42 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[chap. 



sponsible for development of new muscle tissue, 

 which is produced partly by new muscle fibres 

 being formed and partly by the enlargement of 

 those already present. 



No portion of the muscular system can con- 

 tinue at exercise indefinitely, because the energy 

 it loses while at work is greater than the energy 

 it receives from the blood ; hence rest is essential. 

 Even the heart rests between each beat ; the 

 period of rest in the heart muscles is about twice 

 as long as the period of work for each ventricle 

 in turn. Rest is necessary to allow the muscle 

 to regain lost energy ; it has also been proved 

 that it eliminates poisons from the system. In 

 fact, fatigue is the result of the formation of 

 poisons in the system. 



167. Breathlessness is due to the blood be- 

 coming overloaded with carbon dioxide, the 

 lungs not being able to excrete it quickly enough. 

 The excess of carbon dioxide is produced by the 

 increased action of the lungs. 



Halliburton says that the poison produced in 

 the blood by fatigue is sarco-lactic acid (CaHeO^). 

 Whatever the poison may be, the best method of 

 removing it is the use of plenty of drinking 

 water. Hence the advantage of watering horses 

 the last thing at night ; this applies also to 

 human beings. 



Every person should drink a tumbler of cold 

 water before retiring to bed. Nature has made 

 animals feel thirsty when the system requires 

 water. The best method of removing the poison 

 in the blood produced by fatigue is to give 

 sodium salicylate ; about half an ounce given in 

 the feed at night will do the horse a great deal 

 more good than giving the usual aloes ball. 

 When a horse is in bad condition, before being 

 put to work it should be given this salt for four 

 or five days, omitting the dose the day previous 

 to work. 



When a horse is fatigued his whole system 

 is fatigued, and therefore his digestive powers 

 will be weakened ; hence he must be fed on 

 more easily digested food and on a lesser quan- 

 tity than usual. 



As in feeding, the essentials in exercising are 

 punctuality and appreciation of the horse's habits 

 and individual peculiarities. Great care must be 

 taken that it is ascertained that the horse is not 

 off its feed before it is taken out to exercise. 



168. Good food, as oats, stimulates the horse 

 to become excitable to motion ; now motion is 

 necessary for the development of the muscles of 

 a young horse, hence the advantage of feeding 

 him at pasture with a little oats every morn- 

 ing. Old horses at rest at pasture do not require 

 oats for this purpose, but may require it if the 

 pasture is very poor. If the horse is unable to 

 be exercised he should have his legs well hand- 

 rubbed for at least ten minutes to each leg. The 

 leg should also be similarly rubbed if swollen 

 from standing too long or from overwork. The 



more fresh air the horse gets and the more he is 

 allowed to live as his ancestors did, the healthier 

 will he be. As said above, the horse requires at 

 least two hours' walking exercise a day ; but if 

 he can have three or even four hours, all the 

 better ; this time is better when divided into 

 two periods. Fresh air is essential for good 

 health. 



The harder work a horse does the more must 

 we try to stimulate the secretions and excretions 

 of poisons ; this is most easily and safely done by 

 stimulating the skin secretions, which is best 

 achieved by resorting to much good grooming. 

 The more work a horse does the more grooming 

 he should get ; this does not mean that an idle 

 horse should not be groomed, because grooming 

 is essential to keep him healthy. 



169. It is best to bandage a horse's legs while 

 being exercised if the ground is hard. Cotton- 

 wool-lined bandages are the best. It has been 

 proved that in order to keep up a horse's speed he 

 must not be allowed to be idle at all ; horses that 

 have been on the race track or turf year after year 

 have made some wonderful records at ages of 

 fifteen years or more, whilst those that have been 

 idle for a few years and then raced again have 

 entirely lost their former speed. It is not, how- 

 ever, necessary to keep the horse at fast work 

 all the time. Racehorses are given several hours 

 of slow work every day, and only one or two 

 sprints a day, and during certain times of the 

 year no fast vi^ork at all. 



170. No good, but much harm, will result 

 from trying to hurry a horse at exercise with the 

 false idea that going over more ground will do 

 him more good. On the contrary a walk, and 

 then a little trot, and then more walking, etc., 

 is the best thing. Hurried exercise will make 

 him thin, tucked up, and perhaps irritable in 

 temper. Exercise should be varied in its form, 

 and different routes should be taken daily. It 

 should be broken up with halts and short graz- 

 ing moments, when the man must dismount and 

 the girths should be slackened. 



Nervous and excitable horses often perspire 

 abnormally ; such horses should be carefully 

 ridden by experienced grooms. Everything 

 should be done to prevent this nervous perspir- 

 ing, as it weakens the horse very much. The 

 example of a well-behaved animal by its side is 

 of great use. The amount a horse perspires 

 while at exercise depends greatly on the weather 

 and humidity of the atmosphere, and horses vary 

 considerably ; but generally the sweat of a 

 healthy horse is thin and only slightly oily, and 

 dries quickly, with less liability of a fresh sweat 

 breaking out. That of a soft, unconditioned 

 horse is thick, oily and lathery, which dries 

 only slowly and frequently breaks out again. 



171. Modern long-distance rides have shown 

 that a horse lasts longer if cantered instead of 

 trotted, as is usually done. The rate of the 



