Horses at grass should be visited at least once every day. If neglected for weeks, as often happens, one may be stolen, and conveyed out of the country before he is missed; the fences may be broken; the water may fail; the horses may be lamed or attacked with sickness; one may roll into a ditch, and die there for want of assistance to extricate him; the shoes may be cast; the heels may crack; thrushes may form; sores may run into sinuses, or get full of maggots; the feet and legs may be injured by stubs, thorns, broken glass, or kicks; the horses may quarrel, fight, and wound each other. That these and similar evils and accidents may be prevented, or soon repaired, the horses should be visited every morning. The man set on this duty should be trustworthy, not a stupid fellow, nor one who will loiter in the tavern, and return without seeing the horses. He should know what he has to look for. It is not enough to stand at the gate and count the horses. He must approach them, examine them one by one, looking to their condition, their action, and their spirits, and not forgetting to cast an eye upon the feet, the pasture, the water, the fences, and the shelter-sheds. Let him take a bridle and some grain with him, that he may catch any horse that seems to require closer examination, and he can at once bring home any horse that needs it.

The grain, hay, either or both, if any be given, should be furnished at regular intervals; when fed with grain, the horses ought to be watched till it be eaten, lest they rob each other, and lest a prowling thief rob the whole. Horses at grass require no dressing. They should have none. It exposes the skin too much. The shoes may be removed, and the feet dressed every four or five weeks.