THE TURF 27 



public ones, perhaps those of Robinson, 

 Edwards, Stephenson, and Webb, are the 

 best. 



That noble gift of Providence, the horse, 

 has not been bestowed upon mankind 

 without conditions. The first demand 

 upon us is to treat him well ; but, to avail 

 ourselves of his full powers and capacity, 

 we must take him out of the hands of 

 nature, and place him in those of art ; and 

 no one can look into old works published 

 on this subject without being surprised with 

 the change that has taken place in the 

 system of training the race-horse. The 

 Gentleman's Recreation, published nearly 

 a century and a half back, must draw a 

 smile from the modern trainer, when he 

 reads of the quackery to which the race- 

 horse was then subject, a pint of good 

 sack having been one of his daily doses. 

 Again, The British Sportsman, by one 

 Squire Osbaldiston, of days long since gone 

 by, gravely informs its readers, that one 

 month is necessary to prepare a horse for 

 a race ; but * if he be very fat or foul, or 

 taken from grass,' he might require two. 

 This wiseacre has also his juleps and syrups 



