60 LETTERS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



him walk out and use himself. Many grooms have the 

 idea that water is bad for a horse ; some even give him no 

 water before he goes out hunting the essence of cruelty. 

 Let him have all the water he can drink at all times 

 except after his corn or when he is hot. Horses have 

 very small stomachs and quick digestions, therefore feed 

 him often ; four smaller feeds of oats are better than 

 three big ones. When the horse comes in tired from 

 hunting give him a bucket of warm gruel, made of 

 oatmeal and linseed jelly. Nothing soothes the stomach 

 and intestines so well after exertion and long fast. If a horse 

 is rather done after hunting get him on the way home a 

 little warm water with a handful or two of oatmeal or, failing 

 that, bran or even flour in it. But, if the horse is fairly fresh, 

 get home. He will do better in his own stable. Let him 

 pick a nice bit of hay as soon as he has had his gruel. It 

 stays his stomach and prepares it for oats, which give in a 

 bran mash after the horse is groomed and put away for 

 the night. When the horse is fit an hour and a half a day 

 will be enough exercise if he is doing three days' hunting 

 a fortnight. After a day's hunting a horse should be 

 walked about in hand for twenty minutes to take the 

 stiffness off ; let him keep his sheet on. Never do 

 ordinary exercise in clothing. Grooms always want to 

 because it keeps the coat down, but at the covert side in a 

 north-east wind, the groom is not there to pop the sheets 

 on. Muscle and condition are put on a horse as much by 

 grooming as anything else. At first, when a horse comes up 

 from summering, he will want a curry comb just to loosen 

 the scurf, but when he is once " bottomed " he should never 

 have a curry comb on him again. Dandy brush, straw wisp 

 and body brush only. It should take a groom an hour's 

 solid strapping to do a horse properly. First all over with 

 a handful of loose straw, next dandy brush to remove 

 all the dirt, then the straw wisp, followed by body 

 brush and rubber. All these must be applied with 

 force ; no patting of the horse, no smoothing of the hair, 

 but bang, bang with all the weight of the body put into it. 

 Grooming is a form of massage, not to make the coat look 

 well only, but to stimulate the blood vessels and aid 



