward. Fat is the surplus
of nutrition. When the food is so abundant as to produce
more nutriment than the system needs, the residue is stored
away in the form of fat. When the food becomes unequal to
the demand, the fat is reconverted into blood, or a nutritious
juice, equal to that derived from the food. But as this fat
can not be rapidly converted into nutriment, certainly not
while the horse is hunting or racing, it had better not be
there. It is a useless weight which the horse must carry,
and, from its situation, it may embarrass the parts upon
which motion depends. Besides the fat, there are probably
some watery or serous juices, quite as useless or injurious
under exertion. In the stables the superfluous matter is termed
the waste and spare, and the removal of it is termed, drawing
the horse fine.

Slow-work horses may carry much superfluous flesh with-
out any inconvenience. Saddle and carriage horses are not
supposed to be in good condition unless they be tolerably
plump. Mail-horses can not carry much, and it must be all
on the outside, not in the belly ; hunters carry less, and ra-
cers the least of any others. But, for short distances, it is
not usual to draw the racer very fine. For a four-mile race,
the horse must be drawn as fine as it possible to make him,
without exhausting him. It is obvious that the means by
which superfluous flesh is removed, will also remove that
which is useful, if persisted in beyond a certain point. When
carried too far, the horse becomes unwilling to exert himself,
dull, feeble, and careless about his food. These symptoms^
accompanied by emaciation, show that he is overtrained. The
trainer is proceeding too fast or too far with his operations.
There is no rule to guide him, but the state of the horse. One
may be drawn a great deal finer than another. So long as the
horse goes cheerfully to his work, and to his food, the trainer
may proceed : he may stop so soon as the horse has wind
and speed for the distance.

Superfluous flesh is removed partly by sweating, partly by
purging, and partly by exertion. When all is taken away
that is likely to incommode the horse, further reduction haz-
ards the legs when there is no need to hazard them.

It appears, then, that the trainer may have to lighten the
carcass, he may have to put flesh on the horse, or to take it
off him ; and be always has to give tone to the muscles, and

310 STABLE ECONOMY.

freedom to the wind. Each goes on progressively, avid gen-
erally at the same time ; but the belly is to be reduced to its
proper size before all the superfluous flesh is taken away ;
much of this, if there be much of it, must be removed before
power and alacrity can be given to the muscular system.
Subsequently, the horse may be drawn finer, if need be, as
his wind and speed are under improvement.

It is probable that training produces some alteration in the
condition of the blood, the nerves, the blood-vessels, the
joints, the tendons, and upon every part connected with mo-
tion. The change in these ought to be as permanent as that
produced in the muscles ; but I can say nothing more about
them.

Agents of Training. — The agents and processes em-
ployed in preparing the horse for fast-work are, physic,
sweating, blood-letting, diuretics, alteratives, diaphoretics, cor-
dials, and exertion. I do not mean that all these are or
should be in requisition for every horse, or every kind of
fast-work. All, however, are occasionally used, and it is
proper to consider all. Without knowing what each can doy
and what each can not do, it can not be judiciously employed.
I consider their effects in reference to training ; but some of
them, such as physic and cordials, are often used when the
horse is already trained and in work ; and to this, or a simi-
lar circumstance, I allude in two or three places. Though
not strictly connected with the preparation for work, it is
right, I think, to say all I have to say about one *hing in one
place.

Physic. — In the stable this word is entirely confined to
purgative medicine.

Uses of. — To a horse going or gone into training, physic
may be wanted for one or more of seven purposes. It will
diminish the size of the belly ; it will rectify a disordered
state of the bowels, rousing them from torpor to activity ; it
will expel worms ; it will produce real or comparative emacia-
tion ; it will cure plethora ; it will prevent plethora ; and it
will cure swelled legs. Physic will produce other effects ;
but I here speak of it only in reference to preparation for
work, and to the preservation of working condition.

If the horse be newly from grass, one dose will be wanted
to empty his bowels. It may be given on the day he is sta-
bled. If lusty, the dose may be strong. If the horse be
lean, previously half-starved, or kept on bad food, one, per-
haps two doses, may be necessary to empty the bowels, ey^e]

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK. 311

worms, and rouse the digestive apparatus to activity, one 01
all. In this case, the horse may as well be stabled for eight
or ten days before his physic be given. It should be mild.
If the horse be fat, lusty, or as stablemen say, full of humors,
foul, or foggy, his flesh soft and flabby, he will require a smart
purgative. If he be very full of flesh, have bad legs, and
be a good feeder, he may need several doses, each as strong
as the horse can safely bear it. His safety is never to be
compromised. There are other means of reducing him, if
physic, in safe doses, will not do it. He may have the first
as soon as his bowels are relaxed by bran mashes. The sec-
ond is not to be given in less than nine clear days. The
third, if absolutely necessary, is not to be given in less than
fourteen days after the second sets.

Should the horse fall lame, or from any other cause require
to lie idle for several days after his training has considerably
advanced, physic may be necessary to prevent plethora. This
state of the system may also be prevented by reducing the
allowance of food. But racers and hunters can not be starved,
and whatever kind of food they get it must either produce
plethora or a large belly. The physic prevents both. Unless
lameness or swelled legs demand it, the physic need not be
given till the horse has been several days idle. If he must be
out of work for more than two or three weeks, a second dose
may be necessary. But it is only horses of very keen appe-
tite that need physic to prevent plethora. A delicate horse
of light carcass, narrow loins, and irritable temper, rarely re-
quires physic to prevent or to cure plethora, and very seldom
to remove superfluous flesh. They eat sparingly, and the
training exercises reduce them more, and faster, than others
of robust constitution. Between the most delicate and the
most robust there are many others with whom a middle course
of treatment must be adopted with regard to physic, and to
everything else. While those of very strong constitution
may require a full dose, the very delicate may require none.
To some a mild or a half-dose is sufficient ; and to others a
diuretic or an alterative may be useful, when the propriety of
giving even a mild or a half-dose is doubtful.

Horses that have undergone a good deal of exertion, wheth-
er in training or in work, often need physic to refresh them.
The legs may be slightly swelled, the horse a little stiff, and
dull. If much emaciated, a mild dose is sufficient ; if lusty
\he dose may be strong, particularly if the legs be the worse
Oi' wear.

312 STABLE ECONOMY.

The Effects of Physic vary with the strength of the dosa,
the number of doses, and the condition of the horse. One
dose, mild or strong, merely empties the bowels ; two, three,
or a greater number, of mild, perhaps only half-doses, given
at proper intervals, rouse the digestive organs to more than or-
dinary activity, and make the lean horse acquire flesh. But
if the doses be given at intervals too short, the bowels become
very irritable ; they remain relaxed ; the evacuations are soft,
too pultaceous, and a draught of cold water, or a little fast
work, produces actual purgation. In such a case the horse
becomes excessively lean and weak, and it is often a long time
ere he recovers. He has had physic too frequently, even
though each dose were mild.

One strong dose, besides evacuating the bowels, and light-
ening the belly, produces emaciation. The purgative drug
acts first upon the inner surface of the stomach and bowels.
It irritates this surface, which pours forth a copious secretion
of water-like fluid, for the purpose of diluting and weakening
the irritant. The fluid is derived from the blood. When the
purgative is so strong as to produce very copious secretion,
the loss which the blood suffers in quantity is soon felt all over
the body, and an effort is quickly made to supply the place of
that which has been lost. Vessels, termed absorbents, com-
mence operations upon the fat, and upon other superfluities.
These undergo a change, and acquire a resemblance to blood ;
they are collected, and poured into the blood-vessels, and fill
the place of all the fluid that has been evacuated by the bowels.
This absorption of superfluities follows every evacuation,
whether it come from the bowels, the skin, or the kidneys ;
and I need not again advert to it. The horse becomes leaner
in order that the blood-vessels may be fuller. The fat is con-
verted into blood, or a fluid like blood ; but when there is no
fat to remove, or to spare, the absorbents act upon and remove
other superfluous fluids and solids, wherever seated. Thus,
purging, sweating, and other evacuants, take away fatness,
swelled legs, dropsies, tumors, and so forth.

Purgation always produces emaciation, more or less evident
according to the violence of the operation. But when one
dose succeeds another, before the bowels have quite recovered
from the effects of the first, there is danger in the process
Purging proceeds too far ; it may be so severe that weeks
must elapse ere the horse recover ; it maybe such as to leave
the bowels excessively irritable, easily relaxed : or it may be
buch as to kill the horse in two or three days. These and

PREPARATION FOR FAST WCRK. 313

some othor bad effects of physic, arise either from giving too
much physic at one time, or from giving it too often.

In hunting and racing, and even in coaching stables, horses
often die under physic. The blame seldom falls upon the
medicine, nor upon the man who gives it. The fault is all
in the horse's constitution ; instead of saying the physic was
too strong, the man declares the horse was too weak, as if it
were not possible to make the physic strong or weak accord-
ing to the state of the horse. When the horse dies, however,
it is always from an over-dose. He gets too much at once
or he gets it too often, or that which he gets is made to work
too strongly, for it is possible to make a small dose produce a
great effect.

In the stables it is often asserted that physic is dangerous
when it does not purge the horse. When not strong enough
to purge the horse, the groom says it goes through the body;
does not work off, but requires another, to make it work off.
This is nonsense. I must have given several thousand half-
doses of physic, not intended to produce any purgation, or
very little. If any one of. these ever did any ill, a full dose
would have done a great deal more. But when the groom
finds his first dose does not purge any, or not so much as he
desires, he is in a hurry to give a second, which, operating
with the first, is a pretty sure way to destroy the horse. If
one dose do not purge, no second should be given till after four
clear days.

Physic in full dose always produces temporary debility,
even before purgation begins. It increases as the purging
proceeds, and its duration is influenced by many circumstan-
ces. The horse is dull, sick, and sometimes a little uneasy
while he is purging. He is generally sick before it begins,
and while it lasts, but very often he becomes lively and desires
food so soon as purgation is established.

After severe purgation the horse is weak for several days ;
he sweats soon and is easily fatigued. Some recover much
sooner than others. To the temporary debility there often
succeeds an immediate increase of energy, greater than the
horse possessed before, and not altogether dependant upon the
loss of superfluous flesh, nor the removal of any apparent evil.
Hence physic is frequently given to racers and to hunters, in
the middle of their working season, for the purpose as it is
termed, of refreshing them.

A Course of Physic consists of three doses, given at inter-
vals of from 8 to 14 days. Hunters, racers, some carriage,

27

314 STABLE ECONOMY.

and other horses, get two courses every year as regularly as
the seasons come round ; the racer in autumn after his sum-
mer running is over, and in spring after he has lain idle all
winter ; the hunter in spring when he goes to grass or loose-
house, and in autumn when in preparation for his winter's
work. Carriage, and suchlike horses, have their two courses,
simply because spring and autumn are spring and autumn.
This, in reference to ordinary horses, is going much out of
fashion. A few venerable adherents to the old school, still
remain, but their example is not very pernicious ; it is little
followed.

There is no season of the year at which physic is more
necessary than at another. Horses, indeed, are moulting in
spring and in autumn ; but so long as they are in health this
process is not beneficially influenced by physic. With hun-
ters, the change of food and work alters the case. They may
need one dose, or three, or more than three, or none. The
practice of giving a full course to all, without discrimination,
as if there were some magical property in the number three,
is too absurd to merit notice. Physic is not one of those
simples in which quackery deals. Its power to do evil is at
least as great as its power to do good.

Composition of Physic. — There afre many articles which
purge the horse ; but, upon almost every occasion, Barbadoes
aloes is preferred. It is easily given, and the proper dose is
well known or easily regulated. It purges with more certain-
ty, and with less danger, than any of the articles which are
sometimes used in its place. The aloes are powdered, and
formed into a tough, solid mass, soft enough to swallow. Com-
mon or Castile soap is generally used for this purpose. One
of soap, to two of aloes, is about the proportion. Other in-
gredients are sometimes added ; but, to produce purgation,
nothing is wanted but the aloes. On hunting and racing es-
tablishments, the head groom usually compounds the physic
himself. It may be procured ready made, in any strength,
from the veterinarian or the druggist. A full dose varies from
four drachms to nine Yearling colts require about 4 ; ponies
from 5 to 6 ; saddle, hunting, and draught horses from 7 to 8 ;
thoroughbreds from 6 to 9. These last when well prepared
may be purged by six drachms ; but when in work they may
require nine. Horses of narrow chest and light carcass, re-
quire less than those of round barrel.

Giving a Ball. — A dose of medicine, whether purgative
cordial, diuretic, or any other kind, when given in a solid form,

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK. 315

is termed a ball. It should be soft and about the size and
shape of a pullet's egg The operator stands before the horse,
who is generally unbound, and turned with his head out of the
stall, and a halter upon it. An assistant stands on the left
side, to steady the horse's head, and keep it from rising out
of the operator's reach. Sometimes he holds the mouth open,
and grooms generally need such aid. The operator seizes
the horse's tongue in his left hand, draws it a little out, and to
one side, and places his little finger fast upon the under jaw ;
with the right hand he carries the ball smartly along the roof
of the mouth, and leaves it at the root of the tongue. The
mouth is closed, and the head held, till the ball is seen de-
scending the gullet on the left side. When loath to swallow,
a little water may be offered, and it will carry the ball before it.
Some grooms are sad bunglers at this operation. Some
can not do it at all ; many not without the use of a balling-
iron, end none of them can do it handsomely by any means.
I have seen the tongue severely injured, half torn out of the
horse's mouth ; and many horses are so much alarmed and in-
jured by a bad operator, that they become exceedingly troub-
lesome and always shy about having the mouth or head han-
dled.

By keeping the little finger upon the bar of the mouth, the
tongue can never be injured ; the hand follows every motion
of the head without being dragged by the tongue. By deliv-
ering the ball smartly, and without instruments, no pain is pro-
duced, and no resistance offered. A hot troublesome horse
should be sent to a veterinary surgeon.- The probability is
that the groom will fail ; he may lodge the ball among the
teeth, or injure the mouth, and the horse will be pained to no
purpose, and taught to resist all operations about his head.

Preparing for Physic. — If a full dose of physic be given
when the bowels are costive, it is apt to produce colic and in-
flammation. The medicine is dissolved in the stomach, passes
into the intestines, and mingles with their fluid and semifluid
contents ; but, as it travels on, it arrives at a point where the
contents are solid ; the physic is arrested ; it lies longer there
than at any previous part of its course ; its continued presence
produces spasmodic and painful contractions of the bowels to
force it on. If the intestinal contents be very obstinate, if
the obstruction be not dissolved, irritation and inflammation
succeed, and the horse's life is in danger. To obviate this,
the bowels for one or two days previous are to be gently and
uniformly relaxed by giving bran mashes, by withholding

316 STABLE ECONOMY.

grain, and by stinting the allowance of hay. If the horse
can take exercise, one day is sufficient to prepare him. A
the usual feeding hour, he has a bran mash, warm or cold,
whichever he likes best. He gets water often, and in full
measure, as much as he will take, and, if possible, he should
have walking or trotting exercise, perhaps morning and after-
noon. At night, he receives less than the ordinary allow-
ance of hay ; and, if a great eater, a muzzle is put upon him,
that he may not eat the litter after his hay is finished. Few,
however, need to be stinted in their fodder. Most of them
may have the ordinary allowance. Those that will not eat
mashes, nor drink freely, and those that can not take exer-
cise, are the only horses that need to be kept short of fodder.
Farly next morning the physic is given on an empty stomach.
Treatment under Physic. — Half an hour, or directly after
physic is given, the horse gets a bran mash ; that eaten, he
goes to walking exercise, for perhaps an hour ; he is watered
when he returns. The water should be tepid, warm as the
horse will take it. He is to get it often, and as much as he
pleases. It should all be warm, that is, it should not be very
cold. Some horses, particularly when under physic, refuse
tepid water. It is often offered too warm. It is better that
he have it cold, than that he have none. But from the time
physic is given till it ceases to operate, all the water should
be warm as the horse will take it, yet not so warm as to make
him refuse it. During the remainder of this day, the horse
has a bran mash as often as he is accustomed to get grain.
Warm are better than cold mashes ; if refused they may be
given cold ; if both be refused, dry bran may be tried.
Whether bran be eaten or refused, the horse is to have no
grain. The hay may be sprinkled with plain, or with salt
water. Sometimes a little more exercise is given in the af-
ternoon ; and when the horse is difficult to purge, he is all
the better of more exercise, weather and the legs permitting
it. In wet weather, the horse is not to go out. In cold
weather, he is to be clothed, both in the stable and at exer-
cise. The exercise is given at a walking pace, but in cold
weather part of it may be faster. It should be fast enough to
keep the horse warm, but not so fast as to heat him. Next
morning, about twenty-four hours after the physic has been
given, purging commences. Sometimes it begins sooner. I
have seen physic operate in ten hours, and I have known
thirty hours elapse ere the horse was fairly purged. The
more exercise he takes, and the more water he drinks, the

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK. 317

sooner he is purged. Wheu the dose is strong, exercise mus
be given with more caution than when it is weak. But too
much exercise, particularly beyond a walk, will make even a
weak dose over-purge the horse.

If not purging freely next morning, when the stable is
opened, the horse may go out and remain for an hour at a
walk, with an occasional slow trot. Whenever purgation is
fairly established the horse should be brought in, and stand in
the stable till his physic sets, that is, till it ceases to operate.
Some continue the exercise for a good while after the horse is
purging ; and when very copious purgation is wanted, or
when the dose is not very strong, this may be done, the dan-
ger of carrying the process beyond the horse's strength being
always remembered. A full dose, wTith proper preparation,
and proper treatment, usually continues to operate pretty
smartly for twelve hours. All this time the horse gets bran
mashes and water as on the preceding day. At night the
evacuations should be less fluid, and by next morning they
ought to be quite natural. After this the horse returns to his
usual diet.

Colic. — If the horse appear in pain, pawing the ground,
looking at his flank, rising and lying, or rolling when down,
he may have a clyster of warm soapy water, and go to exer-
cise. This sometimes happens before purgation begins. If
the pain be very severe, producing perspiration, a cordial ball
may be given and more clysters, and exercise, only a walk.

Super purgation occurs frequently, either from the dose be-
ing too strong, or from the horse getting too much exercise.
If the physic continue to operate so as to threaten evil, it may
be stopped very readily by giving the horse a few oats or
beans, one or both. If the horse will not eat, give him a
cordial ball ; withhold water, and give oatmeal gruel instead ;
bandage the legs, clothe the body, give a good bed, shut up
the stable, and do not take the horse out. In half an hour
after giving the cordial, again try the horse with oats or beans.
Should these means fail, or should the horse very rapidly be-
come weak, dejected, losing flesh from the back, crest, and
thighs, let him have half a pint of mulled port wine, well
spiced in as much warm water, and add an ounce of lauda-
num to it. Repeat this dose every four or five hours till
purging stops. It will always succeed, if the horse be not
indeed at death's door before the treatment is begun. Bleed-
ing in such a case destroys the horse.

Sweating. — Every horse must perspire more or less while

27*

318 STABLE ECONOMY.

undergoing preparation for fast work ; but in all racing and
hunting studs there are some horses that require to oe pur-
posely sweated. By putting the horse to exertion, under
heavy clothing, the perspiration is excited, and encouraged to
flow in much greater profusion than mere exertion would ever
produce. The object of this is twofold. Sweating removes
superfluous flesh, and it gives freedom of respiration. The
one object may be aimed at more than the other ; and the
process of sweating is, or ought to be, regulated accordingly.
If the main object be to remove superfluous flesh, the horse
may be sweated without, or with very little exertion ; if the
main object be to improve the wind, the horse must have a
good deal of exertion with less sweating. In both cases the
horse is drawn finer. The fluid which escapes from the skin
is derived from the blood. Copious perspiration is soon fol-
lowed by absorption. The superfluous fluids and solids are
carried into the circulation, in order to supply the deficiency
which perspiration has produced. Every sweat, if it be car-
ried far enough, draws the horse finer, and such is the result,
whether he get much or little exertion.

I have never met with a stableman who seemed to under-
stand the precise effects of sweating. They confound the
effects of exertion with those of sweating ; they proceed as
if they thought the two should be combined. I have more
than once stated that exercise, judiciously managed, gives
power and alacrity to the muscular system, and freedom to
the breathing. I have now to observe that sweating, consid-
ered by itself, does neither. Copious perspiration can be ex-
cited with very little exertion ; and, when that is done, the
sweating merely removes superfluous flesh. It removes fat,
or other matters, which encumber the muscles and the lungs ;
but it does not improve the functional powers of either. Ex-
ertion produces one series of effects, sweating another ; and
though both are generally combined, there are cases in which
they may, with advantage, be separated.

Sweating without Exertion. — There is some exertion, but
so li'/ie that it is not worth considering. The horse is heav-
ily clothed, saddled, mounted, and taken to the sweating-
ground ; here he is ridden at a steady, gentle pace, till he be-
gins to perspire ; so soon as the coat is damp, he is ridden a
a smart pace to the stable ; the doors and windows are closed ;
the horse is stalled with his head out, the saddle is removed,
and more clothing applied. The groom stands by, while an
assistant holds the horse's head. In a few minutes, from eight

PHEPARATION FOR FAST WORK. 319

10 ten, the ckin becomes quite wet, perspiration issues from
every pore and runs down the legs. The horse's breathing
increases, and is often as quick and laborious as if he had just
run a race. This arises partly from the heat, and partly from
exhaustion. The sudden loss of so much fluid produces a
faintness very similar to that which follows a large bleeding ;
and, without doubt the effect is greater from the heat accu-
mulated on the surface. The time the horse is permitted to
sweat in this manner, must be regulated by the groom. It
had better be repeated in a few days, than overdone at first.
After the first sweat the groom will closely observe its effect,
and he will carry the next further, or not so far, according to
circumstances. With some the sweating need not stop till
the perspiration be dropping fast from the belly, running down
the legs, and passing over the hoofs ; with some others, upon
whom its effect may not yet be known, it will be time to stop
when the hair is completely soaked. The groom now and
then puts his hand under the clothes, and, passing it along the
skin, observes how much fluid be lodged in the hair. If the
horse be sufficiently warm when he enters the stable, he .nay
have to sweat from five to fifteen minutes. Few require more
than fifteen, and few less than five.

The sweating having been carried to the desired extent, the
horse is stripped, the stable boys, usually one, and sometimes
two on each side, immediately scrape the horse all over;
they make the skin dry, with as much expedition as possible.
After scraping the neck, sides, quarters, every place upon
which the scraper will operate, the legs and head are sponged.
By means of wisps and rubbers the horse is made quite dry ;
his standing clothes are put on ; he gets a quart or two of
tepid water, goes out and gets a short gallop ; is walked about
till quite cool ; when he is stabled, dressed, clothed, watered,
fed, and left to repose. The first water is tepid, and no mo'e
is given than sufficient to make the horse eat. The first food
requires to be rather laxative, particularly for round barrelled
horses. The sweating produces costiveness, which is obvi-
ated by a bran mash : food is given afterward.

If it be desirable that this sweating produce a very decided
effect in reducing the horse, his allowance of water for the
next twenty-four or thirty-six hours should be moderate. He
will be disposed to drink very copiously, but if much be given,
it will be rapidly absorbed, and will, in some measure, fill the
place of that fluid which perspiration has taken away, and
there will be less stimulus for the absorbents to act upon the

320 STABLE ECONOMY.

fat and other superfluities. The water should be tepid, for
when cold it increases the horse's desire for it, and enough to
make him feed is sufficient.

It is usual to give the horse a short gallop after his sweat-
ing, and after he has been dried ; when he is able to take the
exertion and to suffer so much exhaustion in one day, the
practice is unobjectionable ; but sweating, whether with or
without exertion, does not render a gallop immediately after-
ward at all necessary. Some gentle exercise, however, is
often useful, to prevent perspiration from breaking out after
the horse is dressed.

I think this mode of sweating, without exertion, is the best
for lusty horses, with defective legs. It is most necessary at
the commencement of training, and may be practised two or
three days after the first dose of physic sets. It removes so
much of the fat that the horse may afterward proceed to ex-
ertion, which would have endangered his legs, had it been
given before the sweating. This sweating merely removes
fat. It confers no energy upon the muscles, nor capacity
upon the lungs, beyond that they acquire from having greater
freedom of action. This kind of sweating is never necessary
for horses already low in flesh ; and it need never be repeated
while the legs can safely carry the body.

Sweating with Exertion. — It is only in racing and in hunt-
ing stables that horses are put through this process. When
the training-groom speaks of sweating, he means sweating
with exertion. The horse is put through his physic, and
prepared for sweating by several days or weeks of walking
exercise, varied by an occasional gallop. If the sweating and
exertion must go together, it is very necessary to prepare the
horse for the process by some gentler exertion, for it is a very
severe one. If the horse be very lusty, he goes daily to
walking exercise. After a time he is put to a short oallop,
varying in speed and distance according to his age. It should
at the first two or three trials not exceed half the distance he
is to go in his sweat ; if he suffer that, without distress, it is
gradually lengthened till he is able to go nearly, or quite as
far as the sweating distance. If the trial gallop distress him,
he returns for a few days to gentler exercise, and the pace
and distance are increased more gradually.

Great eaters are muzzled for eight or ten hours before
they go to the sw7eating-ground ; some require to be muz-
zled twelve hours, some six, some not at all ; the stomach
should not be loaded. In the morning, or when the weathei

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK. 321

is cold in the forenoon, the horse is clothed :n his sweaters,
the quantity varying according to the effect desired. A soft
porous blanket lies next the skin ; a breast-piece covers the
bosom, while the head and neck are enveloped in a hood.
Over the blanket, one or two, it may be three or four quarter-
pieces are thrown ; and perhaps another hood may be re-
quired, the undermost wanting the earlets. These are tied
and buckled, with care that no part encumber the action, nor
abrade the skin. The legs, the eyes, and windpipe, must be
clear ; the breast-piece must not be drawn so tight as to confine
the legs or press upon the windpipe. The saddle goes over all.
The horse is ridden to some convenient ground, hunters to the
field, racers to the course. If the horse's legs be defective, he
is mounted by a light weight ; sometimes he is led by a man on
another horse. In the first or second sweat it may be proper to
forbear riding ; but in general it is not a good practice to lead
the horse. He is so little under control that he is very apt
to be lamed. Arrived at the sweating-ground, the horse is
usually walked round it, just to let him know it, and to give
him the use of his legs. The pace increases from a walk to
a trot or canter, and from that to a gallop. The length and
speed of the gallop must be regulated by the training-groom.
Speaking generally, the horse should rarely go at full speed,
and not above a few hundred yards at a time. When a cer-
tain distance is not aimed at, the gallop should often end so
soon as perspiration is fully established, and in no case should
the horse proceed at the same pace after he appears the least
distressed. As he improves in condition, he goes faster and
further before perspiration appears.

In racing-stables the sweats, almost from the beginning, are
of a certain length. According to Darvill, " the length for a
year-old, is two miles ; for a two-year-old, two miles and a
half; for a three-year-old, three miles, or three and a half;
and for a four-year-old, four miles. In preparing for a four
mile race the horse may have to sweat four and a half or
five miles."*

Though the colt or horse may have to go a certain dis-
tance, yet the pace at which he goes must vary with his con-
dition. At first, the lusty horse especially should go very
slow ; and when the body is loaded and the legs weak, I
think the full length should not be tried at first, even though
the pace be slow. For hunters the pace and the distance
mrs* be limited by the state of the legs, and the freedom of
♦ Darvill on the English Race-Horse.— Vol. II., p. 270.

322 STABLE ECONOMY.

the breathing. Excess at the beginning may possibly shorten
the time of preparation, but it is much more likely to injure
the lungs or the legs.

When pulled up, the horse is walked to his stable. He
may stand for a minute to recover his wind. If the sweating-
ground be at a considerable distance, the horse is followed
there by the groom and his assistants, who dry him in the
field. The horse is placed in a sheltered spot, perhaps be-
side a hedge ; his clothes are removed, and he is scraped as
dry as possible ; fresh clothing is put on, and the horse is
ridden smartly home. Subsequently, the treatment is the
same as after sweating in the stable. If the stable be near
the sweating-ground, the horse had better go there at once.
He is in less danger of catching cold.

I need hardly repeat that this process has a double effect ,
it improves the condition of those parts upon which muscular
exertion depends, and it removes superfluous flesh. How far
it is proper to aim at both objects by the same process, I
leave to the consideration of those who have experience in
the practical details of training. I should think it would be
safer for the legs of a lusty horse to get rid of great part of
the superfluous flesh with as little exertion as possible ; to
reduce him in the first place by purging and sweating, leaving
no more superfluous flesh upon him than what exertion with-
out clothing would remove. Sometimes the trainer unites
both modes of sweating. After sending the horse his sweat-
ing distance, further perspiration is encouraged in the stable.

The repetition of these sweats must be regulated by the
effect produced, and by the effect desired. While the robust
glutton may require a sweat once a week, or thrice a fortnight,
the delicate abstinent may not need more than one in five or
six weeks, or perhaps none at all.

Bleeding, as an operation preparatory to work, is hardly
evei . ^e.ssary. It is customary, however, in some hunting
and in coaclnng-studs, upon taking the horse from grass. I be-
lieve it is nowhere so common as it used to be. It takes the
flesh off a horse very rapidly, but it produces great debility.
Perhaps the parts which are absorbed after blood-letting, may
not be the same parts that sweating and purging remove. It
may be that the loss of pure blood may be replaced by the
absorption of solids and fluids more necessary to vigor than
those solids and fluids of which purging and sweating produce
the removal

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK. 323

Diuretics are those medicines which increase the flow of
a; me. They are not of much avail in training. They are
useful, however, when there is reason to fear plethora, or
when the legs swell, either from rest or from excess of food
or excess of work. Nitre, resin, turpentine, soap, and oil of
juniper, are all diuretics. For a horse of fifteen or sixteen
hands high a diuretic ball may be composed of — nitre, four
drachms ; resin, three drachms ; and oil of juniper, twenty
drops ; with soft soap sufficient to make a ball of the proper
size. From four to eight drachms of nitre, given in a mash,
may be sufficient to prevent the plethora which idleness on a
working-day might produce, and it is useful when work has
excited a little fever, or swelled the legs. No diuretic is to
be given within forty-eight hours after, nor before profuse
sweating.

Alteratives. — In the stables this term is not applied to
any particular drug or prescription. Almost every groom has
a recipe of his own, and the effect, when any is produced,
must vary according to the articles employed. Taken as a
class, the alteratives used in training may be regarded as
gentle evacuants, acting upon the secretions of the skin, the
bowels, and the kidneys. Nitre, resin, sulphur, balsam of
sulphur, Ethiop's mineral, cream of tartar, black antimony,
tartar-emetic, calomel, cinnabar, with a host of gums, spices,
and herbs, are used individually, or in various combinations.
Many inert articles are employed. Very often so little is
given, that neither ill nor good follows, and sometimes a
dangerous and fatal dose is given through ignorance of its
powers.

In former times it seemed to be a rule that the horse
should swallow a certain quantity of medicine every year,
whether well or ill, poor or fat ; and among grooms who pre-
tend to much knowledge, and have a great deal of igno-
rance, it is still a custom to force drugs upon him, not so
much to cure as to prevent. If any evil be threatened, or in
existence, it is very right to take measures to prevent or to
cure it ; bat the people I speak of give drugs without seeing
any sign that they are wanted. The horse may be as well
as they desire him to be, and not exposed to any change of
circumstances or treatment that can make him worse, and yet
they give some stuffs which they call alteratives.

In training, good grooms do not employ means of this kind
without aome reason. The horse may not be altogether right,
his bowels or his skin may be out of order, his legs liable to

324 STABLE ECONOMY.

►swell after work, or frogs to get thrushy in the house. The
horse may have a bad appetite, or his appetite may be too
good. F<Jr these and suchlike matters some medicine which
will gently stimulate the secretions of a particular organ may
be very useful. An alterative powder in very common use is
composed of antimony, nitre, and sulphur, mixed and given in
the same doses, and with the precautions, which are mention-
ed in connexion with grooming, to produce a fine coat. When
the skin is rigid, the hair dry — when there any pimples 01
itchiness upon it — when there is any tendency to swelled legs
or thrushes — a few of these powders may be given with
benefit, a stronger remedy, such as sweating and purging, be-
ing unnecessary or impracticable. When a bad day keeps a
hearty eater off his exercise, one or two of them will prevenl
repletion.

Sometimes the antimony is given alone. Nimrod recom-
mends an ounce every day, for eight days together. The
horse should not hunt nor race till a week after the last dose.

Cordials. — These medicines are seldom wanted in train-
ing. Their principal use is to give the horse an appetite.
There are many spare feeders among fast-working horses.
They are apt to refuse their food every time they are excited,
or exhausted bv more than usual work. To such, a cordial
is now and then of some service. There is no need for the
costly and complicated preparations which are sometimes
given.

Take of carra way-seeds 3 oz.

Anise-seeds, ....... 3 0z.

Allspice, ........ 3 oz.

Cloves, 2 oz.

Gentian root, ....... 4 oz.

These should all be ground to a fine powder, and beaten
into a solid mass with treacle or honey. Divide the whole
into twelve balls. One may be given at anytime when there
is no fever. When the eye and nostrils are red, the mouth
and skin hot, they are forbidden.

Muscular Exertion. — A good deal has been said about
exertion in other parts of this work, and it is not necessary to
say much here. In preparing for fast work the rifle is to pro-
ceed from less to more, from a short to a longer distance, from
a slow to a faster pace, always by small degrees. In the
first week most of the exercise may be given at a walk. This
pace has been objected to by Nimrod. He says it injures the
legs, and produces spavin. He is in error : there is no pace

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK. 325

at which the legs are so safe. When the horse is kept at it
for several successive hours, he may be fatigued ; but the
fatigue falls upon the muscles, not upon the joints nor the
tendons. The horse may lie a great deal after much walking
exercise, but it rarely makes him lame. Cart-horses often
travel ten hours a day, for months together ; and though all
their work is performed at a walk, they have no spavin till
they are overburdened, and not often then.

Walking exercise empties the bowels — gives the horse
good use of his limbs — gives him an appetite for food — pro-
motes the secretion of the lungs, the skin, and the bowels — ■
and when much is given, under a good rider, it teaches the
horse to walk quickly and gracefully. Even at the beginning,
however, all the exercise need not be given at a walk. The
horse, whatever be his condition, is always able to take some
faster exertion. The walk, the trot, the canter, and the gal-
lop, may alternate one with another, no more of either being
exacted than the horse can bear without injury. But when
intended to perform his work at any particular pace, at canter-
ing for example, he is to get as much of that as it is safe to
give him. A lady's horse would be ill prepared if most of his
exertion were a trot. The preparatory exertion should re-
semble the work as soon and as far as it is safe to give it.

The slow paces make the horse leg-weary. If he lie more
than six hours out of the twenty-four, his legs being sound,
he is getting too much exercise. Fast paces endanger the
lungs of an untrained horse. The rider should know when
he has gone as far and as fast as it is safe to go. Existing
distress is indicated by signs which do not require much ex-
perience to recognise them. They are described in connexion
with the accidents of work. The signs which indicate the
approach of distress are not so well marked, but they are quite
visible. The first is rapid and short respiration ; the second
fr 3quent protrusion of the muzzle, as if the horse wanted more
rein ; and the third is a deep, prolonged inspiration, some-
thing like a sigh, in which the rider feels his legs thrown
apart by the expansion of the horse's chest. Quickness of
respiration is a necessary consequence of exertion, and it is a
symptom of distress only when excessively rapid and short.
The protrusion of the muzzle shows that the horse is at near-
ly all he can do. This is not to be mistaken for the pull of a
horse eager to get away ; he quickens his pace as he gets his
head free. When distress is coming, the head is often darted
downward or forward ; and though more rein be given, the

28

326 STABLE ECONOMY.

head still dives, but the horse goes no faster. He need not,
in all cases, be pulled up for this ; it may be sufficient tc
slacken the pace for a few hundred yards, to go slower, until
he recover a little. The deep sight demands immediate re-
lief ; to continue longer at the same pace, even for no more
than two hundred yards, is attended with considerable risk.
The horse may be fairly over-marked. He may proceed a
short distance, but he ought to be held in if possible, or he
ought to stand quite still, which is the safer plan, until he re-
covers his wind. At work, circumstances may demand a
continuation of the pace, notwithstanding this sign of dis-
tress ; but, in training, the deep inspiration should stop it at
once.

The severest exertion given to the horse in training is that
termed sweating. A certain distance is aimed at ; but the
groom generally knows pretty well how the horse will bear it
before he it is sent to it. He is previously tried in short gal-
lops, which are lengthened by degrees. Horses usually snort,
after performing a little smart work ; they clear the nostrils by
a sudden and forcible expiration. This act does not resemble
sneezing nor coughing. The nostrils play to and fro as the
air is expelled, and make a peculiar noise, which is well
enough expressed by the term snorting. It is quite volunta-
ry : sneezing and coughing are not. Many horses do it when
starting, but the groom attends to it particularly after a trial
gallop. Should the horse clear his nose almost the instant
he is pulled up, he has wind enough to go farther and faster
in his next gallop ; should a minute elapse ere he snorts, still
the pace and distance may be increased, But not much. In
the next trial, should the horse stand for two minutes without
snorting, his gallop has been severe enough for his condition,
and it may have been too much so. He- does not snort till
his breathing is easy ; and the more he is unwinded the more
time he takes to recover. It seems, however, that some
horses do not snort as soon as they recover freedom of breath-
ing. I have watched one for half an hour, after a severe run,
without noticing him clear the nostrils ; and I have repeated-
ly observed that, especially after long-continued exertion, the
horse does not snort for a good while after his breathing is
quite tranquil.

The ground upon which exertion is given is a matter of some
consequence. A hard stony surface injures the feet and the
legs, and a fall upon it is a serious affair. Deep ground, that
in which the foot sinks, demands great exertion to get through

PREPARATION FOR FAST WORK. 32?

■

it, and it hazards the legs, though the rider may have judgment
enough to save the lungs. Rough irregular ground gives the
legs so many twists, that, a fast pace is very apt to produce a
sprain. The best is that which resembles a race-course —
soft, yet firm.

The kind and degree of exertion must vary with the con-
dition of the horse ; the mode of giving it must vary a little
according to his disposition. A lazy horse is generally robust,
and not much disposed to over-exert himself; he may require
a good deal of urging to keep him at the pace, and make him
go the distance. He is apt to stop when not inclined to run.
If allowed to have his own way a few times at the beginning,
it becomes a difficult process to train him, and still more dif-
ficult to work him. On the course he may choose to lose a
race, and in the field he may fancy he has done enough be-
fore he has well begun. A horse of this kind requires to be
well mounted. In his training exertion he must be ridden by
one who has strength to manage him, and judgment enough to
distinguish between laziness and distress.

There are many other horses quite different from this kind.
They are timid, easily agitated, easily injured, and very apt
to over-exert themselves. The least harsh treatment alarms
them ; they tremble, the limbs totter, the stride is irregular,
unsteady ; the horse is so precipitate in his movements that
he is often lamed or thrown down. Without whip or spur,
such a horse would run till he died. Even a little extra ex-
ertion puts him off his feed. These horses are generally less
robust than those of phlegmatic temperament : they should
seldom carry much weight ; yet a thoughtless boy is almost
sure to abuse such a horse. He ought to be treated with
great gentleness. Some are least alarmed when ridden alone,
others when they have companions, which, however, ought
not to be sluggards, for a timid horse is in terror when he
sees or hears another punished. In general, severe exertion
should not always be given on the same ground. After once
or twice, the horses get alarmed whenever they arrive there,
and know what is coming. But the same place may be used
for both the severe and the gentle exertion ; and, by stealing
slowly away at first, the horse may do his work before he
knows that he has begun it. The warning of severe exertion
gives him more alarm than the exertion itself.

Indeed all horses should start slowly. A gentle pace pre-
pares the legs, and puts every organ in order for a severe task.
It gives the horse time to empty his bowels, and to see the

328 STABLE ECONOMY.

ground, and enables the rider to feel lameness should there
•>e any not previously observed.

PRESERVATION OF WORKING CONDITION.

The ultimate object of training, seasoning, or conditioning,
is to fit the horse for performing his work easily, or at least
with as little distress as possible. But it is not enough to
give him condition ; much must be done to preserve it. The
muscles, the lungs, the blood-vessels, the nerves, the blood,
every part and every organ connected with motion, undergo
a change with almost every change in the treatment of the
horse. The racer, it is said, must run upon the day for which
he has been trained to run. I can not answer for the truth
of this ; but most likely it is true, if the horse have previous-
ly received all the training he is able to receive. It is very
well known that horses which have been trained to extraordi-
nary exertions rapidly lose the power of performing them, un-
less some means are taken to preserve it.

In the first place, the horse must have constant work. By
constant, I do not mean daily work. No horse can race or
hunt every day. A certain period of rest must be granted to
all. For carriage, cart, and saddle horses, the night's repose
is, in general, sufficient to recruit them for next day's labor ;
but hunters, racers, and many mail and post horses, require a
longer interval of repose. They may be out only thrice or
twice a week, and some of them not oftener than once or twice
a fortnight. Still the work is constant. The time they rest
is not, or ought not to be, more than sufficient for restoring
such vigor as the work demands. •

Agents that injure Condition. — Condition for work
may be impaired or entirely destroyed in six ways. Disease,
continued pain, idleness, excess of work, excess of food, and
deficiency of food, all operate more or less against working
condition. There are several other agents by which it may
be impaired or destroyed, but those only which I mention
seem to deserve particular notice.

Disease of a febrile character, or an inflammation in any
of the vital organs, may attack the horse suddenly, and in
one hour render him unfit for any work. If it were possible
to remove such a disease on the same day, or at least in two
or three days, the horse might still retain a portion of the
condition he previously possessed. But this is not always
possible. Between the disease and the cure the horse is

PRESERVATION OF WORKING CONDITION. 32

much and unavoidably reduced. The debility which a febrile
disease of itself produces, is often sufficient to destroy work-
ing condition as effectually as if the horse had -never had
any. Hence racers and hunters are often unfit to come to
their work at the expected time. Perhaps influenza, or a
similar malady, invades the stable, and for a time suspends all
further training, and destroys that which has been given. It
is the very same when the horse is at work. An attack of
inflammation, or a fever in the middle of winter, throws the
hunter out of the field for all the remainder of that season.
By or before the time he has recovered, and again been
trained, hunting is over.

That which is true of the hunter or racer in this respect, is
not less true of other horses. Their work may not require
such a long and complicated course of preparation ; but still
they must have some. That which served at first may serve
now, provided the disease be completely subdued. All dis-
eases and fevers are not alike ; while one may wholly destroy
condition, another may only impair it.

Pain. — While a horse is in constant pain, he is never
in excellent condition for work. Very acute pain materially
impairs his condition in a couple of days. Many horses
are compelled to work when lame, and it is well known that
they never carry so much flesh, nor appear so gay, as when
sound They are seldom indeed fit to perform full work. In
double harness the sound horse generally has more than his
share of the draught, and if the lame horse be very willing,
he soon wears himself out. T3ut horses are often in pain
without being lame. All kinds of abuse and bad manage-
ment, consisting in cold, comfortless stables, want of groom-
ing, neglect of the proper hours for feeding and watering
want of room to lie, disturbed rest from various causes, impaii
the horse's condition. Harsh usage from bad grooms often
destroys the repose and the appetite of nervous horses. Dis-
comfort and terror are actual pain, and though never very
acute, yet its constant operation has a sensible influence upon
the condition and appearance of the horse. Grease, and
sores on the neck, back, or other parts upon which the har-
ness rides, produce a great deal of pain, both in the stable
and at work. A large sore on the seat of the collar impairs
a horse's condition as effectually as want of food. All kinds
of discomfort, annoyance, terror, or ill-usage, are as truly de-
bilitating, when long continued, as the pain of a broken limb,
though much less acute.

28*

330 STABLE ECONOMY.

Idleness, whether absolute or comparative, is injurious to
working condition. When the horse obtains more rest than
his work requires, he is idle.

Absolute Idleness is that in which the horse suffers close
confinement in the stable or loose box. He soon becomes
weak, fat, short-winded, and stiff. If well fed, he may retain
health and spirit for two or three months ; but in this time he
almost loses the use of his legs, and his skin becomes foul
and itchy. Horses that have been long, perhaps several
years, in work, with short or no interruptions, become very
stiff.

I am unable to say how soon absolute repose will entirely
destroy working condition. The time must vary with the
horse's employment, and the manner in which he is fed.
Those of slow work may suffer confinement for six or eight
weeks before they become as feeble as idleness can make
them. If half starved, or fed so poorly that the horse loses
flesh, less than a month will produce the effect. If fully fed,
he accumulates a load of fat, which makes him weaker than
idleness with moderate feeding would make him. Fast-work-
ers lose their condition much sooner ; one week of superflu-
ous rest sensibly impairs the condition of a hunter ; he loses
wind, but he is still able for much work. To destroy his
condition entirely, he would, in most cases, require about four
weeks of close confinement, some would need less, and some
would perhaps retain a portion of their condition nearly eight
weeks. A great eater degenerates fastest.

Comparative Idlenesses that in which the horse gets exercise,
or perhaps some work, yet not sufficient to maintain his con-
dition. The owner may not use him oftener than once or
twice a fortnight, and he receives exercise from the groom in
he intervals. Horses kept for work of this kind rarely have
good grooms to look after them. They are generally in the
charge of men who seem to think that exercise is of no use
but to keep the horse in health. A daily walk, with a smart
trot, will keep the horse in condition for moderate work ; but
if the owner ride or drive fast and far, and at irregular inter-
vals, as much exercise as keeps the horse in health is not
sufficient. Every second, third, or fourth day, the exercise
should resemble the work. The horse should go nearly or
quite as far and as fast as the owner usually rides him. It
may be too much to do every day, or every second day ; but
keeping always within safe bounds, the horse should have
work, or exercise equal to his work, at regular intervals.

PRESERVATION OF WORKING CONDITION. 33

Many people work a horse on Sunday, as if they thought six
days of idleness should enable him to perform a week's work
m one day. When the horse has much to do on Sunday, he
should in general do nearly as much on Wednesday, and on
other days he may have walking exercise.

Excess of Work. — A single day of severe exertion may
destroy the horse's working condition. His lungs may be
injured, a disease may succeed, and require many days to
cure it. Between the disease, the cure, and the idleness, the
condition may be wholly gone before anything can be done to
keep or to restore it. This is termed over-marking, and it is
not the excess I here mean.

That to which I allude is not the excess of one day. The
horse may perform the work for several days, or even weeks,
quite well, yet it may be too much to be done long. One of
two things will happen, or both may occur together. The
horse will lose flesh, and become weak, or his legs will fail,
and he will become lame.

Emaciation, the loss of flesh from excess of work, is easily
explained. The work is such as to consume more nutriment
than the digestive apparatus can supply. The horse may
have as much of the best food as he will eat, yet the power
of the stomach and bowels is limited. They can furnish only
a certain quantity of nutriment. When the work demands
more, it is procured from other parts of the body. The fat,
if there be any, is consumed first ; it is converted into blood ;
a little is taken away every day ; by-and-by it is all removed,
and the horse is lean. Should the demand still continue,
other parts are absorbed ; the cellular tissue, and ultimately
every particle of matter, which the system can spare, is con-
verted into nutriment. When the whole is consumed, the
supply must be wholly furnished by the digestive apparatus,
and if that were unable to meet the demand at first, it is still
less able now. By this time the horse is very lean, his
bones stare through the skin ; he is spiritless, stiff", and slow,
and his belly is tucked up almost to the backbone. The
horse becomes unfit for work. Rest and good food soon re-
store him, but if work be still exacted, the solids and fluids
change, the system falls into decay, and a disease, such as a
common cold, or the influenza, from which a horse in ordi-
nary condition would soon recover, produces in this worn-
out animal glanders or farcy. Work is sometimes exacted
till the horse is ruined, but the owner rarely escapes, for
when glanders once appears it seldom stays where it begins.

332 STABLE ECONOMY.

General Stiffness, usually accompanies emaciation. When
first taken from the stable, the horse seems to- be stiff all
over ; he obtains greater freedom of motion after he is tolera-
bly well warmed by exertion ; but he never has great speed.
All old coaching horses are in this state, and all those,
whether young or old, who have a deal of hard work, soon
become more or less stiff. In racers and hunters, the extent
of stride is perceptibly contracted toward the close of their
working season. They are termed stale, and require some
repose, and green food or carrots, and sometimes a little
physic, to refresh them.

The Legs are often so ill formed, that they fail without any
excess of work. But fast paces, long journeys, and heavy
weights, ruin the very best. A single journey may produce
lameness ; it may give the horse spavin or grogginess : or
some other lameness may be the result of one day's work.
But this k more than excess. The horse may have to per-
form it twice or thrice in his lifetime, but if it be such as to
make him lame, it is too much to form regular work. The
excess to which I allude does not produce lameness till after
the horse has done the journey several times in succession.
When two or three become lame, it is high time to make ar-'
rangements for preventing more. The distance may be
shortened, the draught or weight lightened, or the place re-
tarded.

The legs often show that the work is in excess, though the
horse may not be lame. The fore-legs suffer most, but the
hind are not exempt. Where there is much up-hill work, or
much galloping, the hind fail as often as the fore. The pas-
ierns become straight ; and, in extreme cases, the fetlock-
joint is bent forward ; this is termed knuckling over. At a
later period the knees bend forward. The whole leg is
crooked, deformed, tottering. Besides these the legs become
tumid, round, puffy. There is a general tumefaction, and the
egs are said to be gourdy, fleshy, or stale. The deformity
produces unsteadiness of action ; the limbs tremble after the
least exertion, and the horse is easily thrown to the ground.
The tumefaction produces a tendency to cracked heels and to

grease.

Very often the back tendons suffer enlargement, which, in
some cases, depends entirely upon accumulation of the fluid
by which they are lubricated, not upon any enlargement of
the tendons themselves. The hock and fetlock joints are al*
ways large and puffy. These enlargements are termed wind

PRESERVATION OF WORKING CONDITION. 333

galls, bog-spavin, and thorough-pin. They are little bags
containing joint-oil which prevents friction. Rapid and .ast-
ing exertion increases the quantity of this fluid, and dilates
the bags which contain it.

The legs of racers and hunters are always more or less the
worse of wear toward the close of their working season. If
these horses were wanted all the year through, the legs would
demand rest, though the body might not. Hunters rest all
summer, racers all winter, and during repose, their legs re-
gain their original integrity and form.

The legs of horses are very differently constructed. Some
are so well formed that they suffer a great deal before they
begin to fail ; others are so defective that they will not stand
hard work. With racers and hunters much may be done to
save them ; fermentations, hand-rubbing, and bandages, are
of much service after severe work ; but they require too
much time and attendance to be employed for inferior horses.
In mail and coaching studs, horses with bad legs may be put
to short stages ; and in many cases it may be proper to let
them go to spring grass for four or six weeks ; there the legs
may be restored so far as to preserve the horse for a year
longer.

It is the fashion a.t present to dispense with breech-bands
or breeching for stage-coach horses ; and where the road is
pretty level, or the coach light, they are of little use. But it
seems to me they have been too generally discarded. With-
out breech-bands the whole weight of the coach in going
down hill is thrown upon the neck, and from the neck to the
fore legs. Hilly ground is destructive to both fore and hind
legs,; but the fore ones always fail first. I think breech-
bands on the horses that have the worst stage, would make
♦he fore legs last longer.

The Feet are often injured by excess of work. The fore
feet are liable to one disease which has been denominated,
with as much truth as energy, " the curse of good horses," I
mean the navicular disease, or grogginess. It is very common
among all kinds of fast- workers. Bad shoeing, neglect of
stable cares to preserve the feet, hard roads, and various other
agents, have been blamed for producing it. But it seems tc
me the most common and the most certain cause has been too
little considered. Long journeys, at a fast pace, will make
almost any horse groggy. Bad shoeing and want of stable
care both help, but, I am nearly sure, they alone never produce
grogginess. The horse must go far and fast ; if his feet be

334 STABLE ECONOMY.

neglected, or shoeing bad, a slower pace and a shorter dis-
tance will do the mischief ; but I believe there is nothing in
the world will make a horse groggy, .except driving him far
enough and fast enough to alter the synovial secretion of the
navicular joint. Cart-horses are quite exempt ; horses work-
ing in the omnibuses about Glasgow, always on the stones,
and often at ten miles an hour, but never more than a mile
without stopping, are nearly exempt. The horses most liable
are those which work long and fast stages.

I can not pursue the subject in this treatise. I mention it
as one of the evils of excessive work. When many horses
become groggy, the stages should be shortened, divided into
two, even though no more than one hour can be allowed for
rest between them. Founder is sometimes, though very rare-
ly, the result of excessive work ; but in most, if not in every
case, there is also some error in feeding or watering in opera-
tion at same time.

Though I have spoken individually of the evils arising from
excess of work, it must not be supposed that they always exist
separately. One horse may merely lose flesh ; another may
become stiff; a third stale on his legs ; and a fourth may suf-
fer only in his feet. But it most frequently happens that the
horse is affected in more ways than one. In general, emacia-
tion, stiffness, and staleness of the legs, go together.

For some kinds of work the horse can be kept in condition
all his life. But the fastest kinds can be oerformed only for
a small portion of a lifetime. Coaching-horses are worn out
in from three to four years. I have known some last upward
of ten, but these were exceptions. Hunters and racers would
be done much sooner, were their work as uninterrupted. The
legs decay, however good the body may remain, and long be-
fore old age arrives. If it be desirable, as in the case of
hunters it is, to preserve the horse till age impairs his powers,
he must be put out of work always before his legs are irrepar-
ably injured, and kept idle, or at some easier work, till they
regain primitive soundness.

Before the close of their working season, hunters and racers
are often sensibly impaired. Some are stiff, some lean, some
gourdy-legged. Should any of these signs appear long be-
fore the end 9/ the season, it may be necessary to rest the
horse for a while in order to refresh him. Carrots or green
food may be given with the grain. Physics or alteratives may
De useful, and directions are given concerning them in another
section. Exercise should not be neglected, nor given in ex

TREATMENT AFTER WORK. 335

cess. From three to six weeks may be required to refresh
the horse, but the time varies so much, according to the
horse's condition, that it is not possible to state any precise
period.

Excess of Food. — Horses that are doing full work, as
much as they are able to do, can hardly have an excess of
food. Some kinds of work, such as that given to mail and
stage horses, require an unlimited allowance. If the horae
have good legs, or legs equal to the pace, distance, and weight,
he can not perform all the work of which he is capable, with-
out as much grain as he will eat. But there are some kinds
of work, such as racing and hunting, and especially steeple-
chasing, which are so injurious to the legs, that long intervals
of repose are necessary ; sometimes eight to ten da)rs must
elapse before the horse can repeat his task. In this time a.
great eater will become fat and short-winded upon a full al-
lowance of food, or his skin will itch and rise in pimples. la
such a case, bran-mashes, or a few carrots, should be given
•low and then instead of grain. Alteratives, diuretics, and
such like evacuants-may be given; but, I think, more economy
m the distribution of food would render them less necessary.

Deficiency of Food impairs condition much sooner and
more certainly than excess. It produces emaciation and stiff-
ness, dulness and weakness, in less time than excess of work.
The food is deficient when the horse loses flesh, and gets less
grain than he would eat. The work is in excess when he
loses flesh, and has all the grain he will consume.

TREATMENT AFTER WORK.

This section treats of the cares and appliances usually or
sometimes bestowed upon a horse after severe work. Some
of them refer to ordinary work. All horses require water,
food, cleaning, and bedding, at the end of their exertions ; but
some, in addition, have need of cordials, fomentations, ban-
dages, and nursing.

Cleaning. — If possible, the horse is to arrive at his stable
cool and dry ; when not possible, the first thing to be done is
to make him so, and the quicker the better. It is not of im-
portance to clean him thoroughly. When made quite dry and
cool, further grooming may be put off till the horse has rested
a few hours, or till next morning, if he be much fatigued.
The feet being examined, clothes applied, water and grain

336 STABLE ECONOMY.

given, the horse is bedded, and left to repose. Inferior horses
after ordinary work receive no other care.

When the horse comes in very hot, he is, weather permit-
tino-, to be walked about till cool ; he is not to enter a warm
stable until the breathing be perfectly quiet and the skin dry ;
a close stable makes him faint and sick, and encourages fur-
ther perspiration. When he comes in wet he is to be dried
immediately, or kept in motion till the skin dry of itself.
When very tired, the sooner he is stabled the better, but still
he must not be left at rest till dry and cool. When he has
been long out, encourage him to urinate before dressing him.

Fomenting the Legs. — I believe this is a useful operation
after a day of extraordinary exertion. It subdues or prevents
the tumefaction of the joints and sinews, to which the legs
of many horses are very liable. The water should be as hot
as the hand can bear it, yet not hot enough to pain the horse.
Clean water is the best fomentation ; salt, sugar of lead,
Goulard's extract, soap, and herbs, are sometimes added ; they
are perfectly useless, and in large quantities some of them fire
the skin. The legs need not be bathed higher than the knee
and the hock-joints. The water is applied with a sponge,
and if possible, there should be a man to each leg. If there
be but one groom, the operation is tedious to a tired horse,
and wet warm bandages may be employed as a substitute for
fomentation. That the horse may lie dry, he should be
fomented out of the stall, or loose-box, whichever be destined
for his repose. If he flinch as the sponge passes over a par-
ticular place, that part is to be examined, lest a thorn be
lodged in it. After the mud is washed off, the hand may be
drawn gently up and down the legs in search of thorns.

The fomentation need not be continued above ten minutes.
Wrhen finished, the legs are to be enveloped in flannel bandages,
dry if the legs be sound, or wet if there be any sign of injury
or inflammation.

Leg Bandages are strips of flannel four to six yards in
length, and four or more inches in breadth ; each has strings
at one end for tying. It is coiled up with the strings in the
centre ; the groom unrolls it as he wraps up the leg. Two
coils run completely round the pastern, close to the hoof, and
the rest is wound round the leg in a spiral form, each coil
overlapping another until the leg is bound up to the knee or
the hock, where the bandage is secured. Few horses will
attempt tu lie when the bandage is carried over these joints.
Care must be taken that the bandage presses equally, and not

TREATMENT AFTER WORK. 33?

tightly ; the strings should admit the finger after tying. The
bandages, one to each leg, are used sometimes wet and some-
times dry.

Dry Bandages are necessary only when the legs are wet or
cold, or likely to become cold ; they confine heat, and absorb
moisture. After they have done all they are wanted to do,
they should be removed, and the legs hand-rubbed for a little.
Some horses will not lie with their legs bandaged. They
must be taken off before night, or they should not be put on ;
the legs may be dried and warmed by hand-rubbing. A dry
bandage should always be quite loose, just tight enough
to keep its place. When firmly applied, it does not retain
the heat so well.

Wet Bandages are of more service than stableman are
generally aware of They retain heat, reduce and prevent
swelling, and abate inflammation. When the horse is subject
to swelled legs, to tenderness and tumefaction about the joints
and sinews after severe work, warm wet bandages help greatly
to preserve the legs. If fomentation can be well and quickly
performed, it may ; if not, it is better not attempted. The
bandage may be dipped in warm water, and applied rather
more firmly than a dry bandage. The heat and the moisture
operating together, produce gentle and continued perspiration.
The effect is nearly, or quite the same as if the legs were in
a warm poultice. If the horse will lie with them, the bandages-
may be kept on all night ; but they must be kept wet,. The
legs may be dipped into a pail of warm water at shutting up
the stables ; or the bandages may be so long and thick that
they will remain moist till it is time to remove them. A dry
bandage to an inflamed leg does more harm than good. It re-
tains the heat without producing the perspiration which abates
inflammation. The hind-legs rarely need wet bandages.

Water. — The tired horse is usually disposed to drink more
at one time than is good for him. The water should be tepid,
and given every fifteen or twenty minutes, till the horse re-
fuses more. He may have a couple of quarts whenever his
work is done. Gruel or hay-tea may be given when the horse
needs nourishment, and refuses solid food. He will not take
either till it is nearly cold.

Food. — Fatigue destroys the appetite of some horses very
readily. Carrots, ooiled barley, malt, or any article which
the horse is known to prefer, may be offered in small quantity.
After a severe day, the food should be rather laxative, for hard

29

338 STABLE ECONOMY.

work constipates the bowels, which is easily obviated by a
bran-mash.

Grooms are often in too great a hurry. Though the horse
should not eat till he has rested a few hours, he is none the
worse. There is no occasion for forcing food upon him, and
it is not always necessary to excite the appetite by cordials.
Gruel is very good, if the horse will take it himself; but it is
absurd to pour it into a stomach which can not digest it. The
very act of forcing it on him is particularly distressing, and it
should never be done. I know of no state of the body in
which it is ever proper to force food upon the horse.

Cordials are sometimes useful after great exhaustion
Robust good-tempered horses rarely need them. Timid ner-
vous horses are a good deal agitated by fast work, and in
general they remain in a state of fretful excitement for a good
while after the work is over. These are much the better of
a cordial : a ball, not a drink. Draughts are annoying and
disgusting to the horse, though perhaps very palatable to the
groom. One ball is sufficient ; it may be given half-an-houi
after the horse' is dressed. Very often the horse needs noth-
ing but water to give him an appetite.

Bedding. — A loose box is the best place for a tired horse.
It gives him choice of position, and he assumes that which is
most favorable to repose. It should be deeply littered over
all its length and breadth. When a stall must serve, it should
be the widest, the litter deep, and carried back farther than
usual.

Pulling off the Shoes. — There are few cases in which
it is proper to remove the shoes, merely because the horse has
been doing much work. It is not an uncommon practice ;
but I believe it has had its origin in a theory or supposition
that the shoes act in much the same manner upon the horse's
feet that boots act upon those of his rider. The shoes of the
horse produce no general compression and no part is relieved
from painful pressure by removing them. If the feet be dis-
posed to founder, the soles flat, the shoes may be taken off,
but in any other case it is needless. A cold moist stopping
is of more use.

The Day after Work should seldom be a day of absolute
repose. If the horse be in a loose box, he will have little oc-
casion for exercise, yet a walk of ten or fifteen minutes will
do him good. He may be a little stiff, his appetite may be
defective, or his legs may be swollen. Walking exercise,
particularly in company with a steady companion, is a gentle

ACCIDENTS OF WORK.

339

and safe stimulant. It dissipates dejection and weariness,
fines the legs, excites an appetite, empties the bowels, and in
some degree removes stiffness. From five to fifteen minutes,
morning and afternoon, may be sufficient. The exercise-
ground should be soft, the horse lightly clothed, and both body
and legs should be kept dry as possible. Unless the bowels
be confined, the ordinary food may be given ; carrots or bran-
mashes will obviate costiveness. Oatmeal gruel, well made,
but quite weak, is the best drink, should the horse crave much
water.

If the horse be slightly fevered, his eye red, mouth and skin
hot, urine high-colored, bowels out of order, and appetite bad,
one or two alteratives may be given. In this case the diet
should consist entirely of bran-mashes, carrots, or green food ;
and these will give place to the ordinary feeding, by degrees,
as the horse regains his appetite. If he stand at night, with-
out lying down to rest as usual, the lungs are injured, and the
veterinarian should be called immediately.

Subsequently, as the horse recovers, his exercise is in-
creased ; and if his work be such as to require four or five
olank days, he may have a gallop, or a gentle sweat on the
last.

ACCIDENTS OF WORK.

The accidents of work are very numerous. A full descrip-
tion of each would form a volume as large as this. I select
a few from those which occur most frequently, from those
which may be prevented, and from those which require im-
mediate attention.

Cutting. — Young horses, timid horses, and those having
ill-made legs, are apt to strike the fetlock-joint with the oppo-
site foot. This is termed cutting, brushing, or interfering.

Fig. 18.

340

STABLE ECONOMY.

In almost every case, except when the horse is tired, this can
be prevented by the shoeing-smith, who may apply a shoe
like that represented in Fig. 18. When he can not, or when
the fetlock is much swollen, a boot must be worn something
like that represented in Fig. 19. It is nothing but a piece of
cloth tied over the middle, with its upper half folded over the
string. A leather flap is in use ; it covers only the inside of
the joint, and is secured by a single strap. It is apt to turn
round and leave the part undefended.

Speedy cut is an injury of the same kind, and is produced
in the same way, only the leg is struck higher up, and when
the horse is going fast. The only way of preventing it is to
cover the leg with a boot (see Fig. 19), A B or to apply a

pad to the foot which strikes the leg. The boot does best ,
when on, the knee-joint must be quite free, and the tendons
must have no inconvenient pressure. The pad will not sit on
every foot, but it sometimes answers very well. It should be
stuffed with horse-hair, and made to go quite round the foot.
It is secured by a single strap and buckle, and is about an
inch and a half broad.

Over-reaching. — The heel and the pastern are sometimes
struck by the hind-foot. Most frequently it is the heel, just
where the hoof joins the skin. It happens only in fast paces
in leaping, or galloping over deep ground. Horses with short
backs are most liable. A semicircular wound is made ; the
skin is raised like a flap, which folds backward and down-

ACCIDENTS OF WORK.

311

ward, never upward nor forward. People imagine that thi
is done by the toe of the shoe, but the shape of the wound
shows that it is inflicted by the edge on the inner circumfer-
ence of the shoe : it is done as the hind-foot is drawn back.
Sometimes a portion of the skin is scooped quite out.

This accident is easily prevented, by cutting away the edge
of the shoe, as shown in Fig. 20, A. But the proper shoe

Fig. 20.

for the hind-foot of hunters ought to present a half-round sur-
face to the ground, similar to that shown in Fig. 21.

B, represents the ordinary shoe, having the sharp edge,
which cuts the heel in over-reaching.

There is a kind of over-reaching, which is termed forging
or clicking. In trotting, the horse strikes the middle of the
fore-shoe with the toe of the hind one. The noise can be
prevented by allowing the toe of the hoof to overhang the
shoe a little, but there are no means of preventing the blow

342 STABLE ECONOMY.

Fig. 21.

unless the horse can be made to alter his pace, by Keeping his
head well up.

The fore-shoes of clicking horses should be short and hav-
ing the web broad. When too long, they are apt to be torn
off; when too narrow, the hind-foot bruises the sole of the
fore one, and may be locked fast between the breaches of the
shoe. Hunters, however, must have the web narrow, for a
broad shoe makes them slip on tough ground. It must be so
narrow that it will not catch the hind foot.

Losing a Shoe. — When a shoe gets loose on the road, pro-
ceed cautiously to the nearest forge. A fast pace will throw
the shoe, and break the foot. Should the shoe be hanging off,
or twisted across the foot, pull it away entirely, and remove
any loose nails that might run into the foot. The loss of a
shoe in the hunting field is a sad misfortune. If the ground
be soft, and the foot strong, the horse may proceed till the
sport be finished, when he may be led home, or to the nearest
forge. A hind foot receives less injury than a fore one.
Sportsmen sometimes carry a shoe, and set of nails, along
with them. The shoe is jointed, that it may fit any of the feet.
Mr. W. Percivall has invented a sandal, which promises to be
of great use. It is secured by straps, and the rider can ad-
just it himself. It saves the foot until a shoe can be applied ;
and, over some pieces of ground, it will carry the horse even
at a hunting pace. Mr Percivall has made it patent. It may
be procured by sending a paper outline of the horse's foot, to
Tate, saddler, Park Street, Grosvenor Square ; or to Townes
and Son, 141, Cheapside, London. Its cost is half a guinea.
The following figures (Fig. 22) represent it on and off the foot.

Falling. — Horses sometimes fall on the side, sometimes
on the head, and sometimes back upon the haunches ; but
most frequently they fall upon their knees. A saddle-horse

ACCIDENTS OF WORK.

313

Fig. 22.

seldom needs assistance to rise ; but if old, stiff, exhausted,
lying in an awkward position or upon ice, he may not be able
to get up without help, and the rider should know how to af-
ford it. Almost every horse rises with his head first; he be-
gins by throwing out his forelegs, one by one ; he can not
rise when they are below him ; he elevates the head, and then,
by a sudden and single effort, he springs to his feet. If assis-
tance be needful, it must be given by supporting the head.
Do not stand before the horse, nor on the side to which his
feet are lying. Go to the back, seize the reins close to the
mouth ; when the horse elevates his head, endeavor to keep
it up, to render it a fixed point from which the muscles may
act in raising the body ; while one hand is supporting the head,
place the other on the withers or shoulder, and push the horse
off you, so as to set the body over the legs. It requires a

3H STABLE ECONOMY.

good deal of practice to become expert in giving this assis
tance. Some are so awkward about it that they will have the
horse up and down half-a-dozen times, and bruised all over,
before they get him on his feet.

In harness, the horse is seldom able to rise till liberated
from the shafts or traces. About towns the moment a horse
falls, he is surrounded by a crowd of officious assistants, ev-
ery one giving orders, or doing some mischief. They are
very fond of cutting the harness ; and if the owner do not look
sharp, he will have traces, pole-piece, and back-bands, cut to
shreds before he hears a word about it. The first thing to be
aone is to secure the horse's head. Keep it down that he
may not injure himself, or do further mischief, in fruitless at-
tempts to rise. The next thing to be done, is to unbuckle
such parts of the harness as connect the horse with the draught.
In double harness, it is generally sufficient to unbuckle the
neck strap, which connects pole-piece and traces to the collar.
By backing the carriage a few yards, the horse gets room to
rise. When lying with his feetin\vard, his companion should
be removed. If the harness do not come separate upon loos-
ing the neck strap, the traces must be taken off the horse, or
off the bar. In shafts, the carriage must be put back before
the head is freed ; but if there is no weight on the back, and
the legs are not entangled, it is enough to support the head,
without unyoking the horse. After the horse is up, steady
him for a few moments till he collect himself. Examine his
tnees, legs, haunches, head, and mouth ; see that none of the
shoes are torn off. If not disabled, let him start at a gentle
pace ; some part may be so painful or benumbed, that a hur-
ried start will produce a second fall.

The Causes of Falling are very numerous. Bad riding,
bad (shoeing, or neglect of shoeing ; bad roads, over-reaching,
cutting, an ill-fitting or ill-placed saddle ; a stone in the foot, and
weakness of the horse, are among the most common causes.
A bad rider may permit a horse to fall, merely by neglecting
to support his head ; he may hurry over roads hardly fit for a
walking-pace ; he may lean too much forward ; or he may
ride the horse till he can scarcely put one foot before another.
Bad shoeing may throw a horse down. By neglecting to
shoe at proper times, or to change the mode of shoeing when
the work changes, the feet become long, the shoes defective,
or perhaps the horse goes to the field with shoes made for the
road. There are various other causes which I have no room

ACCIDENTS OF WORK. 345

to describe. Indeed they all belong to horsemanship more
than to stable economy.

The horse is sometimes severely injured. Mere abrasions
of the head, the haunch, and other parts, need no notice.
Among the most common and severe injuries, are those of the
knee, the head, the neck, the back, and the legs.

Broken Knees. — The skin may be only ruffled, or the knee
may be bared to the bones ; in both cases, and in all degrees
between these, the slightest and the severest injuries, the
horse is said to get a broken knee. The name does not, as
a stranger might suppose, indicate fracture of the bones.

If the wound be superficial, the horse may finish his work.
A handkerchief may be bound loosely round it merely to ex-
clude air and dirt; but in general no treatment is required till
the horse reach home. If the wound be deep, whether large
or small externally, it will be prudent to ascertain whether or
not it be fairly into the joint, which is little more than half an
inch from the surface. Clear away the sand and mud, bend
the knee, and examine the interior of the wound. It is some-
times so large that the bare bones can be seen at the bottom
of it. When the external orifice is small, and the depth not
apparent, the oozing of a whitish glary matter, resembling the
white of eggs, is evidence that the joint is open. This fluid
is joint oil, and is forced out by bending the knee. If it be
clear that the joint has been penetrated, apply a bandage, and
take the horse to the nearest stable, and put him immediately
under the care of a veterinarian. Apply a poultice till he
arrives. If the horse have to go above a mile or two aftei
this accident, the oil will escape, the bones will rub one upon
another, intense inflammation will succeed in the course of
twenty hours, and ultimately the horse either dies of fever,
or he becomes useless. The joint stiffens.

It is not always easy to be sure whether the joint is or is
not penetrated. The wound is often in such a state with
sand and mud, that the first examination can not be conclu-
sive. When there is any doubt, the horse should, if possible,
have the benefit of it. The danger increases with the dis-
tance and the pace. If he must go, all that can be done in
precaution, is to apply a bandage. A neckcloth or handker-
chief will do.

When valuable horses are travelling, a kind of cap is some-
times applied to each knee. It prevents injury, should the
horse fall. It is usually made of cloth, having a circular
piece of leather, and a little stuffing opposite the joint. Knee-

346 STABLE ECONOMY.

caps made entirely of Indian rubber have been introduced,
but it is said that they shift more than those of cloth. They
are too heavy.

Injuries of the Back most frequently happen in the
field or upon ice. The hind feet slip backward, sometimes
in leaping across a ditch, and sometimes going up a steep
hill. The violent effort which the horse makes to recover
his footing seems to be the cause of the injury. The joints
of the loins are put upon the stretch ; the bones are partly
separated, sometimes completely, and sometimes broken. A
sprain of the loins may be so slight as to attract no attention
till the horse is cool. When the bones are displaced, ^the
horse stands stock still, he refuses to proceed ; when urged,
he staggers, perhaps falls. When the spinal marrow is in-
volved, the hind legs are partially or completely paralysed.
The horse has little control over them, or he has none. If
he can be raised, he may be taken to stable, assisted by a
man at each haunch to steady him. If, after raising him, it
be evident that the horse can not stand, if he have no power
whatever over his hind legs, he will never recover. If he
start to his fore feet, and rest on his hip or haunch, and can
not get further, he may be lifted by the tail.

Injury of the back is seldom apparent from external ex-
amination. The bones may be broken and crushed upon the
spinal marrow, without presenting any external mark of dis-
placement. The extent of mischief is known by the extent
and degree of the palsy. Sometimes the paralytic limbs are
likewise insensible, and sometimes there is a twist of the
back, slight, but evident.

Injuries of the Neck are produced by falls upon the
head. They occur most frequently in hunting, and in steeple-
chasing. When there i* merely displacement of the bones,
the neck is twisted and the head carried to one side ; some-
times it droops almost to the ground, and the horse can not
raise it. In either case he may recover, although it is com-
mon for the neck to remain permanently distorted.

When the neck is fairly broken, the spinal marrow crushed
or strained, the horse is instantly deprived of motion and
sensation in every part behind the seat of injury. When the
fracture is close to the head, the horse dies instantly, and
without the slightest struggle. If he fall with the head under
him, there it remains ; he is dead before he can make an
effort to extricate it. When the fracture is farther back,
nearer the middle of the neck, the horse lives for a while

ACCIDENTS OF WORK. 341

He breathes, sees, hears, swallows, and his blood flows as
usual. But the limbs, before and behind, are perfectly motion-
less and insensible. The horse may be pulled about, rolled
over and over, pinched, pricked, and cut, as if he were quite
dead. The head, part of the neck, and some of the internal
organs alone retain vitality. Looking at the neck as it lies,
depression or elevation is sometimes apparent ; when not,
the seat of injury is shown by raising the head ; the neck
yields all at one place. When it is clear that the limbs are
all quite powerless, the neck fairly broken, recovery is out
of the question. The horse may be destroyed. This acci-
dent is very rare on the road and on the race-course. It
happened, however, on the Paisley course in 1836. The
horse tumbled completely over his head, and lay with his
tail homeward.

Injuries of the Head. — The horse is often stunned from
a side or a back fall, or from running against some fixed ob-
stacle. The blow falls with such violence that the brain re-
ceives a shock from which it does not immediately recover.
The horse lies motionless for three or four minutes ; few lie
longer without return of sense. Nothing can be done but to
remove harness, girths, or whatever may encumber him.
He should not be urged to rise, till he is fairly restored to
himself. When the skull is fractured, the bones driven intc
the brain, the horse either dies immediately, or in less thai
forty-eight hours, never being able to get up. Fracture of the
skull is not always indicated by an external mark. But it may
be surmised, if the horse be unable to rise, or to stand when
raised. Time is to be allowed for him to recover from stun-
ning. Unless death be immediate, the horse always strug-
gles. There is no palsy like that produced by fracture of the
neck, or of the back. One or two of the legs, generally two
on one side, are powerless when the horse is raised, but in
almost every case he can move them while he is lying.
When raised it is apparent that he can put only two below
him. I have never known a horse recover from an injury of
this kind.

Breaking Down. — There are two injuries which go under
this name. One is merely a sprain of the back tendons,
usually in a fore leg. It may be so slight as to escape no-
tice till the horse be cool ; or it may be such as to make him
fall very lame in the middle of his work. Pressure on the
part injured produces pain. The horse should walk slowly
home.

348 STABLE ECONOMY

mi

'he true breaking down is a rupture of the back tendons
or of a ligament which assists them in supporting the fetlock-
joint. The rupture occurs suddenly, and generally when
the horse is at full speed, or leaping down hill. The hind
legs are not, so far as I know, liable to this accident, and it
rarely occurs in both of the fore ones. The horse stops in-
stantly, or he falls. On rising, it is seen that he stands on
his fetlocks ; they sink to the ground, the toe of the foot is
turned up, and the sole looking forward. When only one
leg suffers, the horse may possibly recover to do some kind
of work, but he will hunt no more. He should be led slowly
home. Sometimes only one branch of the ligament gives
way. In that case the fetlock does not wholly come to the
ground, and the horse may become as useful as ever. When
both fetlocks come down the horse is ruined.

Broken Leg. — On the road, or on the street, a horse some-
times falls, makes several violent efforts to rise, and then
lies still. Upon examination a fracture is found in one of his
legs, generally a fore leg. There is something about this
accident which I do not understand. It is far from being
rare. In all the cases which have come under my own obser-
vation, the rider or driver could only tell that the horse fell,
and could not rise, or that he made several efforts to keep his
feet before he went fairly down. He never knows whether
the leg is broken in the fall, after the fall, or in trying to
avoid it. It may be that the leg is sometimes broken by a
blow from the opposite foot. In different horses I have seen
the pastern, the shank, and the fore-arm, broken, but it is
oftenest the shank, between the knee and the fetlock.

It is a common opinion that a horse's bones, once broken,
never unite. This is a standard error. A man who talks of
curing fracture in a horse is pretty sure of a rebuke or a
sneer. But, in truth, a broken bone unites as fast and firmly
in horses as in men. The attempt to cure is seldom made,
because the horse is rarely worth the cost. He may, after
all, remain permanently stiff or lame, and fit only for particu-
lar kinds of work, for which he will not bring as much money
as will pay the keep and treatment. A stallion, a brood-mare,
and a favorite, are almost the only horses upon whom an at-
tempt is made to produce a cure, and for the sake of these it
is well to know that a cure is often possible.

Staking. — In leaping fences and gates, a stake sometimes
wounds the belly. The slightest examination with the eye
and the finger discovers the depth of the wound. When not

ACCIDENTS OF WORK. 349

into the belly, among the bowels, the horse may go home-
When the belly is penetrated, a portion of bowel protrudes.
Sometimes it is no larger than an egg. Whether large or
little, the horse must not move a yard till something be done
to replace the bowel, or to prevent further protrusion. As
every motion of the horse tends to force out more of the in-
testine, he ought in the first place to be twitched. A twitch
can be made from whip-cord, and a key or whip-handle will
serve to tighten it, if nothing better be at hand. By a little
gentle manipulation, the bowel may be replaced, the edges
of the wound drawn together, and secured, by pins and tow,
or hemp, and a bandage bound round the belly, sustaining a
pad over the aperture ; the horse may then be led home, or
to the nearest stable, there to remain till a veterinarian ar-
rives. When the gut is wounded, it is not to be replaced
till sewed ; none but the surgeon can do that properly. No
hair nor the least particle of dust must enter the belly. When
the bowel can not, or should not be put in place, a bandage
and pad will prevent further escape till assistance is procured.

Bleeding Wounds. — The shoulder and breast are exposed
to deep and extensive wounds from shafts, from the pole and
the splinter-bar. Until professional assistance can be obtained,
all that need be done is to arrest the bleeding, which, however,
is seldom very profuse from lacerated wounds. Some blood
must escape, and much may be lost before life is endangered ;
but if a large stream be running from some particular point,
pressure may be applied till the veterinarian arrive. En-
deavor to seize the wounded vessel between the finger and
thumb, or apply a finger on the origin of the stream. This is
better than general pressure, by means of a handkerchief,
which fills the wound with blood, and prevents a proper ex-
amination by the veterinarian. Bleeding wounds on the legs
may be bound by a handkerchief.

Choking. — Heavy draught horses, going up hill with much
weight behind, sometimes choke in the collar. The collar
presses upon the windpipe, and the horse instantly falls;
sometimes he staggers for a moment before sinking, but in
general there is no warning. Should the fall throw the col-
lar off the windpipe, the horse recovers immediately. The
first thing to be done is to free the windpipe, if it be not al-
ready free. The collar must be pulled down, or the draught
rolled forward, so as to throw the strain from the collar.
This must be done quickly ; pressure on the windpipe will
produce death in three minutes. Should the driver observe

30

350 STABLE ECONOMY.

the horse stagger before he falls, he may keep him on his
feet by pulling him to a side, setting the wheels across the
hill.

When the horse is at a dead pull with his mouth full of
food, he is very easily choked. The accident is very com-
mon on canal banks. At certain places the horses are fed,
and often put to draw before the mouth is empty. As the
food goes down the gullet, it is intercepted by the collar, and
the two pressing on the windpipe instantly choke the horse.
He generally falls into the water. Many horses are lost in
this way. The mouth should be quite empty before the
horse is yoked. Before starting, a little water may be given,
which will carry the contents of the mouth before it. No
horse should be put. to a hill, or to any dead pull, with food
in his mouth ; and, food or no food, the driver should always
keep his eye on the collar, and his hand at the head, while
the horse is going up a steep hill, with much weight behind
him.

Fast-working horses are liable to what is termed swooning
in the collar. The horse staggers, swings from side to side,
lies on the pole, stops and falls or falls running. I know not
whether this arises from pressure on the windpipe, or from
accumulation of blood in the head. It is most common in hot
weather, going up hill ; some are very liable to it. When-
ever the horse shows any giddiness, he should be pulled up.
He will recover in a minute. Before proceeding, see that
the windpipe be free, and the bearing-rein slack. Should the
horse fall, remove harness, and assist him to rise, when he
revives. If water be at hand, give two or three quarts, and
start at a gentle pace. It is needless to bleed him at the
mouth. If bloodletting is to do any good, it should be from
the neck after work is over ; but it is rarely necessary. Next
journey, change the horse's place to the other side, to the
lead or to the wheel. Let his head be quite free, and see if
his collar can be improved ; and let him be fed an hour ear-
lier than usual before going to work.

Over-Marked. — This word is synonymous with over-
exerted, over-done, over-driven, distressed, and blown. All
are applied, indifferently, to congestion of the lungs, to spasm
of the diaphragm, and to excessive fatigue.

Congestion of the Lungs does not occur all at once. It is
\he consequence of keeping the horse too long at a fast pace,
or at the top of his speed. The first symptom is difficult
breathing. It becomes remarkably quick and short ; the nos-

ACCIDENTS OF WORK. 351

nils are widely dilated ; the horse frequently stretches out
nis head, as if he wanted more rein, yet goes no faster when
ne gets it ; at intervals, short or long, according to the degree
of congestion, he makes a deep, rapid inspiration, like a hur-
ried sigh ; the rider feels this though he can not hear it ; his
knees are thrown apart by the expansion of the chest. When
these symptoms are apparent, congestion has begun in the
lungs. If the horse be now pulled up, or even if his pace be
slackened, he recovers his breathing in a little time, varying
according to his condition, the depth of his chest, and the de-
gree of congestion. Many horses become sulky and refuse
to proceed any further ; but the great majority of those em-
ployed at fast work can be urged on till they are seriously in-
jured or destroyed. The horse, the camel, and the rein-deer,
are, perhaps, the only animals that will kill themselves in the
service of man. The dog, the ox, the elephant, and perhaps
the ass and mule, disregard the lash when it demands oppres-
sive exertion. But the horse has been so long and so com-
pletely subdued, that his obedience seems to have become
hereditary.

If urged on after the first symptoms, the breathing becomes
more difficult ; the deep sigh and the protrusion of the muz-
zle more frequent. By-and-by the horse falters ; his motions
are sluggish, irregular, confused ; he sinks often on his hind
fetlocks, he staggers, reels, makes a running fall, and at last
drops, or stands still gasping for breath. For a while before
the horse is at his worst, he is so feeble that when put to a
ditch or fence he is unable to clear it.

To prevent deadly or dangerous over-marking, the horse
ought to be pulled up at the first sign of distress. If in good
condition, he may recover his wind in a few seconds ; if un-
prepared for such exertion, or if his chest be small, it may be
several minutes ere he revive, and a very little will prevent
him from proceeding any further.

When the distress is allowed to become very great, the
horse must stop. Slacken the girths immediately, and take
off the saddle. This is important: but some grooms have got
a foolish notion that it is not right to remove the girths all at
once in such a case. They say the wind will burst the
horse. There is no need for argument here. I have re-
peatedly put the matter to experiment, and am perfectly satis-
fied that it is proper in every case to take the girths away as
quickly as possible. Very often the horse recovers immedi-
ately, particularly when the girths have been drawn very

352 STABLE ECONOMY.

tightly, as they mostly always are in hunting and in ra«
cing.

Let the horse stand with his head to the wind, take off the
girths, and wait a little. He will get better presently, in five
or ten minutes, and then he may be led home. He must be
placed in a cold, airy stable ; a warm or close one is very
dangerous. If the breathing does not become easier in eight
or ten minutes, the horse must be bled ; but if, in this time,
his breathing become tolerably quiet, bleeding may be de-
layed till the horse is stabled, and it will then be seen
whether or not the operation is needful.

Bleeding, when properly managed, gives immediate and
certain relief ; but it is folly to bleed from the mouth in a
case of this kind. Open the neck vein, and take away six or
eight quarts of blood, as quickly as possible. As the skin
cools, dry it, and apply clothes. After the bleeding, give six
drachms of the carbonate of ammonia, powdered, and made
into a ball with water and linseed-meal. Give the first three
or four quarts of water quite cold, the rest tepid. Keep the
legs warm, give a bran-mash, and open the stable windows.

Sometimes the horse reaches home before it is apparent
that he is much the worse of his work. Perhaps he is sta-
bled and dressed before it is observed that his breathing is
still quick, that he does not eat, that his eye is red, his crest
sunk, and flank tucked up. Put a finger upon the vein ; if it
do not rise, bleeding need not be tried. Give the carbonate
of ammonia, and repeat it in an hour. Should the horse be
no better at the end of that time, it is probable he will then
bleed. The ammonia should make the blood flow. If live-
lier and the breathing easier, bleeding will not be necessary.
Keep the legs and body warm ; but give pure and cool air to
breathe. Next day the veterinarian will see- whether there be
any danger of inflamed lungs, which is often the result of
congestion.

Spasm of the Diaphragm takes place when the horse is at
work, or it is observed whenever he is pulled up. His flanks
heave rapidly ; every fall is a convulsive jerk which shakes
the whole body ; a loud noise is heard, 3S if the heart were
beating violently against the side. The diaphragm seems to
be the seat of intermitting spasm. The action of the heart is
always feeble and indistinct.

This affection is not very common. In a few cases it ap-
pears to exist independent of congestion in the lungs, but most
frequently the two are combined. They are produced by the

KINDS OF WORK. 353

same causes. If the spasm do not cease in ten or fifteen
minutes, give a dose of the carbonate of ammonia ; and if the
horse is not better in an hour, let him be copiously bled.

Excessive Fatigue is the result of a long rather than of a
fast journey. The horse is very dull, his movements slow
and stiff ; he trips or stumbles at almost every step ; when
he gets home he eats little or nothing, lies much, is very rest-
less, often changing his position j he drinks freely ; some-
times he is a little fevered, the eye red and mouth hot.
When there is no fever, the horse may have a cordial ball
and his grain. When there is any sign of fever, a ball
of the carbonate of ammonia is better ; give a bran-mash,
plenty of gruel, tepid water, only half grain, a good bed, a
quiet stable, and rest for two or three days. On the second
day the horse should recover his spirits and appetite. Stiff-
ness remains for a few days longer.

KINDS 01 WORK.

Power and Speed bear a certain relation one to another.
It has been long and well known that no horse can exert all
his speed and all his strength at the same moment ; as we
increase the pace beyond a certain point, we must reduce the
load ; that as we reduce the load we may increase the pace ;
and that as we increase the demand, either for power or for
speed, we must shorten the duration of labor. These are
general principles, applicable to all kinds of horses, and to
all kinds of work, at least to all work that deserves the name
of labor.

Various experiments, chiefly in relation to drawing, have been
made for the purpose of ascertaining in what degree power and
duration decline as the volocity rises. But the strength and the
speed vary so much in different horses, and even in the same
horse at different times, that an approximation to the relation
which one bears to another, is all that can be obtained or expect-
ed. The power of a horse is estimated by the load he can draw
or carry a given distance in a given time. In drawing it has
been stated as equal to a force of 160 pounds, the pace being
about 2-j miles per hour. Some experimentalists have rated
it at only 112, others so high as 193, the pace being the same.
But horses are so different that hardly two experiments
can yield precisely the same results. The following table
was constructed to show the rate at which power and dura*

30*

354 STABLE ECONOMY.

uon decline as the pace is raised , but it seems of no use ex-
cept to illustrate the general principle.

Pace in Miles Power exerted Duration of Exertion

per Hour. in lbs. in Hours.

2 112 10

3 74 two thirds 9

4 56 8

5 44 four fifths 7

6 37 one third 6

7 32 5

8 , 28 4

9 24 eight ninths 3

10 22 one tenth 2

11 20 four elevenths 1

In the table opposite will be found a statement of work at dif-
ferent paces. The table is not so complete as I wish, but so
far as it goes it shows the amount ol work actually performed.
The weight of the load is stated at the highest, but on many
days it may be considerably lighter, especially in stage-
coaches.

KINDS OF WORK.

355

O W Q b O Q

N™* k— • J-—* ►•-• h— • »— -

93
CO

Cfq
O

P

a

F
o

3

a-

o

3

P

p*

o

l-t

CO
<T>
ce

P*
en

ckj

p-

p

p

CO

Cfq
O

P

p
c-

ft

p-

^ •

P

p

>-s

Cfq

p-

b

P

P

4S»

P*
O

>-s

CO

en

CO

p-

en

en

3

P*
en

P

o
p
o-

CO

p

p
p-

p*

O
>-i
CO

en

CO

p

en

cr
en

r^

r—

fO
■-J

r+

P'

P

P

P
CO

p
p

p

CO

Cfq
O

P

P
P-

w

p-

p'

cr

p

>■*

Cfq

P-

en

o

p
en

p-

en

CO

£*

O

•s

CO

m

CO

\*

a-

P'

rn
m

P

CO

Cfq
O

P

P
c

tJ

p

fD
O

o
p
en

P-
en

CO

K>

O
*i

CO
en
CO

p-

en

m

o

en
-1

2

p*

CO

Cfq
O

P

P
P-

P

cr

P

>-s

Cfq
P"

<!
P

P

CO

O Q

p

CO

Cfq
O

P
P
P.

P
P
P
<S

p

>s

1

en

>-!
CO

p-
o

■-S
CO
CO

lO tO

en £L
co jr*

^

3

p-

m

en

co"

P

CO

Ctq
O

P
P
P-

B
p

P

o

en

pr

en
p
>-<

>-!
►-"

en

CO

p-

O

•"J

CO

en
\*

to

p*

en

en

o

en

p-

CO

aq
O

P

P
P-

W

p

c

Cfq

p*

to
■

P-
o

<s

CO

en

S3

CfQ
O
P
co

\*

P-

en

en

H

o

03

g

»— 1
1— I

o

©

co

CO

00

£*

CO

to

H-'M

to

Pace in Miles
per Hour.

00

oo

>0|H

©

1— I
OS

1—1
OS

to

to

to
^t

to

63

to

to

Distance in

Miles

►— •

i— i

l—i

to

to

to

to

to

to

to

Number of
Stages.

I I I

CO

CO

o

OS

i— to •-'

»1H

00

Time of resting

between Stages,

in Hours.

CO

©

CO

o

CO

en

os

os

CO

to

©

CO
4^

to
to

t-t-

o

CO

©

©
©

Weight of Load,

Carriage included,

in Cwts.

Ox

Oi
-t

5 B 3

i—i i-i to

*-\u

■Me*

©

00 >—

Number of
working Hours or
Minutes per Day.

co

d

os

©

©

Number of

Working Days

per Week.

os

©

OS
CO

©

00

00

©

CO

to

©

00

CO

to

CO

to

Distance in

Miles, performed

every Week.

356 STABLE ECONOMY.

Travelling. — The preparation for a long journey should
consist in training the horse to suffer, with impunity, the in-
fluence of those agents and circumstances to which his work
will expose him. He should be put into condition for the
pace, the distance, and the burden ; he should be well inured
to the harness, to the weather, bad grooming, indifferent sta-
bling, and irregular feeding hours. Without he be previously
accustomed to all that he is likely to meet with in the course
of his journey, a cold, a sore back, or a bad appetite, may
throw the horse out of work when his place can not be easily
supplied.

When there is no time for preparation, the horse may be
conditioned on the road, beginning by short stages and pro-
ceeding at a gentle pace, and giving additional attention to
feeding, watering, stabling, and dressing.

The horse should be shod a few days before starting. If
lamed in the operation, the evil will be apparent, and cured in
sufficient time to let him proceed.

For a journey of about 300 miles, the horse may travel
from 20 to 25 miles every lawful day, resting on Sunday, and
doing the work in two stages, when the pace reaches six
miles per hour. This work requires a seasoned horse.

Hunting requires much speed, and more stoutness. The
horse must be swift and enduring. The pace seldom exceeds
twelve miles per hour, and when quicker, or so quick, the run
is short, soon over, or interrupted ; yet soft sinking ground
hills, and leaps, make this pace very severe even on the best
horses. Good legs are essential only when the weight is
heavy, the ground generally deep, or the leaps numerous.

The time required for preparation varies from two to four
months. When the horse is neither very fat nor very lean,
he may be trained to hunting in three months ; or if he has
been doing some work for two or three weeks previously, or
if he has a deep chest, wide nostrils, and good legs, two
months may serve. In that time he may have all the power
and speed, and stoutness, his work requires. Even after one
month's preparation, he may be fit to enter the field, but when
there he must be carefully managed, not tasked very far, nor
very fast. His work must be such only as he would receive
in training.

The means employed for conditioning hunters, are physic
exertion, sweating, and feeding.

On the day before work, the horse should have exercise*
sufficient to empty the bowels ; if a great eater, he should

KINDS OF WORK. 357

have no hay before him within eight hours of going to the
field; on the working day he should have no water within
four hours of going to work, and his grain should be eaten
about three hours before he enters the field. When the horse
has above five or six miles to go ere he reaches cover, re-
striction as to fodder and water is less necessary, for the
bowels are emptied on the way, the distance being performed
at a gentle pace, perhaps at the rate of seven miles per hour.

The number of working days must vary with the condition
of the horse in relation to his work. Sometimes he may go
out every second day, sometimes twice a week will be suf-
ficiently often, and after a very hard day the horse may not
be able to come out again till the sixth or seventh. If he be
in good spirits, full of life, and feeding heartily to-day, he
may work to-morrow.

While the horse can hunt three days a week, he requires
almost no exercise on his blank days ; still he should have
some, to stretch the legs, create an appetite, and empty the
bowels. A walk of half an hour may be sufficient. Such
work forbids medicines and sweating. When the work is so
severe, or the horse so weak, or his legs so bad that he can
not hunt above twice or thrice a fortnight, some alterative or
evacuating medicine is usually required in the interval to pre-
rent plethora. To other horses, cordials may be needful to
create an appetite, or sweating exertion to keep the lungs in
arder. In general a stout hunter should have a sweat every
diird day. Great eaters, with defective legs, may need physic
every six or eight weeks, to keep the carcass light, and to
prevent plethora. Those who work well and feed well, may
require an alterative every time they have to rest more than
three days.

Racing requires more speed and less stoutness than hunt-
ing requires. The means employed to confer these are the
same in both ; the racer does Jiot work so often, and, in train-
ing, his exercise is not so severe ; but sweating and purging
are carried farther in the racing than in the hunting stable,
particularly with robust horses, near to or at maturity. The
preparation, however, varies with the horse's age, the length
of his race, the weight he has to carry, the condition of his
wTind and of his legs ; with his disposition to work and to
eat, with his temper, and with several other circumstances,
all which are well known among practised trainers to require
some peculiar treatment. These matters are so well under-
stood by the only people who are interested in them, that it

358 STAELE ECONOMY.

seem6 unnecessary for me to enter into detail ; all that I could
say about racing would be of very little use to anybody.

Coaching. — The horses employed in stage-coaches, mails,
canal-boats, railways, and other public conveyances, are all
prepared for work in nearly the same way ; some difference,
nowever, must be made according to the pace and the horse's
condition. The proprietor usually allows a certain time to
feed and to exercise the horse. It is supposed by a great
many, that a new, an unseasoned horse, can not be in con-
dition for work till he has been fed for some days or weeks
upon hard food, oats, beans, and hay ; some exercise is given,
but, in general, I think not enough. They speak and act as
if the feeding were the most essential part of the preparation.
It is a great deal ; but the exercise is quite as important.
There is no kind nor quantity of food, that will, by itself, put
a horse into condition for fast work. Unless he have exercise,
gradually increasing in speed and distance as he can bear it,
and increased till it closely resemble the work, the work can
not be done easily nor safely.

The ordinary length of a stage is eight miles ; but the
owner of a large stud should endeavor to have some four-mile
stages." At this short distance, unseasoned horses can easily
be prepared for the longer stages, and while under prepara-
tion they are earning their food.

Some proprietors give physic and some bleed, but unless
the horse be lusty, or very large-bellied, or the weather very
hot, physic and blood-letting are not imperiously demanded.

In Mr. Lyon's stud the preparation is short and simple.
Upon the first day the horse is tried in harness. If very fat,
he gets one dose of physic, but in general no medicine is giv-
en. The horse is put at once upon working diet ; he gets
walking and trotting exercise for a week or ten days, and sub-
sequently he goes to the road. In the first fortnight the horse
may do only half work, going, perhaps, only half a journey
every time he is out, or a whole journey every second or third
day. By the end of four or five weeks, the horse is usually
ready for full work.

Mr. Fraser, of the Eagle Inn, usually puts each new horse
through a course of physic, generally consisting of three
doses He believes that the physic renders the horse less
liable to inflammatory complaints ; and when he is fat, it cer
tainly does so. Some, however, do not need three doses, and
some do not get more than one or two.

The work performed by coach-horses varies from fifty to

KINDS OF WORK. 359

eighty miles per week, according to the pace, weight of load,
and condition of the road. Four-horse coaches, going at nine
miles per hour, and weighing about forty-five nundred weight,
usually require a horse for every two miles, counting the dis-
tance both ways. A coach running between two places forty
miles distant, employs abcut forty horses to take her away
and bring her back.

In some cases the horses work every day, in others only
thrice a week, doing, however, double the work every day
they are out. When it can be so arranged, it is much better
for the horse to do eight miles every day, than to do sixteen
every second day.

The work is not always quite regular. An able horse has
occasionally, perhaps once or twice a week, to perform a
double journey, one of the team being defective, able for only
half work, or during a few days unfit for any.

The Glasgow and Paisley Coaches are horsed by Messrs.
Lyon and Walker. They run every hour. The distance is
very nearly eight miles, which is done in one hour by two
horses. When snow lies deep, three and sometimes four are
put to the coach. The horses stand for three minutes at half-
way. They work five days a week,' doing sixteen miles each
day. They go and return, resting from one hour to six.
This is full work ; but in busy times the horses sometimes
run a double, or even treble journey, getting some indulgence
for a day or two afterward. Defective and unseasoned horse?
do only half work. They may go out to-day and not returp
till to-morrow. Some others, very good horses, but easily
injured, are so arranged that they shall have a longer time to
rest. They usually rest one or two hours after the first stage
before commencing the second ; but these delicate horses are
sent out in the morning, rested all day, and returned at night.
Many, with bad wind, bad appetite, or bad legs, are thus kept
at full work, who would be knocked up in a week, if required
to perform the second stage in an hour after completing the
first. Coaching-horses rarely receive any exercise on blank
days. They are kept in the stable, well-bedded, and encour*
aged to lie.

Carting. — Cart-horses work from eight to ten hours every
day, except Sunday. The pace varies from two miles to
three and a half per hour. At long distances the draught
rarely exceeds thirty hundred weight, cart included. Al
short distances it ranges from thirty to forty. Twenty-foui
hundred weight, besides the cart, which weighs seven 01

360 STABLE ECONOMY.

eight, is the usual load hereabouts, all placed on two
wheels.

The preparation for carting is very simple. The horse is
put at once to work ; for the first ten or fourteen days he does
only half work, afterward he does a little more every day, or
every other day, till he is fully conditioned.

Ploughing. — " The following has been ascertained to be
the quantity of land ploughed, and the ground gone over by a
team working nine hours : —

Breadth of furrow

At li

miles per hour.

At 2 miles per hour.

Slice.

Acre.

Rds. Per.

Acre.

Rds. Per.

8 inches,

0

3 36

1

1 7

9 "

1

0 14

1

1 33

10 "

1

0 35

1

2 21

11 "

1

1 14

1

3 5

" The distance travelled at the slow pace, was twelve
miles, at the quicker it was sixteen miles.'

»#

REPOSE.

In another place I have stated the immediate effects of
muscular exertion. Fatigue, the result of exertion, consists
in a particular state of the muscles, the joints, the sinews, and
some other parts. Action exhausts the muscles, consumes
the blood, the joint-oil, and other fluids connected with mo-
tion. Maintained for a certain time, action also inflames the
muscles, the sinews, and the joints. During repose, these
parts should be partly or entirely restored to that condition
which is most favorable to exertion. But if the rest be dis-
turbed, or its proper duration abridged, the consequences are
more serious than people generally imagine. The loss of
one night's rest renders the horse unfit for work next day.
There are many cases, however, in which the horse is almost
never permitted to enjoy complete repose. He is frequently
compelled to stand when he ought to be lying. The conse-
quences are precisely the same as those arising from excess
of work.

The horse does not sleep much, perhaps little more than
four or five hours out of the twenty-four. He can rest, how-
ever, pretty well when he is standing, and still better when
he is lying, though he should not sleep.

By a peculiar arrangement in the horse's limbs, he is able
to obtain more rest while standing than any animal I know
of; yet, without recubation, his repose is never completed.
He may be kept always on his feet, yet he never works so

* Complete Grazier, p. 198.

REPOSE 361

well, nor lasts so long, as when he lies six or eight hours
daily. The legs fail, the horse becomes stiff; his joints and
sinews suffer from repeated slight attacks of inflammation,
which at last produce lameness. The work is blamed, and
very often work is the only cause ; but sometimes it is the
want of rest, not excess of work, that does the mischief.

The bed should be well made, the stall sufficiently wide,
and the stable quiet. There should be no work going on, nor
any person admitted to the stable while the horse is reposing,
lor while he is likely to be lying. Two horses should never
stand all night in one stall, as often happens at crowded
tables. Neither can lie, and that rest which either could
take standing, is broken by the other.

Some horses never lie, they sleep standing, or reclining
against the travis. A few sink on their knees, and sleep for
a few minutes in that position. Some have a stiffness of the
back, which renders them unable to rise without assistance,
and therefore they forbear to lie, assistance not always coming
when they want it. Others have got a fright in a narrow
stall, which may have prevented them from rising easily, or
at all. This is remembered for ever, and the horse stands
always, however wide his stall may be made. Others still,
revise to lie after having been halter-cast and severely in-
jured ; they will not lie while the head is tied.

Some of these horses may, however, be induced to lie.
Try a loose box, where the horse will have plenty of room,
and need not be tied up. If that can not be procured, put
two gangway bales to his stall ; these will confine him to it,
and his head may be free. His stall should be wide.

If the horse can not be induced to lie, he may be supported
while standing. Place him in slings. This apparatus con-
sists of a broad canvass-belt, which goes under the belly, ex-
tending from the points of the elbows to the sheath. At each
extremity there is a strong shaft, or staff, to which the sus-
pending ropes are attached, and carried to the roof, or stall-
posts. A breast-strap and a breechin are necessary to keep
the belt in its place. The horse is not suspended. The
belt is fixed close to the belly. When the horse is disposed
to rest his legs, he has only to bend them, and the belt re-
ceives his body. Whenever he is tired of this support, he
again stands on his legs. The breechin should be strong and
broad, for many horses throw as much weight upon that as
upon the belt. The belt is commonly made out of a canvass
sack, stuffed with hav, and stitched like a mattress,

31

362 STABLE ECONOMY.

EIGHTH CHAPTER.

MANAGEMENT OF DISEASED AND DEFECTIVE HORSES

Young Horses are not at full strength till they are nearly
five years old. At fast work they require careful shoeing to
prevent cutting, careful stable-management to prevent the
evils arising from changes of temperature, to which they are
more liable than mature horses. They are not fit for full
work, but they require good feeding for what they do.

Old Horses, those above ten or twelve, are rarely fit for
long stages. They are soon exhausted. They need full
feeding ; and some, having bad teeth, need to have muck of
their food broken or cooked.

Defective Fore Legs last longest in harness, and in the lead ;
but when the horse is apt to fall, when he is a notorious
stumbler, he is better in the wheel. The other horse helps
to keep him on his feet.

Roarers do most work when their work is slow. Some
can not go above five miles an hour : and many can not go
more than four miles, when the pace is near eight per hour.
Some do better on one side of a coach than on another. The
head should not be confined by the bearing-rein, and the
throat-lash should be loose. Time must be given in up-hill
work, otherwise the roarer may choke and fall. He should
work with little food in the belly ; the first mile is sometimes
the worst with him ; a slower pace for the next half mile en-
ables him to finish the remainder with less distress than when
he is pushed from the start.

Chronic Cough, that is, a settled cough, is very common
among fast-workers. It is most frequent when the horse is
taken from the stable, when he returns to it, and after drinking
and feeding. There is no cure. Occasionally a mild dose
of physic ; and after severe work, or much exposure in bad

DISEASED AND DEFECTIVE HORSES.

363

weather, cordial balls soften and mitigate the cough. Many
horses have it for years without any apparent evil, but it often
produces broken wind. Carrots and boiled barley are good.
The work should be regular.

Broken-winded horses require regular work, regular feeding,
and a rich concentrated diet, consisting of oats, beans, and
barley, in large measure, with a limited allowance of fodder.
Wheat straw seems better than hay for these horses. From
six to eight pounds is sufficient, if the work be fast ; when
slow, there is less need for restriction ; carrots and boiled
barley, one or both, may be of use. Bad food seems more
injurious to broken-winded than to healthy horses. They
drink much water, and before work they should not have
so much as they would take. At night no restriction is
necessary. Broken-winded horses are rarely fit for more
than an eight-mile stage, to which they need an hour. But
there are various degrees of the disease, some being much
worse than others.

Fig. 23.

Crib-biters are horses who swallow air by a peculiar effort.
They seize the manger or any other fixture with the fore
teeth, arch the neck, and gulp over a quantity of air, making,
at the same time, a grunting kind of noise. Horses often
learn this from others : they should stand alone.

When the crib-biter swallows so much air as to enlarge
his belly, to incommode his breathing, make him liable to
frequent attacks of colic, or keep him lean, a broad strap may

364 STABLE ECONOMY.

be put on the throat, tight enough to prevent dilatation of the
gullet, yet not to stop the return of blood from the head.

There is a kind of muzzle sometimes used for the purpose
of preventing crib-biting among valuable horses. Its most
essential part is a kind of rack, consisting of two iron spars
jointed at each extremity, and curved to receive the muzzle.
The spars are about three fourths of an inch broad ; the space
between them is wide enough to receive the lips, and let
them seize the grain and hay, but so narrow that it will not
admit the teeth. The horse can eat well enough ; he can
reach his food with the lips, but he can seize nothing with
his fore teeth. This muzzle is better than a strap, which
disposes the horse to swelling of the head, and is blamed for
producing roaring.

Wind-sucking consists in swallowing air without applying
the teeth to any fixture. The horse presses his lips against
the edge of the manger, having his neck and back arched,
and his feet all gathered together. This habit does not seem
to be so often injurious as crib-biting. It is said that a
muzzle, having three or four short sharp spikes at bottom,
will prevent it. The points run into the lips when the horse
attempts to place them in position for sucking or swallowing
air.

Megrims [or Epilepsy]. — Some horses are liable to giddi-
ness at work. It is not the same as choking or swooning in
the collar. It seems to be a kind of apoplexy. The horse
drops without the least warning, lies for a few seconds insen-
sible, and then rises somewhat confused. After two or three
attacks, the horse is sure to have more. Saddle-horses are
not exempt. These horses should be kept at slow work in
double harness. Their work and feeding should be always
the same. Excess or deficiency of what they are accus-
tomed to, renders the attacks more frequent. Physic may be
given thrice a year or oftener. The food should never be
constipating. The bearing-rein should always be free. If
the horse be observed to stagger, he should be pulled up, and
allowed to stand two or three minutes. When he falls, he
needs nothing but time to recover his senses.

Blind Horses should not be placed within reach of a mis-
chievous neighbor. They can not defend themselves nor get
out of the way. In harness the wheel suits them better than
the lead. When only one eye is lost., the horse should work
on the side from wrhich he sees

DISEASED AND DEFECTIVE HORSES. 365

Glandered Horses often work for years after they are in-
curably diseased. They require to be well fed, well lodged,
and well groomed. So far as my experience has gone, med-
icine of all kinds is entirely thrown away upon them.

When the disease appears in a sound stud, the horse
should be destroyed, or at least removed without delay. It
is possible he may recover ; and, if he can be kept where he
can do no harm, he may have a trial. If permitted to remain,
he is just as likely to give the disease to every horse in the
stable, as to get better himself. It is generally supposed
that glanders can not be communicated without actual appli-
cation of the matter. This is not certain. I am pretty sure
that, in some forms, it will spread through the air. It is
prudent to suspect and to watch every horse that has breathed
under the same roof with a glandered one.

When several are diseased, it may be worth while keeping
them. They may oe all put to one road, and kept in stables
apart from the others ; having men, harness, pole, and pole-
chains, entirely to themselves. When it can be managed,
they should not even enter the stable-yard where there are
sound horses, and the men should be carefully excluded from
every stable but. their own.

When the horses die ofY, so that sufficient are not left to do
the work, their place may be supplied by others, sound, but
of little value. In this way, however, the disease is kept up.
It is better to destroy the few that remain. Let the stalls,
every portion of the stables, from floor to roof, both inclusive,
be well washed with soap or sand and water. Let the wood-
work be scraped or planed, and ragged portions chipped quite
out. If the mangers and racks be of wood, and much wasted,
remove them altogether, and replace them by others of iron.
After washing, give all the stone or brick a coat of hot lime-
water. Till all this is well and completely done, no sound
horse should enter the stable ; and even after it is done, the
stable should stand empty for a week or two.

Sickness. — This word is usually applied to all dangerous
or febrile diseases, all in which the horse is dull, pained, and
without appetite. The stable-management of these must vary
according to the nature of the illness. Directions are given
by the medical attendant, as to diet, drink, ventilation, cloth-
ing, exercise, and other matters likely to exert any influence
upon the disease. In genera], bran-mashes, carrots, green
food, and hay, form the sick horse's diet ; gruel, or tepid
water, his drink. Whatever be *he surgeon's orders, they

30*

366 STABLE ECONCMY.

should be strictly obeyed. In many cases a handful of oats
or a bucket of cold water, may keep the horse a week longer
from work, or even kill him.

Bleeding. — After a horse has been bled from the neck, let
hi& head be ti'ed up for at least three hours , and if there be
no objection, it had better be tied up all night. Never tie it
higher than the manger. If the horse happen to faint, as
some do after a bleeding, he may be choked. Thb head is
tied high enough, when the horse can not get it lower than
the bottom of the manger. Never remove the pin and tow by
which the vein is secured. They will fall away in a few
days ; but though they should remain for eight or ten, they
will do no harm. If removed too soon the vein is apt to in-
flame. It is best to let them remain.

Fomenting. — In fomenting for lameness or an external in-
jury, the groom rarely has enough of water, and he does
not continue the bathing long enough to do any good. If the
leg is to be fomented, get a pailful of water as hot as the hand
can bear it ; put the horse's foot into it, and with a large
sponge lave the water up as high as the shoulder, and keep
it constantly running down the whole limb. Foment for
about half-an-hour, and keep the water hot by adding more.
If a poultice or wet bandage is to succeed the fomentation,
apply it immediately, before the leg has time to cool.

Poulticing. — Warm poultices are usually composed of bran-
mash, to which it is proper to add turnips, linseed-meal, or
oatmeal porridge ; either will do, and one of them is necessa-
ry, for bran alone does not retain heat and moisture suffi-
ciently.

Whether applied for sores, bruises, or sprains, the poultice
should be large, moist, and as warm as possible and con-
venient. It is almost invariably too small ; it should cover a
good deal more than the part injured. It should have as much
water as it will hold, and more should be applied every second
or third hour, either by pouring it on the poultice, or by dip-
ping or soaking it. Care must be taken that no part of the
cords or bandages be too tight. They should admit the finger
quite easily after they are all adjusted. When properly ap-
plied, and properly attended, a good poultice need not be
changed in less than twenty-four hours. When the horse tears
it off with his teeth he must be tied up , when he paws or
throws it off, he must be shackled.

When too small, a poultice does little good ; when too dry,
it confines heat, and increases inflammation ; when the strings

MEDICAL ATTENDANCE. 367

are too tight, they stop the circulation of blood, cut the skin,
and swell the leg.

Blistering. — Blistering plasters are never applied to horses
We always use an ointment, of which rather more than a half
is well rubbed into the part to be blistered, while the remain-
der is thinly and equally spread over the part that has been
rubbed. When there is any danger of the ointment running
and acting upon places that should not be blistered, they must
be covered with a stiff ointment made of hog's lard and bees-
wax.

The bedding is to be removed when the leg s blistered.
To prevent the horse from slipping upon the stones, they may
be covered with a little short litter, sawdust, or bark.

The horse's head must be secured in such a way that he
can not reach the blister with his teeth. Put him into a nar-
row stall, and tie his head firmly to the rack. When a hind-
leg is blistered, fasten a small bundle of straw to each heel-
post : place it high up, opposite the haunch. It keeps the
legs off the posts, against which the horse is very apt to rub
them.

When the blister has become quite dry, the head may in
general be freed, and the horse let down. But sometimes it
remains itchy after it is dry, and the horse rubs it. In that
case he must be tied up again. If he get very tired, and
threaten to go down on his haunches, put the beads on his
neck, let go the head, give a good bed, and let the horse rest
all day, a man watching him, if the beads are not sufficient to
keep away the teeth. At night he may again be tied up, if
there be any fear of his rubbing the blister.

When the blister is quite dry, put some sweet oil on it, and
repeat it every second day. Without orders from the veteri-
narian, the blister is not to be washed off, either soon or late.
Give it plenty of oil and time, and it will fall off as the new
hair grows. By washing, the raw skin is often exposed, the
hair torn out, and the horse blemished.

Medical Attendance.

The people who know, or pretend to know, anything about
the diseases of horses, may be divided into three classes : —

Owners and their stablemen form one class. They stand
at the bottom of the list, having just sufficient knowledge to
prove they have any ; that little varies ; but in general it goes
no further than to name a few common drugs, and a few com-

368 STABLE ECONOMY.

mon diseases. They know that aloes and resin are two dif-
ferent things ; they can tell when a horse has broken wind,
when he is a roarer, when a crib-biter, when he is lame, and
when he is sick. Some can bleed, give a ball, and put in a
rowel. Though they can tell when a horse is ill, yet they
can not tell what ails him, unless it be some common affair,
such as the influenza, which they may see often. They
know when a horse is lame ; but they are not very often able
to discover where. When they blame the shoulder, it is very
likely to be the foot. They can perform a few simple opera-
tions, among which bleeding and balling stand foremost ; but few
can perforin these well, simple as they are, and many bungle
them most wretchedly. In truth, they know so little, that
they can not be depended on. They are just as likely to be
wrong as right. But, notwithstanding this, it must be allow-
ed that they know something, although they can not be said
to know anything well. They confound one thing with
another, like it, but not the same ; grease, for instance, with
farcy ; a common cold with glanders ; swelled leg with a
sprain ; foot, lameness with shoulder lameness ; and so forth
in a hundred other things.

Horse-shoers and village blacksmiths form another class.
Some have seen medicines, diseases, and operations, while
in the service of a veterinarian, and some have learned a little
about them merely by reading books and being consulted by
the owner or his groom. Those bred in the country know
less than an old stableman ; those who have been in the em-
ployment of a veterinarian, sometimes know more. The little
they learn is learned very slowly, and always imperfectly ;
but in time, some of them get a name, and subsequently a
good deal to do, which teaches them more or less. Their
knowledge, at best, resembles that of a nurse employed in an
hospital, or about sick persons. Being ignorant of anatomy
and physiology, they never improve beyond a certain point,
and there are hundreds of things which they can not compre-
hend nor manage. Operations which require cutting they
rarely try, and still more rarely perform as they ought to be
performed. Most of them have a few books, of which the bad
mislead them, and the good puzzle them.

All boast of practical experience, by which they mean they
have seen a great deal. In all ranks, there are men who raise
mighty pretensions upon a very slender foundation. Give
them a telescope view of the moon, and they instantly become
astronomers • show them a few experiments, and they are

MEDICAL ATTENDANCE. 369

converted into chymists ; when they have seen a skeleton they
have studied anatomy ; when they have opened an abscess,
or drawn blood, they are good surgeons, having performed
many dangerous and difficult operations with great success.
To such people is the world indebted for all kinds of quackery,
and a good deal of knavery. Their practical experience is
but a shadow ; their opinion a guess ; their performance a
failure ; and their pretensions to skill, what are they, but the
assumptions of ignorance, or the disguises of imposition ?

The blacksmith and shoer usually term themselves farriers ;
but in most all large towns there are some who take the title
of veterinary surgeons, a kind of fraud for which the law has
provided no remedy.

Veterinary surgeons form a third, and the only legitimate
class of medical attendants on the horse. The term veteri-
narian came into use when colleges were established in dif-
ferent parts of Europe for improving, or rather for creating the
art of treating disease in the lower animals. France founded in
1761 the first school of this kind. There were none in this
country till thirty years afterward. At present there are two
at London and one at Edinburgh. In each of these schools,
the structure and diseases of domestic animals are taught from
observations and study of the dead and of the living. The
kind of instruction is not quite the same at each school ; but
in all, the students have opportunities, many or more, of ex-
amining every part of the frame, both in health and in disease,
and of watching and treating patients of almost every kind.
In one winter, an industrious student will see as much at
these places as the people who boast of great experience will
see in the whole course of their lives ; and then everything
is seen in the right way, the inside as well as the outside.
After attending a stated period, the pupils are brought before
a Board of Examiners, who ascertain their qualification. If
fit to practise, they obtain a certificate, which is termed a
diploma ; if not, they are referred to a longer course of study.
No one who wants a diploma is a veterinary surgeon. A
pretender may assume the name, and among an ignorant
people he may carry on the imposition pretty well, and for a
good while ; but the day seems to be coming when quackery
must expire. The man of education now disdains the proffer-
ed services of an empiric for himself, and, erelong, he will
take care that his horse or his dog shall not be added to the
victims already sacrificed to ignorance.

THE END.

INDEX.

A.

Page

Page.

Bales ...

. 26

abdomen, Size of, in Training

. 304

" Gangway

31

Absolute Idleness .

. 330

" Standing .

. 29

Absorbents ...

. 312

Ball, giving of a

. 314

Abstinence, Debility of .

. 231

Bandages for Legs

336, 337

" Indigestion of .

. 231

Barbadoes Aloes ....

. 314

Acceleration of breathing

. 300

Barley ....

. 181

" of Circulation

. 299

" boiled . . . .

. 182

Accidents from Restraint

. 138

" Dust of .

. 184

" Work.

. 339

" malted ....

. 183

Acute Indigestion .

. 222

" Mash ....

. 183

Agents of Training

. 310

Barn Chaff

. 174

" which injure Condition

. 328

Bathing

. 102

Air, impure

. 47

Botts, the

. 174

" Evils of

49

Bran Chaff ....

. 174

" " Outlets of

. 53

Bran Flour, or Bran Meal .

. 189

Air, pure .

46

Bran Straw ....

. 174

" " Apertures for

. 56

Beans

166, 187

•' " Use of .

46

Bed for the Groom .

65

Aloes for Medicine

. 314

Bedding

131,338

Alterations in Grooming .

. 323

Bedding by Day

. 133

" in Training

. 323

" the Horse

. 131

Ammoniacal Ball

352

" after Work

. 338

Anointing the Hoofs .

. 125

Belly, Reduction of the Size of •

. 304

Antimony in Grooming .

122

Hiter, Stall for a

. 153

" in Training

. 323

Apparatus for Steaming .

215

Bitter Extract ....

. 198

Appendages to Stables

. 59

Bleeding

322, 366

" to Boiler-House .

63

" after Grazing

. 277

" to Boxes, loose

. 59

" in Training

. 322

" to Grain-Chest .

62

" Wounds

. 349

" to Granary

. 62

Blind Horses, Cure of

. 364

" to Grooms' Bedroom .

65

Blistering

. 367

" to Harness-Room .

. 65

Blood, Circulation of the

. 296

" to Hay- Chamber .

61

Blowing the Nose after a Gallop

. 326

" to Stable-Cupboard

. 65

Blown Horses, Care of .

. 350

" to Stable-Shed .

64

Boiler-House ....

. 63

" to Stable-Yard

. 64

Boiling the Food

. 212

" to Straw

62

Bones, broken ....

. 348

u to Water-Pond

. 63

" Injury of the

. 348

Apples

191

Boots against Cutting

. 340

Application of the Clothes .

. 163

Bowels, Diseases of the

. 224

Arrangement of Stalls

171

Boxes, loose ....

. 59

Articles used as Food .

. 164

Boys for the Stable .

77

Assimilation of Food . . ,

218

" mischievous

. 78

Attendance while out .

. 274

Bran

. 185

Bran-Mash

. 185

B.

Brank

. 187

Bad Oats

. 178

Bread, wheaten

, 186

Bad Stables

13

Breaking of Horses

. 290

Back, Injury of the

. 346

" down

347

Baking of the Food .

216

" in Exertion .

. 29T

372

INDEX.

Breaking loose
Breathing in Exertion
" in Training

" Quickness of the

Breech-Bands, use of
Broken Back

" Bones .

" Knees

" Legs .

" Neck

" Wind .
Broken-winded Horses
Brown of Glasgow, Food of, for

ses

Bruising of the Food .
Brusli, the

Buckwheat ....
Bulk of the Food

Page.

139
. 307

307
. 300

333
. 346

348
. 345

348
. 346

363
. 289

Hor-

C.

Cabbage
Cab-Horse

Carcass, Size of, in Training
Care of the Clothes .
Care of the Feet .
Carriage-Horse, Food of the
Carrots ....
Cart-Horses, Food of
Carting .
Casting the Hair
Causewayed Floor
Cavalry Horse, Food of the
Chaff Barn

" Cutting

" Eating of

" Objections to .
Change of Diet

" of Litter.
Cherry's Felt Pads .
Chestnuts for Food
Chilled Water .
Choking in the Collar .
Chronic Cough
Circulation of the Blood .
Clay-Box, the .
Cleaning after severe Work
Cleaning the Nostrils after a
Clipping ....

" Objections to
CJtpping the Coat
'.'ogs against Kicking
Clothes, Application of the
" Care of the
" of different Kinds
" Tearing off the .
Clothing

" a wet Horse
wiover .
Coaching Work
Coachmen .
Coal , Polishing of the
Cold, Effects of .

" Stables .

" Water
Colic

" Causes of .

54 Spasmodic

" Symptoms of

" Treatment of

251
209
83
187
235

. 166
. 252

. 305
. 163

. 259
252

. 176
. 250

. 369
. 104

. 24

. 263
. 174

. 202
. 204

. 205
. 240

. 132
. 123

. 191
. 282

. 319
. 302

. 298
128

. 335
Gallop 326

. 118
. 119

. 119
. 146

. 163
. 163

. 161
. 162

. 161
96

. 166
. 358

. 74
. 119

. 295
. 160

. 283
224,317

. 224
. 226

. 226
. 227

Page

Collar for tying up .137

" Reins . .138

" safe ... .297

Colt, Feet of the . . 130

" Starvation of the . . 194

Comparative Cost .... 260

" Idleness . . 330

" Value of Fodder . 198

Composition of Food .... 196

" of Physic . . .314

Condensed Food 236

Condition, Preserving of the . 328

Conditioning ... . 303

Confinement ... . 273

Congestion of the Lungs . . 350

Cooking of Food . . .201

Cordials, after Work . . . .338

" Composition of . 324

" in Grooming . 121

" in Training . 324

Corn ... . .177

" Chest for . . 62

" Dust of 181

Cost of keeping Farm-Horses . 249

Cough, chronic 362

Cows' Milk .... 193, 195

Crib-Biters 363

Crib, Biting of the .... 150
Crall's Horses, Food of . 256

Cumins 183

Currycomb, Abuse of ... 87

" Use of . . . .83

Cutting of Fodder . . . 202, 205

Cutting of the Legs .... 339

D.

Damaged Fodder, bad Effects of . 204

" " to consume . 204

Daily Allowance of Oats . . . 180

Damaged Oats 178

Damaged Provender .... 204

Damp Stables 14

Dark Stables 21

Day after Work .... 338

Day Bedding 133

Decoration, Operations of . . 104
Debility from Abstinence . . . 232
Defective Forelegs .... 362
Defective Horses .... 362
Deficiency of Food . . . 242,335

Deglutition 219

Delicate Horses in Physic . .311

" " in Training . . 327

Deliberate Ingestion . . . 203
Diabetes .:.... 179
Diaphragm, Spasm of 352

Diet, Changes of 240

" mixed 240

Difference between Heat and Foul-
ness 44

Difference of Clothing . . .161
Digestion of Food . . .220

" m aided by slow Work 229

Digestion of Food suspended by fast
Work . . . . . .230

Disease impairing the Condition . 328
Diseased Horses .... 362

Distress from Work .... 351

" " " Signs of . 32S

INDEX.

373

Distribution of Food .
Diuretics in Training
Docking of the Hair .
Doors of the Stable .
Double-headed Stables
Drams of Stables
Draught Horse, Liability of, to

Diseases .
Drawing the Horse Fine
Dressing after Work

" before Work

" in Grooming

" of the Mane

" the Tail

" Utility of .

" Vicious Horses

" Want of .
Drivers
Drugs

Drunkenness
Dry Bandages .
Dry Herrnge
Drying of the Food .
Dust ....

E.

Ears, Cropping of the .
" Stripping of the
" Trimming of the
Earth Floors .
Eating of the Litter .
Education of the Groom
" of the Horse

Effects of Hot Stabling

" of Physic
Eggs as Food .

" in Grooming
Emaciation from Work
Endurance in Training
Enteritis .
Epilepsy

Evacuants, Effects of
Excess of Food .

*« of Work
Excessive Fatigue
Excoriation of the Skin
Exercise after Water .

" of pastured Horses
Exertion, Effects of .
" inuring to rapid

inuring to slow
Physiology of .
Exposure to the Weather
Extract, bitter .
" nutritive

Face, Trimming of the .

Falling

" Causes of

Farm-Horses, Cost of Keeping
" Food of

" Grazing of

Farriers as Surgeons .

Fast-Boat-Horse

Fasting ....

Fast Work, Effects of .
" " Preparation foi

Fat, Product! >n of .

32

Bowel

Page.

. 205

323

. 106

18

. 17

25

of

225

309

92

83

83

110

109

89

87

90

81

120

82

337

167

201

181

112
84
111
24
149
71
290
158
312
193
121
331
304
224
364
312
335
331
353
297
288
267
299
303
298
298
269
198
196

112
342
344

249
247
277
369
253
231
230
302
243

Page.

Fat, Removal of, by Physic . 312

" Removal of, by Sweating . 316

Fatigue, Excessive .... 353

Fatness, incompatible with Speed . 308

Feeding 200,228

" at the Straw- Yard . . 280

" Change of . . . .240

11 Hours of . . . .235

" Practice of . . . .247

" Principles of 228

Feet, Care of, at Grass . . . 270

" " at the Straw Yard . 280

" " in the Stable . 122,259

" Injury of, by Woik . . 332

" Management of the .

" Neglect of the, in Colts

" Picking of the .

" Stopping of the

Felt Pads ....

Fermentation of the Food

Fetters against Kicking .

Figs for Food ....

Filling the Hay-rack .

Fine Coat, a .

Fish, as Food

Flatulent Colic ....
Flesh, as Food ...
Flesh, superfluous, impedes Exertion
" " Removal of

Flies, at Grass

Floors of Stables

" " causewayed

" " of Earth

" " paved

Foal, Feeding of the
Fodder, comparative Value of

" Cutting of the
Foggy Horses
Fomenting the Legs
Food .

" Articles of

" Assimilation of

" Baking of

" Bulk of

" Composition of

" Condensed .

" Deficiency of .

" Deglutition of

" Digestion of .

" Drying of .

" Evacuation of

;< Excess of

" dominating of

" Grinding of

" Hard .

" Indigestion of .

" Insalivation of

" Kinds of .

" Mastication of

" Mixture of .

" Nutritive Matter of

" of Brown's Horses

122

130

122

123

123

223

148

191

37

119

193

224

192

308

309

. 270

23

. 24

24

. 23

. 194

. 198

. 202

. 311

336, 366

164,337

.. 164

. 218

. 216

214, 325

. 196

. 236

242, 235

. 229

. 220

. 201

. 220

243, 335

. 210

. 210

. 237

. 222

. 219

. 164

. 219

. 205

. 196

. 251

. 254

of Croall's Horses .
of Hanbury and Truman's Hor-
ses 251

of Harvey and Co. 's Horses . 252
of Lyon's Horses . . . 253
of Mail-Horses . . .253
of Mein's Horses . . . 25f

374

INDEX,

Food of Walker's Horses

" of Wiggins's Horses

" Prehension of.

" Preparation of .

" Quantity of .
Foreman of the Stables
Forelegs, defective .
Formation of Heat
Foul Stables .
Foulness, Glanders .
" Plethora .

Founder

Fraser's Horses, physicked

Feet, the .
Front Rack, the
Fruit, as Food .
Fumigated Oats
Furze, as Food

G.

Gallops to try the Wind .
Galls of the Skin .
Gangway Bales .

" standing in the
Gentleman's Coachman .
Germinating the Food .
Getting loose
Gibbon, Mr., Stables of .
Gig-Horse .

Girthing to reduce the Belly
Girths, refusing of the
Girths, undoing of the, on a

Horse .
Giving a Ball
Glanders, Management of

" relative to bad Air
Glasgow Coaches .
Gluten in Food .

Gorse, as Food

Grain • • •

" Chest

u Mastication of .
" Wasting of the

Grains .

Granary .

Grass .

Grazing of Farm-Horses

Grazing of Hunters .

Grease in the Heels

Green Herbage .

Grinding of the Food

Gripes, the .

Grogginess, Cause of

Groom, the .

" Duties of the

Grooming

Groom's Bedroom .

Grooms, untrained

Grooming Animals .

Gruel ...-•

. 326

297
. 31

140
. 74

210
. 139
66,69
. 252

305
. 155

the .
orses, Food

Food of

H.

Habits of tne Stable .
Habitual Restriction of Water
Hair, Docking of the .

" Laying of the .

" Polish of the

" Properties of tli 3 .

" Uses of the

Page.
. 254 Halter

.251 " Casting .

218 " for tying
. 201 Halter-rein, stepping over
241 271 Hanbury and Truman's F

. 79 of . • • ■
. 362 Hand-rubbing the Legs
. 301 Hanging in the Halter

44 Haid Feeding
. 365 Hard Food
. 245 Hard Water
. 222 Harness, inuring to the

358 Harness-Room .
. 224 Harvey and Co.'s Horse
. ' 35 Haws for Food .
. 192 Hay .
178 " Chamber
167 " daily Allowance of

" good

" heated

" Lattermath .

" mow-burnt

" musty .

" new .

" Racks • • •

" " mode of filling of .

" salted

" Seed

" Tea

" weather-beaten
Head, Injuries of the .
Head Ostler or Foreman
Head, Position of the .
Heat, Formation of
" redundant in Exertion .

Heated Hay

" Horse .

" Oats

Heels, Trimming of the .
" Washing of the .

Hemp-Seed

Hog-Mane, the

Home-summering .

Hoof- Ointment, Composition of .

" Use of

Hoofs, Anointing of the • •

" Care of the, in the Stable
' urging the Growth of the .
• Wall of the
Horse-Chestnuts .
Horse, Dressing- of .
Horse-Shoers • •

Horses standing in loose Boxes .
u "in the Straw-Yard

Hot Stables

Hot-Stabling, Effects of

Hours of Feeding .

Humors

Hunter, Food of the
" Grazing of the
" Summering of the
" Work of the .

Hunting •

Hunting-Shoe

Husk of Wheat

Page
138

142

1*36

. 144

blown

351
314
365
50
359
196
167
177
62
205
148
, 183
62
. 165
277
, 257
115
. 165
210
. 223
334
. 76
82
. 82
65
. 76
201
. 181

146
286
106
109
109
104
104

I.

Idleness impairs the Condition .
Impure Air •

251
115
139
239
237
. 282
296
. 65
252
. 192
168
. 61
171
68
169
200
97
. 170
169
34,36
37
. 171
172
. 172
170
. 347
79
. 268
301
. 301
"59
. $3
179
. 113
99
. 191
110
260
127
. 127
, 125
. 122
. 127
. 125
, 192
84,85
. 125
. 130
130
157
. 158
. 235
. 246
256, 262
. 257
. 256
. 355
. 356
341, 342
. 185

. 330

. 47, 48

INDEX.

375

Impure Air, Apertures for the

cape of ...
Inabstinence .
Inanition from Abstinence
Indian Corn
Indigestion, acute

" from Abstinence

" of the Food .

Influenza ....
Ingestion, deliberate .
Injuries of the Back

" " Bones ,

" " Condition

" Head .

" " Knees .

" " Legs •

" " Neck

" " Sinews

lnsalivation of the Food .
Inuring to Exertion .

11 to the Harness

" to the Stable

" to the Weather .

Jaw-Piss
Joints, open

Page,
es-

. 53
. 234

. 232
. 187

. 222
. 231

. 222
50, 246

. 203
. 346

. 348
. 328

. 347
. 345

. 348
. 346

. 348
. 219

. 297

. 296
. 294

. 294

K.

Keeping of Farm-Horses, Cost of
Kicker, Stall for a .
Kicking, Fetters for .

" of the Stall-Post

" Vice of .
Kiln-dried Oats .
Kinds of Work ....
Knees, Injury of .

179

345

249
154
148
146
153
178
353
345

L.

Lameness impairs the Condition
Lattermath Hay
Leaping into the Manger
Legs, Bandages for the .

" Breaking of the

" Care of, after Work

" Fomenting of the

" Hand-rubbing of the

" Injury of, by Work

" Trimming of the .

" Washing of the

" Wet
Length, in Training .

Lice

Licking

Linseed for a Cough
Linseed for the Coat .
Litter, Change of the

" Eating of the .
Lodging ....
Loose Boxes
Losing a Shoe .
Lotions
Low, Professor, on

Horses .
Lucerne
Lungs, Congestion of
Lungs, State of, from over Exertion

" " in Training

Lying in the Gangway .

feedi

. 329
. 200

. 145
. 33b

. 348

. 332

336, 366

. 115

ng Farm-

332
113

99
100
304

90
149
190
120
132
149
259

59
342
115

248
166
350
350
306
140

Page.

Lying under the Manger .

. 142

Lyon's Horses, Food of .

. 253

" " Work of

. 358

Lyon's Stables, Lighting of . 19

" •' Ventilatior

i of .56

M.

Maceration of the Food .

. 220

Magazine of Domestic Economy . 190

Mail Horses, Food of

. 253

" " Work of

. 358

Maize .....

187

Malt ....

182

Malted Barley .

. 182

Malt-Dust .

182

Management of the Feet

. 122

Mane, Dressing of the

. 110

" Utility of the

. 105

Mange, in Grooming .

. 90

Mangel-Wurzel

. 177

Mangers for Grain

. 38

for Water .

41

" Leaping into the

. 145

Mare's Milk .

. 194

Mashes of Bran .

. 185

Mashing of the Food

. 211

Masking of the Food .

. 211

Masticant, the .

. 247

Mastication of the Food

. 219

Mastication of the Grain

. 203

Matter, nutritive

. 196

Medical Attendance

. 367

Medicine

. 260

Megrims ....

. 364

Mein's Horses, Food of

. 255

Mercury ....

. 121

Milk of the Cow, as Food

.193

Mixed Diet

. 240

Mixing of the Food

. 207

Moisture to the Wall of thi

3 Hoof. 127

Moulting ....

. 104

Moveable Mangers .

39

Mud, Removal of

. 98

Muscles, State of, in Train

ing . 306

Muscular Action, Effects ol

. 298

Muscular Exertion .

. 299, 324

Musty Hay .

. 170

Muzzle, Trimming of the

. 112

N.

Navicular Diseases, Cause

of . . 333

Neck, Injury of the .

. 346

Neck-Safe ....

. 296

Neck-Straps for tying up

. 137

New Hay

. 169

New Oats .

. 178

Nicking ....

. 107

" Operation of

. 109

Nimrod on hard Feeding .

. 25'J

" on Summering Hu

raters . 259

" on walking Exerci

se . . 324

Nitre . . . .

. 217

Noddy

. 252

Nostrils, Clearing of th«

. 326

Nutritive Matter

. 196

O.

Oaten Bread

181

Oatmeal Gruel

181

576

INDEX.

Oatmeai Seeds .

Oat-plant .

Oats ....

" bad .

" daily Allowance of

** damaged .

" Dust .

" fumigated

u germinated

" good

" heated

" kiln-dried

" new

'' Preparation of

" speared

" Substitutes for
Oil-Cake
Oil to improve the Coat .
Old Horses, Care of .
Omnibus Horses
Open Joints .
Operation of Nicking
Operations for Decoration

" in the Stable

Ostlers ....
Over-loaded Stomach
Over-marking
Over-reaching .
Over-training

P.

Pain, injuring the Condition
Paisley Coaches
Parsnips ....
Partitions between Horses
Pasture Fields
Pasturing ....

" Preparation for .
Pawing the Ground .

Peas

Pell, Mr., Stalls of .
Percivall's Sandal
Perspiration in Exertion .

" in Training .

Physic ....

*' after Grazing .

" before Grazing

" Composition of

" Course of

" Effects of.

" in Grooming .

" in Training

" Preparation for

" Treatment under .

" Uses of .
Physiology of muscular Exertion
Picking the Feet
Pissing Soil ....
Plethora ....
Ploughing ....
Poi»oning, Suspicion of .
Position of the Head .
Post-Horse

Poulticing ....
Potatoes ....

" Sweet .
Power and Speed, Table of

" in Training

*' relative to Speed .

1

Page.

. 181
166
166,177
178
180
178
181
178
181,210
177
179
178
178
180
81,210
180

. 190
120

. 362
252

. 345
109

. 104
71

. 79
223

. 350
340

. 308

. 329
. 359

. 176
28

. 266
. 266

. 272
. 147

. 189
69

. 342
. 301

. 319
. 310

. 275
. 272

. 314
- 313

. 312
. 120

. 310
. 310

. 316
310

. 298
122

. 179
244, 245

. 360
. 228

. 268
. 252

. 366
. 174

. 192
. 355

. 191
353

Page

Practice of Feeding

. 247

Precautions against Rats

. 27

Prehension ....

. 218

Preparation for Fast-Work

. 302

" for Pasturing

. 272

for Work

. 290

" of Food

. 201

Prepared Oats

. 180

Prevention of Waste

. 202

Principles of Feeding .

. 22.8

Pulling off the Shoes

. 338

Process of Fermentation .

. 223

Pumpkins ....

. 191

Pure Air ....

. 40

" Apertures for the admission of 55

Q.

Quackery ....

. 369

Quantity of Flesh .

. 308

" of Food

. 241,271

" of Water .

. 284

" of Work

. 355

Quickness of Breathing .

. 300

R.

Race-Horse, Food of the .

. 263

Racing

. 357

Racks for Hay

34-36

Rats, Precautions against

27

Refusing of the Girths

. 155

Rein, the

. 138

Removal of Mud .

. 98

Repose

. 360

Respiration in Exertion

. 300

" in Training .

. 307

Restraints in Stabling

. 136

" Accidents from

. 138

Restriction of Water .

. 284,286

Roarers

. 362

Robust Horses in Physic .

. 311

" " in Training

. 327

Rock- Salt ....

. 217

Rolling in the Stall .

. 141

Roof of the Stable

. 22

Roots

. 174

Rye

. 166,187

Rye-Grass

. 166

- S.
Saddle-Horses, Food for

. 263

Safe for the Neck

. 296

Sago .

. 191

Saintfoin

. 166

Salt aids Digestion .

. 231

Salt for Seasoning

. 216

Salt Marshes ....

. 267

Salt to excite Appetite

. 231

Salted Hay ....

. 171

Saltpetre ....

. 217

Sandal-Shoe ....

. 342

Schools, Veterinary .

. 369

Scraping

93

Seasoning of Food

. 216

" of the Horse .

. 303

Seeds

. 181

Servants 'n Stables ,

72

Service ....

290

Shackles

146

INDEX.

377

Page.

Page.

Shaving

117

Stables, Treatment inuring to

. 294

Shelter ....

269

" Ventilation of .

42

Shoe against Cutting . 341

,342

" Vices of

. 150

" " Over-marking .

343

" Walls of .

17

" Hunting . . .341

,342

" Warm .

. 159

" Loss of a.

342

" Washing of

. 134

Shoeing

129

" Windows of .

. 19, 22

Shoes, Removal of, after Work

338

" Yard of

64

Shying the Door ...

148

Stabling ....

. 13

Sickness ......

365

Stage-coach Horse, Food of .

. 253

Side-Rack . ...

35

" " Work of

. 358

Sinews, Injury of, at Work

348

Staggers

. 223

Singeing . ...

117

Staking ....

. 348

Sinker, the . . .

138

Staling-Evil, the

. 179

Size of the Belly ....

304

Stall-cast Horses

. 143

Sleep

360

Stall for a Biter

. 153

Slinging

361

" for a kicker

. 154

Slow- Work aids Digestion

229

Stall-post, Kicking of the

. 146

Snorting after a Gallop

326

Stalls ....

. 16

Soil

271

" Arrangement of.

17

Soiling with Grass ....

278

" Casting .

. 143

Spasm of the Diaphragm

352

" Declivity of

26

Spasmodic Colic

223

" Pell's .

. 69

Speared germinated Oats

210

" Posts of .

33

Speed in Training ....

304

" Turning in .

. 33, 142

" relative to Power

353

" Width of .

33

Spices aid Digestion ....

231

Standing Bales .

29,31

Sponge-Boots

128

" " Objections to

30

Stable-Boys

77

Standing in the Gangway .

. 140

Stable-Cupboard ....

65

State of Breathing .

• 306

Stable-Men .

72

State of the Muscles .

. 306

Stable-Posts

33

Steaming Apparatus

. 215

Stable-Shed ....

64

Steaming of the Food

. 214

Stable-Yard

64

Steeping of the Food

. 210

Stables

13

Stepping over the Halter-Rei

n . .144

" Accidents in

138

Stiffness from Work

. 332

" Appendages to

59

Stomach, overloaded .

. 223

" Architects of .

13

" Size of the

. 221

14 Close ....

47

Stopping of the Feet .

. 123

" Cold

159

Stoutness in Training

. 304

*' Construction of .

15

Strappers ....

• 78

" Cupboard of

65

Straw ....

62, 172

" Damp ....

14

Straw-loft .

. 62

" Dark ....

21

St raw- Yards .

. 279

" Donaldson's

26

Street-Coach Horse .

. 252

" Doors of .

18

Strength ....

. 353

" Double-headed .

. 17

Suckling ....

.194

" Floor of . . . .2

3,24

Sudden Transitions .

. 160

" Foul ....

44

Sugar-Beet ....

. 174

" Gibbons's . . . . (

16-69

Sugar for Food

. 191

" Habits of .

. 146

Summering of the Hunter

. 256

"Hot

157

Superfluous Flesh .

. 309

" Laing's

20

Superpurgation .

. 317

" Large ....

16

Surgery ....

. 369

" Light .

: 21

Suspension of Digestion

. 229

" Lyon's . . . . S

.0,56

Swallowing

. 220

" New ....

. 15

Sweating ....

. 317,326

M of the Veterinary College

56

" Distance .

. 322

;i Operations in the

71

" from Exertion

. 301,320

" Operations on the

131

" Ground .

. 326

" Restraints of . ,

136

" in Training .

. 317

" Roof of.

. 22

" without Exertion

. 318

" Servants in

72

Sweet Potatoes . .

192

" Shed of

. 64

Switch-tail, a .

. 110

" Situation of

14

Swooning in the Collar

350

" Size of.

. 15

Symptoms of Colic

. 226

" Stalls of .

16

Table of Fodder .

198

" Temperature of .

160

" of Food .

. 201

" Transitions in the

160

" of Power and Speed

. 355

32

o*

S78

Tali, Amputation of the
" Use of the
" Dressing of the .
Tares ....
Tearing off the Clothes
Teeth, Defection in Colts'

" " in old Horses'

Temperature of Stables .

" of Water

Temper in relation to Training
Thirst .
Thorns in Legs
Thrushes ....
Times of turning out
Training ....

" Agents of
Transitions of Temperature
Travelling ....
Travises ....
Treatment after Grooming .
" after Work

" of Colic .

" of stall-cast Horses

" of Vices

" under Physic .

Trial Gallops ....
Trimming of the Ears

" " Eyes .

" " Face

" " Heels .

u " Muzzle .

Turning in the Stall
Turning out
Turnip-Cabbage
Turnips ....
Tying up .

U.

Under-Rack

Unshod Colts ....
Untrained Grooms
Urine, State of, in Diabetes .
Utility of Clipping
" of Dressing .

Ventilation of Stables

" " Modes of

" " Object of

" •' Objections to

Vetch-Seed

Veterinary College, Stables of the
" Schools .

" Surgeons

Vice, Treatment of . .

Vices of the Stables

Vicious Horses Dressing of

W.

Walker's Horses, Food of .
talking Exercise ....

" of a heated Horse

•' of a wet Horse

INDEX

Page.

Page.

. 106

Wall, Moisture to the

. 127

106

Warm Stables ....

159

. 109

Want of Dressing

. 90

166

Warmth

157

. 162

Washing . . .

. 99

219

" of Food

208

. 219

" of the Legs .

. 99

160

" of the Stable .

134

. 282

Waste and Spare

. 309

326

Waste, Prevention of

. 202

. 281

Wasting of the Grain.

. 148

336.

Water 2

81,327

. 125

" Cold, Effects of

. 283

272

" Farcy ....

. 244

. 303

" kind of ... .

. 282

310

" Mangers .

41

. 160

" Pond

63

356

" Quantity of .

284

. 31

" Temperature of

282

274

Watering after Work .

3S7

. 335

Weaning of the Foal .

195

227

Weather Clothing .

162

. 143

" Cold .

. 102

150

" Exposure to the, at Gras

s 269

. 316

" Inuring to the .

. 294

326

Weaving

. 147

. Ill

Weed, a, the Colt .

196

113

Wright, the

. 138

. 112

Wet Bandages

. 337

113

Wet Horse, Clothing of a .

. 96

. 112

Wet Legs ....

. 100

142

tt ii Wispingof.

. 95

. 272

" Skin

94

177

Wheat 1

66, 184

. 175

" bruised ....

. 184

136

" Husk of ....

. 185

" Straw ....

. 173

Wheaten Bread ....

. 186

Whin

. 167

. 36-

Wiggins's Horses, Food of

. 250

130

Wind-broken Horses

. 363

. 76

Wind in Exertion

. 300

179

" in Training .

307

. 118

Wind-Sucking . . . . ]

50, 364

89

Window- shutters

22

Windows

. 19

Winter Suit .

. 161

. 42
53

. 46

Wisp, the

. 84

Wisping a wet Horse

95

Work . . "* .

. 290

" Accidents of .

. 339

58
. 189

" Amount of

. 355

" Excess of

331

56

. 369

369

. 150

" Kinds of ....

. 353

" of Lyon's Horses .

358

" Preparation for

. 290

" Treatment; after .

335

150
. 87

Working Condition

. 328

Worms

243

Wounds, bleeding

. 349

. 254

Y.

325

Yams

. 177

. 93

Vouatt, Quotations from

51

94

Young Horses

362

THE

END.

All the Boohs on this Catalogue sent by mail, <,*, any pan of tfie Umon^jrte

of postage, upon receipt of Price,

CATALOGUE OF BOOKS

ON

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTU HE,

PUBLISHED BY

J±. O . M O O H E ,

(LATE C. M. SAXTON & COMPANY,)
No. 140 FULTON STREET, HEW YORK,

SUITABLE FOR

SCHOOL, TOWN, AGRICULTURAL, AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES.

THE AMERICAN FARMER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA, - - - £4 00

Embracing all the Recent Discoveries in Agriultural Ciiem-
istry, and the use of Mineral, Vegetable and Animal Manures, with Descriptions and
Figures of American Insects injurious to Vegetation. Being a Complete Guide for the
cultivation of every variety oi Garden and Field Crops. Illustrated by numerous En-
gravings of Grasses, Grains, Animals, Implements, Insects, &c. By GorvERNEUB
Emerson, of Pennsylvania, upon the basis of Johnson's Farmer's Encyclopedia.

POWNING'S (A. J.) LANDSCAPE GARDENING. - - 3 50

A Treatise on the Theory and Practp * ' »ndscape Gar-

dening. Adapted to North America, with a view to the linpt,.,»ement oi Country
Residences; comprising Historical Notices and General Principles of the Art, direc-
tions for Laying out Grounds and Arranging Plantations, the Description and Cultiva-
tion of Hardy Trees, Decorative Accompaniments to the House and Grounds, the
Formation of Pieces of Artificial Waters. Flower Gardens, &c, with Remarks on
Rural Architecture. Elegantly Illustrated, with a Portrait of the Author. By A. J.
Downing.

DOWNING'S (A. J.) RURAL ESSAYS, - 3 00

On Horticulture, Landscape Gardening. Rural Architecture,
Trees, Agriculture, Fruit, with his Letters from England. Edited, with a Memoir of
the Author, by George Wm. Curtis, and a letter to his friends, by Frederika Bre-
mer, and an elegant steel Portrait of the Author.

DADD'S ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSE, Plain. 2 00

Do. Do. Do. Do. Colored Plates, 4 00

With Anatomical and Questional Illustrations ; Containing',

siso, a Series of Examinations on Equine Anatomy and Philosophy, with Instructions
in reference to Dissection, and the mode of making Anatomical Preparations ; to which
is added a Glossary of Veterinary Technicalities, Toxicological Chart, and Dictionary
of Veterinary Science.

OADD'S MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. .... 100

Containing Practical Observations on the Causes, Nature
and Treatment of D sease and Lameness of Horses, embracing the most recent and ap-
proved methods, according to an enlightened system of veterinary therapeutics, for
the preservation and restoration « health. With Illustrations.

Books Published hy A. 0. Moore.

BAUD'S (GEO. H.) AMERICAN CATTLE DOCTOR, - $1 00

Containing the Necessary Information for Preserving the

He*!th and Curing the Diseases of Oxen, Cows, Sheep, and Swine, with a great variety
of Original Kecipes and Valuable Information in reference to Farm and Dairy manage-
ment, whereby every man can be his own Cattle Doctor. The principles taught in
this work are, that all Medication shall be subservient to Nature— that all Medicines
must be sanative in their operation, and administered with a view of aiding the vital

Eowers, instead of depressing, as heretofore, with the lancet or by pcison. By G II.
>add, M. D., Veterinary Practitioner.

THE DOG AND GUN, 00

A Few Loose Chapters on Shooting, among which will be found
some Anecdotes and Incidents ; also, instructions for Dog Breaking, and Interesting let-
ters from Sportsmen. By A Bad Shot.

MORGAN HORSES, 1 00

A Premium Essay on the Origin, History, and Characteristics

of this remarkable American Breed of Horses; tracing the Pedigree from the original
Justin Morgan, through the most noted of his progeny, down to the present time.
"With numerous portraits. To which are added hints for Breeding, Breaking, and
General Use and Management of Horses, with practical Directions for training them for
exhibition at Agricultural Fairs. By D. C. Liksley.

SORGHO AND IMPHEE, THE CHINESE AND AERICAN SUGAR

CANES. 1 00

A Complete Treatise upon their Origin and Varieties, Culture

and Uses, their value as a Forage Crop, and directions for making Sugar, Molasses,
Alcohol, Sparkling and Still Wines, Beer, Cider, Vinegar, Paper, Starch, and Dye
Stuffs. Fully Illustrated with Drawings ol Approved Machinery ; With an Appendix
by Leonard Weay, of Caftraria, and a description of his patented process of crystalliz-
ing the juice of the Imphee ; with the latest American experiments, including those of
1857, in the South. By Henry S. Olcott. To which are added translations of valu-
able French Pamphlets, received from the Hon. John Y. Mason, American Minister
at Paris.

THE STAEIE BOOK- 1 00

A Treatise on the Management of Horses, in Relation to
Stabling, Groom' -ling, Watering and Working, Construction of Stables, Ventf a

tion, Appendage .,, oiahles, Management of the Feet, and of Diseased and Defective
Horses. By John Stkwart, Veterinary Surgeon. With Notes and Additions, adapt-
ing it to American Food and Climate. By A. B. Allen, Editor of the American
Agriculturist.

THE HORSE'S E00T, AND HOW TO KEEP IT SOU^D, . 50

With Cuts, Illustrating the Anatomy of the Foot, and contain-
ing valuable Hints on Shoeing and Stable Management, in Health and in Disease. \5y
William Miles.

"HE FRUIT GARDEN 1 25

A Treatise, intended to Explain and Illustrate the Physt-
ology of Fruit Trees, the Theory and Practice of all Operations connected with the
Propagation, Transplanting. Pruning and Training of Orchard and Garden Trees, as
Standards, Dwarfs, Pyramids, Espalier, &c. The Laying out and Arranging different
kinds of Orchards and Gardens, the selection of suitable varieties for different purposes
and localities. Gathering and Preserving Fruits, Treatment of Diseases, Destruction ol
Insects. Description and Uses of Implements, &c. Illustrated with upwards of 150
Figures, representing Different Parts of Trees, all Practical Operations, forms of Trees,
Designs foi Plantations, Implements, &c. By P. Barry, of the Mount Hope Nurseries,
Rochester, N. Y.

FIELD'S PEAR CULTURE 75

The Pear Garden ; or. a Treatise on the Propagation and

Cultivation -.f the Pear Tree, with Instructions for its Management from the SefUit/
to the Bearing Tree. By Thomas W. Field.

Books Published by A. 0. Moore. 3

BEIDGOr.lN'S (THOS.) YOUNG GARDENER'S ASSTSTANT, SI 50

In Three Parts, Containing Catalogues of Garden awl Flower

Seed, wii,n Practical Directions under each head for the Cultivation of Culinary Vege-
tables and Flowers. Also directions for Cultivating Fruit Trees, the Grape Vine, &c. ,
to which is tdded, a Calendar to each part, showing the work necessary to be done in
the various departments each month of the year. ODe volume octavo.

BRLDGEMAN'S KITCHEN GARDENER'S INSTRUCTOR, I Cloth, 50

Cloth, 60

ERIBGEMAN'S FLORIST'S GUIDE, .... * Cloth, 50

" - Cloth, 60

BRIDGEMAN'S FRUIT CULTIVATOR'S MANUAL, - i Cloth, 50

" Cloth, 60

COLE'S AMERICAN FRUIT BOOK, 50

Containing Directions for Raising, Propagating and Manag-
ing Fruit Tr^es, Shrubs and Plants ; with a description of the Best Varieties of Fioit
including New and Valuable Kinds.

COLE'S AMERICAN VETERINARIAN, .... 50

Containing Diseases of Domestic Animals, their Causes,
Symptoms and Remedies ; with Rules for Restoring and Preserving Health bv good
management ; also for Training and Breeding.

SCHENCK'S GARDENER'S TEXT BOOK. - 50

Containing Directions for the Formation and Management
of the Kitchen Garden, the Culture and Use of Vegetables, Fruits and Medicinal Herbs.

AMERICAN ARCHITECT, G 00

The American Architect, Comprising original Designs of Cheap

Country and Village Residences, with Details, Specifications, Plans and Directions,
and an Estimate of the Cost of Each Design. By John W. Ritch, Architect. First
and Second Series, 4to, bound in 1 ^ol.

BUIST'S (ROBERT) AMERICA* FLOWER GARDEN DIRECTORY, I 25

Containing Practical Directions for the Culture of Plants,
in the Flower-Garden, Hot-IIuuse, Green-House, Rooms or Parlor Windows, for every
Month in the Year; with a Description of the Plants most desirable in each, the nature
of the Soil and Situation best adapted to their Growth, the Proper Seasou for Trans-
planting, &c. ; with Instructions for Erecting a Hot-House, Green-House, and Laying
out a Flower Garden ; the whole adapted to either Large or Small Gardens, with In-
structions for Preparing the Soil, Propagating, Planting, Pruning, Training and Fruit-
ing the Grape Vine.

THE AMERICAN BIRD FANCIER,

Considered with reference to the Breeding, Rearing. Feed-
ing, Management and Peculiarities of Cage and House Birds. Illustrated with Engrav-
ings. By D. Jay Beowne.

REEMELIK'S (CHAS.) VINE DRESSER'S MANUAL, - - 50

An Illustrated Treatise on Vineyards and Wine-Making,

containing Full Instructions as to Location and Soil, Preparation of Ground, Selection
and Propagation of Vines, the Treatment of Young Vineyards, Trimming and Training
the Vines, Manures, and tha Making of Wine.

DANA'S MUCK MANUAL, FOR THE USE OF FARMERS, - ] 00

A Treatise on the Physical and Chemical Propertiks op
Soils and Chemistry of Manures," including, also, the subject of Composts, Artificial
Manures and Irrigation. A new edition, with a Chapter on Bones and Superphos-
phates.

CHEMICAL FIELD LECTURES FOR AGRICULTURISTS, - 1 00

By Dr. Julius Adolphus Stockhardt, Professor in the Royal

Academy of Agriculture at Tharant Translated from the German Edited, with
botes, hv Jam s E. Teohem aches.

4 Books Published by A. 0. Moorp.

BUIST'S (BBOIBT) FAMILY KITCHEN GAEDIHEB, - $0 78

Containing Plain and Accurate Descriptions of -via the Dif-

ferent Species and Varieties of Culinary Vegetables, with their Botanical, English,
French and German names, alphabetically arranged, with the Best Mode of Cultivating
them in the Garden or under Glass; also Descriptions and Character of the most Select
Fruit,?, their Management, Propagation, &c. By Robert Buist, uuthor of the " Am-
erican Flower Garden Directory," &c.

DOMESTIC AND ORNAMENTAL POULTKY. Plain Plates, - 100

Do. Bo. Do- Colored Plates, - 2 00

A Treatise on the History and Mangement of Ornamental

and Domestic Poultry. By Rev. Fdmttnd Satjx Dixon, A.M., with large additions b*
J. J. Kerk, M.D. Illustrated with sixty-five Original Portraits, engraved expresdy fol
this work. Fourth edition revised.

HOW TO BUILD AND VENTILATE HOT-HOUSES, - - 1 !?5

A Practical Treatise on the Construction. Heating and

Ventilation of Hot-Houses, including Conservatories, Green-Houses, Graperies and
other kinds of Horticultural Structures, with Practical Directions for their Manage
ment, in regard to Light, Heat and Air. Illustrated with numerous engravings. By
P. B. Lkuchaks, Garden Architect.

CHOBLTON'S GBAPE-GBO WEB'S GUIDE, - 60

Intended Especially for the American Climate. Being- a

Practical Treatise on the Cultivation of the Grape Vine in each department of Hot
House, Cold Grapery, Retarding House and Out-door Culture. With Plans for tb«
Construction of the Requisite Bui'dlngs, and giving the best methods for Heating the
same. Every department being fully illustrated. By William Chorlton.

NOETON'S (JOHN P.) ELEMENTS OF SCIENTIFIC AGBICULTUBE, 60
Or, the Connection between Science and the Art of Practical

Farming. Prize Essay of the New York State Agricultural Society. By JonN P.
Norton, M.A., Professor of Scientific Agriculture in Yale College. Adapted to the
use of Schools.

JOHNSTON'S (J. F. W.) CATECHISM OF AGEICULTUBAL CHEM-

ISTBY AND GEOLOGY, 25

By James F. W. Johnston. M.A., F.R.SS.L. and E., Honorary

Member of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and author of "Lectures on
Agricultural Chemistry and Geology." With an Introduction by John Pitkin Nor-
ton, M. A., late Professor of Scientific Agriculture in Yale College. With notes and
additions by the author, prepared expressly for this edition, and an Appendix compiled
by the Superintendent of Education in Nova Scotia. Adapted to the use of Schools.

JOHNSTON'S (J. F. W.) ELEMENTS OF AGBICULIUBAL CHEM-

ISTBY AND GEOLOGY, - - - , - - 100

With a Complete Analytical and Alphabetical Index and an
American Preface. By Hon. Simon Brown, Editor of the "New England Farmer.'

JOHNSTON'S (JAMES F. W.) AGEICULTUEAL CHEMISTEY, 1 25

Lectures on the Application of Chemistry and Geology to
Agriculture. New edition, with an Appendix, containing the Author's Experiments
In Practical Agriculture.

THE. COMPLETE FABMEE AND AMEB1CAN GABDENEE, 1 25

Rural Economist and New American Gardener ; Containing

a Compendious Epitome of the most Important Branches of Agriculture and Rural
Economy ; with Practical Directions on the Cultivation of Fruits and Vegetables, in-
cluding Landscape and Ornamental Gardening. By Thomas G. Fessenden. 2 vols.
In one.

FESSENDEN'S (T. G.) AMEBICAN KITCHEN GABDENEE, - 50

Containing Directions for the Cultivation of Vegetables and

Garden Fruits Cbtb.

Books Published by A. 0. Moore.

CASH'S (J. A.) PROGRESSIVE FARMER, - $0 60

A Scientific Treatise on Agricultural Chemistry, the Ge-

ology of Agriculture, on Plants and Animals, Manures and Soils, applied to Practical
Agriculture ; with a Catechism of Scientific and Practical Agriculture. By J. A. Nash

BRECE'S EOOE OF FLOWERS, 1 00

In which are Described all the Various Hardy Herbaceous
Perennials, Annuals, Shrubs, Plants and Evergreen Trees, with Directions for the!?
Cultivation.

HTJTH'S (C. H. J.) LANDSCAPE GARDENING, PARES AND PLEASURE

GROUNDS, - 1 25

With Practical Notes on Country Residences, Villas, Public
Park? and Gardens. By Charles H. J. Smith, Landscape Gardener and Garden
Architect, <kc. "With Notes and Additions by Lewis F. Allen, author of " Rural
Architecture.11

/HE COTTON PLANTER'S MANUAL, - - - - 1 00

Being a Compilation of Facts from the Best Authorities on

the Culture of Cotton, its Natural History, Chemical Analysis, Trade and Consumption,
and embracing a History of Cotton and the Cotton Gin. By J. A. Turner.

COBBETT'S AMERICAN GARDENER, - 50

A Treatise on the Situation, Soil, and Laying-out of Gardens,

and the making and managing of Hot-Beds and Green-Houses, and on the Propagation
and Cultivation of the several sorts of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits and Flowers.

ALLEN (J. FISE) ON THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE, - I 00

A Practical Treatise on the Culture and Treatment of the

Grape Vine, embracing its History/with Directions for its Treatment in the United
States ol America, in the Open Air and under Glass Structures, with and without
Artificial Heat. By J. Fisk Allen.

ALLEN'S (R. L ) DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS, - 75

Being a History and Description of the Horse, Mule, Cattle,

Sheep, Swine, Poultry, and Farm Dogs, with Directions for their Management, Breed-
ing. Crossing, Rearing, Feeding, and Preparation for a Profitable Market ; also, their
Diseases and "Remedies, together with full Directions for the Management of the Dairy,
and i he comparative Economy and Advantages of Working Animals, the Horse, Mule,
Oxen, &c. By K. L. Allen.

ALLEN'S (R. L.) AMERICAN FARM BOOK, - - - 1 00

The American Farm Book ; or, a Compend of American Agricul-
ture, heing a Practical Treatise on Soils, Manures, Draining, Irrigation, Grasses, Grain,
Eoo's. Fruits. Cotton, Tobacco. Sugar Cane. Pace, and every Staple Product of the
Uhiled States; with the Best Methods of Planting, Cultivating and Preparation fox
Market. Illustrated with more than 100 engravings. By K. L. Allen.

ALLEN'S (L. F.) RURAL ARCHITECTURE ; - - - 1 25

Bktxo a Complete Description of Farm Houses, Cottages, and
Out Buildings, comprising Wood Houses, Workshops, Tool Houses, Carriage and
Wagon Houses. Stables, Smoke and Ash Houses, Ice Houses. Apiaries or Bee House?-
Poultry Houses, Babbitry, Dovecote, Piggery, Barns, and Sheds for Cattle, &c., &p,
together with Lawns, Pleasure Grounds, and Parks; the Flower, Fruit, and Vege-
table Garden; also useful and ornamental domestic Animals for the Country Resident,
&c. <fce Also, the best method of conducting water into Cattle Yards and Houses.
Beautifully illustrated.

WAKING'S ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE ; ... 75

A Book for Young Farmers, with Questions for the use ow

Schools.

6 Boohs Published by A. 0. Mo ORE.

PARDEE (R. G.) ON STRAWBERRY CULTURE ; - - 80 60

A Complete Manual for the Cultivation of the Strawberry ;

with a description of the best varieties.

Also, notices of the Raspberry, Blackberry, CuiTant, Goosebe iy, and Grape; with
directions for their cultivation, and the selection of the best varieties. "Every process
here recommended has been proved, the plaDS of others tried, and the result is here
given." With a valuable appendix, containing the observations and experieact: of
some of the most successful cultivators of these fruits in our country.

GUENON ON MILCH COWS ; 60

A Treatise on Milch Cows, whereby the Quality and Quantity of
Milk which any Cow will give may be accurately determined by observing Natura'
Marks or External Indications alone; the length of time she will continue to give
1 Milk, &c, &c. ByM. Francis Gi:enon, of Libourne, France. Translated by Nicho-
las P. Teist, Esq ; with Int. oduction, Remarks, and Observations on the Cow and
the Dairy, by John S. Skinner. Illustrated with numerous engravings. Neatly
done up in paper covers, 3T cts.

AMERICAN POULTRY YARD ; 100

Comprising the Origin, History and Description of the different

Breeds of Domestic Poultry, with complete directions for their Breeding, Crossing,
Rearing, Fattening, and Preparation fur Market ; including specific directions for
Caponiziug Fowls, and for the Treatment of the Principal Diseases to which they are
subject, drawn from authentic sources and personal observation. Illustrated wiih
numerous engravings. By D. J. Browne.

BROWNE'S (D. JAY) FIELD BOOK OF MANURES; - 125

Or. American Muck Book ; Treating of the Nature, Properties,
Sources, History, and Operations of all the Principal Fertilizers and Manures in Com-
mon Use, with specific directions for their Preservation, and Application to the Soil
and to Crops ; drawn from authentic sources, actual experience, and personal observa-
tion, as combined with the Leading Principles of Practical and Scientific Agriculture-
By D. Jay Browne.

RANDALL'S (K. S.) MIEEP HUSBANDRY; - - - 125

With an Account of the Different Breeds, and general direc-
tions in regard to Summer and Winter Management, Breeding, and the Treatment of
Diseases, with Portraits and other Engravings. By Henry S. Randall.

THE SHEPHERD'S OWN BOOK ; • - - - - 2 00

With an Account of the Different Breeds, Diseases and Man-.
ageiaent of Sheep, and General Directions in regard to Summer and Winter Man-
agement, Breeding, and the Treatment of Diseases; with Illustrative Engrav ngs, by
Yottatt & Randall; embracing Skinner's Notes on the Breed and Management of
f heep in the United tates, and on the Culture of Fine "Wool.

YOUATT ON SHEEP ,------- 75

Their Breed, Management and Diseases, with Illustrative En-
gravings ; to which ara added Remarks on the Breeds and Management of Sheep In
the Unite 1 states, and on the Culture of Fine Wool in Silesia. By William Yotjatt.

'.YOUATT AND MARTIN ON CATTLE ; 1 25

Being a Treatise on their Breeds, Management, and Diseases,
comprising a full History of the Various Races; their Origin, Breeding, and Merits;
their capacity for Beef and Milk. By W. Youatt and W.G. L. Martin. The whole
forming a Complete Guide for the Farmer, the Amateur, and the Veterinary Surgeon,
with 100 Illustrations. Edited by Ambrose Stevens.

you ATT ON THE HORSE ;------ 125

Youatt on the Structure and Diseases of the Horse, with
their Remedies. Also, Practical Rules for Buyers, Breeders, Smiths, &c Edited by
W. C. Spoonek, M.R.C V S. With an account of the Breeds in the United - tates, by
ID he* S. Randall.

Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at
Tufts University
2GQ Westboro Road
North' 7°s

f

,/V

m

MV

s ■•!.-.:

Ha

y