TRAINERS 17 



knowing it to be in perfect condition and believing 

 that it could not lose, had, in the opinion of the critic, 

 evidently been galloped to death, could obviously 

 from its appearance have had no chance, had doubtless 

 left the race on its training ground; "but if trainers 

 will try their horses every other day, they must 

 expect," &c., &c., with a hint to conclude with — not 

 impossibly the critic had lost money on the horse — 

 that it may not have been the animal's "day out," 

 it may do better later on ; a suggestion, in fact, that 

 it was not trying. A grumbling letter from his em- 

 ployer, an intimation that the only light-weight jockey 

 who could "get out" a troublesome horse, a lad he 

 supposed he had definitely engaged, will not be able 

 to ride ; and the bad news that his best foal had 

 been kicked and had her leg broken — a filly that 

 would have been worth a handsome price for the 

 paddocks if she never won a race — make up a 

 companion picture which is very often the truer one 

 of the two. 



Much more of the trainer's business is done in 

 the stable than the outsider would suppose. He must, 

 if he does his work thoroughly, study and get to 

 understand the peculiarities of every horse under his 

 charge. So many feeds a day, consisting of so much 

 hay and oats, will not satisfy requirements ; in certain 

 cases food must be varied if the best results are to be 

 obtained, and there are many examples of horses that 

 have not done well on ordinary diet thriving on very 



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