UH ON TRAINING GROUNDS. 



modevately soft and cool, and every length of gallop 

 necessary for horses to take, can be had in them; and 

 by the boys being directed to lay a little out of their 

 ground either to the right or left, they may finish the 

 gallop with whatever rise the training groom may think 

 proper. It would be unnecessary to point out the 

 advantages of such bottoms as these, were it not that 

 I am writing rather for the information of those of 

 my readers who may be inexperienced on this sub- 

 ject, than for those who are in high practice of training 

 horses. 



Such bottoms as I have just mentioned, are very 

 desirable for w^orking horses in the height of summer, 

 as there is great risk of injuring the legs and feet of 

 craving horses, in getting the pace and length into 

 them on hard ground. 



Too much care cannot be taken in the choice of 

 ground for such horses to work upon. In the early 

 part of spring, after much wet, the vales of these 

 downs may be too soft; when this is the case, the 

 horses may gradually ascend the sides of the hills, or 

 if the wind is not too high, they may go along the 

 tops of them, where the ground is found to be very 

 firm and good, however wet the season of the year 

 may be. From the great extent of these downs, there 

 is a variety of excellent ground for horses to sweat 

 over. They can sweat here any length, with every 

 variety of ground a trainer can possibly desire. Long 

 or short gradual rises to teach a horse how to stride in 

 or get up a hill, can be had, as well as long ascending 



