HORSE

HORSE, in zoology. See the article EQUUS.

Hunting-Horse, a name given to a horse qualified to carry a person in the chase. The shape of the horse designed for this service should be strong, and well knit together, as the jockeys express it. Irregular or unequal shapes in these creatures are always a token of weakness. The inequalities in shape, which shew a horse improper for the chase, are the having a large head and a small neck, a large leg and a small foot, &c. The head of a hunting horse indeed should always be large, but the neck should also be thick and strong to support it. The head should be lean, the nostrils wide, and the wind-pipe strait. In order to his behaving well in the field, he ought to have great care and indulgence in the stable; to have as much rest and quiet as may be; to be kept well supplied with good meat, clean litter, and fresh water by him; he should be often dressed, and suffered to sleep as much as he pleases. He should be fed in such a manner as that his dung may be rather soft than hard, and it must be of a bright and clean colour. All this

may be easily managed by the continual observance and change of his food as occasion requires. After his usual scowering, he should have exercise, and masses of sweet malt; and bread and beans, or wheat and beans mixed together, are to be his best food, and beans and oats his worst.

There is a general practice among groomers, of giving their hunting horses wheat-straw, as soon as they take them up from the grass. They say they do this to take up their bellies; but there seems to be much reason for disapproving such a practice. The change is very violent, and the nature of the straw so heating and drying, that there seems great reason to fear, that the astringent nature of it would be prejudicial more than at first is perceived. It is always found, that the dung is hard after this food, and is voided with pain and difficulty, which is in general very wrong for this kind of horses. It is better, therefore, to avoid this straw-feeding; and to depend upon moderate airing, warm clothing, good old hay, and old corn, than to have recourse to any thing of this kind.

It is a rule with all staunch sportsmen, that no horse should be used in hunting till he is five years old. Some will hunt them at four: but the horse at this time is not come up to his true strength and courage; and will not only fail at any tough trials, but will be subject to strains and accidents of that kind, much more than if he was kept for another year, when his strength would be more confirmed.

Management of a Horse upon and after a Journey. See that his shoes be not too strait, or press his feet, but be exactly shaped; and let him be shod some days before you begin a journey, that they may be settled to his feet.

Observe that he is furnished with a bit proper for him, and by no means too heavy, which may incline him to carry low, or to rest upon the hand when he Diff. grows weary, which horsemen call making use of his fifth leg.

The mouth of the bit should rest upon his bars about half a finger's-breadth from his tusks, so as not to make him frumble his lips; the curb should rest in the hollow of his beard a little above the chin; and if it gall him, you must defend the place with a piece of buff, or other soft leather.

Take notice that the saddle do not rest upon his withers, reins, or back-bone, and that one part of it do not press his back more than another.

Some riders gall a horse's sides below the saddle with their stirrup-leathers, especially if he be lean; to hinder it, you should fix a leather-strap between the points of the fore and hind-bows of the saddle, and make the stirrup-leather pass over them.

Begin your journey with short marches, especially if your horse has not been exercised for a long time: suffer him to stale as often as you find him inclined; and not only so, but invite him to it: but do not excite your mares to stale, because their vigour will be thereby diminished.

It is advisable to ride very softly, for a quarter or half an hour before you arrive at the inn, that the horse not being too warm, nor out of breath, when put into the stable, you may unbridle him: but if your business obliges you to put on sharply, you must

then (the weather being warm) let him be walked in a man's hand, that he may cool by degrees; otherwise, if it be very cold, let him be covered with cloths, and walked up and down in some place free from wind; but in case you have not the conveniency of a sheltered walk, stable him forthwith, and let his whole body be rubbed and dried with straw.

Although some people will have their horses legs rubbed down with straw as soon as they are brought into the stable, thinking to supple them by that means; yet it is one of the greatest errors that can be committed, and produces no other effects than to draw down into the legs those humours that are always stirred up by the fatigue of the journey: not that the rubbing of horses legs is to be disallowed; on the contrary, we highly approve of it, only would not have it done at their first arrival, but when they are perfectly cooled.

Being come to your inn, as soon as your horse is partly dried, and ceases to beat in the flanks, let him be unbridled, his bit washed, cleaned, and wiped, and let him eat his hay at pleasure.

If your horse be very dry, and you have not given him water on the road, give him oats washed in good mild ale.

The dust and sand will sometimes so dry the tongues and mouths of horses, that they lose their appetites: in such case, give them bran well moistened with water to cool and refresh their mouths; or wash their mouths and tongues with a wet sponge, to oblige them to eat.

The foregoing directions are to be observed after moderate riding; but if you have rid excessively hard, unsaddle your horse, and scrape off the sweat with a sweating-knife, or scraper, holding it with both hands, and going always with the hair; then rub his head and ears with a large hair-cloth, wipe him also between the fore-legs and hind-legs; in the mean while, his body should be rubbed all over with straw, especially under his belly and beneath the saddle, till he is thoroughly dry.

That done, set on the saddle again, cover him; and if you have a warm place, let him be gently led up and down in it, for a quarter of an hour; but if not, let him dry where he stands.

Or you may unsaddle him immediately; scrape off the sweat; let the ostler take a little vinegar in his mouth, and squirt it into the horse's; then rub his head, between the fore and hind-legs, and his whole body, till he is pretty dry: let him not drink till thoroughly cool and has eaten a few oats; for many, by drinking too soon, have been spoiled. Set the saddle in the sun or by a fire, in order to dry the panels.

When horses are arrived in an inn, a man should, before they are unbridled, lift up their feet, to see whether they want any of their shoes, or if those they have do not rest upon their sides; afterwards he should pick and clear them of the earth and gravel, which may be got betwixt their shoes and soles.

If you water them abroad, upon their return from the river, cause their feet to be stopped with cow-dung, which will ease the pain therein; and if it be in the evening, let the dung continue in their feet all night, to keep them soft and in good condition: but

if your horse have brittle feet, it will be requisite to anoint the fore-feet, at the on-setting of the hoofs, with butter, oil, or hog's-grease, before you water him in the morning, and in dry weather they should be also greased at noon.

Many horses, as soon as unbridled, instead of eating, lay themselves down to rest, by reason of the great pain they have in their feet, so that a man is apt to think them sick: but if he looks to their eyes, he will see they are lively and good; and if he offers them meat as they are lying, they will eat it very willingly; yet if he handles their feet, he will find them extremely hot, which discovers their suffering in that part. You must therefore see if their shoes do not rest upon their soles, which is somewhat difficult to be certainly known, without unshoeing them; but if you take off their shoes, then look to the inside of them, and you may perceive that those parts which rest upon the soles are more smooth and shining than the others: in this case you are to pare their feet in those parts, and fix on their shoes again, anointing the hoofs, and stopping the soles, with scalding hot black pitch or tar.

After a long day's journey, at night feel your horse's back, if he be pinched, galled, or swelled, (if you do not immediately discover it, perhaps you may after supper), there is nothing better than to rub it with good brandy and the white of an egg. If the galls are between the legs, use the same remedy; but if the ostler rubs him well between the legs, he will seldom be galled in that part.

In order to preserve horses after travel, take these few useful instructions. When you are arrived from a journey, immediately draw the two heel-nails of the fore-feet; and, if it be a large shoe, then four: two or three days after, you may blood him in the neck, and feed him for ten or twelve days only with wet bran, without giving him any oats; but keep him well littered.

The reason why you are to draw the heel-nails, is because the heels are apt to swell, and if they are not thus eased, the shoes would press and straiten them too much: it is also advisable to stop them with cow-dung for a while; but do not take the shoes off, nor pare the feet, because the humours are drawn down by that means.

The following bath will be very serviceable for preserving your horse's legs. Take the dung of a cow or ox, and make it thin with vinegar, so as to be of the consistence of thick broth; and having added a handful of small salt, rub his fore-legs from the knees, and the hind-legs from the gambrels, chafing them well with and against the hair, that the remedy may sink in and stick to those parts, that they may be all covered over with it. Thus leave the horse till morning, not wetting his legs, but giving him his water that evening in a pail: next morning lead him to the river, or wash his legs in well-water, which is very good, and will keep them from swelling.

Those persons, who, to recover their horses feet, make a hole in them, which they fill with moistened cow-dung, and keep it in their fore-feet during the space of a month, do very ill; because, though the continual moisture that issues from the dung occasions the growing of the hoof, yet it dries and shrinks.

shrinks it so excessively when out of that place, that it splits and breaks like glass, and the foot immediately straitens. For it is certain, that cow-dung (contrary to the opinion of many people) spoils a horse's hoof: it does indeed moisten the sole; but it dries up the hoof, which is of a different nature from it. In order, therefore, to recover a horse's feet, instead of cow-dung, fill a hole with blue wet clay, and make him keep his fore-feet in it for a month.

Most horses that are fatigued, or over-rid, and made lean by long journeys, have their flanks altered without being purly, especially vigorous horses that have worked too violently.

There is no better method to recover them, than to give each of them in the morning half a pound of honey very well mingled with scalded bran; and when they readily eat the half pound, give them the next time a whole one, and afterwards two pounds, every day continuing this course till your horses are empty, and purge kindly with it; but as soon as you perceive that their purging ceases, forbear to give them any more honey.

You may administer powder of liquorice in the scalded bran for a considerable time; and to cool their blood, it will not be improper to let them have three or four glitters.

In case the horse be very lean, it is expedient to give him some wet bran, over and above his proportion of oats; and grass is also extraordinary beneficial, if he be not purly.

If it be a mare, put her to a horse; and if she never had a foal before, it will enlarge her belly.

Sometimes excessive feeding may do horses more harm than good, by rendering them subject to the farcy. You should therefore be cautious in giving them too great a quantity at a time, and take a little blood from them now and then.

When a horse begins to drink it heartily, it is a certain sign that he will recover in a short time. As to the method of giving him water during a journey, observe the following rules:

All the while you are upon a journey, let your horse drink of the first good water you come to, after seven o'clock in the morning if it be in summer-time, and after nine or ten in winter.

That is accounted good water, which is neither too quick and piercing, nor too muddy and stinking.

This is to be done, unless you would have him gallop a long time after drinking; for if so, you must forbear.

Though it is the custom of England to run and gallop horses after drinking, which we call watering-courses, to bring them (as they say) into wind; yet, says M. de Solleyfel, it is the most pernicious practice that can be imagined for horses, by which many are rendered purly.

While a horse is drinking, draw up his head five or six times, making him move a little between every draught; and notwithstanding he be warm, and sweat very much, yet if he is not quite out of breath, and you have still four or five miles to ride, he will be better after drinking a little, than if he had drunk none at all: it is true, indeed, that if the horse is very warm, you should, at coming out of the water, redouble your pace, to make him go at a gentle trot, to warm

the water in his belly.

You ought to let him drink after this manner during the whole time of your journey: because, if when you happen to bait he be hot or sweaty, you must not let him drink for a long time, as it would endanger his life; and when his bridle is taken off, his excessive thirst will hinder him from eating, so that he will not offer to touch his meat for an hour or two, which perhaps your occasions will not allow you for a baiting time, and not to have any food will render him unfit for travel.

If you meet with any ford before you come to your inn, ride the horse through it two or three times, but not up to his belly: this will not only cleanse his legs; but the coldness of the water will bind up the humours, and prevent them from descending.

If your horse has been very warm, and you have not had the conveniency of watering him upon the road, he will, when unbridled, eat but very little; therefore he should have his oats given him washed in ale or beer, or only some of them, if you intend to feed him again after he has drunk.

Some are of opinion, that horses are often spoiled by giving them oats before their water; because they say, the water makes the oats pass too soon, and out of the stomach undigested. But M. de Solleyfel affirms, that though it be the common custom not to do it till after, yet it is proper to feed with oats both before and after, especially if the horse be warm, and has been hard rid; for they will be a great deal the better for it, and in no danger of becoming sick.