WATER. 285 



they are even stinted the day before running. With hunters, 

 the restriction is carried nearly as far, though not so gener- 

 ally. This practice has always been condemned by veterina- 

 rians, and in truth it seems of very doubtful propriety. But, 

 notwithstanding what has been said against it, no proof has 

 been produced to show that it is really a pernicious practice 

 Much, after all, has not been urged against it ; but the same 

 thing has been said over and over again. It is always censured 

 as cruel and needless and erroneous. The horse, it is said, 

 must suffer a great deal from thirst, and he must be languid 

 and weak. Now, if the horse be fed on dry food, and receive 

 no water for twelve or eighteen hours before going to work, 

 there can be little doubt but he is very thirsty. If water be 

 offered he will drink it greedily. But this is not the ques- 

 tion. Stablemen do not inquire what the horse feels. They 

 are concerned only about what he will do. If it can be 

 shown that his speed, his power, or his endurance, suffers any 

 diminution when he is thirsty, the trainer will doubtless en- 

 deavor to prevent thirstiness. But this has never been 

 shown. No experiments have been made to decide the mat- 

 ter either one way or another. It seems certain that the 

 thirsty horse is less willing to work. He may need more of 

 the lash and the spur, but his ability to do the work, does 

 that remain the same ? An experiment must answer ; and 

 those who are most interested have means and opportunity to 

 make it. 



If either racer or hunter were put to work with a bellyful 

 of water, no work like hunting or racing would be done. The 

 weight of the water, and the impediment it offers to breath- 

 ing, render the horse far less fit for his task than if he were 

 excessively thirsty. This is well enough established, and 

 needs no experiment to confirm it. But is it not possible, 

 by giving water often, and in very small quantity, to bring the 

 horse to his work, without thirst, and without an inconvenient 

 quantity of water in his bowels ? If the horse were accus- 

 tomed to get water every two hours, it is probable that the 

 quantity he would take at one time would be all out of his 

 bowels by the time he received the next. He would take no 

 more than would serve for two hours, and between the wa- 

 tering-hours he could do his work undepressed by thirst. But 

 all this is good for nothing except to suggest inquiry and -ex- 

 periment. [We recently made the experiment of frequent 

 watering, during a journey of 800 miles, in the heat of sum- 

 mer. In addition to what he would take at mealtime, we 



