310 EXERCISE. 



physic are generally given. They then proceed 

 to trot and canter for the next month, after which 

 they are considered fit to have a gallop or sweat 

 with a lad of hght weight upon their backs. Thus 

 gradual is the process of training horses for the 

 hunting field ; and if so much time and caution 

 are to be bestowed on them, is it not quite ob- 

 vious that less ought not to be given to young 

 horses which have never been ridden before, and 

 have in addition a thorough education to undergo ? 

 The greatest obstacles to getting horses into con- 

 dition are the inside fat and flabby state of the 

 flesh, the usual results of long rest and high feed- 

 ing ; and in proportion to the decrease of these, 

 will be the increase of muscle. This superfluity 

 of flesh and fat in a horse cannot be summarily 

 dissipated by a dose or two of physic and a few 

 sharp gallops ; for as the accumulation has been 

 gradual, so must the dispersion of it be so too. 



