32 THE TURF 



clothes, they would find it necessary to be 

 much more so than they are. It is quite 

 certain, that horses cannot race without 

 doing severe work ; but the main point to 

 be attended to is, not to hurry them in their 

 work. As to resting them for many weeks 

 at a time, as was formerly the case, that 

 practice is now entirely exploded amongst 

 all superior judges; and experience has 

 proved, that not only the race-horse, but 

 the hunter, is best for being kept going the 

 year round at times, gently, of course. 

 With each, as with man, idleness is the 

 parent of misfortune. 



Thucydides says of Themistocles that he 

 was a good guesser of the future by the 

 past; but this will not do in racing; and 

 not only prudence, but justice towards the 

 public demands that a race-horse should be 

 tried at different periods of his training. The 

 first great point is obviously to ascertain 

 the maximum speed, and the next to dis- 

 cover how that is affected by weight : but 

 here there are difficulties against which no 

 judgment can provide, and which, when the 

 best intentions have been acted upon, have 

 led to false conclusions. The horse may 



