TRAINING BY SHORT REPEATED GALLOPS 197 



prove useful. All the same, however well up a man ^^ith- 

 out personal experience may be in book lore on training, 

 the chances are that he will ruin a horse or two in his 

 first essay; but as soon as he gets some practical ex- 

 perience, he will quickly learn how to apply his book 

 knowledge. 



Training by Short Repeated Gallops.— There are 

 many horses whose legs would not stand the preparation I 

 have described. With such animals, the trainer may adopt, 

 with advantage, the system of short repeated gallops, 

 instead of that of the ordinary long ones. For instance, 

 in place of sending the horse a mile gallop, he might tell 

 the riding-lad to walk him round the course to the half- 

 mile post, and gallop him at the speed ordered, then walk 

 him round to the same place, and gallop him as before. 

 In this case, the muscles will have performed the same 

 work as they would have done had the distance been one 

 mile, and the suspensory ligaments would not have run a 

 tithe of the danger of becoming sprained ; for the time that 

 these structures are peculiarly liable to injury is after the 

 horse has begun to tire in his gallop (see "Veterinary 

 Notes for Horse Owners"). At other times accidents 

 rarely occur, except when a horse puts his foot on uneven 

 ground or hits himself 



These repeated gallops may be commenced at a quarter 

 of a mile, and be increased by degrees, say, in six weeks' 

 time, up to three quarters of a mile. At the shorter dis- 

 tances they may be given three times in a morning, and 

 at the longer twice ; and the pace should be gradually im- 

 proved, as the horse's system becomes braced and strength- 

 ened by exercise. 



