• Excerpts from On Horsemanship by Xenophon [431 BCE-354 BCE] Xenophon the Athenian was born 431 BCE. He was a pupil of Socrates. He marched with the Spartans, and was exiled from Athens. Sparta gave him land and property in Scillus, where he lived for many years before having to move once more, to settle in Corinth. He died in 354 BCE.

    Caring for the Horse

  • “As the result of this treatment, necessarily the young horse will acquire–not fondness merely, but an absolute craving for human beings. A good deal can be done by touching, stroking, patting those parts of the body which the creature likes to have so handled. These are the hairiest parts, or where, if there is anything annoying him, the horse can least of all apply relief himself. But if food and exercise with a view to strengthening the horse’s body are matters of prime consideration, no less important is it to pay attention to the feet. A stable with a damp and smooth floor will spoil the best hoof which nature can give. To prevent the floor being damp, it should be sloped with channels; and to avoid smoothness, paved with cobble stones sunk side by side in the ground and similar in size to the horse’s hoofs.A stable floor of this sort is calculated to strengthen the horse’s feet by the mere pressure on the part in standing. In the next place it will be the groom’s business to lead out the horse somewhere to comb and curry him; and after his morning’s feed to unhalter him from the manger, so that he may come to his evening meal with greater relish.

  • It is the duty of a horseman, as we think, to have his groom trained thoroughly in all that concerns the treatment of the horse. In the first place, then, the groom should know that he is never to knot the halter at the point where the headstall is attached to the horse’s head. By constantly rubbing his head against the manger, if the halter does not sit quite loose about his ears, the horse will be constantly injuring himself; and with sores so set up, it is inevitable that he should show peevishness, while being bitted or rubbed down.”