384 
THE GROOMS 5 ORACLE. 
A. Fatness! fatness is not necessary to condition , though'tis proof of it 
unless for slow draught-horses, for your London merchants, who love to* 
make a show of their teams. Hunters, stagers, and roadsters, that require 
the powers of going to be combined with strength , should not be fat — 
racers l east of all. Do we not hand-rub and otherwise dress them, till our 
arms ache, for the very purpose of circulating the blood, and thereby re¬ 
ducing the size of the muscles, and the fat above all? Never talk of fat 
again for fast-working animals, as ’tis an impediment to their speed. 
Q. I know, I know; strong exercise and regular physic will alone keep 
>our running-horse up to his paces. But how do you proceed with a fresh 
horse, now, generally speaking? 
A. By watching his mode of feeding; by ascertaining whether he be 
craving for water, a ravenous eater, fretful, or otherwise; judging by the 
quality ot his dungings, as to colour, consistence, and frequency, whether 
he has been made up; and, by his urine and perspiration at exercise and 
in the stable, also whether he suffers any obstruction internally, to say no¬ 
thing here of his appearance upon the view , w hich may have previously 
deceived the purchaser himself, or ’tis to be presumed it would not have 
been bought at all. 
Q. Made up on purpose for sale , possibly, by such treatment as will as¬ 
suredly prove the ruin of the animal in a short time after he comes to the 
stable. 
A. Its whole system excited, and its health undermined to such a degree 
by cordials , and figging, and “ things for his wind,” and those “ good for his 
eyes,” that it never fully recovers the effects of so much excitement. 
Q. But looking fine, brisk and sleek, nevertheless ? 
A. T et being actually very tender, in consequence of the means em¬ 
ployed to make him look so. Such new purchases usually acquire diseases 
ot the lungs , or ot the skin, the first day of taking them home, or , tis much 
else. 
Q. Unless you continue the same treatment; the decoction of linseed, 
for example, can do no harm for a little while. 
A. Nor any good, except with a view to re-sale; an event the real gen¬ 
tleman does not look to, you know. But some stand in immediate need 
of phgsic, their bellies being so drawn up at the flanks by the fiery things 
given them by the dealers, to inspire a short-lived vigour, that inflammation 
of the intestines is to be apprehended. 
Q. Or the solids so much affected from a continuance of the same excite¬ 
ment, that, upon pressing your finger upon any fleshy part of the carcase, 
the indentation remains awhile. 
A. Whereas, the flesh of horses in full health, and young ones, obliterates 
such a pressure instantly.” 
A little further on, we have— 
Q. “ Of what nature is the principal of the less evident disorders of 
horses? 
A. HEAT! Inordinate heat, occasioned by the great exertions the 
animal is compelled to make ; and, when excessive, the bad effects thereof 
descending to the feet and legs , we invariably find these affected with some 
defect or other, which every act of progression does but exacerbate , espe¬ 
cially if the pace be quick : the pain then endured at the extremities re-acts 
upon the carcase, or some vital part within it; and though it may produce no 
marked disease, irritates the stomach and intestines, and prevents the food 
from doing good, or 'tis rejected altogether, whereby the horse goes out of 
condition” 1!! 
