RELATION BETWEEN HORSE AND MASTER 229 



feeding with, overw^ork on the other, are the two causes which 

 destroy the balance necessary for condition. It can only be 

 obtained by degrees and cannot be forced without disastrous 

 results. Exercise and feeding should be gradually begun and 

 results carefully noted day by day, with a uniform increase up 

 to the maximum and a correspondingly gradual decrease when 

 the horse is to be thrown out of training. 



Hardening the Skin. — Draft and saddle horses should have 

 their skins hardened to the friction of the collar and saddle in 

 addition to being rendered physically fit. 



A marked difference between individv/ils is found in the 

 manner in which they round into form, in the fitting process. 

 Frequently those which attain fitness most readily are the first 

 to go stale. 



Degree and Time. — The more extreme tlie degree to which a 

 horse is conditioned the shorter the period during which that 

 degTce of fitness can be maintained. The modern practice of 

 keeping race horses in training and fit to start at any time during 

 prolonged campaign seasons presents many more difficulties than 

 fitting for a single race, when the horses can be trained to the 

 minute. 



An Intuitive Ari. — The fitting of horses for racing, showing, 

 or work is an art which requires the keenest horse sense, judg- 

 ment, and discernment. There is no school for trainers ; the 

 art is natural, not acquired, and it is doubtful if the master 

 trainers themselves could coach another to do what is intuitive 

 with them. 



Condition has an economic importoMce, for a horse is capable 

 of his maximum efficiency, in his respective fields of ser\dce, 

 only when fit. The work horse, on account of tlie regularity of 

 liis occupation, offers the least difficulty to tlie conditioner; 

 while the saddle and harness horse, whose work is more severe 

 when it does come, and it comes mth the greatest degree of 

 irregularity, in accordance with the whim of their owner, re- 

 quire special care. There is no coiTelation between fitness for 

 work and resistance to unsoundness, but a leg-weary horse is 

 especially liable to interfere, forge, stumble or slip, thus predis- 

 posing to permanent injury. 



