The management and treatment of the horse in the stable, field, and ...

In the Stable, Field, and on the Road. 35
intelligent men among them, men who have made the
horse the study of their lifetime, therefore it is not fair
or just to call all grooms fools. There is no doubt that
if there were more facilities given to the groom to study,
we should find many bright men amongst them. We
send women to the hospitals to train for nurses, and find
it a great success and an immense help to the surgeon.
Yet more the pity that there is no class in the college of
Veterinary Surgeons where the grooms could go through
a course of nursing the sick and afflicted horse. A class
of this sort would bring the intelligent men to the front
they could pass an examination, and receive a certificate
qualifying them as fit to take charge of sick horses. The
man holding such certificate would be of great value to
the veterinary surgeon and gentlemen who employed
them. They would not be the class of men whom we too
often find in the position of coachmen and grooms, and,
because they are ignorant, cause a stigma to be cast upon
the whole fraternity. I am bound to say with Tom Hood
that " evil is wrought by want of thought as much as
want of heart." How often do we hear gentlemen and
grooms asking each other if their horses cough. It is a
very rare occurrence that I have to answer " Yes," yet
there are times when both man and horse take cold
without any given cause, but they are very rare oc-
currences. Then you may well ask, " How do horses
catch cold ? " Some will tell us, by standing about in
the cold, which in some cases is true, and it is won-
derful that a great many more horses do not catch
cold when we see grooms out under the pretence of
exercising, but in reality going from one public-house