306 HOKSE TRAINING 



morning during summer, and as soon after breakfast as possible in the 

 winter, being the best time for the heavy work. 



The earlier horses can be got to work in the spring the better it will 

 be for all parties concerned, as their preparation then need not be hurried, 

 though, of course, animals with early engagements before them must 

 be rattled along whenever the state of the ground permits. Those, how- 

 ever, which will not be wanted until later can be given just enough 

 exei'cise to prevent them from getting big, but not sufficient to cause stale- 

 ness when their preparations begin in earnest. On the other hand, even if 

 the presence of a long frost has necessitated slow work on the straw bed, 

 it is not desirable, except in very exceptional cases, to gallop a horse 

 severely directly he gets back to the training-ground, lest undue j^ressure 

 should break him down. Although, of course, the two-year-olds will not 

 be wanted until the season is well on, they should nevertheless be kept 

 gently at it under the tutorship of a steady school-master, whom they 

 should be permitted to beat when anything like fast work is indulged 

 in, else they may be encouraged to turn out faint-hearted on the Turf. 



The responsibility of discovering whether a horse is possessed of 

 stamina, or deciding whether he be merely a sprinter, devolves upon the 

 trainer, who must also settle the question of fitness. This is proved by 

 the state in which an animal pulls up after a good gallop. If there is 

 a heaving flank and dilated nostrils, the horse requires another gallop, and 

 so he will if he finishes tired. On the other hand, sweating is not by 

 any means an infallible sign of unfitness, as many horses will sweat even 

 though they are drawn to the limits of fineness, which is perhaps the 

 condition in which most thoroughbreds run best. Were it possible to 

 get horses to do their al)ilities full justice when run big, it would be a 

 relief to the trainer, and in foct the best for all parties concerned; but, 

 unfortunately, the vast majority of animals require to be run light, and 

 therefore their preparation becomes a more serious matter than it would 

 otherwise be. 



Trials. — No race-horse, or at most extremely few, is sent upon the 

 course without having been previously subjected to the ordeal of a trial 

 at home, but it is very questionable whether these tests are of anything 

 like the value which they are supposed to be. In fact, it is something like 

 asking too much of a horse to expect him to run up to the same form upon 

 two or three different occasions, as there is no knowing; how the animal 

 may be feeling at the time he is being put through the mill. Chifney, 

 in his " Genius Genuine ", asserts that an animal named ]\Iagpie would run 

 the same distance nearly two hundred yards better on some days than on 

 others, and few people who have written upon the subject of the race-horse 



