THE HORSE. 101 



understood that the demand for race- 

 horses, or more properly subjects for the 

 sramblmo^ table, has been o-reat and the 

 supply greater ; that men breed horses to 

 gallop them into or sometimes out of a 

 fortune. The immediate lust for gain 

 prompts them to abuse their young 

 horses before their bones are thoroughly 

 cemented, before the tissues of their 

 bodies are half developed. At two years 

 old they compel them to race with a 

 weight on a back that ought not to carry 

 any. And this, we are asked to believe, is Does the 



racing of 



done with a view to improve the breeds ^^es'tend 

 of horses ; and this false system will con- provement*? 

 tinue to flourish so long as two year old 

 races and half mile courses are tolerated. 

 The first step towards the improve- 

 ment of our horses lies in the discontinu- 



