194 TRAINING AND RACING. 



" turn of speed." This fact is probably to be accounted 

 for by the higher development of their nervous system. 

 When a horse is restricted for some time to slow gallops, 

 his style, however good it may have been originally, 

 will gradually accommodate itself to this pace, and 

 will, in course of time, become permanently altered, 

 or take a long period to recover. The reason for this 

 is that the muscles which are called into play, obeying 

 a beneficent law of nature, gradually acquire the style 

 of action which will enable them to perform their 

 accustomed task with the least possible exertion to 

 themselves. Thus, when they have become habituated to 

 a slow gallop, they will be unable to act at a fast pace 

 to the best advantage, simply because they are unused 

 to it. 



This law is well proved by the fact that training 

 horses for long distances has a very prejudicial effect on 

 their speed for short races. 



Most men, who have sparred much, know how slow 

 the use of dumb-bells makes them. 



Galloping on heavy ground, and carrying heavy 

 weights, naturally follow the same law as slow work 

 does in spoiling the speed of a horse. 



We have a very instructive instance of the same thing 

 afforded us by the use of heavy clothing in galloping 

 work, whether for ordinary exercise, or for sweating 

 horses. 



We may safely conclude that a horse should very rarely 

 be fully " extended " over a distance equal to that of the 

 race for which he is being trained, and only then 

 towards the latter end of his preparation. " Getting the 



