PREDILECTION FOR GLCSSY CCATS. 41 
CHAPTER VI. 
CONDITION. 
Predilection for glossy coats—The natural coat of animals—Anomalies of this 
liking for sleek coats ; its evils ; the condition-ball and arsenic—Rough coats 
most often seen doing work—Horses fit when rough: Hermit, West Austra- 
4ian—Docking—Public notion of condition; theory and experience—The 
trainer alone a judge—Deceptive appearances of horses in big and in light con- 
dition: Instances: Catch’cm-Alive and Historian; La Pique—Sir Richard 
Sutton’s treatment of the latter and its uselessness—Personal experiences ; 
St. Giles, One Act, The Coranna Coit: Inferences drawn therefrom—Condition 
for long distances. 
IN treating of the subject of air and light, I have mentioned 
the predilection of certain owners for looks rather than health, 
and the complacency of those that serve them in satisfying 
this disposition. 
As this fallacy leads to many others, I may well dispose of 
it before proceeding to touch upon the other points that bear - 
upon that important and interesting part of our subject— 
Condition. 
Glossiness of coat and sleekness have, I have already ob- 
served, their especial attractions, The owner is satisfied, and 
the gazing eye of the wondering multitude pleased. The 
trainer, who indulges in the practice, is pleased to see his 
horse, if not “the glass of fashion and the mould of form,” 
at least “the observed of all observers ;” whilst the stable 
