BENEFITS OF GRAZING. 201 



fine, have worked them more on the track than you re- 

 commended, it being more convenient and occupying less 

 time than when going on the road. None of them have 

 given me any trouble, all eating and drinking heartily. I 

 increased their feed a little, and have also added an ear 

 of corn to their evening meal. Clipper has had a run 

 every day to get quite a bite of grass, and the others have 

 been allowed to graze a little twice a week. 



PEECEPTOE. A very good idea, which I like better than 

 giving so many bran mashes. Both keep the bowels 

 open ; the bran irritating the mucous membrane of the 

 stomach, causing a greater flow of the gastric juices, while 

 the grass effects the same object in a milder manner. 

 English trainers lay great stress on keeping their horses 

 full of "good hard meat," which probably in their climate 

 is essential to bring them into proper condition. That 

 they understand the art is undeniable, as the appearance 

 and performances of their horses prove. Our hotter and 

 drier climate requires changes. Nearly all of our trainers 

 practice giving at intervals small quantities of succulent 

 food ; grass and green corn blades being in general use. 

 Van Leer, who trained Peytona, Liatunah, Saartain, &c., 

 practiced taking his horses out of the stable at unseason- 

 able hours often in the night to graze. He was suc- 

 cessful, the benefit of the grass being greater than the ills 

 resulting from breaking in on their rest. The question 

 of green food, mashes, etc., we will talk about when we 

 have more time. The morning is wearing away. Get 

 your colts out, and let me see them move. 



PUPIL. We will commence with the oldest, the same as 

 in my younger days, when the sulphur and treacle were 

 dosed out in the spring, and all the children, comprising 

 a large family, were placed in a row, none escaping their 

 share of the compound. I will jog May twice around; and 

 let her step up and down the stretch at her best gait. I 



