Vlll INTRODUCTION. 



men's races as I have already mentioned. When my 

 master's horses were thus engaged, the training of them 

 was entrusted to me ; and at times, on the same 

 ground with other horses with which they had to come 

 to post. It was, therefore, natural to suppose, that 

 when out at exercise, I should quietly make my ob- 

 servations on the treatment of horses which were to be 

 opposed to those under my care. Having so recently 

 left the stables, in which the practical details of train- 

 ing horses were at all times most strictly observed by 

 the grooms, whose orders were daily to be put into 

 practice by the different stable boys ; and having been 

 employed for several years in executing such orders, 

 I had not forgotten how horses were to be treated 

 when in training ; and from the w^ay in which I now 

 saw many hunting and saddle-horse grooms working 

 their horses when at exercise, I was quite satisfied that 

 they were far from being well qualified for the task of 

 getting them into racing condition. 



Meeting these men every day at morning and even- 

 ing exercise, I became known to some of them. They 

 confessed that they were unacquainted with the system 

 of training horses to run, and they invited me to go 

 with them to their stables. I visited two or three of 

 these stables at different stable hours, and from the 

 observations I there made, I will do these grooms the 

 justice to say, that nothing could exceed their diligence 

 and attention to the horses in dressing them, &c. and 

 in other respects ; their fault indeed was excess. They 

 appeared equally zealous in endeavouring to make their 



