CHAPTER V 



ENGLISH HORSES— THEIR ROUTINE OF 

 STABLE MANAGEMENT 



The rough-and-ready ways described in the last 

 chapter are fairly suitable to those who ride bush- 

 horses, whose value is small by comparison with 

 English hunters running into three figures. But 

 with horses delicately nurtured in our severer 

 climate, such haphazard ways would be out of 

 the question — for one thing the grass at home is 

 quite different from the coarse tussock on which 

 bush-horses feed. English grass is green and 

 succulent, whereas Bush grass is more like hay 

 in appearance, and is far more sustaining during 

 long and quick journeys. In one case a horse 

 is treated as a half wild animal, often unshod, 

 turned out after a long ride with a smack from 

 the bridle, and left to graze as best he can with 

 raw-hide hobbles round his forelegs. In the case 

 of an English hunter or high-class hackney, every 

 known device to make a fine coat, plenty of muscle, 

 and orood manners is tried in turn. 



It is impossible to either write or speak on any 

 subject without finding plenty of clever authorities 

 who differ vigorously and widely. Therefore, to 

 expect unity on the following carefully thought 

 over chapter is to expect too much. I willingly 

 admit that many better qualified authors have 



