304 HORSE TRAINING 



times than three, adding a sufficiency of chaff to the corn to ensure his 

 masticating the latter properly and not bolting it so that it will pass 

 through him undigested. Never give hay at the same time as the corn, 

 is a good rule to follow, else a gross feeder will be liable to gorge himself, 

 whilst a shy doer's stomach will revolt at the sight of so much food. 



Companionship. — Finally, it must be remembered that some horses 

 pine if kept in an isolated box by themselves, and tliat such socially-dis- 

 positioned animals will therefore rest better if kept in a stable where they 

 can see and hear other horses. Others fret and worry themselves if near 

 their stable companions, and should therefore be kept apart, as it is of the 

 highest importance to the well -being of all horses in training that their 

 long hours in the stable should be passed as comfortably as possible. 



The above are perhaps the most important of the general rules which 

 should be attended to by the amateur who is desirous of getting his animal 

 fit; references to the details of schooling the various breeds will be found 

 in the succeeding chapters; but the reader may once more be reminded 

 that no hard-and-fast rules can be laid down for training, as the con- 

 stitutions and tempers of horses so widely differ from each other. The 

 chapter on Training the Trotter contains many suggestions on special 

 treatment which may be read with benefit by those who contemjolate the 

 preparation of other breeds of horses. 



TRAINING THE THOROUGH-BRED 



As may naturally be suppo.sed, a great deal of difference exists between 

 the methods of trainers of thorough-breds, not merely as regards their 

 treatment of individual animals, but in connection with the entire prin- 

 ciples which regulate the preparation of race-horses. Some persons are 

 still advocates of "strong" preparations, entailing a tremendous amount 

 of work upon their charges, whilst others are believers in sweating the 

 horses for miles under heavy rugs; some also go to the length of Squire 

 Osbaldiston, who used to state that " one month is necessary to prepare a 

 horse for a race, but if he be very foul, or taken from grass, he might 

 require two ". There are those again who take an entirely difterent view, 

 and are in favour of a slow and gradual preparation. 



It is, however, probable, that the views of the extremist on either side 

 require considerable modification save in very exceptional cases, and at all 

 events there is no reason to question the soundness of the old adage that a 

 hurried preparation is never satisfsictory to man or beast. In regard to 

 the amount of work which should be given a horse it must be left to the 

 discretion of the trainer to decide. Some families, and notably the New- 



