In general, the word grooming is confined to those operations which have cleanliness for their object. To made the horse clean, and to keep him clean, form a part, and in many stables the whole of grooming; but the health of the horse is involved, and some care must be taken to preserve that. He comes to the stable, wet with rain, or heated by exertion, as well as soiled by the road mud. While he is cleaned, he must also be cooled and dried. The operations which produce a clean skin, and those which tend to prevent the consequences of exertion and of exposure, are so closely con-nected that they must be considered together. It is not my tention to describe any of them very minutely; grooming is easily learned by imitation; and oral are better than written instructions.

The duties of the groom considered in relation to time usually commence at half-past five or six in the morning. Sometimes he must be in the stable much earlier, and sometimes he need not be there before seven. It depends upon the time the stable is shut up at night, the work there is to do in the morning, and the hour at which the horse is wanted. When the horse is going out early and to fast work, the man should be in the stable an hour before the horse goes to the road. In general he arrives about six o'clock, gives the horse a little water, and then his morning feed of grain. While the horse is eating his breakfast, the man shakes up the litter, sweeps out the stable, and prepares to dress the horse, or take him to exercise. In summer, the morning exercise is often given before breakfast, the horse getting water in the stable, or out of doors, and his grain upon returning In winter, the horse is dressed in the morning, and exercised or prepared for work in the forenoon. He is again dressed when he comes in; at mid-day he is fed. The remainder of the day is occupied in much the same way, the horse receiving more exercise and another dressing; his third feed at four, and his fourth, at eight. The hours of feeding vary according to the number of times the horse is fed.

Hunters are usually fed five times a-day during the hunting season. The most of saddle-horses are fed only three. The allowance of grain for all working-horses should be given in at least three portions, and when the horse receives as much as he will eat, it ought to be given at five times. These should be distributed at nearly equal intervals. When the groom is not employed in feeding, dressing, and exercising the horse, he has the stable to arrange several times a-day, harness to clean, some of the horses to trim, and there are many minor duties which he must manage at his leisure. The stable is usually shut up at night about eight o'clock, when the horse is eating his supper.