204? GENERAL TREATMENT OF HORSES. 



go, on the day of the run. Without stopping to 

 argue this point, which is not capable of proof, we 

 will proceed to show in what state a hunter ought 

 to be taken into the field, to meet fox-hounds, giving 

 him fair play ; and the man who takes him there 

 when not fit to go, must always be prepared for the 

 consequences. 



We consider a hunter, in proper condition, equal 

 to at least three days'* hunting in a fortnight, tak- 

 ing the average of sport, which will, of course, at 

 some certain periods, send him oftener into the 

 field in one given time than in another, as, after a 

 severe day, he should have a week's clear rest. But 

 since the second-horse fashion has been so general, 

 it is impossible to speculate on this point, as it so 

 often happens that one of the two horses the sports- 

 man sends to cover, returns home without having 

 done much. The chief point, however, to be in- 

 sisted upon is, that the hunter should have a good 

 gallop, causing him to sweat freely, on the day 

 before he goes to hounds, and if for half-a-mile on 

 rising ground, it will be more favourable to his 

 wind. His food on that day should also be at- 

 tended to, in reference to his constitutional pecu- 

 liarities ; for, if not the best winded horse in the 

 stud, or given to throw off his meat on his road to 

 cover, he should have no water after three o'clock 

 the preceding afternoon, with the exception of a 

 few swallows, to make him relish his corn, on the 

 morning of hunting. Sending hunters out now with 

 full bellies has no excuse ; whereas one was found 

 for it, when they left their stables five hours sooner 



