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whicli has stood inactive in the stable three or four 

 days, is ridden or driven thirty or forty miles in the 

 course of a single day ? This rest is often purposely 

 given to prepare for extra exertion — to lay in a stock 

 of strength for the performance of the task required 

 of him, and then the owner is surprised and dissatis- 

 fied if the animal becoa, Ss stiffened, or seriously ill. 

 Nothing is so common, and so preposterous, as for 

 a person to buy a horse from a dealer's stable, where 

 he has been idly fattened for sale for many a day, 

 and immediately to give him a long drive, and 

 then to complain bitterly, and think he has been im- 

 posed upon, if the animal is exhausted before he 

 arrives at his destination, and is compelled to be led 

 home suffering from inflammation." Eegular and 

 gradually increasing exercise would have made the 

 same horse appear a treasure to his owner. Exercise 

 should be somewhat proportioned to the age of the 

 horse. A young horse requires more than an old 

 one. ISTature has given to young animals of every 

 kind a disposition to activity, but the exercise must 

 not be violent. A great deal depends upon the 

 manner in which it is given. To preserve the tem- 

 per and promote health, it should be moderate, at 

 least at the beginning and the termination. The 

 rapid trot, or even the gallop, may be resorted to in 

 the middle of the exercise, but the horse should be 

 brought in cool. There are many other points in 

 stable management I would like to mention, but the 



size of this little volume will not admit of it 



7 



