SWEATING. 141 



the third sweating-time, if in condition before the 

 training was commenced, and you are not sweating 

 too hastily,) and that sweat is like water, and he 

 dries quickly after scraping, he is getting into prime 

 trim, and will go on Well without any more.* 



* To train a horse suddenly up to the fbest of his mark the time will ad- 

 mit of, that is not in condition, but all soft flesh, needs a man that has seen a 

 good deal, reflected a good deal, and has great confidence in his own know- 

 ledge ; for, as mentioned under, " TEVTE REQUIRED TO TRAIN," p. 1 17, he is so 

 very liable to grow stale, or go off his feed, or to in j ure his legs. A f ter the mild 

 dose of physic, sweating must here be commenced, as -well as concluded with, 

 if at all too fleshy, so as to get some of the useless fat out of both the inside 

 and outside, before taking the stronger gallops. When brought home after a 

 morning's sweat, extra clothes, contrary to what is stated above, are to be put 

 over him for a quarter of an hour or more, until he sweats freely in the stall, 

 in this fleshy case it is necessary, for it acts as a protection against illness; 

 and when scraped down and dried, a fresh single set of blanket jhools is to be 

 immediately put on, a small cordial given, and also half a gallon of luke- warm 

 water offered : ten minutes after, he is to be taken out to have another quarter 

 or half mile canter, and then brought in for the regular grooming to proceed. 

 The time for commencing these sweats, the quantity of clothes that he ought 

 to sweat in, the pace that he is to go at, and the length of the sweats, are all 

 difficult affairs to manage properly, for the flesh cannot be taken off too sud- 

 denly even in the stall, and the untrained legs will not stand it being taken 

 off in the gallop, on the whole, I would not risk the chance of injury to a 

 favourite horse by this hasty training, however good the stakes might be. If 

 only two months are to elapse before he starts^ a gentle sweat every week for 

 the first three weeks, and then a couple of stronger ones the last fortnight, 

 adapting the length, pace, &c., to the size and grossness of the horse, will 

 be near about the proper time, observing that the first sweat shoiild not take 

 place until he can prove his wind, until he can ' ' blow his nose. " After the 

 first two or three morning canters, if he stands panting at the sides, and 

 fails to throw the mucus from his nose, by that peculiar quivering snorting 

 shake of the nostrils, a few days more should elapse before the first sweat 

 is given. Grooms who pay attention to this work, I believe, say the nostrils 

 should always be breathed in three quarters of a minute from the time he is 

 pulled up ; and that some consequence is attached to these minutiae, I know, 

 for I well remember a groom anxiously looking out for the blow of a fine 

 strong horse, that had been sick for a month, when finishing his first morning's 

 canter, and though it did not occur for a minute or more, it at last came with 

 a fine healthy quaver a good sign the air passages are clear and he re- 

 marked, " If the tripes only improve, there is no fear of his bellows," A slight 

 horse, when of delicate constitution, will, of course, not have the loud shake 

 in his nostrils of a strong healthy one : and if the horse was thin when com- 

 mencing this hasty training, the only sweatings must be the last fortnight. 



