ON HUNTING. 63 



VIII. 



SUMMERING AND THE " ONE-HORSE " MAN. 



THE question of the best way of dealing with horses in 

 summer is a vexed one. If you have any use for a horse, to 

 ride on parade or hack, keep him up and fit and he will 

 do well, provided his legs are clean and not worn with the 

 season's hunting. But, as a rule, a horse is better for 

 a summer's rest. Some people drive hunters in the 

 summer, but I always fancy — it may be only fancy — 

 that a horse driven in harness never seems to ride well 

 afterwards ; somehow, between shafts seems the wrong place 

 for a good hunter. Very few people want to ride in the 

 summer ; the ground is hard and motors and tar macadam 

 make hacking not what it used to be. The usual course is to 

 turn the horse out to grass because it is the easiest and 

 cheapest way of disposing of him. If he does go out to grass, 

 the end of April or a week later is quite soon enough. As 

 soon as the horse finishes hunting leave off all grooming and 

 gradually reduce the corn. I must say that after the hunting 

 season I am a believer in blistering a horse's legs before he is 

 turned out to grass or otherwise disposed of. The blister is 

 applied from below the knee to the hoof. It is painful at 

 first, but not for long. In the case of horses following a 

 hard season it will be found that the legs begin to fill and 

 generally the leg is not so fine and hard as it should be, the 

 tendons and ligaments are not clear and defined to the 

 touch, and something is needed to rouse to new and healthier 

 action parts which have become deficient in vital energy. 

 So a counter-irritation is set up artificially by means of a 

 blister. This, of course, must be applied skilfully, the hair 

 being first clipped off and the horse tied up short by the head, 



