CONDITIONING.] MODERN VETERINAET PRACTICE. [conditionino. 



before directed, and take liim out to exercise ; 

 after which, take linseed meal, two ounces, 

 glauber salt, two ounces, warm water, three 

 pints ; give this drink the moment he comes 

 in from exercise, and in the course of two days 

 the horse will be lit for work again. Keep 

 giving hira sufficient exercise to take off that 

 stiftuess which naturally occurs Irom extra- 

 ordinary exertion ; and the fresh air will greatly 

 contribute to recover his lost appetite. 



Though we term this walking exercise, we 

 do not mean that you are not to exceed a 

 walk the whole time you are out. What we 

 mean is to give the animal such exercise as 

 will put the blood in free circulation without 

 overheating it. A gentle gallop, therefore, 

 may be given him for a short distance, but not 

 such as will cause him to break out in a sweat, 

 particularly after giving water : gallop by way 

 of warming it. Choose the airiest place for 

 exercise, such as open downs, or high and dry 

 grounds ; and when you return to stable, the 

 horse, if he has not been very sick indeed, will 

 have found his appetite. 



Horses that become weary, and sicken at a 

 day's hunt — which may be the case with even 

 good animals, at the commencement of the 

 season, or young horses, till they get properly 

 seasoned to their work — will require some days 

 to recover before they are fit to hunt again. 

 A week's respite may be necessary with some ; 

 others will recover in half the time. The 

 sooner the horse comes to his appetite, the 

 sooner he will be fit for labour, provided he 

 has not been nursed with warm mashes and 

 comfortable drinlcs, as tliey are termed, which 

 have a tendency to relax and open the body, 

 and should only be given when he is in reality 

 ill; but loss of appetite from over-fatigue only 

 requires rest to be restored ; therefore, avoid 

 all the nostrums of the stable; which we are 

 sorry, in too many instances, abound. 



With regard to heat, or inflammation from 

 the saddle or girths, washing the parts with 

 goulard, is, perhaps, the best thing that can 

 be done ; and to the legs, if hot and swollen 

 with fatigue, is the best repellant and cooler, 

 and should be always kept ready at hand for 

 such occasions. To prepare it, get a quart 

 bottle, and take — extract of lead, 4 dracinus ; 

 water sufficient to fill the bottle. The stable 

 Ehould never be without this lotion. It is 



cheap, efficacious, and ought always to bo at 

 hand. Washing the logs— whicli may have re- 

 ceived scratches, &c., in hunting— with it, will 

 heal them quicker than any otlier application. 



Tiio feet are likewise to bo attended to at 

 all times. On the horse's return home, all 

 road-dirt, or gravel, should be carefully picked 

 out ; and particular care should be taken that 

 no gravel is lodged under the shoe at the heels 

 and quarters, as by such lodgment, corn may 

 be produced, with all its natural consequences 

 of tenderness and lameness. AVhen the legs 

 are washed with warm water to cool and 

 refresh them, it will, at the same time, be well 

 to relieve with it the feet, whicli must have un- 

 dergone a considerable quantity of labour. 

 AVater is very beneficial to the feet, which are 

 less injured by travelling on wet roads than on 

 dry ones ; and the hoof at grass, being con- 

 tinually wet with the dew and moist ground, 

 is in a better state than when kept in the 

 stable. The casual wet met with in exercise 

 on the roads, or the moisture of the turf or 

 grass, where exercise is given, will contribute 

 to preserve the feet from the injurj"- which 

 continually standing in a hot and dry stable 

 occasions. It is, perhaps, not too much to 

 say, that one -half of the pleasure-horses kept 

 in London, incur lameness, and are ruined by 

 standing so much in the stable. 



Training the hunter is a simple process, all 

 that is required being to bring him into good 

 wind, without, at the same time, reducing him 

 too low in fi-esh, or injuring his sinews ; since, 

 on a long chase, more especially over a heavy 

 country, a horse needs the aid of his fuL 

 bodily strength, and of his unimpaired tendi- 

 nous and muscular powers. It is extremely 

 dangerous to ride over the country, a horse 

 which is weak in his joints, or has the commou 

 hurt in his back sinews; but the danger is 

 tenfold in taking a flying leap upon such an 

 animal where the opposite descent is con- 

 siderable, and the stress upon his lower limbs 

 in his landing, with a heavy weight upon his 

 back, must be excessive. Training must com- 

 mence with two or three doses of physic should 

 the horse be gross, and not have been pre- 

 viously trained. A young horse, in his first 

 training, will require most work; but it is 

 better rather to under-do than exceed in this, 

 because if a horse come into the field rather 



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