TREATMENT AFTER A HARD RUN 185 



The above is, I think, a pretty strong proof of the 

 absolute necessity of preparing a horse well before he 

 goes to hounds, and the danger of riding him when un- 

 prepared. Numerous, however, as these instances are, 

 they do not appear to make that impression upon 

 sportsmen which they ought to do ; and I repeat my 

 assertion, bold as it may appear, that, taking England 

 throughout, not one hunter in ten is fit to go to a covert's 

 side. I will also venture to add, that provided a horse 

 — not what I call " well prepared " — can go half an hour 

 at a clipping pace with hounds, taking his fences well 

 to the last, it is in the power of his groom to make 

 him go for forty minutes equally well — an advantage 

 of no small importance at the time, to say nothing of 

 the diminution of risk from the effect of the exertion 

 he is put to. There is a market, also, in which these 

 additional ten minutes would put an additional hundred 

 guineas, if not more, on his value. 



There is another stumbling block too often in the 

 way of my brother sportsmen in their stables ; and 

 that is, they do not sufficiently regard the constitutional 

 peculiarities of their horses, but are too apt to prepare 

 them all nearly alike ; whereas a wide difference 

 exists in the treatment of them. To prove this we 

 must go to the racing stable. Lord Foley's Osprey, 

 by Eagle out of Miss Furcy (sister to Chippenham) by 

 Trumpeter, would neither take a dose of physic, nor 

 stand training in any way ; yet, when taken out of his 

 paddock, he could beat half the horses at Newmarket 

 for half a mile. Lord Oxford's Victoria was obliged 

 to be physicked after every race she ran, and in one 



