204 TRAINING IN INDIA 



The most unerring sign of condition in an athlete is 

 the fact of his being able to go through hard work without 

 becoming thirsty. The horse-trainer will also find that, 

 as a horse gets fit, the avidity with which he takes his 

 water after his morning gallops will decrease, and that 

 staleness is almost always accompanied by more or less 

 thirst. 



Training Ponies. — Many ponies of 14 hands, and 

 even smaller, will stand as much training as big horses. 

 The famous 13.1 Arab pony, Blitz, was a case in point. 

 We shall generally find that the better bred (and conse- 

 quently bigger, as a rule) a pony is, the more work will 

 he bear. Blood English and Australian and high-caste 

 Arab ponies may be trained according to the principles 

 and routine which I have indicated for horses. 



For ordinary country-bred ponies six weeks' training 

 will generally be quite long enough, provided they com- 

 mence in hard-working condition. As a rule, they should 

 not be galloped oftener than twice a week, nor farther 

 than half a mile, except when the distance they have got 

 to run is much longer, in which case they may be sent on 

 an extra bit. Sweating and long, slow gallops should be 

 avoided, and I would advise that the pace of the work 

 should be kept pretty brisk. 



In some parts of India, as in Cachar, only ponies are 

 used for racing, and are often asked to go long distances, 

 frequently over a mile. Let us suppose a country-bred 

 pony to be trained for a race of that length, and that he 

 has six weeks in which to get fit ; I would then recom- 

 mend something like the following preparation : — 



First Fortnight. — A gallop at half speed on Mondays 



