178 TRAINING IN INDIA. 



Ponies, 13 hands and under, had best be trained for 

 from a quarter to half a mile. Although there have been 

 many instances take Chieftain and Rex of Arab 

 galloways being able to hold their own, at even weights, 

 with Arabs of all sizes; still, in ninety-nine cases out of 

 a hundred, allowance for height 3 Ib. the J inch will 

 not bring a 13 and 13-2 pony together, nor the latter 

 with one of 14 hands, provided the galloway has any 

 pretensions to racing form. But if an owner happens 

 to possess such a rarity, like what Abdool Rayman 

 and Rex were, he had better train him for distances 

 at which he will meet the class bigger than himself ; 

 for if the animal can succeed with them, he will 

 have little difficulty in beating those of his own 

 size, even in races shorter than those for which he was 

 prepared. 



For "all Arabs," 1J miles will be a fair average 

 distance over which to train them. Ralf a mile less 

 will usually answer for Australians and English horses. 



Quite as much, if not more, depends on a horse's 

 stable management, as on the work he gets, in bringing 

 him fit to the starting-post. Many horses have been 

 got into good condition, and have won important races, 

 by being simply hacked, with, now and then perhaps, 

 a canter on a soft bit of turf; or even by doing nothing 

 more than trotting work in a very light trap, when 

 their legs have been particularly infirm. But I doubt 

 whether a horse has ever been brought within a stone 

 of his proper form when he has been but indifferently 

 looked after in the stable. 



Training Quarters. The worst of the hot weather 

 being over by the beginning of July, the horses may 



