CHAPTEE V. 



MANAGEMENT DURING THE HOT WEATHER. 



IN India the hot weather stops racing in the same 

 manner as the winter does in England. During the 

 months of April, May, and June, in fact until the rains 

 commence, the trainer if he be in the plains should 

 not do more with his horses than to keep them in 

 healthy exercise ; for the climate of itself will cause a 

 considerable strain on their systems. 



I am much averse to the plan of throwing sound, 

 healthy horses altogether out of training during the 

 summer, when they are required for the following 

 season's racing ; for hard condition, once lost, takes a 

 long time to regain ; and the abrupt changes in the 

 Indian seasons do not allow of a long period for strict 

 training. Thus, if a horse be permitted to get gross or 

 poor, and his muscles flaccid from want of exercise, 

 and he be not put to work before the middle of July, 

 it will be impossible to get him at all "fit" before 

 November or December. I would, on the contrary, 

 advise that a sound horse should get, all through the 

 hot weather, a fair amount of healthy work, which, 

 when it consists of cantering and trotting, should be 

 given in the early mornings. 



Through these slack months, any injuries that the 

 horse's feet and legs may have sustained during the 



