On Conditioning Hunters 257 



get slack for want of use, and be the box ever 

 so well ventilated, that circumstance cannot 

 compensate for the daily experience — if only 

 for an hour — of open-air exercise. The best 

 of all exercise is that obtainable when the 

 animal finds himself in a state of nature, free 

 and unfettered to roam about wherever he 

 pleases ; and this is provided for by the nightly 

 run out on the dewy grass. Should this be 

 found unattainable or inconvenient, then a 

 horse should at least be walked for an hour, 

 or perhaps a little less, each day. 



Unless wanted early for the cubbing, Sep- 

 tember I st will be found quite soon enough to 

 commence with a horse which has been regu- 

 larly corn -fed throughout the summer. Pro- 

 bably it will be found best to discontinue all 

 green food about the middle of August — up 

 to that time they should have it, with carrots 

 or other suitable roots — given them with no 

 niggardly hand. A good beginning would be 

 to give a couple of hours a day walking 

 exercise only for the first week ; after which 



the work should be added to by some slow 



R 



