Smyrna times., 1877-04-25
SMYRNA, DEL, WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON APRIL 25 1871
Pro and Con of Clipping Horses.

Much may be said on both sides of the
question as to the advisability of clipping
horses in Winter. It's advantages may be
shortly stated in the diminished liability to
perspiration, the rapid drying after sweat,
the better tone thus given to the muscular
system, the power of more continuous eXer-
tion without exhaustion, the improvement
of digestion and assimilation, so that the
horse can be kept on less, and, not the least
important in the eyes of many, the facility
with which he may be cleaned off after
work. The disadvantages are mainly these:
The rougher appearance of the coat and
the absence of that sickness and beauty
that belongs to the natural covering, the
lateness of shedding the Winter coat, which
will cling to the skin for n month after it
would otherwise have been dropped, and
the danger of chills if the animal is left
exposed to a cold blast after sweating, or if
he is kept in a cold open stable. Clipping
becomes a necessary evil, to save, from a
worse, the horse that grows such long and
thick Winter coat, that he sweats on the
slightest exertion, and while failing to dry
when returned to the stable remains
drenched with perspiration day and night.
Such horse is not only repulsive to handle
and use, but his whole system gets relaxed,
his muscles become soft, fabby and in
capable of endurance, his spirits sink, the
constant drain upon his system makes him
difficult to keep in flesh, and he becomes
much more liable to chronic affections of
! the air passages with persistent cough, to
rheumatism, and to various other affections
To clip such beast is at once merciful and
profitable.
Next comes whole class of animals from
which severe and continuous eXertion is
demanded but supplied with warm, COM
Portable stables, and sufficiently careful
attention and abundant clothing These
can, as rule, be kept more cheaply in
better condition, and do better work, if re-
ieved of moderate Winter coat, which, if
left, would cause free perspiration when
ever they are subjected to their exacting
labors. The same lightness of coat can
often be attained with a far more beautiful,
glossy surface, by habitually blanketing
warmly in Autumn and early Winter, at
the time the hair naturally grows. But,
however the condition is brought about, a
certain amount of care is wanted, such as
constant blanketing when stopped out OF
doors, the same when the beast returns
warm, and even when standing in the
stable, and abovo all, the avoidance of open
stables travPrsed by currents of cold air
Lastly, for animals with naturally short
coats, for such as sweat with difficulty, and
for those that are rarely or never subjected
to severe eXertion and perspiratiOn, the
coat had best be left in its natural condi
ton, as kindly provision of nature against
the rigOr of the climate, and admirably
adapted to protection and comfort. Ii
this view of the subject, clipping is to bt
avoided unless demanded by the artificial
conditions to which the animal is to b,
kept, and especially by the excessive labo
demanded of him. When resorted to i
must never be forgotten that it entails new
dangers from exposure, against which w
:: must carefully povide if we would secur
its benefits without its disadvantages
; Prof. Jas. Law, Cornell University. IN
Y Tribune.