2530 
DARVIEL ON THE CAKE, TREATMENT, 
groom may add half a drachm or even a drachm of aloes (o the quantity 
to be given to such horse as he is of opinion may be more difficult to 
purge than the rest; and he may keep him out a little longer than usual 
at walking exercise, so that he may be more empty when he comes in, and, 
instead of giving him the whole dose of physic at one time, let the ball 
be divided ;—give one half immediately on his coining into the stable, and 
the other half at six o’clock in the evening.” 
When the horse in strong work is “ putting up flesh too ra¬ 
pidly,” the groom pursues another procedure, which is this : 
“ It is customary over night, or very early in the morning, to set this sort 
of horse for his sweat, and in the morning he is clothed up, and goes over 
the sweating-ground, for the length and at the pace the groom directs. 
The horse, after being pulled up, is brought in and turned round in the 
stall, and the customary portion of clothing is then throw n on him, which 
occasions the horse to discharge most profusely through the pores of his 
skin for ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour. He is afterw ards scraped, 
dressed, and clothed up, by which time his respiration and pulse have become 
tranquil. His physic is now given him, and he is then sent out to take the 
usual gallop, which it is customary for horses to take after sw eating. This 
gallop, I shall by and by endeavour to prove, may, in some instances, be 
advantageously dispensed with. The horse, after taking his gallop, is 
brought into the stable, is well dressed, comfortably clothed, and treated 
as is usual on such occasions; but from the length of time he has been set, 
and from the profuse manner in which he has been sweated, he is very 
anxious for his food and water, both of which are given him as directed by 
the groom ; but as he is generally inclined to take more freely of the latter 
than the former, it promotes the operation of the medicine; and a light 
dose of physic, of six or seven drachms, given to a horse thus prepared 
seldom or ever fails in purging him freely the following morning, when he 
may be w r alked out, and treated as circumstances may require.” 
This is a practice, however, incurring some risk of injury to the 
constitution, of which Mr. D. seems aware, when he adds— 
“ It is true the groom has obtained his point. By setting, sweating, and 
physicking, he has brought the horse very light; but from such treatment, 
(more particularly should the physic have been given a little too strong), 
a horse becomes too much debilitated; and were not such horses hearty 
feeders, they would be a long time recovering their former strength; 
1 should, therefore, recommend grooms not to have recourse to this mode 
of physicking horses oftener than they can possibly avoid.” 
Chap. IX.—ON CLOTHING, &c. 
On this subject Mr. D. observes, “ Various are the sorts of 
clothes, and various are the purposes for which they are used 
about a race-horse and he has furnished us with a chapter con¬ 
cerning them, which affords another proof (were another wanting) 
that he has spent much of his time in the stable, and that time 
to more than ordinary purpose: indeed, no person could have 
written the present chapter who had not devoted some hours to 
the saddlery as well as the stable, since it not only contains par¬ 
ticular directions in the use of clothing, but also instructions for 
