136 THE POCKET AND THE STUD. 



they were nearly sixty shillings a quarter. I had 

 a strongish stud, and, unlike my general practice, 

 I had run out my stock of oats, but had by me 

 an unusual stock of old beans, so, during the 

 three months oats kept at this killing price, I fed 

 my horses on them without oats ; but then they 

 had bran in such proportion as I thought brought 

 the mixture to an equivalent to corn ; and I must 

 say my horses never did better. It was, per- 

 haps, in point of healthfulness, similar to drinking 

 brandy diluted with water in lieu of sherry with- 

 out it. 



In by-gone days beans were given to race- 

 horses when in training, and perhaps they were 

 proper enough under the circumstances in which 

 they were given : four-mile races, and those in 

 heats, were then in vogue, and horses that ran 

 such were not usually colts ; such stamina as en- 

 abled horses to endure long fatigue was then 

 wanted, and, doubtless, beans contributed to this. 

 But if a trainer could, in a general way, keep two- 

 and three-years old colts in health, giving them 

 beans in any quantity, he must have some mode 

 of counteracting the usual effects to be expected 

 from their use that I know nothing of. Still a 

 case may occasionally be found where beans may 

 be useful even to a colt, and certainly often to old 

 horses, if given at proper times, and, of course, in 

 proper quantities. 



