CONDITIONING.] 



THE HOESE, AND 



[conditioning. 



to take cold ; therefore, hoods and fillet-cloths 

 nriv be dispensed with ; but we think it highly 

 necessaiy that each horse should have two 

 cloths — one for exercise, which will occasionally 

 be brought home wet and dirty ; the other for 

 putting on in the stable. The cloths should be 

 occasionally scoured ; and the exercising cloth, 

 as often as it gets damp by rain, sweat, or dirt, 

 carefully dried. 



On the days for giving the horses sweating 

 exercise, which may be on Tuesdays and Satur- 

 days, or any other days equally distant, contrive 

 that the sweats may be given as contiguous to 

 liome as possible, particularly if the air is thin 

 and piercing. The object of this is to enable 

 vou to get home in good time for the purpose 

 of scraping and rubbing them dry. When a 

 horse is in a thorough sweat, and a chilling air 

 penetrating under a wet cloth, he is almost 

 sure to take cold, cough, &c. ; therefore, the 

 stable or rubbing-house should be conveniently 

 at hand to prevent such a circumstance from 

 occurring. 



After having walked the animal for about an 

 hour, bring him to the place where it is in- 

 tended to gallop him, and begin very mode- 

 rately, gradually increasing his speed till it 

 attains to half or three-quarters, if he is 

 hard to sweat. Continue him at that rate 

 until he is in a proper perspiration, which will 

 be sooner or later, according to his state. If 

 he is fleshy and foggy, he will perspire soon, and 

 his wind will be distressed. In this case, he 

 must be galloped the slower, not to distress 

 his wind, but to make him sweat, which will 

 reduce his fat, and bring him into wind as that 

 diminishes. If tlie horse is in good wind, and 

 hard to sweat, his condition is improving, and 

 stronger gallops may be given him without 

 injury. The object and intention of these 

 sweats are, to those that are in wind, to keep 

 them so ; and to those that are not in wind, 

 by strong exercise, to get them into that desir- 

 able condition, by reducing all grossness arising 

 from too much fat. The exercise, likewise, 

 cleanses the coat, and makes it sleek and soft ; 

 for the imperceptible perspiration continually 

 going on, adheres so closely to the roots of the 

 hair or coat, that it is not easily got out ; but 

 these profuse sweatings bring it away, when, 

 if the coat is-well dressed after a good sweat- 

 ing, it becomes much finer. 

 122 



The condition of the "havae is to be dis- 

 covered and judged of by his sweating. If he 

 perspires soon, and puts on the appearance of 

 soap lather, he is then what is called foggy, 

 and must have strong exercise to carry it ofl'. 

 If he requires strong exercise to bring him to 

 a sweat, and the sweat is clear like water, and 

 dries soon, he is then in good condition, and 

 fit for immediate work ; but if he perspires 

 profusely with little exertion, and it is thin, 

 though like water, and he is a long time 

 drying, it shows a weak, faint habit of body. 

 Indeed, we may call it a bad constitution, that 

 will not bear much work, especially as a 

 hunter. Some horses sweat more profusely 

 than others. This, however, is not always to 

 be regarded as weakness, if it proceeds from 

 strong exercise, and soon dries. Constitutions 

 differ in horses as much as in men. 



The horse having had his sweating gallop, 

 should be brought into the stable, and well 

 scraped and rubbed dry, with all possible dis- 

 patch. A clean dry cloth — not the one he has 

 been sweated in — should be put upon him, 

 and should be made clean against its being 

 required again. If he had no water while out, 

 give him some after he is perfectly cool and 

 comfortable; and if the weather is cold, 

 the chill should be taken off, but it need not 

 be made warm. Water that has stood several 

 hours in a warm stable, is sufficiently chilled, 

 and may be given ; or, after rubbing him, 

 he may be walked about, and v.-ater given, and 

 a gentle gallop taken, to warm him, but not to 

 heat him. Then he should be brought home. 



A horse treated in this manner will, in three 

 or four. weeks, after having been through his 

 physic, be fit for hunting, if proper regard is 

 paid to his feeding. His food should be of 

 the best and cleanest quality, and the quantity 

 should be regulated according to circumstances; 

 such as size, constitution, &c., &c. Having 

 ai-rived at this stage, the daily exercise of the 

 horse will now be, on the average, not less than 

 twenty miles a day. With this exercise, the 

 quantity he eats will not hurt him, if he does 

 not get too fat; for the hunter must have 

 plenty of good feed, but must not be bur- 

 thened with flesh. If he feeds heartily, he 

 must have strong exercise to keep his flesh 

 down. If inclined to run to belly and be fat, 

 he must be stinted proportionably, or occa- 



