KINDS OF WORK. 357 



have no hay before him within eight hours of going to the 

 field ; on the working day he should have no water within 

 four hours of going to work, and his grain should be eaten 

 about three hours before he enters the field. When the horse 

 has above five or six miles to go ere he reaches cover, re- 

 striction as to fodder and water is less necessary, for the 

 bowels are emptied on the vvay, the distance being performed 

 at a gentle pace, perhaps at the rate of seven miles per hour. 



The number of working days must vary with the condition 

 of the horse in relation to his work. Sometimes he may go 

 out every second day, sometimes twice a week will be suf- 

 ficiently often, and after a very hard day the horse may not 

 be able to come out again till the sixth or seventh. If he be 

 in good spirits, full of life, and feeding heartily to-day, he 

 may work to-morrow. 



While the horse can hunt three days a week, he requires 

 almost no exercise on his blank days ; still he should have 

 some, to stretch the legs, create an appetite, and empty the 

 bowels. A walk of half an hour may be sufficient. Such 

 work forbids medicines and sweating. When the work is so 

 severe, or the horse so weak, or his legs so bad that he can 

 not hunt above twice or thrice a fortnight, some alterative or 

 evacuating medicine is usually required in the interval to pre- 

 vent plethora. To other horses, cordials may be needful to 

 create an appetite, or sweating exertion to keep the lungs in 

 order. In general a stout hunter should have a sweat every 

 third day. Great eaters, with defective legs, may need physic 

 every six or eight weeks, to keep the carcass light, and to 

 prevent plethora. Those who work well and feed well, may 

 require an alterative every time they have to rest more than 

 three days. 



Racing requires more speed and less stoutness than hunt- 

 ing requires. The means employed to confer these are the 

 same in both ; the racer does not work so often, and, in train- 

 ing, his exercise is not so severe ; but sweating and purging 

 are carried farther in the racing than in the hunting stable, 

 particularly with robust horses, near to or at maturity. The 

 preparation, however, varies with the horse's age, the length 

 of his race, the weight he has to carry, the condition of his 

 wind and of his legs ; with his disposition to work and to 

 eat, with his temper, and with several other circumstances, 

 all which are well known among practised trainers to require 

 some peculiar treatment. These matters are so well under- 

 stood by the only people who are interested in them, that it 



