192 TRAINING. 



PHYSICKING. 



The same kind of remark is applicable here 

 as under " Sweating." If in good condition, and 

 no soft flesh, when put into training, the one 

 dose at the commencement will generally be all 

 that is required. The shok that some people 



be. If only two months are to elapse before he starts, a 

 gentle sweat every week for the first three weeks, and then 

 a couple of stronger ones the last fortnight, adapting the 

 length, pace, &c., to the size and grossness of the horse, will 

 be near about the proper time, observing that the first sweat 

 should not take place until he can prove his wind, — until he 

 can " blow his nose." After the first two or three morning 

 canters, if he stands panting at the sides, and fails to throw 

 the mucus from his nose, by that peculiar quivering snort- 

 ing shake of the nostrils, a few days more should elapse 

 before the first sweat is given. Grooms who pay attention to 

 this work, I believe, say the nostrils should always be breathed 

 in three quarters of a minute from the time he is pulled up ; 

 and that some consequence is attached to these minutiae, I 

 know, for I well remember a groom anxiously looking out for 

 the blow of a fine strong horse, that had been sick for a month, 

 when finishing his first morning's canter, and though it did 

 not occur for a minute or more, it at last came with a fine 

 healthy quaver — a good sign the air-passages are clear — and 

 he remarked, " If the tripes only improve, there is no fear of 

 his bellows." A slight horse, when of delicate constitution, 

 will, of course, not have the loud shake in his nostrils of a 

 strong healthy one : and if the horse was thin when com- 

 mencing this hasty training, the only sweatings must be the 

 last fortnight. 



