MISCELLANE US. 



12 7 



HINTS TO A GENTLEMAN TRAVELING WITH HIS OWN 

 HORSES. 



If you have a five hundred mile journey before you, by 

 all means take your own groom, as you can only rely on 

 country hostlers to feed and water. Supposing the season 

 to be summer, time it, if you can, to have moonlight 

 nights. First, have your horse's shoes attended to a few 

 days before starting, if new ones are required his feet 

 will have become used to them before starting; if the old 

 ones are good, have them removed only. Be ready to 

 start at four in the morning, and feed before starting only 

 two quarts of oats to each horse; take your own cleaning 

 tools, all, including bucket, to enable you to wash 

 mouth and water at little rivulets, as you meet them. Do 

 not drive over five miles an hour for the first four hours, that 

 will take you twenty miles to breakfast. That being in 

 progress of cooking, have your horses stripped, and lead 

 on to a greensward; after eating five minutes, they will 

 want to roll ; let them do it to their heart's content. 

 Now put in stable, wisp off and straighten hair with cards, 

 and give them each two pounds of hay; have legs hand- 

 rubbed whilst eating this. Now they may be watered and 

 fed four quarts of oats, bed well, and shut up stable ; make 

 it as dark as possible, to keep out flies. After eating, if 

 not disturbed, they will lie down and rest until nearly 

 noon; then feed ten quarts of oats to each and water, 

 and make your arrangements to be off at three P.M. In 

 the afternoon's drive, in fact in all the drives, average 

 the time or distance in the time, five miles an hour, but 

 do not let it be done by steady jogging, wake your 

 horses up now and then, and drive half a mile at a ten 

 mile an hour gait ; then go back to a three mile or walk. 

 Change their speed every now and then for their relief, 



