EQUITATION AND HORSE TRAINING. 97 



Now, your horse ia almost in condition and may hunt. Tn tho inter- 

 val between hunts, exercise your horse or have him exercised a little 

 every other day, taking care to take him out for a short time the day 

 after each hunt to observe his condition and the freedom of his move- 

 ments. If for any reason you do not hunt for a time, you should put 

 your horse through the same work that you did in the month of August, 

 giving him short gallops and work at a walk over plowed ground. 



In this manner you keep him fit all winter, giving him good feed 

 and varying it according to his condition and appetite. If he always 

 eats well, continue the oats without overdoing the mashes; the latter 

 should be given only in the evening on coming in from the hunt, 

 and on the next morning feed a cold mash of barley meal. If your horse 

 shows a failing appetite or runs down in condition, give him cooked 

 grain or cooked vegetables. 



Thus you reach the month of April and the end of the hunting 

 season. As soon as hunting stops, let your horse rest. Exercise him 

 only at a walk and for his health. Take particular care of the legs 

 and lower his condition by cooling mashes, for a horse can not be kept 

 with impunity on such substantial and heating feed the year around. 

 You might then turn him out in a paddock without grass or with grass 

 that you have had cut short. Give him a mash, a full feed of carrots, 

 and only 6 quarts of oats. Continue this until the 15th of May at least, 

 then stop the carrots and little by little the mashes. Then begin to 

 increase the oats, in order to take up the same work as the preceding 

 year and with the same gradual progress. 



During this period of rest, the horse can be given such treatment as 

 the condition of his legs may require. 



These are the general instructions for putting a hunter in fit condi- 

 tion for his work. — Count Le Coulteux. 



Conditioning for endurance races. — For this training, 

 refer to what has just been said concerning hunters, and 

 to the twenty-ninth question, on training for miUtary 

 races. 



The work varies with the length of time available, with 

 the age and condition of the horse and the nature of the 

 race. The only general rules to be repeated here are: 



Gradually increase the horse's ration with the work. 



Exercise a great deal at a walk in order to develop the 

 muscles. 



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