94 NOTES ON EQUITATION. 



2nd, Condition of the Legs. The horse's legs should be 

 examined every day and handled with the greatest care. As 

 soon as one tendon becomes more heated than the other, 

 decrease or stop the work and relieve . the over-worked part 

 with douches, with bandages soaked in the "white lotion"* 

 or in water and arnica, until the heat has disappeared. 

 Then change the work and replace the rapid gaits by the 

 walk, increasing the duration of exercise. If the tendons 

 heat again, it is better to stop training entirely and thus 

 avoid a strain that would lay the horse up for a long time. 



3rd, Feed during Training. As a general rule a horse never 

 eats too much during training. But if he eats heartily and 

 if his legs will stand it, increasing the work is sufficient to 

 prevent him from taking on too much flesh, and training in 

 such a case will go on under the best possible condition. 

 This, however, is rarely the case; increasing the work gen- 

 erally decreases the appetite, and it is difficult to make a 

 horse eat more than 14 quarts of oats a day. As soon as a 

 horse stops eating with relish, the gallop should be decreas- 

 ed or stopped, and resumed only when the horse cleans 

 up his oats. 



During training, hay is an entirely secondary nourish- 

 ment; four or five pounds a day are generally given. Bed- 

 ding should always be abundant and extra good, so that, 

 if his appetite suggests, the horse can eat some of it. 



The ration should be gradually increased with the work, 

 and given in three or four feeds. Oats that are not eaten at 

 the end of an hour and a half or two hours should be taken 

 away so as not to make the horse lose his appetite. With 

 light eaters, mix carrots, bread, green forage, etc., with the 

 oats, but in small quantities. A piece of salt in the feed 

 box is often useful in creating an appetite. 



When a horse, as is often the case, needs cooling (the 

 counter-acting of the heating caused by grain) he should be 

 given two handfulls of sulphate of soda in a mash three or 



* Acetate of lead, 1 oz, ; Sulphate of zinc, 1 oz.; Water, 1 qt. 



