When a horse comes in from a hard day's work, covered with mud, dry serge bandages may be loosely put on the legs while the other parts of the body are receiving the services of the rubber. By the time that the body of the horse is clean the mud upon the legs will have dried, and, the bandages being removed, the dirt may easily be brushed out, a good hand-rubbing following. The hoofs should then be cleaned out and washed, and the horse be placed in its stall knee-deep in straw. Should a horse be brought in late and really "done up" by its work, it will be better to give it a pail of warm gruel, rub dry the saddle-place, and turn it into a warm box-stall at once, without annoying it with the brushing and handling that would be necessary to clean it thoroughly. No weary horse, no matter how dirty it may be, has ever been the worse for a few hours of complete rest under such circumstances, for the quiet will be of far more importance than the dressing. But this course should be followed only under the directions of the master, who should always see that his overworked horses get the attention they require, if he does not superintend the general stable work from time to time as he should.
When the hairs of the tail require cleaning, it is well to use plenty of unchilled water, pretty well saturated with salt, washing the dock also with the solution; and this should be used whenever the horse shows a disposition to rub its tail against the side of the stall The horse should be dressed in some covered place that is shut off from the stalls; and the owner should, occasionally at least, look in on his horses when they are being dressed and at feeding time; and should he find that he is not master of his own stables, he should change his groom or give over keeping horses.
This page is being written while the thermometer is playing about zero and a cold north wind is blustering round the corners of the house, which state of affairs suggests that, when it can be afforded, it is expedient to have a covered ride in which horses may be exercised and trained in stormy weather. An area 35 feet by 70 feet is quite large enough for twelve or more horses, and the many turns and bends required by the limited space will improve the horses therein exercised in every particular. Then the otherwise weary days of winter may be made enjoyable to the horseman by musical rides, for many pretty and intricate figures may be formed by ten or twelve riders. My riding-house is 28 feet by 60, and it is quite large enough for my purposes, as I always work my horses singly and without an attendant. In London I saw Corradini training a manège horse in the gangway of a stable, behind a row of stalls; he had a space of about 8 feet by 30. I believe that the horse was never galloped until it was ridden in public in the circus ring, but the schooling it had received made it fit for any movement.
FIG. 22.—RIDING-HOUSE OF THE AUTHOR
A little study and a little experience should teach a man much regarding the shoeing of his horse. If the animal has true and level action, it should have light irons all round. If it shambles, or if the stride is too confined, the weight of the shoes should be increased. The upper surface of the iron, which comes next to the hoof, should be flat; the lower surface may be bevelled from the outside, or have a groove in which the holes for the nails are punched. The hind shoes should have very small calks, the toes being correspondingly thickened to give a level bearing. Only so much of the crust or wall of the hoof should be removed as will give the foot a level bearing, keeping the toe straight and the face of the hoof with the slope which conforms to that of the pastern. The bars at the heels should not be cut away, except upon the recommendation of a veterinary, and the frog and sole should have nothing removed from them beyond the loose flakes that show themselves as those parts are renewed. The shoe should then be made to fit the prepared hoof, and fastened by no more than five nails, three on the outside quarter, two on the inside, the protruding ends of the nails being cut off and the exposed points clinched. The outer wall of the hoof must not be rasped or scraped.
Turned-in toes or toes turned out may be produced by bad shoeing, or, when natural malformations, be mitigated more or less by good work, a glance at the foot showing what is required in each case. So brushing, interfering, overreaching, forging, bowed tendons, and many other disorders may be produced or prevented. No horse should be sent to the forge unattended unless the smith is a master of his craft, a white blackbird. For ice-covered roads and for slippery asphalt streets, I have found no shoes equal to Dryden's rubber pads.