52 HORSES AM) HOUNDS. 



always looked over every three weeks, and if any were brittle 

 a thin tip or plate was put on. Thus they continued until the 

 beginning of July ; they were then taken up for good to prepare 

 for cub-hunting. I perfectly agree with the remarks of Nimrod, 

 (whose work I have read long since these first chapters were 

 written), about horses being entirely ruined by being turned 

 out to grass in the usual manner, without care or protection of 

 any kind. Fine coated horses would be driven wild with the 

 flies, and stamp and batter their legs to pieces. No such course 

 as this has ever been advocated by me, and unless the horses 

 can be regularly attended to as I have stated, they are far bet- 

 ter even in a stable. To those who cannot dispense with their 

 horses' services until late in the summer, I would recommend a 

 paddock with a shed in it, or to give them the run of a farm 

 yard if no paddock can be had, as horses are sadly tormented 

 with flies from the end of July to the middle of August. I shall 

 enter more at length on this subject at another time. This, for 

 the present, may suffice. I can only state in conclusion tliat 

 my horses treated in this manner went through more work than 

 any others in the field, were seldom sick or soriy, did not go 

 broken-winded, and lasted for many years longer than others 

 which were always kept on the hard system. 



CHAPTER VIIL 



Ecunrts on tlie selection and purchasing of horses — Tricks of dealers- 

 Change in the teeth as age advances — Disposition ascertainable from 

 the appearance of the eye — Chai-acteristics of the form indispen- 

 sable to constitute a good hunter, as distinct from those of the carriage- 

 horse — Detads to be considered as to the neck and shoulders — High action 

 horses objectionable, as also horses "in at the elbows" — Trial necessary 

 in pm'chasing horses, and benefit of experience in effecting a purchase — 

 Little time requned to know a good horse from a bad — Points to be ob- 

 served in their appearance — Length necessary, but imder certain restric- 

 tions — Diseases and imperfections; such questions best referred to 

 the veterinary surgeon — Difference among the professors of that science 

 — Cm'ious instance — Alignments derived from sweating, and cause, symp- 

 toms, and effects of lameness in horses — Danger of the lancet in ines* 

 perienced hands — Use of fomentations — Eides for bleeding — The "speedy 

 cut" — Instance of it while at Oxford — Causes of broken knees ; Dangers 

 of the wood pavement — Their treatment — Diseases of the feet — Wind- 

 galls — Cuts, and their treatment — Great care requisite in the use of the 

 irons — Causes of internal unsoundness; broken wind — Disadvantages 

 and proper treatment of "roarers" and "whistlers" — Use and treatment 

 of broken-winded horses — Conclusion. 



Having now treated of the breeding, rearing, and general 

 management of horses, it may be as well to make a few remarks 



