54 CONDITION OF HORSES. 



GETTING A HORSE INTO CONDITION. 



Turning a horse out to grass is like taking an alderman 

 from his customary diet to place him on pauper food. All 

 the evil we should expect in the one case we see in the 

 other : the belly enlarged ; the body swells ; the skin be- 

 comes hard, coarse, or stares. All these signs announce 

 the lowering of the system, but, if any further proof be re- 

 quired, the weakness of the animal is shown when it is 

 either ridden or driven. It very soon becomes covered with 

 a lather, as it is termed, in contradistinction to a natural 

 sweat. 



The straw-yard is not much better. If the horse be not 

 debilitated by innutritions food, in these places he usually 

 suffers from semi -starvation. The entire system is bad, and 

 requires to be changed. 



But, when a horse is taken up from grass he ought to be 

 put into as cool a stable as possible ; no clothing at first is re- 

 quired ; a pail of water, kept constantly full, should be placed 

 in his manger ; his food should consist of oats mingled with 

 bran ; two bran-mashes daily for the first week ; then one for 

 the next week ; no hay should be allowed at first, but carrots, 

 cut small and mixed with bran, ought to be placed in the 

 manger. On the following week a portion of moistened 

 hay may be allowed, and some of the carrots withdrawn ; 

 more oats may be given, and a bran-mash withheld ; some 

 covering at night should also be allowed, minding, however, 

 that it is thin at first, and gradually increased. All the 

 while the grooming should be double the usual quantity : 

 the horse may, with advantage, be dressed night and morn- 

 ing ; at first gently, then with the utmost strength, using 

 the curry-comb as freely as the animal can endure it. 

 Plenty of exercise at the same time is essential, starting 

 with a walk, and as the horse improves, augmenting it into 

 a trot, and even a gallop ; but nothing like a sweat under a 

 pile of clothing should be admitted. The horse that cannot, 

 by the gentler means, be got into condition is not worthy of 

 the trouble which the process necessitates. Not a particle 

 of physic of any kind, unless the animal be really diseased, 

 should be given, under the notion of getting up the belly, 

 and reducing the flesh. It is not flesh it is desired to 



