HORSES AND CHILDREN AT SCHOOL. 99 



9 



for looking fat and being so are quite different things. 

 We cannot look into a horse's inside ; but his state at 

 the end of his gallop will tell what is or what is not 

 there. Too much of human flesh on a horse's back is 

 bad enough ; too much horse-flesh on his body is 

 worse : but horse fat on his inside puts him outside of 

 even a chance 'for a race ; and unless we wish to put 

 him under the turf, in such a state we had better not 

 attempt to let him run over it. 



That there are advantages as well as disadvantages 

 attending horses standing in public training stables in 

 lieu of private ones, we all know. I am not now in- 

 tending to enumerate either ; but I must make a pas- 

 sing remark or two on the subject ; and though this 

 has nothing to do with "the effect of weight on 

 horses," it has with other things that affect them quite 

 as much. 



I have always considered a horse away from his 

 owner and in a public training stable to be situated 

 very much like a child placed at school ; with this 

 exception, that, to do trainers of race-horses jus- 

 tice, I really consider that their pupils generally are 

 much better off than the pupils of school trainers. 

 In the first place, young race-horses with very few 

 exceptions get the very best of food at every feed, and 

 plenty of it ; the young gentlemen (or indeed ladies) 

 with very few exceptions get just the reverse. If the 

 racing pupil is a little out of sorts, no variety of 

 nourishment is grudged, however expensive, to tempt 

 his flagging appetite: in school training establish- 

 ments, if their pupil is amiss, water-gruel diet is 

 universally resorted to as a remedy: it keeps off 

 fever ; so it does the beef and mutton. It is very 

 singular that water-gruel should be required for all 



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