ADVANTAGES OF CLIPPING 231 



a fine coat. Never let us forget that condition is that 

 state of the body in which the various powers of the 

 horse are fitted for the most active and useful exertion ; 

 and this must mainly depend upon the lungs : there- 

 fore, if the atmosphere contain effluvia not useful in 

 purifying the blood as it passes through the lungs ; 

 but, on the contrary, positively pernicious, the volume 

 of pure air respired must be less fit for the use of the 

 lungs in an inverse ratio to the heat of the stable. I 

 hope to see the day when this will be acknowledged by 

 racing grooms, when I anticipate, that, instead of 

 the constitution of that beautiful animal, the race 

 horse, being ruined generally, and unfit for the turf 

 at eight years old, he will be in reality, what nature 

 designed, only just come to his prime. As a general 

 rule, I wish to persuade all grooms to think, whenever 

 a stable is so warm or so close as to give the slightest 

 irritation to the eyes of the person coming out of the 

 open air, it is then not in a fit state for any horse to 

 breathe, and he cannot breathe it without detriment 

 to his condition, although I allow it may contribute 

 to the smoothness of his coat, which is, in my opinion, 

 a totally different thing. 



" A sporting friend of mine, who is always to be 

 found in the front ranks in the Nottinghamshire Hunts, 

 heats his stable by hot air, insisting ' that the horse 

 is an animal which delights in heat ; and being 

 found in the highest perfection in warm climates, a 

 warm atmosphere must be natural to him, and there- 

 fore most proper ' : but I contend, that a horse, 

 like the Arabian or Persian, always breathing pure 



