186 A HUNTING CATECHISM 



Q. How should hunters be treated in the 

 summer-time ? 



A. There are three ways of dealing with 

 them; either to turn them into a loose box for 

 some months, keep them in steady work all 

 through the summer, or put them out to grass. 



Q. What are the arguments for and against 

 these different methods ? 



A. To begin with the first, there are many 

 grave objections to this, and it cannot be recom- 

 mended. If a horse is kept in a loose box for 

 three or four months without any exercise, every 

 muscle and sinew gets so relaxed, it is impossible 

 to have him really fit before the end of the 

 hunting season. It must be remembered that the 

 heart and lungs are muscular, and they share in 

 the general relaxation. In ordinary hunting it 

 is not possible to define with exactness how 

 much a horse may have degenerated, or come on, 

 but with a racehorse this is comparatively easy 

 with the assistance of trials. A horse kept for four 

 months in a loose box would be fully six months 

 before he would be fit to race with success ; and 

 would much more likely require a whole year 

 before he was at the top of his form again. So 

 much fat accumulates about the heart and 

 kidneys, in such a prolonged state of idleness, 

 that the process of getting rid of this must be 

 very gradually attempted, or serious mischief 

 may ensue. In addition to this the tendons are 

 in a relaxed state, and are in danger of being 

 strained ; and however careful the attendant may 

 be, the horse is certain to jump about and lark, 

 when he first begins work, from joy at being 

 released from his long confinement. 



