200 RACING. 



say that when witliin a fortni;.;]it of the date of the race many quaint 

 and cxactin^r duties liave to be promptly done and jjerfoimed. 



' Now, histly,' observes our autlior, in conclusion of tliis remark- 

 able chaiJtcr, 'as touching the day in which your Horse mustrunne 

 for your wager, thus shall you use him : lirst, the night before, 

 you shall giuc him but a veric little supper, so that he may be 

 passing empty in the morning, when you are to hauc him out and 

 ayre liim an howre or two before day, taking great care that he 

 empty himselfc thorowly while he is abroade, and then bring him 

 in ; and after you have well rubd all his foure Icgges, and anoyntcd 

 them thorowly either with Neates-foot oyle, Trcane oyle, Sheepes- 

 foote oyle, or Linceede-oyle, all which be the most excellent oyles 

 that may be for a horse. Then gi\'C him this food : Take a good 

 bigge j)enny white loafe and cut the same all out into toastes, and 

 toaste tliem against the fne, then sleep them in IMuskadine, and 

 lay them betweene hole cloalhcs, and dry them, and so give them 

 to your Horse. This be so comforting and pleasant that your 

 Horse's empties shall little aggrieve him. Wlicn he halh eaten 

 this, put on his mussell, giue him great store of lytter, unloose his 

 sursingle that his cloathes may hang loosely upon him, and so let 

 liim stande to take his restc till the howre in which he must be led 

 forth to runne, not suffering any man to come within your stable, 

 for fear of disquieting your Horse. When the howre has come for 

 you to leadc him out, gyrd on his cloathes handsomely, bridle him 

 up, and then take your mouth ful of strong Vinegar, and spirt it 

 into your Horse's nosethrils, whereof it will search and open his 

 pypes, making them apt for the receite of wind. This done, Icade 

 liim to the race, and when you come at the end therefor where you 

 must unclothe him, having the vinegar carried alter you, doo the 

 like there, and so bequeath him and your self to God, and good 

 fortune,' CJic sdnl s^ml. 



""J'hat a great improvement in training was effected between 

 the end of the sixteenth and the commencement of the nine- 

 teenth century is attested by the following passage which we 

 (]uote from ' Nimrod's ' celebrated, but most inaccurate, article 

 ii[)on the 'J'urf, which appeared in the 'Quarterly Review' of 



That noble gift of Providence, the horse (writes ' Nimrod '), has 

 not been bestowed upon mankind without conditions. The first 

 demand upon us is to treat him well ; but, in order to avail 



