HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 199 



Pull to the Gait. The act of catching a horse, and 

 bringing- him to his gait, after a break. The trotting rules 

 are very severe on a dri^^er who neglects to instantly pull a 

 horse to his gait should he break during a heat. If he does 

 not do so, the horse is liable to be distanced, and the driver 

 punished by fine or susj)ension. Different means are used by 

 drivers to accomplish this, which must depend upon the dispo- 

 sition of the horse and the manner in which he has been 

 trained. 



Pulled Tog'ether. [Eq.] A phrase indicating that the 

 horse is well collected, or gathered. 

 It is a very expressive term.— Tlie Book of the Horse, Samuel Sidney. 



Pull Up. To stop in riding or driving ; to pull up at 

 the close of a heat when beaten ; the act of sawing the reins 

 when a horse has the bit between his teeth, to make him dis- 

 lodge it. 



If you find you are beaten easily, piill up; spare your horse, and avoid 

 the cruel and unspt)rtsmanl"ike i)ractice of Hogging a beaten horse 

 all the way home.— The Book of the Horse, Samuel Sidney. 



Pulp of the Teeth. A soft substance furnished with 

 blood-vessels and nerves, constituting the central axis of the 

 tooth, and affording the means by which its vitality is pre- 

 served. In teeth which have ceased to grow the pulp occupies 

 a comparatively small space, w^hich, in the dried tooth, is 

 called the pulp-cavity; while with advanced age it often 

 becomes obliterated, and the pulp itself converted into bone- 

 like material. 



Pulse. The circulation of the blood through the heart, 

 which, in the horse, is taken at the angle of the jaw where the 

 artery crosses the bone. The normal beat is from thirty-six to 

 forty-six times a minute, according to the breed, disposition 

 and temperament. The various characteristics of the pulse are : 

 Slow — where the number of beats is less than normal ; soft — 

 where the beat is rather weak, but not over-rapid; small — 

 where the sensation conveyed to the finger is one of lessened 

 diameter of the artery ; full, strong — where there is a bounding 

 sensation as though from an over-distention of the artery wdth 

 each beat ; iveak; feeble — where the beat is hardly perceptible ; 

 quick — where the beats are more rapid than normal; hard — 

 where the beats are tense, incompressible, vibrating and more 

 frequent than normal; irregular — where several pulsations 

 come in quick succession, and are then followed by a pause ; 

 intermittent — where the beat is lost at regular intervals. 



Pumice Sole; Puuiice Feet. An inflammation of 

 the feet, wdiich results in an excessive growth of soft, spongy 



