CONDITIONING. 453 



form. Such training is made necessary, owing to physical 

 impairment, the result of, first, the unhealthy, fatty state in 

 which most horses come from the hands of dealers; and, 

 second, on account of the want of firmness and tone in the 

 tissues of those horses which have not been in constant use. 

 Many cases of sickness and strained tendons are due to the 

 sudden transition from a mild to a highly stimulating diet, 

 and from a comparative state of rest to an unaccustomed 

 amount of work. The necessity of gradual training for any 

 athletic work is universally recognized, and the irrational 

 treatment of the horse, under similar circumstances, can 

 only be considered proof of the owner's lack of knowledge 

 or of his indifference. 



In conditioning, the treatment to be followed will depend 

 upon circumstances. If the system of the horse is in an 

 unhealthy state, owing to improper feeding or to the inju- 

 rious action of tonics, the animal should be thoroughly phys- 

 icked, but when the horse is merely taken up from pasture or 

 into active service, after being kept on low but wholesome diet, 

 purging is not only unnecessary but harmful. Physicking is 

 intended to remove impurities from the body; but when 

 these do not exist, its effect is to reduce the system, without 

 producing any counterbalancing result. When a horse 

 comes from a dealer or is known to have been improperly 

 fed it is advisable to submit the animal to a thorough clear- 

 ing out, preparation for which should not be made in the 

 few hours usually allotted to this treatment by ignorant 

 stable servants, but the bowels should be prepared for the 

 action of the physic ball several days prior to administering 

 the medicine. If this is done the dose need be neither so 

 large nor so strong as would otherwise be required, and the 



