OF FARRIERY. 



35 



ihe hunting commences ; at which time, if the 

 Horse be hunted twice in the week, there 

 will be no occasion for sweating exercise. 



1 do not recommend hunters to be kept 

 over warm with cloths, they are frequently 

 exposed to cold and wet, and the more tender 

 they are kept, the more likely they are to 

 take cold; therefore, hoods and fillet cloths 

 may be dispensed with ; but I think it highly 

 necessary that each Horse should have two 

 cloths, one for exercise, which will occasionally 

 come home wet and dirty, the other cloth being 

 reserved for the stable. Your cloths should 

 be occasionally scoured, and your exercising 

 cloth as often as it gets damp by rain, sweat, 

 or dirt, and then carefully dried. 



On the days you give your Horses sweating 

 exercise, which may be on Tuesdays and 

 Saturdays, or any other days equally distant, 

 contrive to give his sweats as contiguous to 

 home as you can, particularly if the air 

 should be thin and piercing, for the purpose 

 of getting home to scrape and rub him 

 dry ; for, when a Horse is in a thorough 

 sweat, and a chilling air penetrating under a 

 wet cloth, is almost sure to occasion cold, 

 cough, &c., therefore, the stable or rubbing- 

 house being at hand will be convenient, and 

 prevent such a circumstance taking place. 



After having walked the Horse for about 

 an hour, bring him to the place you intend to 

 gallop him, and begin very moderately, 

 gradually increasing your speed, till you get 

 him to half or three-quarters speed, if he is 

 hard to sv\ eat ; continue him at that rate, 

 until he is in a proper sweat, which will be 

 sooner or later, according to his condition ; if 

 ne be fleshy and foggy, he will sweat soon, 

 aud his wind will be distressed ; in this case 

 you must gallop the slower, not to distress 



the wind, but bring him to sweat, which will 

 waste the superabundant fatty matter con- 

 tained in the cellular membrane, and bring 

 him in wind as such fat diminishes. If you 

 find the Horse in good wind, and hard to 

 sweat, his condition is improving, and you 

 may give him stronger gallops without injury. 

 The meaning and intention of these sweats 

 are, to those that are in wind to keep them 

 so ; and to those that are not in wind, by 

 strong exercise, to get into that desirable con- 

 dition, to reduce all grossness arising from too 

 much fat, and get the carcase up ; it like- 

 wise cleanses the coat, making it sleek and 

 soft ; for the imperceptible perspiration con- 

 tinually going on, adheres so closely to the 

 roots of the hair or coat, that it is not easily 

 got out ; but these profuse sweatings bring it 

 away, and you will perceive the coat to be 

 much finer, when well dressed after a good 

 sweating. 



The condition of the Horse is to be dis- 

 covered and judged of by his sweating ; if he 

 sweats soon, and puts on the appearance of 

 soap lather, he is then what is called foggy, and 

 must have strong exercise to bring it away ; 

 if he requires strong exercise to bring him to 

 a sweat, and the sweat be clear like water, 

 and dries soon, he is then in good condition, 

 and fit for immediate work ; but if he sweats 

 profusely with little exertion, and the sweat 

 thin, though like water, and is a long while 

 drying, it shews a weak faint habit of body ; 

 indeed, we may call it bad constitution, and will 

 not bear much work, especially as hunters 

 Some Horses sweat more profusely than 

 others ; this is not always to be regarded as 

 weakness, if it proceeds from strong exercise, 

 and soon dries. Constitutions differ in HorBe.s 

 as much as ia men. 



