444 



THE MODERN SYSTEM 



enjoy himself for life. His attitude and his 

 countenance when, perchance, he hears the 

 distant cry of the dogs, are a study for the 

 contemplation of tlie artist. 



A Horse that had, a short time before, been 

 severely fired on three legs, and was placed 

 in a loose box, with the door, four feet high, 

 closed, and an aperture over it little more than 

 three feet square, and standing himself nearly 

 sixteen hands, and master of fifteen stone, 

 hearing the cheering of the huntsman and the 

 cry of the dogs at no great distance, sprung 

 through the aperture without leaving a single 

 mark on the bottom, the top, or the sides. 



Then, if the Horse be thus ready to exert 

 himself for our pleasure — and pleasure alone 

 is here the object — it is indefensible and brutal 

 to urge him beyond his own natural ardour, 

 so severely as we sometimes do, and even 

 until nature is quite exhausted. We do not 

 often hear of a " hard day," without being 

 likewise informed, that one or more Horses 

 either died in the field, or scarcely reached 

 home before they expired. Some have been 

 thouohtless and cruel enouo^h to kill two 

 Horses in one day. One of the severest chases 

 on record was by the King's stag-hounds. 

 There was an uninterrupted burst of four 

 hours and twenty minutes. One Horse 

 dropped dead in the field ; another died be 

 fore he could reach the stable ; and seven more 

 within a week afterwards. 



It is very conceivable, and does sometimes 

 happen, that, entering as fully as his master 

 into the sports of the day, the Horse disdains 

 to yield to fatigue, and voluntarily presses on, 

 until nature is exhausted, and he falls and 

 dies; but, much oftener, the poor animal has, 

 intelligibly enough, hinted his distress ; un- 

 yriiling to give in, yet painfully and faulter- 



ingly holding on. The merciless rider, rather 

 than give up one hour's enjoyment, tortures 

 him with whip and spur, until he drops and 

 expires. 



Although the hunter may be unwilling to 

 relinquish the chase, he who "is merciful to 

 his beast" will soon recognize the symptoms 

 of excessive and dangerous distress. To the 

 drooping pace and staggering gait, and heav- 

 ing flank, and heavy bearing on hand, will 

 be added a very peculiar noise. The inex- 

 perienced person will fancy it to be the 

 beating of the heart; but (hat has almost 

 ceased to beat, and the lun2:s are becoming' 

 gorged with blood. It is the convulsive 

 motion of tlie muscles of the belly, called into 

 violent action to assist in the now laborious 

 office of breathing. 



In this dangerous situation, life almost 

 quivering at the Horse's nostrils, a celebrated 

 writer in the work published by the Society 

 of Universal Knowledge, entitled the " Horse," 

 says — 



Let the rider instantly dismount. If he has 

 a lancet, and skill to use it, let him take away 

 five or six quarts of blood; or if he has no 

 lancet, let him cut the burs with his pocket 

 knife as deeply as he can. The lungs may be 

 thus relieved, and the Horse may be able to 

 crawl home. Then, or before, if possible, let 

 some powerful cordial be administered. Cor- 

 dials are, generally speaking, the disgrace 

 and bane of the stable ; but here, and almost 

 here alone, they are truly valuable. The> 

 may rouse the exhausted powers of nature ; 

 they may prevent what the medical man 

 would call the re-action of inflammation ; 

 although they are the veriest poison whea 

 inflammation has commenced. 



A favourite hunter fell after a long burst, 



