When the horse is very dirty he is usually washed outside the stable; his belly is scraped, and the remainder of the mud is washed off at once by the application of water. Some clean the body before they wash the legs; but that is only when there is not much mud about the horse. They do so that he may go into the stable quite clean. He soils his feet and legs by stamping the ground when his body is being cleaned. It matters little whether the dressing commence with the body or with the legs, but when the legs are washed the last thing, they are generally left undried. In washing, a sponge and a water-brush are employed. Some use a mop, and this is called the lazy method : it is truly the trick of a careless sloven; it wets the legs but does not clean them. The brush goes to the roots of the hair, and removes all the sand and mud, without doing which it is worse than useless to apply any water. The sponge is employed for drying the hair, for soaking up and wiping away the loose water. Afterward, the legs and all the parts that have been washed, are rendered completely dry by rubbing with the straw-wisp, the rubber, and the hand.

Among valuable horses this is always done; wherever the legs have little hair about them, and that little can not be properly dried after washing no washing should take place.