The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1882-02-09
for the farmer.
WINTER CARE OF HORSES.

This faithful servant of man - TOO ofien
hs,.,al.ssly abused or injHriously petted. All
thinking people are forced Ia acknowledge the
truth of this There are SOME men who should
,,,, lac nermitted TO have the care of anything
With more feeling than backlog. They abuse
cen Themselves. although it is frequently the
casa that they are not aware Of the fact. Bnt
when they abuse their horses they mnst Know
II Nothing appeals more forcibly to man ior
nr,tection than the brute creation. They are
,he sIayes of his will He takes them from
tI,rir wild state in which they will protect
tL.,nseIyes ednrates them TO yield obedience 10
bi,. imurisions them in stables, or yards, or
harness and contracts with them TO reeompense
them for the loss of liberty, by taking good care
~ them IL he violates that contract he be-
.,r,es base indeed for he Uses his advantage TO
he tvrapnieal and cruel toward creatures that are
uowrrless 10 resist or that have not the reason
Inc faculty TO make their power effective, The
saddrst commentary ever made upon our hn-
lnauity Il the formation OF humane societies,
made necessary by mans exercise of brutal
mower toward domestic animals which should
Excite his sympathy and enjoy his kindness, A
few weeks since nan-brute in 0ne Of our SUI
bur.,an towns left three or four horses III
stable TO die of hunger and thirst. When dis
covered they were in a most pitiable condition.
Now what is the proper estimate Of such mani
Iauguare fails to state il. That his hands are
clear of human blood is only because he l. too
great a coward TO meet his equals In thought
and reasoning power, IN attempting To give
rein TO his natural cruelty. He may he set
down as utterly devoid of principle and human
ity, and disgrace to his race. Kindness to-
ward 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 look
ed TO in the construction of stables, as well as
of horses, is ventilation. The horse shonld not
he permitted to stand in draft, but the yentil-
alton should be so arranged that this will not
be necessary, and vet that there Will he
constant influx of pure air. As a matter of fact
too little attention has been given to this I'M
portant subject. We somehow seem TO have
gotten the idea that n horses lungs and system
are proof against all the deleterious effects which
other lungs and animal systems suffer from GER
tain Causes. II we place horse IN dark,
damp cellar stable, or in any other similar place.
where the air is bad, and he contracts disease,
we wonder why he should be 50 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 poision his
lungs and system with Initiated AR. II will re-
uuire additional food to keep up the animal
heat bnt that will be orr loss and not his II
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.
Another great mistake in winter treatment is
what NAV be called a reckless use of the blank
ct Although the stable may be sufficiently
warm, the blanket must go on, and every time
a team is stopped on the road out comes the
blanket Usually horse is far better off in the
stable without blanket, and nine times out of
ten he is better of without it on the road.
Farmers do not generally drive so hard to
cause their teams TO get into perspiratiOn, and
except in very cold weather the horse has
enough hair to protect him from the cold. In
deciding upon the ACCESSIBILITY of blanketing,
the Office of the hide must he considered. This
is filled with innumerablc pores, through which
a large portion of the etfete matter of the system
escapes. IL these pores closed this eifete
matter is confined, and if they are thoroughly
closed death will result. For instance, if we
were TO varnish an animal he wOnld die, for the
hide could not perform its functions. And so
whatever prevents the least escape of animal
heat and gases serves 10 keep the animal the
warmest, Paper, for this reason, is the "warm-
est" article that can he wrapped about a living
thing. Blankets do not entirely cOniine the
heat and gasses, but they do to some extent,
aud when they are not needed they become a
source Of injury. That they are not always so
is because there are occasions when the advan-
tages outweigh the disadvantages. Nature pro-
tects the horse excellently, and unless he is in
a perspiTation, or the weather extremely cold,
keep the blanket off Of him when on the road
UesteTH Rural.