The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-01-28
Winter Care Of Horses.

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This faithful servant of man is too Of
ten shamelessly abused or injuriously
petted All thinking people are forced
10 acknowledge the truth of this. There
are some men who should not be per-
Inltted to have the care of anything with
more feeling than backlog They
abuse even themselves, although it is
frequently the case that they are not
aware Of the fact. But when they
abuse their horses they must know it.
Nothlng appeals more forcibly to man
Tor protection than the brute creation.
Ihey are the slaves of his will. He takes
them from their wild state, in which
they will protect themselves, educates
them to yield obedience to him, impris-
ons them in stables or yards, or harness,
ana contracts with them to recompense
them for the loss of liberty, by taking
good care of them. If he violates that
contract he becomes base indeed, for he
uses his advantage to be tyrannjcal and
cruel toward creatures that are power
less to resist, or that have not the rea-
sonlng faculty to make their power eff
fectiVe. The saddest commentary ever
-~AN NDOn Oli1 10 btC
tlon of humane societies, made neces-
sary by mans exercise of brutal power
toward domestic animals which should
excite his sympathy and enjoy his kind
ness. A few weeks since man-brute
In one of our suburban towns left three
or four horses in stable to die of hun
ger and thirst When discovered they
were in most pitiable condition, Now,
Wtat is the proper estimate of
such man? Language fails to
state it. That his hands are clear
OF human blood, is only because he is too
great coward to meet his equals in
thought and reasoning power, in at
tempting to give reign to his natural
cruelty. He may be set down as utterly
devoid Of principal and humanity, and a
disgrace to his race. Kindness toward
our horses is often carried to extremes,
and becomes a sort of delicate cruelty.
We have seen stables that were made so
close, for the purpose of securing
warmth, that the lack of ventilation was
a serious impeachment to the health and
general comfort of the horse. Fresh air
is as necessary to every living thing as
food is, and the very first thing that
should be looked to in, the construction
of stables, as well as of houses, is ven
tillation. The horse should not be per-
mitted to stand in draft, but the ven
tillation should be so arranged that this
will not be necessary, and yet so that
there will be constant influx of pure
air. As matter of fact too little atten-
ton has been given to. this important
subject. We somehow seem to have
COTTON the idea that horse's lungs and
system are proof against all the deleteri-
GUS effects which other lungs and ami
NAL systems suffer from certain causes
If we place horse in dark, damp eel
lar stable, or in any other similar place,
where the air is bad, and he contracts
disease, we wonder why he should be so
susceptible. The wonder is that he does
not die outright without the general
warning of danger which the approach
of disease gives. Better let the horse
suffer little from cold than to poison his
lungs and system with Initiated air. It
will require additional food to keep up
the animal heat, but that will be our loss
and not his. If we would save loss to
ourselves, however, and prevent injury
to the animal, we will have the stables
warm and properly ventilated at the
same time. .-...-. at
Another great mistake in winter treat
ment is what may be called a reckless
use of the blanket. Although the sta
BILE may be sufficiently warm, the blan-
ket must 90 on, and every time team
is stopped on the road out comes the
blanket. Usually horse is far better
off in the stable without a blanket, and
nine times out of ten he is better off with
out it on the road. Farmers do not gen
orally drive so hard as to cause their
teams to get into perspiration, and ex-
cept in very cold weather the horse has
enough hairto protect him from the cold.
In deciding upon the ACCESSIBILITY of
blanketing, the Office of the hide must
be considered. This is filled with innu-
merable pores, through which a large
portion of the effete matter of the sys-
tenn escapes. If these pores are closed
this effete matter is confined, and if they
are thoroughly closed death will result.
For instance, if we were to varnish an
animal he would die, for the hide could
not perform its functions. And so what
ever prevents the least escape of animal
heat and gases serves to keep the animal
the warmest. Paper, for this reason, is
the ''warmest'' article that can be
wrapped about a living thing. Blankets
do not entirely confne the heat and
gases, but they do to some extent, and
when they are not needed they become
a source of injury. That they are not
always SO is because there are occasions
when the advantages outweigh the dis
advantages. Nature protects the horse
excellently, and unless he is in aper-
spiration, or the weather extremely coldy
keep the blanket off of him when on the
road Western Rural. ~ ~.