The American Horsewoman

by Elizabeth Karr

(17.) After severe exercise, or when the horse is very warm, he should neither be fed nor be allowed to drink until a sufficient time has passed to enable him to become composed, rested, and cool. Many a valuable steed has been lost because his mistress did not know this simple, but highly important rule. Again, a horse should never be ridden at a fast gait just after he has eaten a meal, or taken a good drink; he should be allowed at least an hour in which to have his meal digested.

(18.) A horse should never be allowed to drink from a public trough, if it can possibly be avoided; and when he is permitted to do so, the trough should first be emptied and then filled anew. Horses often contract serious diseases from these public drinking-places.

(19.) When riding over a rough road, the horse's mouth should only be lightly felt, and he should be allowed to have his own way in selecting the safest places upon which to step.

(20.) When it is observed that the horse is moving uneasily, at the same time violently twitching his tail, or giving a kick outward or under him, the rider may be certain that something is hurting him, and should immediately dismount, loosen the saddle-girths, and carefully inspect the girths, the saddle, and parts touched by them to ascertain whether a nail be loosened from the saddle, the skin be pinched or abraded, the hair be pulled upon by the girths, or whether some hard object has become placed beneath the saddle, etc.; she should also carefully examine the head-stall and bit, to see that all is right about the horse's head; after having removed or diminished the irritating cause, she should carefully readjust both saddle and girths.

(21.) If, when riding rapidly, it be observed that the horse is breathing with difficulty and with a strange noise, or that his head and ears are drooping, the rider should immediately stop him, as he has been driven too hard, and is on the point of falling.

(22.) A lady's horse should never be placed in harness, because in order to pull a load he will be obliged to throw his weight forward, thus spoiling the lightness of his saddle gaits.

(23.) When turning a corner the horse should not be drawn around by the reins; these should merely indicate the desired direction for the turn, and should never be drawn upon more than will bring that eye of the animal which is toward the direction of the turn into view of the rider.

(24.) Should a horse which is usually spirited move languidly, and, during warm, or moderately cold weather, have his hair stand out and appear rough, particularly about the head and neck, or should he frequently cough, it would be better to relinquish the ride, have him returned to the stable, and a warm bran-mash given to him as quickly as possible. It may be that he has contracted only a cold that can be checked by prompt measures. But should he continue to grow worse, a veterinary surgeon should be speedily summoned. Be very firm and decided in not permitting the groom to administer his favorite patent medicines, because such nostrums are as liable to occasion injury to animals as similar preparations are to human beings.

(25.) A few observations with regard to shoeing a horse may not be amiss. It may happen when riding on a country road, that one of the horse's shoes will come off, and the rider be obliged to resort to the nearest rural blacksmith to have it replaced. In such case she will find that some knowledge on her part of the manner in which a shoe should be fitted to a horse's foot will prove very useful. The blacksmith should not be permitted to cut the frog (the soft and elastic substance in the middle of the foot) of the foot, but should leave it entirely alone, and pare around the margin of the hoof just enough to adjust the shoe evenly and firmly. Country blacksmiths, as well as many in cities, are very fond of paring and rasping the horse's hoof, as they think they can make a neater fit of the shoe by such a course. An eminent writer on the subject of shoeing states that, except in case of disease, undue paring and rasping are never indulged in by persons who understand how to fit a shoe to the horse's feet properly; he also observes: "This is paring and rasping the horse's foot till it be small enough to fit the shoe, rather than kindle a fire and forge a new set which shall just suit the feet of the animal. It may to some readers seem like a jest, to write seriously about the horse's shoes being too tight; but it is, indeed, no joke to the quadruped which has to move in such articles. The walk is strange, as though the poor creature were trying to progress, but could obtain no bearing for its tread. The legs are all abroad, and the hoofs no sooner touch the ground than they are snatched up again. The head is carried high, and the countenance denotes suffering. It is months before the horse is restored to its normal condition."

(26.) There is not the least necessity for stables being the foul smelling places they so frequently are, for if the hostler and his assistants perform their duties properly all offensive odors will be banished. A foul atmosphere in a stable, besides being repulsive to visitors, is, not unfrequently, the cause of blindness and other diseases of the horse, who will also carry the odor in his hair and communicate it to the clothing of his rider as well as to her saddle. For these reasons, a lady should always positively insist that the stable as well as the horse should be kept perfectly clean and free from obnoxious exhalations. Attention to cleanliness, and a free use of disinfectants will bring about this highly desirable result.