PRIZE-FIGHTEKS. 103 



if a sound colt be trained and raced when two 

 years of age, it is ten to one that his tendons 

 and bones are not able to stand the work, but 

 that in all probability he will get sore shins, 

 splints, or perhaps some worse disease of the 

 legs or feet. 



A horse is not able to undergo regular 

 hunting until he is six years old, and even then 

 he should not be worked hard. I think all our 

 own countrymen know this, although they do 

 not always bring it into practice. The Ameri- 

 cans know it and profit by it. A growing 

 colt does not make internal fat as does the 

 adult, therefore the system not having attained 

 firmness, cannot bear the scraping and sweating 

 necessary to get him into condition for the 

 hunting-field or for the racecourse. If the fat 

 is taken off a colt, his muscular development 

 is interfered with. In the same way prize- 

 fighters cannot stay if trained too young, in- 

 stances of which are found in Aaron Jones and 

 M'Cormick, who, although they felt well and 

 fit, were unable to last. Colts are forced to 



