DURING THi: WINTER MONTHS. 69 



him perfectly loose; and in walking away from 

 him he strips the hood off his quarters; he then 

 goes out, and safely locks the stable-door, leaving 

 his horse to enjoy himself until the next stable- 

 hour, when he is watered, dressed, and fed as at 

 noon-day, and at the same time the other horses 

 are that stand in the stall stables. 



Unless the horses in boxes, as well as those in 

 stall stables, are properly attended to during 

 the winter, it is not to be expected that they 

 will be in a fit state to go into training early in 

 the spring. These are my reasons for entering 

 so minutely into the practical detailed account 

 of how such horses should be attended to, while 

 they are standing during the winter months in 

 loose boxes, as have to go out daily to exercise at 

 the same time with other horses standing in the 

 stall stables. 



There is a method of wintering a horse in a 

 loose place, which is to be had recourse to with 

 such gluttonous horses as may, as we have already 

 noticed, from the repeated races in which they 

 have been engaged, have met with more than 

 common abuse; such horses, on arriving in au- 

 tumn at the home stables, require some little 

 preparing before they are turned into the loose 



