THEIR FEED AND THEIR FEET. 21 



the chief danger from hard work comes from its being 

 suddenly applied to horse, man, woman, or child, in 

 the absence of condition. The only offset to absti- 

 nence from exercise is restriction in diet ; but vigor- 

 ous health can only come from enough of both. 



A SOFT HORSE. 



Just so far as fullness of body is maintained by 

 liberal feed, in default of equally liberal work, just so 

 far do the size and quality of the muscles deteriorate. 

 Muscle (flesh) is one thing ; fat, another. The latter 

 is disease, pure and simple. Although this principle 

 is recognized very generally in practice — for nobody 

 " backs " a fat horse — it is fully comprehended by 

 very few. Indeed, I am amazed to find how few 

 know the real difference between two animals, one 

 in " condition," that is, muscular, plump, and round 

 because of the muscles having been built up by 

 use, and one that is simply fat. The fact is, the 

 fat horse (or the fat man, or any other fat creature) 

 has not a sound tissue or organ in his body; what 

 muscle he has is excessively mixed with fatty 

 matters ; that is, the muscular tissue itself has 

 shrunken and given place to globules of fat, or in 

 other words, the creature may be said to be suf- 

 fering from fatty degeneration. It is not necessary 

 for the individual, whether man or beast, to be gross 

 in iform before he can be said to suffer from this dis- 

 ease. The very day upon which the balance is de- 

 stroyed between diet and exercise (the former exceed- 



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