CHANGE TO OPEN AIR. 143 



cooler and more agreeable to a horse than even 

 stable or pendal ; and hog-hunters should not for- 

 get this, for the continual exposure to the fiery 

 sun throughout the day damps the spirits of many 

 horses considerably. No one, but a native, can 

 keep his hand upon a horse's back for ten minutes 

 between the hours of twelve and three in those 

 months, when picketed in the sun, without burn- 

 ing or blistering it : you may imagine, therefore, 

 the effect on a high caste, thin-skinned horse, and 

 tormented by the flies to boot. 



Hunting a horse for two or three months on 

 nothing but green food, only cut the day be- 

 fore for his forage, — not at all an uncommon oc- 

 currence, — or even half green and half dry, is as 

 much the cause of those rounded shank-bones 

 and gummy ancles, as being taken out of an 

 idle stable, and suddenly put into training exer- 

 cise, without gradual inurement. Hunters are 

 often fed too much and too long on green food : 

 racers may also be included. Considering that 

 a few days' green meat is often wanted to recruit 

 the strength after a severe cold or other illness, 

 no horse kept solely for racing or hunting should 

 have more than ten weeks' regular soiling through- 

 out the year, and that at two different periods. 

 As training usually commences in October, the 

 month of April, or early part of May, and that 



