CAEE AND MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 761 



All this would appear to have more direct application to 

 the cause of lameness than to the question of work, but it 

 is impossible to separate these conditions ; they overlap so 

 completely that a consideration of one necessarily entails 

 dealing with the other, though it is our intention in a sub- 

 sequent section to deal exclusively with the prevention of 

 lameness so far as this is under direct control. 



The production of labour is what the investor expects for 

 his purchase money and the cost of maintenance. It is 

 not, therefore, altogether a matter for surprise that selfish- 

 ness at once becomes evident, as it does in all human 

 affairs where an investment is made. As a matter of fact 

 selfishness is here a costly feature, it leads to living flesh 

 and blood being regarded in the light of a machine, and so 

 defeats its own ends. In this respect there is little to 

 choose between the rich and the poor, the hunting man 

 will ride his horse to death should the necessity arise, the 

 poor man will work his horse to death. It is no exaggera- 

 tion to say that thousands of horses are annually disabled 

 or killed through overwork, or work for which they are not 

 in ' condition.' 



CONDITION. 



This brings us to a consideration of one of the most 

 interesting practical features in horse labour, viz., 'condi- 

 tion,' a term freely used, well understood, but most imper- 

 fectly applied. 



Condition is fitness for work, and is obviously of as many 

 different degrees as there are varieties of work. The con- 

 dition of a racehorse is very different from that of an 

 ordinary riding horse ; the condition of a horse that never 

 goes out of a walk is different from that of one which per- 

 forms its duties at a trot. Condition is fitness for the class 

 of work required ; its very highest development is seen in 

 the racehorse, and next in the hunter ; its most useful form 

 exists in the industrial classes ; its almost entire absence 

 may be found in the pampered horses of the wealthy. 



It is usual to judge condition by the state of the muscular 



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