ON PHYSIC. 117 



dage, as it is better adapted to ward off blows, and to 

 prevent a similar accident from again occurring. 



We have been some time on the subject of this bad 

 leg, with a view to shew the necessity there is for ad- 

 ministering physic for relief, and also to shew how 

 necessary it is to give physic, to prevent so craving 

 a horse as we have described from getting too lusty 

 when laying by. But this physic has another advan- 

 tage which has not yet been mentioned, — that of tak- 

 ing the staleness out of the horse, from the strong 

 work he has for some time been doing ; and it is pre- 

 cisely what the groom must have done with him, at or 

 about the time I have made choice of, whether he had 

 fallen amiss in his leg or not ; and this is what is ge- 

 nerally called the commmencement of a second pre- 

 paration, and is highly necessary at certain periods, 

 in the training of race-horses which have been a long 

 time in strong work. Now, had such a race-horse as 

 we have alluded to, been allowed to lay by for the 

 recovery of his leg, as a horse in common use may 

 have been permitted to do, he would, without physic, 

 have become so very lusty, as to put it quite out of 

 the power of any training groom to have brought him 

 to post, within the time I have mentioned. Were such 

 a thing to be attempted, I suppose it would be done, 

 by first giving the horse a dose of physic, and then 

 putting him into strong and rapid work ; but be this 

 as it may, he never could be brought to post in such form 

 as to enable him to compete with horses which may 

 have been allowed a proper time to train. 



