THE STABLE AND ITS MANAGEMENT 6i 



belly ; but give him a good dinner and a bottle of 

 wine, and he is soon defeated. 



When on this subject, perhaps I may be excused for 

 introducing an anecdote of a naval officer, who resided 

 some years back not a hundred miles from Gloucester. 

 The captain had a very good mare, on which he ap- 

 peared one day by the covert-side as usual, when, on 

 some one remarking that she scoured very much, he 

 observed that she had got a dose of physic in her. It 

 appeared that his groom, tliinking that a little rest 

 would be of service to himself and the mare, had given 

 her a dose of physic without his master's knowledge ; 

 but the captain was not to be shoved off in that way, 



and after d g his eyes about half a dozen times, 



sent her to covert, and rode the run, which she per- 

 formed as if nothing more than common had occurred. 

 This, we must also admit, is in favour of an empty 

 belly. 



I now come to the corner-stone of all conditions in 

 horses — the stable, and stable management — the latter 

 of which has undergone considerable alteration since 

 I first began to keep hunters. 



Were I to recount the numerous instances of the 

 benefits arising from good, and the evils, disasters, 

 and dangers which I have witnessed from bad con- 

 dition in my own and other persons' hunters, I could 

 fill a volume. I shall, however, content myself with 

 one or two instances of the beneficial consequences 

 of good condition. 



A very intimate friend of mine, well known in the 

 sporting world, and an excellent judge, gave one 



