262 THE HORSE, 
hunter summered indoors, is barely sufficient for this purpose, when he 
is full of grass or of the fattening food which is given to make him up 
for the dealers. In either case great care and some experience are neces- 
sary in altering the entire management of the animal, so as to give him 
corn and exercise enough to prepare his frame gradually for the strains 
which it ‘will have to bear in the hunting field, without producing inflam- 
mation. With all the objections which I hold to physic, I must confess 
that here I think it to be indispensable ; and invariably, as soon as a raw 
horse ‘is settled in the stable, I should get him thoroughly cleaned out 
before I began to give him hay and corn. I have always found it advan- 
tageous just to allow a couple of days to elapse before giving the physic, 
which will serve to fill the large bowels with the new kind of food. A 
mash should then be administered at night, and repeated if necessary till it 
has had the desired effect in softening the dung, when the physic may be 
given. Two or three days will elapse before it has set sufficiently to 
allow of walking exercise ; but as soon as this can be ordered with safety, 
the horse should be walked out twice a day for an hour and a half each 
time, or two hours in the morning and one in the evening, whichever may 
be preferred. The division of the exercise into two periods is far better 
than keeping the green horse out for so long a time as three hours, which 
will make him weary; whereas, the shorter period will not tire any 
horse, and a mid-day rest will restore his whole frame, and enable him to 
go out again in the evening as cheerfully as ever. I need scarcely observe 
that the shoes should be attended to, and the feet put in proper order, for 
three hours’ walking exercise in ill-fitting shoes will do great harm, espe- 
cially to feet that are not accustomed to their pressure. By persevering 
with steady slow work, and feeding on a moderate allowance of hay and 
corn, the latter not exceeding two feeds at first and three at the end of 
the month, the horse will be ready by the middle of August to have a 
second dose of physic, after which he may commence in earnest his jirst 
real preparation. This also is chiefly confined to slow work, but if the 
horse is gross he may have in the course of the four or five weeks to 
which it extends one or two sweats of moderate length and speed. Great 
caution must always be exercised by the groom at this time ; on no ac- 
count should any fast work be given, unless he is satisfied that his horse 
is in perfect health and in good spirits. Every increase in the food and 
work should be carefully watched, and its effects noted, so as to guide him 
mm deciding whether he can venture to take another step. It must be 
remembered that hitherto the feeds of corn have been only three quar- 
terns of oats daily, and the exercise has not extended beyond a walk ; 
but during the next few weeks the former must. be doubled, or nearly so, 
and the latter must go on into a daily slow trot of two or three miles on 
turf, with an occasional steady gallop in place of this, and, as I have 
before remarked, one or two sweats if the system is overloaded with fat 
But unless the hunter is very fleshy, nothing more than slow trots and 
canters will be required until after the next dose of physic. The increase 
in the quantity of corn will seldom tend to put on fat, and as the amount 
of hay should be small, not exceeding 10 Ibs. a day, unless the horse is 
gross in his nature, he will have put on muscle, and lost some of the 
internal fat which is so prejudicial to condition. 
THE OBJECT OF THE SWEATING PROCESS is to remove superfluous fatty 
matters, which act prejudicially in a twofold manner. In the first placo 
the fat itself is so much dead weight to carry, and on the calculation thaé 
seven pounds are equal to a distance in an average length of race, it may 
