DIEECTIOXS FOE WALKING. 137 



will be the shortest time to which we will limit ourselves. 

 We will divide the preparation into three stages the first 

 occupied with easy work; the second, somewhat faster, 

 called jogging; and the third, calling at stated intervals 

 for as high a rate of continued speed as the animal is 

 capable of showing. In these three divisions, or stages 

 of preparation, we will have to vary the feed as well as 

 the amount of work. They are now eating, on an average, 

 eight quarts of oats each, with as much hay as can be 

 eaten heartily. As we proceed, we will not only have to 

 increase the amount of oats, but will have to add hominy 

 or corn, which my experience has taught me as being 

 needful to keep up the stamina of a horse, called on for 

 severe muscular exertion. The first stage will now merit 

 all our attention, and the plan we will adopt will be the 

 following : At five o'clock, we will expect the boys to 

 open the stable, give the horses a few swallows of water, 

 and their first feed, two quarts of oats. When eating this, 

 the bed to be shaken up, and all soiled portions and drop- 

 pings thrown out. After this is done, a careful light dress- 

 ing, when the clothes are replaced, and the boys go to 

 their breakfast, having tied the horses' heads up, so that 

 they cannot reach the litter. The breakfast finished, the 

 string will go to the walking ground at seven o'clock, 

 where they will walk at an easy, natural pace till half- 

 past nine. They must be kept some little distance apart, 

 and when one stops to empty, the others must wait till he 

 moves. When brought to the stable, a light brushing and 

 whisping is gone through with, a bucketful of watei 

 given, two more quarts of oats, and four or five pounds 

 of hay. The litter forming the bed is arranged, the stable 

 locked up, and they are left undisturbed till three o'clock, 

 when the next feeding time comes. This feed consists of 

 three pints of oats, followed by a little water, after which 

 they walk for an hour and a half, return to the stable, are 



