90 THE COMPLETE HORSEMAN 



season ends. Then give him a few weeks' rest. 

 After that hunt him to the middle of February 

 when he may be given a week or two's rest before 

 beginning to get him into order for showing. Of 

 course the danger in hunting a show horse is that 

 he may get some ' trade marks/ or even chance 

 to lame himself ; and ' trade marks ' are not so 

 leniently regarded by twentieth-century judges as 

 they were by their predecessors. There is how- 

 ever nothing to be got without risk, and there 

 is compensation for the risk run in hunting show 

 horses in the fact that the horse that has won 

 prizes in good company and that has also got the 

 reputation of being a good hunter is very easy to 

 sell at his full value. But it should be needless 

 to say that the show hunter must be very steadily 

 ridden if he is hunted, and that he must be ridden 

 by a man who knows when to go home. 



When a horse is put into training for showing 

 he needs a lot of slow work and he should cer- 

 tainly be taken out twice a day if that is possible. 

 A gross horse requires very careful management. 

 Frequently at the ringside one hears the remark 

 that " such a horse is ten stone too heavy.'* 

 This is of course guesswork ; but a very fat 

 horse is at a great disadvantage, and requires 

 careful management both in his feeding and 

 in his work. Bulky food should be given in 

 more limited quantities than to a moderate 

 ' doer,' and even his supply of more stimulating 

 food may be shortened with advantage, care 

 being taken all the time that he is always kept 



