228 THE HORSE IN SERVICE 



he cannot hold his breath by closing the glottis. Therefore, an 

 opportunity to fill the lungs by a couple of full, deep breaths at 

 frequent intervals during a hard pull will not only slow down 

 the hurried, shallow breathing, but will actually increase the 

 power of the horse to pull. Every advantage of grade and going 

 should be availed of, and the horse spared most when great effort 

 would be most futile. 



The Natural Gait. — The majority of horses acquire a natural 

 pace which they maintain with little effort. If continually urged 

 to a slightly faster rate of speed they are soon distressed, even 

 though the actual sa\'ing of time in the distance travelled is 

 immaterial. 



Condition. — The fundamental factor determining efficiency 

 for work, other things being equal, is condition or fitness. Fit- 

 ting renders a horse more efficient, because by it there is estab- 

 lished a state of health, vigor, and rnuscular tone iu which there 

 is a (M^ncordant action between lungs, heart, miiscles, digestion, 

 and nerve control. Condition is indicated by a spirit of keen- 

 ness for work, brightness of the eye, bloom of the coat, and an 

 absence of fat, exposing the outline of the indi'S'idual muscles, 

 with a characteristic hardness of the muscles themselves. Con- 

 dition is a matter of degree, the most extreme of which is found 

 in the race horse and hunter, less in the road and work horse, 

 and still less in the park or show horse, a surplus of fat being 

 desirable in the latter case. 



Fat is an- clement of condition in the draft horse in which it 

 has the real advantage of adding to his weight in the most natural 

 way, as ^\'e]l as affording him a reserve store of energy upon 

 which to draw in liis long hours of arduous daily service. It 

 must be put on, however, under the same conditions as obtain 

 in the regular life of the draft horse, namely, \vhile at work; 

 otherwise it will prove an impediment and will not be retained 

 long. 



Balance Between Peed and Exercise. — Condition is the 

 result of the mutual balance between feed and exercise, and re- 

 quires the keenest powers of observation for its detection. Over- 

 feeding and insufficient exercise on the one hand and under- 



