374 HORSE PORTRAITURE. 



second day after sweating, you can brush the two horses, 

 Never Mind nearly the length of the stretch, and the Fal- 

 con two brushes of a couple of hundred yards each, driving 

 a half mile at a good round pace between them. Should 

 Jane be willing to go quietly at three-quarters speed, you 

 can let her go half a mile at that gait, and if you permit 

 her to brush at all, stop her the moment she appears exci 

 ted. The morning before you give the sweats, you can 

 open them according to the former directions I gave. 

 With all these instructions from me, there will be a 

 great proportion of the work, of which you will have to be 

 the judge when you are giving it. But for the ensuing 

 two weeks, more danger will arise from giving too much 

 fast work than not enough. The slow work can also be 

 overdone as well as the other, and you must examine 

 strictly to see that there is no swelling or heat in any of 

 the joints, or any puffiness above the pasterns or in the 

 hocks. Your horses ought to go to their work in a 

 cheerful spirit, and should one appear dull, shorten his 

 work till you find the amount he will undergo without 

 depression. In all of the fast work you give, it will be 

 preferable that they do not go at their very topmost rate, 

 as I would rather they did not break until they were in 

 condition to stand going quite a distance. Giving horses 

 lessons that will accustom them to make good breaks, is 

 often very tiring and trying to the temper of biped and 

 quadruped, and if the horses are in order to take the 

 work without the injury these will entail, much will be 

 gained. 



I judge by the time I have fixed to visit you again, the 

 horses will bear quite an increase of work, and you can be 

 gradually preparing them for that event, by giving them 

 what you deem necessary, and by enlarging the feed of 

 those that you think will require it. In making additions 

 to the feed, add to the ten o'clock and to the last in the 



