368 THE HORSE 



the horses came to the post very fit to run, and very few 

 bore the stigma of jadiness, which is now such a frequent 

 attribute of the modern race-horse. Whether this is a 

 consequence of the up-to-date methods of daily gallops over 

 short distances it is difficult to say, but certainly the distaste 

 for racing prevails to a considerable extent. William Day 

 in "The Race-horse in Training" recommends that the 

 animal should go steadily a short course for a week or two, 

 until his condition enables him to go faster with ease ; and 

 then go the whole length of the course, whether it be a 

 mile, two, three, or four miles, on alternate days at better 

 speed, and the other days at half-speed, until it is as well 

 and fit as may be. Since he was a very successful trainer, 

 his methods must receive due respect, though few trainers 

 nowadays would ever thmk of galloping a horse repeatedly 

 four miles, however long the course might be over which it 

 is going to run. 



The new American plan is to give the horses two very 

 slow canters daily in the morning, finishing up by doing 

 the last quarter of a mile or so at racing pace ; and once or 

 twice a week, in the case of the more advanced, extending 

 the quick part of the work to three-quarters of a mile, and at 

 the most one and a quarter miles. But it is notorious that 

 the Americans scarcely ever win a long race, though they 

 win many short ones, and whether this is the effect of their 

 system of training, or the fault of the material they train, 

 it is impossible to say. The late WiUiam Day had, on the 

 contrary, a great and well-deserved reputation for turning 

 out the winners of long-distance races. 



In my own experience I have never thought it advisable 

 to gallop horses further than two miles when running on 

 the flat, and three miles for steeplechasing — except perhaps 

 once during the preparation, when the race was going to be 

 four miles. But even when a horse is going to run over 

 a very long distance he needs frequent sharpening up over 

 a short distance, and certainly once or twice a week, after 

 the preliminary canter, he should, towards the end of his 

 preparation, gallop a mile nearly at top speed. The day 

 after a horse has had a long gallop he needs little beyond 



