Book VII. MANAGEMENT OF RACE HORSES. 1007 



raised. Then take a round brush, made of bristles, and dress him all over, both head, body, and legs to 

 the very fetlocks, always cleansing the brush from that dust which it gathers, bv rubbing' it upon the 

 currycomb. After that, take a hair-cloth, and rub him again all over very hard, both to take away the 

 loose hairs, and to help to lay his coat ; then wash your hands in fair water, and rub him all over with wet 

 hands, as well head as body ; for that will cleanse away all those hairs and dust the hair-cloth left. Lastly 

 lake a clean cloth, and rub him all over till he be very dry ; for that will make his coat smooth and clean! 

 Then take another hair-cloth for you should have two, one for his body and another for his legs), and rub 

 all his legs exceedingly well, from the knees and hocks downwards to his very hoof, picking and dress- 

 ing them very carefully about the fetlocks from gravel and dust, which will lie in the bending of his 

 joints. 



6709. The curry-comb should not be too sharp, or. at least, not used in a rude and severe manner, so as 

 to be an object of torture and dread, instead of delight and gratification to the horse. It is too often the 

 fate of thin-skinned horses to suffer much from the brutality of heavy-handed and ignorant fellows, who 

 do not recollect that the unhappy animal is suffering, every time he writhes and attempts to escape from 

 the comb or brush, the same tortures that they themselves experience when tickled on the soles oi 

 their feet. 



6710 The care of the legs and feet forms a most important branch of stable discipline. The legs must 

 be kept perfectly dry and clean. Dirt suffered to form a lodgment, or wet remaining upon the legs in cold 

 weather, will fret the skin, and cause cracked heels, grease, mallenriers and sellenders, rat's-tail, crown, 

 scab, and such a train of stable plagues, as may baffle the most vigorous efforts during a whole winter. 

 If any disposition to swellings, cracks, &c. make their appearance on the legs, particularly in winter, mode- 

 rate bandaging, which every good groom knows how to perform, will contribute to remove the evil ; if it, 

 however, increase, have recourse to the veterinary directions. It forms a part of the constant attention 

 of a good horse-keeper to see that the feet of his horses be well cleansed beneath the shoe with the picker 

 from all small stones or gravel, at every return from abroad. The shoes must be examined, that their 

 ends do not press into the crust, and that the nails be fast, and that the clinches do not rise to cut the 

 horse. In these cases, instant application must be made to the farrier : horses ought by no means to 

 remain in old shoes until the toe is worn away, or the webs become so thin that there is danger of their 

 breaking, unless in case of brittle hoofs, when it is an object to shoe as seldom as possible. Upon the 

 average, good shoes will wear near a month. Steeling the toes is, in general, a useful practice, but less 

 necessary when the best iron is made use of. Where any tendency to dry hoofs exists, the feet should be 

 stopped with equal parts of clay, cow-dung, and chamberlye every night ; otherwise, twice or three times 

 a week will be sufficient A still better stopping is made by adding a little tar to the other matters. It is 

 also prudent, when the hoofs have any tendency to hardness and contraction, to water the front part oi 

 the stall a little ; and also occasionally, or constantly, to hang around the hoots an apparatus, made by 

 doubling a circle of woollen cloth over a tape, which should be tied around the fetlocks loosely : the two 

 segments of the cloth will then fold around the hoof, and correspond to it in shape. This may be dipped 

 in water, and will be found very convenient in keeping the feet moist and cool. Very brittle hoofs are 

 greatly benefited by brushing them over with a mixture of whale oil and tar. It is considered as benefi- 

 cial, in general, to take off the shoes of a horse who is necessitated to stand long in the stable, and who 

 does no work, and to substitute tips ; the growth of the crust and the enlargement of the heels being 

 thereby promoted. 



6711. The care of the furniture and trappings is another part of the duty of a horse-keeper. These are 

 best kept in order by being instantly rubbed clean after use, and placed in a dry situation ; by which 

 method, neither oil nor scouring-paper is often found necessary. Great care should be taken to dry the 

 pads of the saddles after journeys, and never to put a hardened and damp saddle upon the horse's back. 

 The same is also necessary with regard to the body-clothes. The pads of the saddles ought to be kept per- 

 fectly soft, and free from dirt and sweat ; and, after use, should be dried either in the sun or by the fire, 

 and hung in a dry place : tie body-clothes also should be washed much oftener than they generally are, 

 and ever kept perfectly dry, and in a sweet state. 



6712. The exercising of horses is essentially necessary for their health, as it counteracts the effects of the 

 artificial life we force on them. High feeding, heated stables, and unnatural clothing are, particularly 

 the first, counteracted by proper exercise ; and without it, horses become pursive, fat, heavy, and greased ; 

 for, when the secretions do not find themselves natural vents by perspiration, &C, they will find them- 

 selves artificial ones. Exercise keeps down the fat, and it also hardens and condenses the muscles by 

 drawing their fibres nearer together ; it likewise enlarges the muscles. Thus the appearance, as well as 

 the feel, when we handle the flesh of a horse in condition by proper exercise, is totally different from 

 those of one merely full of flesh by fat, &c. Exercise increases the wind by taking up the useless fat, and 

 by accustoming the lungs to expand themselves. 



6713. The quantity of exercise necessary for a horse must be regulated by a variety of circumstances; as 

 age, constitution, condition, and his ordinary work. A young horse requires more exercise than an old 

 one, but it should be neither very long, nor very fatiguing. Some colts are observed to come out of the 

 breaker's hands with splints and spavins, owing to the severe exercise they have undergone. When horses 

 are in general work, a little walking exercise in the morning in body-clothes, if the condition be very high, 

 or the weather be very cold, is all that is necessary : but, on days when their common work is not expected 

 to occur, a full-fed horse should be exercised twice a day, an hour at each time ; or, if only once a day, 

 then an hour and a half or two hours' exercise should be given ; two thirds of which ought to be passed 

 in walking ; the other should be passed in a moderate trot in the hackney, and divided into galloping 

 and trotting in the hunter. The racer has his regular gallops at stated periods ; but the exercise of 

 each should always finish with a walk of sufficient length, to bring the horse in cool, both in person and 

 temper. 



Sf.ct. XVI. Management and Working of Horses. 



6714. The working of horses includes the racing, hunting, and journeying of saddle horses ; and the 

 treatment in harness of coach, waggon, cart and farm horses. 



Subsect. 1. Management and Working of Race Horses. 



6715. In the managing and working of race horses, three things are to be considered, the preparation oi 

 the horse, the conduct of the rider, and the after-treatment of the horse. The preparation of a race horse 

 for running a race is not the work of a few days, if there be any great dependence on the success. A 

 month at least is required to harden his muscles in training, by proper food and exercise, and to refine 

 his wind, by clearing his body to that degree of perfection that is attainable by art. It is first necessary to 

 ascertain correctly the present state of the horse, as whether he be low or high in flesh ; and in either 

 case a proper estimate should be formed of the time and means required to bring him into true running 

 condition. 



6716. If a race horse be low in flesh, it is necessary to judge of the cause of such state, and to act 

 accordingly, the necessary proceedings for which were detailed in treating of condition. (64'25.) It is 

 to be remarked, that spices are less to be depended on for this purpose than generous food, as malt 

 mashes ; and if any thing of the kind be used, let it be the simple cordial ball. {Vet. Pharm. 6568.) Feed 

 frequently, and bv little at a time: while he is thus low, let his exercise be walking only, and by no means 

 span his water, or he will become hide-bound : carefully watch him, that lull feeding may not disagree 



