190 GENERAL TREATMENT OF HORSES. 



been subjected to ; for if the groom has done his 

 duty by them, neither of these horses will have 

 accumulated much more flesh than we like to see 

 on hunters when they first begin to work, and when 

 that flesh is good. We would have our second 

 horse, the unshod one, taken into his stable early 

 in August ; and during the latter end of that month 

 and the next, in addition to his daily exercise, he 

 should, about three times in a fortnight, have a 

 gentle sweat in clothes, which is best eS'ected in a 

 trot, in a large fallow field that has been latelv 

 harrowed down, and which is firm, not soft, to the 

 tread. 



The horses of perhaps the hardest rider of the 

 present day. Lord Grardiner, are kept in their stalls 

 at Melton Mowbray throughout the non-hunting 

 months, having exercise daily. Not more than 

 two or three of his lordship's large stud have even 

 the use of boxes, but no horses in the country look 

 better or go better. 



But we fancy we hear the question asked, Is it 

 not necessary to give physic to all hunters when 

 the summer is past, and previously to their taking 

 the field again in the winter ? We answer. No. 

 The principal end of physicking hunters is to allay 

 excitement, occasioned by severe work and high 

 keep ; and the next, for the benefit of their legs. 

 Thus, for example, as the first-named horse, (the 

 one that has been in gentle work throughout the 

 summer,) will not sweat so easily as the unshod 

 one, a light dose or two of physic may be service- 

 able to him during his first preparation for the 



