^ PLETHORA. 13 



system. In the growing animal the blood is consumed so 

 fastj that plethora is not of frequent occurrence compared 

 with what it is about the period that growth is nearly com- 

 pleted — the period, in fact, at which our young horses come 

 to be domesticated. Obesity is likewise a mode adopted by 

 nature to get rid of redundant nourishment in the system. 

 That blood, over and above what is required for the purposes 

 of reparation, secretion, and ordinary circulation, is often 

 converted into fat, and in that form laid up in many parts 

 of the body, as a sort of reserve in case it should be wanted. 

 Young horses do not in general become fat until they have 

 completed their growth. Old seasoned horses thrive best in 

 the genial warmth of the stable. Although good feeding, 

 little work, and quietude, are all conducive to obesity, yet a 

 horse cannot brook being tied up and stall-fed after the 

 manner of a bullock. His habits of activity unfit him for a 

 state of absolute rest : from want of exercise his legs become 

 swollen, and his body falls into disease. During the many 

 hours that horses in general stand in the stable, it is of some 

 importance that they should be subjected to no disturbance : 

 grooms that have the care of hunters are fully aware of this; 

 and therefore it is that between the hours of feeding and 

 dressing they keep their stable doors locked. Another form 

 or alternative of plethora consists in what is called 



Condition ; which is that degree of perfection whereto 

 we may bring an animal so as to enable it to exert its 

 physical powers with the greatest possible effect. Nature 

 presents us with no animal in what we call condition. 

 The state is altogether an artificial one ; at the same time 

 it is one grounded upon an acknowledged principle in the 

 animal economy, that Nature is ever desirous to ineet the 

 demands of Art. Suffer a horse to be idle, and feed him 

 well, then the •i-edundant ilourishment floating in his blood 

 will be laid up in the form of fat : put the same animal to 

 work, and the blood, which would have been turned into fat, 

 will now be used to supply the excretions. To take an un- 

 prepared horse, and ride him in the chace, would, to a 

 sportsman, appear neither more nor less than an act of 



