ILLUSTRATED GUIDE. 173 



can give energy to the system, or develop the power of 

 any animal. In training the trotter and the running horse, 

 regular exercise is the most important of all considera- 

 tions, however it may be forgotten in the usual manage- 

 ment of the stable. The exercised horse will discharge 

 his task (and sometimes a severe one) with ease and pleas- 

 ure, while the idle and neglected one will be fatigued ere 

 half his labor is accomplished, and if he is pushed a little 

 too far, dangerous inflammation will ensue. How often, 

 nevertheless, does it happen, that the horse which haa 

 stood inactive, in the stable three or four days, is ridden 

 or driven thirty or forty miles in the course of a single 

 day ! This rest is often purposely given to prepare for extra 

 exertion ; to lay in a stock of strength for the performance 

 of the task "required of him, and then the owner is sur- 

 prised and dissatisfied if the animal becomes stiffened or 

 seriously ill. Nothing is so common and so preposter- 

 ous, as for a person to buy a horse from a dealer's stable, 

 where he has been idly fattened for sale for many a day, 

 and immediately to give him a long drive, and then to 

 complain bitterly and think he has been imposed upon if 

 the animal is exhausted before he arrives at his destina- 

 tion, and is compelled to be led home, suffering from vio- 

 lent inflammation. Regular and gradually increasing ex- 

 ercise would have made the same horse appear a treasure 

 to his owner. Exercise should be somewhat proportioned 

 to the age of the horse. A young horse requires more 

 than an old one. Nature has given to young animals of 

 every kind a disposition to activity, but the exercise must 

 not be violent. A great deal depends upon the manner 

 in wliicli it is given. To preserve the temper and pro- 

 mote health, it should be moderate, at least at the begin- 



