372 TRAINERS AND JOCKEYS. 



himself. Indeed, so thoroughly do owners under- 

 stand how great is the strain upon them, that they 

 almost insist that this should be so. 



He has always the comfort of knowing that in his 

 absence he is sure of the aid of the veterinary 

 surgeon, who in old days was known as ' the cow- 

 leech,' when the panacea for everything was blood- 

 letting or cathartics — remedies which as often killed 

 as cured, and in combination did to death the stoutest 

 horse. But under modern improvements and new 

 sanitary arrangements, we know that disease has, or 

 has almost, disappeared. Strangles and influenza, if 

 they do appear, appear in a mild form, and at once 

 succumb to veterinary treatment. Moreover, we 

 know how suddenly illness overtakes horses. 



' He's mad,' says the fool in ' King Lear,' ' that 

 trusts to a horse's health, as well as a boy's love, 

 or a courtezan's oath.' 



In disease, the next best thing to doing anything 

 well, is to do it quickly. Here the advantage of the 

 modern system is shown in teaching the head-lad 

 how to distinguish between the different diseases, and 

 by allowing him access to the medicine-chest, to 

 ensure the administration of the proper nostrum 

 without the least delay. For when castor-oil has 

 proved little effective, croton-oil, mix vomica, calomel 

 and arsenic are readily exhibited. 



Amongst our advanced trainers the absolute neces- 

 sity of daily administering a ball is recognised as an 



