ON PHYSIC. 139 



the horse somethnes gets abused, that is, he becomes 

 stale, and below his mark. He appears jaded in him- 

 self, and if brought out in this state to post, he will be 

 seen, when running, to go stiff and short in his stride. 

 It requires a jockey to be almost constantly persever- 

 ing with such a horse ; and however severely he may 

 get at him in the running, he cannot succeed in mak- 

 ing him run in the same form as when fresh. The 

 manner of refreshing such horses in training as may 

 have become stale from the above causes must vary 

 according to circumstances. When there can be 

 plenty of time allowed for the purpose, the most effec- 

 tual way of doing it is by laying them by in loose 

 places, giving them rest, with green meat and physic. 

 Any that may be thus treated, which are standing 

 in stalls, will require gentle exercise to keep them in 

 health. Now, to refresh a horse effectually by these 

 means, (green meat, physic, and rest), which are cer- 

 tainly the best for his constitution, would take a month 

 or six weeks, which is more time than can be allowed 

 for a country plate horse to lay by in the summer; 

 as, during such a period, he would miss running per- 

 haps at two or three of the principal meetings, a thing 

 which the trainer wishes to avoid. Therefore, to re- 

 fresh his horse with as little delay as possible, he must 

 almost solely rely on the use of physic. If it should 

 happen on the circuit which a horse may be travelling, 

 that the meetings follow each other so quick in suc- 

 cession as not to allow of sufficient time to administer 

 physic to him, so as afterwards to recover from its 



