202 KINGSCLERE 



as to whether the two-year-old is to be trained at all, 

 and secondly, if he is to run, as to the most suitable 

 time for him to face the starter. It goes without 

 saying that some horses come to running maturity 

 sooner than others. I once more repeat the warn- 

 ing, never on any consideration use the forcing 

 process. To steadfastly avoid it will pay in the long- 

 run, as in all probability the backward two-year-old 

 that has shown some rough promise will develop 

 into one of the best of the following year. On the 

 other hand, with regard to failures. If you have 

 got your horse thoroughly fit and find him " bad," 

 get rid of him at once. 



1 Having prepared the horse and got him ready 

 for his engagements, he has now to leave home to 

 fulfil the first of these, and new risks arise. To 

 begin with, he has to go through the novel ex- 

 perience of riding in a horse-box. In the old time 

 — long after the period of Lord George Bentinck's 

 road-vanning of Elis to Doncaster, there is no 

 occasion to go so far back as that — a thoroughbred 

 was vanned to the nearest railway station, and the 

 carriage placed upon a truck. I need not observe 

 that the present form of horse-box is far preferable 

 to that kind of conveyance. I recollect instances of 

 the van's being attached to the tail-end of the train, 

 when, owing to the oscillation, the horse was kept 

 swaying about, as bad as if he had been in a storm 

 at sea. Of course the horse is exposed to the perils 

 which attend all railway travelling, and is occasion- 

 ally a victim. This was illustrated in the case of 



