352 ANNALS OF THE ROAD. 



from six to seven years, provided they are fresh and 

 firm on their legs when brought in. In fast coaches 

 from three to four, or scarcely, I fear, so much. After a 

 hot summer, coach horses are subject to disease, and the 

 month of October is the worst in the year, in conse- 

 quence of its being their moulting season, when all others 

 are supposed to be affected. 



Hunters in the hunting season would not eat the 

 quantity of corn that coach horses do ; for they are 

 feverish after their work, which is not the case with 

 the latter, because they become accustomed to this almost 

 daily excitement. In this respect they resemble our- 

 selves. If a man drinks nothing for a week, and then 

 takes a bottle of port wine, he is feverish, but if he 

 drinks the bottle of wine for six days in succession, he 

 feels no such symptoms on the seventh. Some coach- 

 masters are fond of giving their horses all manger meat, 

 but this will not do, as it often produces indigestion and 

 disease. A certain portion of long hay is necessary for a 

 horse's health. 



It is a most fortunate circumstance for breeders of 

 horses that it does not require a perfectly formed horse 

 to make a good coach horse. Indeed, some of those 

 which the London dealers and job masters sell for such 

 high prices for gentleman's work, are perfect brutes when 

 taken out of harness, and such as no man would ride for 

 the worth of them. The sine qua uoii, the strong and 

 lengthy shoulder, with well-bent hind legs, are not essen- 

 tials here, and a good head and tail, with a little high 

 action, are all that they stand in need of. A very stiff- 



