MORNING WORK. 209 



sound state of health, and his muscles should be well 

 developed by quiet, slow work and hacking. 



If practicable, gallop only in the morning, and get the 

 horses back early to their stables, not later, during the 

 cold weather, than eight o'clock. Apart from the fact 

 that evening work, by exciting a horse, is apt to prevent 

 him from having a good night's rest, we should remem- 

 ber that the ground, on account of the presence of the 

 dew, is softest in the early mornings. 



I think, however, it is a mistake, as some do, to gallop 

 horses too early in the morning when it is all but dark, for, 

 by this practice, accidents are liable to occur, especially 

 from horses putting their feet into holes, that are made by 

 rats, which rodents burrow very rapidly on many of our 

 Indian courses. Besides this, too early rising deprives 

 horses of a part of their valuable night's rest. I am 

 rather inclined to think that this practice is apt to make 

 horses " go higher " in their gallop, than they would do, 

 were they worked at a time when they could clearly see 

 where they were going. 



Never work horses twice in a day here we do not 

 take into account their evening walk however back- 

 ward their condition may be. 



Do not gallop them until they have walked for at least 

 an hour, and cleared themselves out. 



When training for a Monsoon Meeting, it is often 

 desirable to gallop one's horses in the evening instead 

 of the morning, for flies, which are fearfully annoying 

 during the rains, are much less so in the former than in 

 the latter time. Besides this, if the course be far from 

 the stable, the horses can rarely return before the morn- 



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