OBJECTIONS ANSWERED 201 



Were it possible that, during such frolics, a horse could 

 be divested of his skin, and we could have a peep at 

 the internal machinery of his frame, we should see 

 such twists and contortions of his joints that, if they 

 did not make us tremble for the safety of them, would 

 at least satisfy us that they must be a bad recipe for 

 any injuries those joints may have received in their 

 work in the winter. As to exercising horses in the 

 summer, let those who think it amuses them practise 

 it, on the score of humanity ; but, for my own part, 

 I never yet saw a horse out at exercise that did not 

 wish to return to his stable. 



In your last number ^ a gentleman from Forfarshire 

 (a sportsman, I am certain) comes forward, and, 

 after enumerating '' pot bellies, running thrushes, 

 pleasant roaring " (awkward music for those who pay 

 to hear it), etc. etc., as the concomitants of the grazing 

 system, energetically says, " Now take my plan ! 

 The hunter," says he, " must be turned out when days 

 and nights are warm." Here, unfortunately, he is 

 opposed by one of our first writers on the veterinary 

 art, who says, " I have always found that when the 

 greatest heat prevailed in the course of the day, the 

 nights were cool, the fogs more copious and heavy, 

 and that diseases amongst horses were then most 

 prevalent." Nothing can be more true than this. 

 In proportion as the action of the heart and arteries 

 has been excited by the warmth of the day, the greater 

 must be the effect of the damp and vapours of the 

 night. 



^ See Sporting Magazine, vol. xv. N.S. p. 194, etc. 



