Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-12-18
THE HORSE IN WINTER.
ny ALEXANDER HYDE.

by ALEXANDER HYDE.
Every one is friend to that noble AMI
NAL, the horse. He furnishes neither meat
nor milk, but he is the standard Of power,
and power, whether muscular, intellectual,
or moral, always excites admiration. As
the farmer follows the plow behind a span
Of muscular steeds, or drives them to mar.
ket heavily laden with his produce, he feels
a pride and pleasure in these animals which
no Durhams or Jerseys can inspire. We
have no fancy for the race-course, but a
good family horse is a comfort to any house,
hold, and pair Of spanking bays that will
take the family carriage along without fa-
tigue, at the rate Of six miles an hour, is a
luxury. If speed is the great object Of trav-
cling, why not use the iron horse2 He can
go his mile per minute. But there is no in-
telligence in the locomotive, and no poetry
in his motion. What makes the family
horse so great pet is his docility, the al
most human intelligence he maniiests, the
beauty of his form, and the grace Of his mo.
tion. We do not wonder that the Arab
takes his steed into his tent, and treats him
as member of his family. We would not,
however, as we have heard that some men
do, put the horse first, the daughter second,
and the wife third in the scale Of estimation.
But it is not every one that pets horse
who knows how to treat this highly-organ-
lied animal in q proper manner. II has
passed into q proverb that horse is precar-
ious property. With his nervous organiza.
ton and abnormal mode of existence, he is
liable to thousand diseases, and innumefa.
BILE accidents, and it is wonderful to notice
how few horses are perfectly healthy aud
sound. Those who have studied horses more
carefully than wc have, for we have never
made them speciality, tell US that perfect
horse is as rarely found as a perfect man.
The Jockey warrants the horse he is selling
to be all right, but if the buyer takes Dio.
genes lamp, and looks the animal over care
| fully, there are ninety.nine chances out Of a
hundred that he will fud some blemish or
defect. Many have Inherited faults Of form
or character, and more are spoiled in their
education, for horse must be educated be-
fore he Is fit for work, just as man must
be- We have horse-trainers many, aud horse.
doctors many, but they are too often igno,
rant quaeks who knew little Of the physical
structure Of the beast still less of the path
ology Of his diseases, aud least Of all appre-
ciate the laws for the development Of his
noble nature We have seen u colt whipped
by one OF these professional hOrse.trainers
till our blood boiled within US. The man
deserved whipping much more than th'
br ute.
1t was an epoch in thehistory of the hors'
when Rarey taught mankind that this nobl'
animal could be better subdued by decision
and kindness than by violence and brut'
force. The Arab has known this from tim,
immemorial, but in our higher WesterI
civilization we have been slow TO learn tina
the horse is not all bone, muscle, and nerve
A few have found out that he is a sentienI
being, aud if he has not soul aud intellect
he has something akin to these human attri
butes. We remember hearing noted colt
breaker say to q young horse that he ha'
just attached to wagon for the first time
and that had got its leg over the neap
keep your leg there, you little fool wheI
you have worn your skin off you will know
better than to kick" And so he drove ol
till the colts leg was literally skinned. l
it any wonder that colt 80 treated shoult
object to being attached to a wagon a secon'
time. His associations with the vehicle Ger
tainly could not be Of the most pleasant na
ture. But we sat down to say something
about the winter management OF horses
! This is the season when all horses are stableC
and put under regular course Of winte
treatment. Many horses Of citizens are al
so sent into the country for winter board
In the first place word about the latter
They need not be confined too closely, no
pampered too highly. A simple diet Of hay
and roots-carrots and potatoes are favor
ties with this animal-with an open She
and large yard attached for them to ru
in, is better for the health Of tho idle beas
than grain ami close stables. In extrem
cold weather he may need more protection
but if his shed is we'll Uttered with straw
his thick hide and hair will protect him iroI
suffering in ordinary winter weather, and b
will come out in the spring more suppl
/ and vigorous animal than if he had been fe
on grain, and had breathed the confined al
Of a stable. The shoes, of course, should b
taken from his feet. Carrying four or hV
pounds Of iron around all winter is wors
than useless burden. The hoofs may brea
8 up little when the shoes are first taken OF
3 as they are brittle and tender from Ion
disuse but they will be all the more health
in the spring for coming in direct contaC
8 with the earth. Indeed it is qnestionab
4 whether the feet of light draught horst
should ever be iron.clad. Iron shoes mu
certainly be drawback on the light steI
ping Of horse. They not only add to II
weight to be carried, but they increase tl
. friction Of motion. A colt that has nev'
8 been shOd moves with more grace than a
n terward, never stumbies aud seldom is atiii'
ted with diseased feet unless kept too lou
on hard plank floors. OF course, heaV
draught-horses must be shod, that their ie'
may get more stable fulcrum for motio
r and on frozen, 10y ground, all horses, wheti
er light or heavy draught, are more sur
footed il they have some steel calks on the
feet. They are, however, awkward things
j best, aud it is surprising how well hori
1 that has never been shod will navigate, eve