5.8
Besides, the mane, forelock and tail have been given to the horse by the gods as an ornament. A proof of this is that brood mares herding together, so long as they have fine manes,Several allusions to this erroneous belief of the Greeks are collected by the commentators. are reluctant to be covered by asses; for which reason all breeders of mules cut off the manes of the mares for covering.
5.9
Washing down of the legs we disapprove of; it does no good, and the hoofs are injured by being wetted every day. Excessive cleaning under the belly also should be diminished; for this worries the horse very much, and the cleaner these parts are, the more they collect under the belly things offensive to it;The text shows that the parts washed were not thoroughly dried: indeed, efficient drying cloths were not used. See Pollux 1.185.
5.10
and notwithstanding all the pains that may be taken with these parts, the horse is no sooner led out than he looks much the same as an unwashed animal. So these operations should be omitted; and as for the rubbing of the legs, it is enough to do it with the bare hands.
6.1
We will now show how one may rub down a horse with least danger to oneself and most advantage to the horse. If in cleaning himWhat follows refers to cleaning the fore-legs, to which a reference has doubtless dropped out of the text. the man faces in the same direction as the horse, he runs the risk of getting a blow in the face from his knee and his hoof.
6.2
But if he faces in the opposite direction to the horse and sits by the shoulder out of reach of his leg when he cleans him, and rubs him down so, then he will come to no harm, and can also attend to the horse’s frog by lifting up the hoof.On the vase referred to in the Introduction (p. 34) the groom examining his frog is crouching under the horse and facing the same way. Let him do exactly the same in cleaning the hind-legs.
