118 DIRECTIONS FOR SUMMERING. 



more time to put on a sufficient quantity of good ma- 

 terial than the former. If horses are kept standing 

 in boxes without exercise, and on strong food for three 

 or four months, it stands to reason that plethora must 

 have taken possession of their systems, and will show 

 itself on the first excitement of the system in a most 

 baneful way. 



Let the hunter be rested for six weeks in a good 

 roomy and cool box on fresh tan about eight or ten 

 inches in depth, which will allow of his shoes being taken 

 off without injury to his feet ; and at the expiration of 

 this time let him be taken up and walked for an hour 

 every morning on the dewy grass, and continue to give 

 enough grass to loosen the dung — in short, to take the 

 place of physic. 



Let this food and this work be continued until 

 September 1, when the food and general preparation 

 for work, as previously described, should commence in 

 earnest. 



I am well aware of all the arguments brought for- 

 ward for and against the in and out-door system of 

 summering the hunter ; but I think that the votaries 

 of both have overshot the mark entirely. 



The great point is that neither the one nor the other 

 system should be continued too long ; but change and 

 absolute rest for a short period will always bring about 

 the desired freshness and vigour. 



Another important consideration is to avoid all 

 sudden changes and shocks to the system. The organs 

 of respiration are always affected more or less seriously 



