Nimrod's remarks on the condition of hunters, the choice of horses, and their management : reprinted from the "Sporting magazine" / by C. Tongue.
- Cecil, 1800-1884.
- Date:
- [1880?]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Nimrod's remarks on the condition of hunters, the choice of horses, and their management : reprinted from the "Sporting magazine" / by C. Tongue. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![parcel of horses, just taken out of their pastures, or from camp, huddled together in a close ill-ventilated stable, with bad grooming to boot, the effect would be as described: but had the writer visited the great stable at Quorn in Leicester- shire, for the last twenty-five years, and seen thirty horses standing in it, all in perfect condition, what would become of the greater part of his theory ? It reminds me of Mr. Darvill’s remarks (himself one of the profession) on the writings of such veterinary surgeons as have treated of getting horses into condition, where he speaks thus :—‘‘ It does not appear,” says he, in any of their (the veterinary surgeons) works which I have read, that those authors have done much in this respect, for these poor fellows (grooms), beyond that of recommending them to keep their horses in cold stables!” I have good reason to believe there is no vapour which acts more offensively on the eye-sight than animal excretions; and our own feelings convince us of this whenever we enter a dirty stable. Here, however, a great change has taken place in the practice of grooms, and a most beneficial one it is to horses under their care. The old plan was to put a very large bed of straw in a horse’s stall twice a-week, re- moving very little of the foul litter at other times. The consequence was a great accumulation of offensive matter, the greater part of which is now removed every day, and fresh straw supplied. Another improvement has also suggested itself. The truss is cut through with a hay- cutting knife, which makes the straw go much farther, and for this obvious reason—when it is of tolerably long growth, one end of it gets stained, whilst the other is quite clean ; but in this case, of course, it must all be thrown out to- gether. Apologizing for this trifling digression, I proceed to state, that a clean, wholesome, warm, and dry stable is a great desideratum in getting horses into condition ; and, al- though]! would not carp at trifles, yet if a person were to say](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28130479_0395.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
