GENERAL EULES FOE WOEK DUEING TEAINING. 183 



and the trainer should never be afraid of giving them 

 a bunch of lucern, or a few carrots. 



If a horse in strong work, begins to leave much of 

 his corn untouched, say, anything over half a pound at 

 each feed, the chances are that he is getting too much 

 work, which should be lessened, or altogether stopped, 

 as the case may require, and he should have two or 

 three bran mashes at successive feeding hours, some 

 green meat, or even an alterative ball, if he be at all 

 " over-marked." The time a horse takes to eat his 

 allowance of corn may be used as a measure of his 

 appetite. Thus, say a certain horse, who, after work, 

 usually consumes his morning feed of 4 Ibs. in 25 

 minutes, takes oil a particular day half an hour to get 

 through the same amount, the owner may reasonably 

 conclude that he is a little off his feed. By observing 

 such indications in time, the chances of over-working 

 a horse will be materially lessened. 



"It is well known to horsemen who are close 

 observers, that, though a horse cannot make a great 

 race when decidedly off the feed, some of the finest 

 efforts that ever were made, and some of the greatest 

 successes that ever were won, came just as the horse 

 was beginning to get dainty, and to pick and nibble at 

 the oats." (Hiram Woodruf.) 



A horse should never be fully extended earlier than 

 a fortnight before the day on which he has to run 

 for if if this done, he will be apt to get slow. Yet 

 for all that, he should be sent along pretty fast, occa- 

 sionally, during the latter part of his training, in order 

 to vary the monotony of the work, " and to get the 

 pace into him." 



