We will now suppose the purchaser has found a horse which he admires;[1] the purchase is effected, and he has brought him home-how is he to be housed? It is best that the stable should be placed in a quarter of the establishment where the master will see the horse as often as possible.[2] It is a good thing also to have his stall so arranged that there will be as little risk of the horse's food being stolen from the manger, as of the master's from his larder or store- closet. To neglect a detail of this kind is surely to neglect oneself; since in the hour of danger, it is certain, the owner has to consign himself, life and limb, to the safe keeping of his horse.
[1] Lit. 'To proceed: when you have bought a horse which you admire
and have brought him home.'
[2] i.e. 'where he will be brought as frequently as possible under the
master's eye.' Cf. 'Econ.' xii. 20.
Nor is it only to avoid the risk of food being stolen that a secure horse-box is desirable, but for the further reason that if the horse takes to scattering his food, the action is at once detected; and any one who observes that happening may take it as a sign and symptom either of too much blood,[3] which calls for veterinary aid, or of over-fatigue, for which rest is the cure, or else that an attack of indigestion[4] or some other malady is coming on. And just as with human beings, so with the horse, all diseases are more curable at their commencement[5] than after they have become chronic, or been wrongly treated.[6]
[3] 'A plethoric condition of the blood.'
[4] {krithiasis}. Lit. 'barley surfeit'; 'une fourbure.' See Aristot.
'H. A.' viii. 24. 4.
[5] i.e. 'in the early acute stages.'
[6] Al. 'and the mischief has spread.'
But if food and exercise with a view to strengthening the horse's body are matters of prime consideration, no less important is it to pay attention to the feet. A stable with a damp and smooth floor will spoil the best hoof which nature can give.[7] To prevent the floor being damp, it should be sloped with channels; and to avoid smoothness, paved with cobble stones sunk side by side in the ground and similar in size to the horse's hoofs.[8] A stable floor of this sort is calculated to strengthen the horse's feet by the mere pressure on the part in standing. In the next place it will be the groom's business to lead out the horse somewhere to comb and curry him; and after his morning's feed to unhalter him from the manger,[9] so that he may come to his evening meal with greater relish. To secure the best type of stable-yard, and with a view to strengthening the horse's feet, I would suggest to take and throw down loosely[10] four or five waggon loads of pebbles, each as large as can be grasped in the hand, and about a pound in weight; the whole to be fenced round with a skirting of iron to prevent scattering. The mere standing on these will come to precisely the same thing as if for a certain portion of the day the horse were, off and on, stepping along a stony road; whilst being curried or when fidgeted by flies he will be forced to use his hoofs just as much as if he were walking. Nor is it the hoofs merely, but a surface so strewn with stones will tend to harden the frog of the foot also.
[7] Lit. 'A damp and smooth floor may be the ruin of a naturally good
hoof.' It will be understood that the Greeks did not shoe their
horses.
[8] See Courier, p. 54, for an interesting experiment tried by himself
at Bari.
[9] Cf. 'Hipparch,' i. 16.
[10] Or, 'spread so as to form a surface.'
But if care is needed to make the hoofs hard, similar pains should be taken to make the mouth and jaws soft; and the same means and appliances which will render a man's flesh and skin soft, will serve to soften and supple a horse's mouth.[11]
[11] Or, 'may be used with like effect on a horse's mouth,' i.e.
bathing, friction, oil. See Pollux, i. 201.
V
It is the duty of a horseman, as we think, to have his groom trained thoroughly in all that concerns the treatment of the horse. In the first place, then, the groom should know that he is never to knot the halter[1] at the point where the headstall is attached to the horse's head. By constantly rubbing his head against the manger, if the halter does not sit quite loose about his ears, the horse will be constantly injuring himself;[2] and with sores so set up, it is inevitable that he should show peevishness, while being bitted or rubbed down.
[1] Lit. 'by which the horse is tied to the manger'; 'licol d'ecurie.'
[2] Al. 'in nine cases out of ten he rubs his head . . . and ten to
one will make a sore.'
It is desirable that the groom should be ordered to carry out the dung and litter of the horse to some one place each day. By so doing, he will discharge the duty with least trouble to himself,[3] and at the same time be doing the horse a kindness.
[3] Al. 'get rid of the refuse in the easiest way.'
The groom should also be instructed to attach the muzzle to the horse's mouth, both when taking him out to be groomed and to the rolling-ground.[4] In fact he should always muzzle him whenever he takes him anywhere without the bit. The muzzle, while it is no hindrance to respiration, prevents biting; and when attached it serves to rob the horse of opportunity for vice.[5]
[4] Cf. 'Econ.' xi. 18; Aristoph. 'Clouds,' 32.
[5] Or, 'prevents the horse from carrying out vicious designs.'
Again, care should be taken to tie the horse up with the halter above his head. A horse's natural instinct, in trying to rid himself of anything that irritates the face, is to toss up his head, and by this upward movement, if so tied, he only slackens the chain instead of snapping it. In rubbing the horse down, the groom should begin with the head and mane; as until the upper parts are clean, it is vain to cleanse the lower; then, as regards the rest of the body, first brush up the hair, by help of all the ordinary implements for cleansing, and then beat out the dust, following the lie of the hair. The hair on the spine (and dorsal region) ought not to be touched with any instrument whatever; the hand alone should be used to rub and smooth it, and in the direction of its natural growth, so as to preserve from injury that part of the horse's back on which the rider sits.
The head should be drenched with water simply; for, being bony, if you try to cleanse it with iron or wooden instruments injury may be caused. So, too, the forelock should be merely wetted; the long hairs of which it is composed, without hindering the animal's vision, serve to scare away from the eyes anything that might trouble them. Providence, we must suppose,[6] bestowed these hairs upon the horse, instead of the large ears which are given to the ass and the mule as a protection to the eyes.[7] The tail, again, and mane should be washed, the object being to help the hairs to grow-those in the tail so as to allow the creature the greatest reach possible in brushing away molesting objects,[8] and those of the neck in order that the rider may have as free a grip as possible.
[6] Lit. 'The gods, we must suppose, gave . . .'
[7] Lit. 'as defences or protective bulwarks.'
[8] Insects, etc.
Mane, forelock, and tail are triple gifts bestowed by the gods upon the horse for the sake of pride and ornament,[9] and here is the proof: a brood mare, so long as her mane is long and flowing, will not readily suffer herself to be covered by an ass; hence breeders of mules take care to clip the mane of the mare with a view to covering.[10]
[9] {aglaias eneka} (a poetic word). Cf. 'Od.' xv. 78; xvii. 310.
[10] For this belief Schneid. cf Aristot. 'H. A.' vi. 18; Plin. viii.
42; Aelian, 'H. A.' ii. 10, xi. 18, xii. 16, to which Dr. Morgan
aptly adds Soph. 'Fr.' 587 (Tyro), a beautiful passage, {komes de
penthos lagkhano polou diken, k.t.l.} (cf. Plut. 'Mor.' 754 A).
Washing of the legs we are inclined to dispense with-no good is done but rather harm to the hoofs by this daily washing. So, too, excessive cleanliness of the belly is to be discouraged; the operation itself is most annoying to the horse; and the cleaner these parts are made, the thicker the swarm of troublesome things which collect beneath
