CHANGE TO OPEN AIR. 105 



light black Dec-can jhool, /, (the bust descrip- 



tion of jhool there is next to the bed-blanket,) should 

 always at nine o'clock during the monsoon be put on 

 all horses unaccustomed to the open air, for though 

 it may be close and hot, and no rain fall, yet it is 

 generally damp. Keeping thick jhools over the body 

 during the heat of the day to guard against the scorch- 

 ing sun is very pernicious, but a light dungaree one, 

 padded half an inch thick with cotton, along the spine, 

 is proper, and should always be worn when out in the 

 sun, in the hot or rainy season. The shade of a tree, 

 however, should be searched for : it is cooler and more 

 agreeable to a horse than even stable or pendal ; and 

 hoor-hunters should not forget this, for the continual 



O O ' 



exposure to the fiery sun throughout the day damps 

 the spirits of many horses considerably. No one, but 

 a native, can keep his haild upon a horse's back for ten 

 minutes between the hours of twelve and three in those 

 months, when picketed in the sun, without burning or 

 blistering it : you may imagine, therefore', the effect 

 on a high caste, thin-skinned horse, and tormented by 

 the flies to boot. 



Hunting a horse for two or three months on nothing 

 but green food, only cut the day before for his forage, 

 not at all an uncommon occurrence, or even half 

 green and half dry, is as much the cause of those 

 rounded shank -bones and gummy ancles, as being 

 taken out of an idle stable, and suddenly put into 

 training exercise, without gradual inurement. Hun- 

 ters are often fed too much and too long on green 

 food ; racers may also be included. Considering that 

 a few days' green meat is often wanted to recruit the 

 strength after a severe cold or other illness, no horse 



keptsolely for racing or hunting should have more than 



14 



