THE TROTTIXG-I10RSE OF AMERICA. 115 



wiry, harp-string powers, there might be a failure to conie 

 up to expectation in a really great task. 



Hence we see where the sweating in clothes would fail to 

 make these horses fit, though they might be in " bodily con- 

 dition ; " and thus the futility of substituting the Turkish 

 bath, or any thing of that kind, for natural work in the 

 training of horses, may easily be perceived. As a rule, 

 the best horses take the most work, for two reasons. One 

 is, that they do not part with their hard flesh half as easily 

 as those do who are naturally soft and more vascular. The 

 other is, that the great performances for which these horses 

 are likely to be called upon can never be expected until the 

 moving powers have been well-seasoned, and have come to 

 possess their lasting tone. I am assured, that, when the flat- 

 race trainers first began to fit horses for steeple-chase run- 

 ning in England, they were amazed to find that they gave 

 out suddenly, dead beat, when they would have sworn that 

 their condition was good. They soon found that the failure 

 was a consequence of want of work for the jumping powers. 

 They had only been worked over the flat ; and, though their 

 bodily condition was as fine as could be, there was a want 

 of power in the muscles which send the horse up and for- 

 ward in taking leaps. That power they soon learned could 

 only be gained by leaping-practice in the training. Thus 

 it will be perceived that custom, as long as the constitu- 

 tional health and the legs remain sound, is the great agent 

 in fitting all sorts of animals for the performance of extra- 

 ordinary feats. It is said that Milo of Crete could carry 

 an ox, but it was one that he had carried every day after it 

 was a calf. All that time he had been " in training ; " and 

 as training without any let-up for a long period must ex- 

 haust the sources of vitality, and impair the constitution 

 prematurely, it is very likely that Milo died before the 

 ox did. 



In the preparation for a ten-mile race, there must be an 

 increase of work even over that indicated for the three-mile 



