When the horse can neither be dried by the wisp, nor kept in motion, some other means must be taken to prevent him catching cold. He may be scraped, and then clothed, or he may be clothed without scraping. This is not a good practice, nor a substitute for grooming; it is merely an expedient which may be occasionally resorted to when the horse must be stabled wet as he comes off the road. Clothing renders him less likely to catch cold, but it does not perform the duty that ought to be performed by the groom. When the horse is completely and quickly dried by manual labor, there is not the slightest chance of his suffering any mischief from cold; the friction of the wisp keeps the blood on the surface, and the horse can be put up quite comfortable. When he is kept in motion till the moisture has all evaporated, he can suffer no more injury than if he were brought in quite dry. When clothing is applied, it is with the intention of checking evaporation. It makes this process go on more slowly than if the horse were naked; in consequence he loses less heat in a given time, and he never becomes very cold. The clothing also absorbs much of the water, which, if allowed to evaporate, would take away much heat that is thus retained.

Of course, the horse remains wet for a longer time than if he were unclothed. But it is doubtful if moisture applied occasionally for an hour or two on the skin is injurious. It probably has some influence; but it is well known that cold has much more. Long-continued moisture injures the coat, destroys its glossy appearance; but I am not aware that it does anything else. I am not speaking of moisture applied for many successive hours, but of that which is retained perhaps an hour longer by clothing than it would remain if allowed to evaporate without interruption. I am aware that a horse is apt to perspire if clothed up when his coat is wet or damp. But this takes place only when the clothing is too heavy, or the horse too warm. In the case under consideration, the clothing, unless the horse be cold, is not intended to heat him, but to prevent him from becoming cold. In hot weather, a wet horse requires less care; he need not be clothed, for evaporation will not render him too cold; and if his coat be long, it will, without the assistance of clothing, keep the skin tolerably warm even in weather that is not hot.

In all cases the cloth should be of woollen, and thrown closely over the body, not bound by the roller, and in many cases it should be changed for a drier and a lighter one, as it becomes charged with moisture.

To many people all this care about a wet horse will appear to be superfluous. They will observe that horses are frequently exposed to all weathers, and to the worst of stable treatment, without receiving any apparent injury. This is true with regard to many horses; their work is not exciting, not requiring that exertion which agitates the whole frame. There are horses, too, of less value, but performing work of the severest kind, upon whom a great deal of care can not be bestowed. The proprietor may think it is cheaper to let the horses run considerable risk, than to keep a sufficient number of men for taking better care of them. These can be right only when their horses are very worthless, and perhaps not then. In a valuable stud it is otherwise. The extra expense of such careful treatment is not to be considered where horses are worth from fifty pounds to more than five hundred. It is also true that among stage-coach, and other horses of a similar kind, there are many who do not receive any injury from a wet coat. Those that have been gradually inured to exposure, or to stand unheeded till they dry, may feel cold and uncomfortable, and have a long, rough coat, but their health remains unaffected. The power of the system to accommodate itself to circumstances is very great.

These horses are as easily wet to the skin as other horses; but their skin has learned to furnish an additional supply of heat so soon and as often as the evaporating process demands it. Such horses require little care, though more would make them look better But stablemen who know this are apt to treat all the horses alike. The young and the delicate must have additional care till they are inured to exposure.

All horses, whatever be their age, condition, and work, are most easily injured by exposure to cold, after they have been heated by exertion. Every man may have proof of this in his own person. After perspiring he feels cold and disposed to shiver, though by this time the skin may be quite dry. It is the same with the horse. Before he has been heated he might stand in the cold, or with his coat wet for perhaps half an hour, without any danger; but after he has perspired pretty freely from exertion, motionless exposure in a cold atmosphere for fifteen minutes will do him more harm than he would receive in thirty minutes before the exertion; or, in the one case, he would be none the worse - in the other, he would have a cough next day.

Therefore, a wet horse requires most care when his work has heated him. He must be dried more quickly, or kept in motion for a longer time than if he had not been excited.

It is continued cold that does the mischief in all cases; some, from habit, will bear much more than others, but none seem able to bear it so well after as before perspiring. The intolerance of cold seems to remain for an hour or two after the horse is quite cool, and to increase as the skin loses its heat.

The first symptom of approaching danger is staring of the coat; if the horse be immediately put into a warm stable, 01 warmly clothed, or put in motion, he may, and probably will, escape. The second symptom is shivering, which ought to be quickly arrested by applying warmth. There is no danger in exposure, so long as the skin remains comfortably warm or hot.