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Webster*FamiIy Library of Veterinary Medicine

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at

Tufts University

200 Westboro Road

THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

^■'a^^

THE CONDITION
OF HUNTERS

THEIR CHOICE AND
MANAGEMENT BY NIMROD
THE VETERINARY PORTIONS
BROUGHT UP TO DATE BY
FRANK TOWNEND BARTON, m.r.c.v.s.
WITH 34 ILLUSTRATIONS
INCLUDING THE ORIGINAL
TURNER LITHOGRAPHS ^

LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD
NEW YORK : JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMVIII

Turnbull 6f Spears, Printers, Edinburgh

MEMOIR

BORN 1778. DIED 1843.

CHARLES JAMES APPERLEY — better
known as " Nimrod " — stands out pre-
eminently as one of, if not the greatest
writer on Fox-hunting and Hunters.

From youth upwards he turned his attention to
field sports and country pastimes.

A little later on he proceeded to the famous school
at Rugby, at which he received an excellent classical
education — the result of which appears, over and
over again, in the classical quotations and allusions
that adorn his pages. His writings are sufficient
testimony to the excellence of the instruction he
received there, and the use he himself made of it in
after years.

On leaving, he accepted a commission and became
a Cornet in Sir Watkin Wynne's Fencible Cavalry
Regiment, in which he served during the terrible
Irish Rebellion of 1798. That sad episode in Irish
History is too well known to need recapitulation here.
He was very popular and rose rapidly in the regiment
remaining with it till it was finally disbanded. Later
on he married and settled down in Leicestershire.

vi THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

He threw himself with avidity into all the hunting
pastimes and sports for which that country had so
great a reputation. He found the Quorn Hunt at
its zenith. He made innumerable friends, not only
in connection with this famous pack, but with almost
every pack of any note throughout the kingdom.
His acumen and sound judgment on all matters
relating to the chase made the name of " Nimrod "
almost a household word where foxhounds were
kept, or huntsmen met, either at the breakfast-table
or in the disused quarry, prior to the run. His
friendship was all embracing. It included the great
ducal families alike with the humble trainer and the
keeper. All that he looked for was honest merit.
He was ever open to learn from the lowest menial,
and his richly stored mind was at the disposal of
all who sought his advice on sporting matters. — He
was the uncompromising enemy of ignorance and
cant.

On change of residence, his next home was at
Bittern Hall in Warwickshire, which also had formerly
been the place where Joseph Addison had lived. Mr
Apperley appears to have lost a considerable amount
of money in some farming experiments, in conse-
quence of which he turned his great talent to literary
work.

After one or two changes of residence, we find him
in London. His first articles appeared in the Sporting
Magazine in 1822, on " Fox-hunting in Leicestershire."
The author was then about 44 years old. The name
of " Nimrod " very soon became celebrated through-

MEMOIR vii

out all sporting circles. His racy and pleasing style
hit the public taste. His knowledge was recognized as
eminently sound and practical, as opposed to mere
traditional usage or theory in all matters pertaining
to the hunter and the chase. His writings were not
those that emanate solely from the easy chair. They
were based on real experiences and on well-ascertained
facts. They were from one who knew what he was
writing about. As such they were presented to the
public, and as such were appreciated by them. There
is a charm of style about all his works, that specially
appeals to all lovers of the ancient and royal pastime
of fox-hunting. To them he is what Scott is to the
lovers of Romance, and Dickens to the wider lovers
of Humanity. Like them, too, he has had many
imitators, but none who succeeded in reaching his
high level of excellence. Many of his conclusions —
even with advancing knowledge — are as sound to-day,
as when they were given to the public.

Letters on Hunting and kindred articles followed
from his pen in rapid succession.

At 50 years of age, Mr Apperley rode for, and won
the Gold Cup at Dobberan.

Afterwards he went over to France (1830) and took
up his abode at Calais, whence he contributed to
Fraser's Magazine, Sportsman, Morning Herald, etc.,
and became one of the staff of the Sporting Review.
His article in the " British Encyclopaedia " is a testi-
mony to his great critical judgment and powers of
mind. In 1843 he returned to his native land, where
he died soon afterwards.

viii THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

His best known works are his " Remarks on Con-
dition of Hunters" (1831), "Hunting Tours" (1835),
"Nimrod Abroad," "The Chase, the Turf, the
Road," "Northern Tour," "Life of Jack Mytton "
(1837), " Life of a Sportsman " (1842), " Hunting
Reminiscences " (1843).

FRANK T. BARTON.

Upper Norwood,
London, 1908.

CONTENTS

MEMOIR

INTRODUCTION

LETTER I

THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS .

LETTER II

OBJECTIONS AGAINST TURNING HUNTERS OUT TO A

SUMMER'S RUN AT GRASS— PHYSIC . . . . Z7

LETTER III

THE EFFECTS OF CONDITION — THE STABLE, AND -STABLE

MANAGEMENT 53

LETTER IV

STABLE MANAGEMENT — CASE OF FERRYMAN ... 65

LETTER V

HOT AND COLD STABLES— TREATMENT AFTER A SEVERE
DAY— CLOTHING— HAY AND WATER— CLEANLINESS—
OVER-REACHING 74

LETTER VI

STRONG WORK NECESSARY— ILL-EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH

REST— NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS OF THE GROOM 86

LETTER VII

TREATMENT OF HUNTERS IN THE SUMMER ... 99

LETTER VIII

HARD MEAT verSUS GRASS— PHYSIC . . . . . I07

X THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

LETTER IX

PAGE

ON THE FOOT 124

LETTER X
ON THE FOOT — /// continuation 136

LETTER XI

CONDITION RESUMED 150

LETTER XII

PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN THE MOULTING SEASON— I 59
SWEATING

LETTER XIII

TREATMENT AFTER A HARD AND LONG RUN— CLIPPING 1 75

LETTER XI\'
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED 197

LETTER XV

ADVICE TO FARMERS— BREEDING — TREATMENT OF BROOD

MARES AND COLTS — CLIPPING 20/

LETTER XVI

ADVANTAGES OF CLIPPING— SALT MARSHES— HAY-GREEN

MEAT 223

LETTER XVII

DISADVANTAGES OF CLIPPING— TREATMENT— COMPARA-
TIVE EXPENSE OF SUMMERING IN THE HOUSE AND
AT GRASS — FIRING 242

LETTER XVIII
CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 260

THE HUNTER

SELECTION— CONFORMATION — AGE. BY FRANK TOWNEND

BARTON 327

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PORTRAIT OF NIMROD Frontispiece

TO FACE PAGE

ONE OF THE RIGHT SORT l6

THE FAMOUS HUNTER GELDING "AXIOM" ... 32

HUNTER SIRE " RIVERSTOWN " 48

HUNTER GELDING "THE ROBBER" 64

"SILVER CLOUD" 80

HUNTER SIRE "DUBIGNE" 96

THE CELEBRATED HUNTER " WHISKEY " . . . . IIO

YEARLING HUNTER GELDING " ENSIGN " . . . . 120

HUNTER GELDING "EXPERT" I30

THE FAMOUS SHOW JUMPER " OMEGA" . . . , I40

"SURPRISE" 152

"JACK TAR" 174

THE OLD BERKELEY (WEST) FOXHOUNDS, AND MASTER

E. LEADBETTER, ESQ 192

"ALICE" 204

HUNTER BROOD MARE "SPECULATION" AND HER LOVELY

FOAL "SPENDTHRIFT" 214

"LADY DISDAIN" AND HER FOAL 232

HUNTER BROOD MARE "LADY MARY" .... 244

xii THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

TO FACE PAGE

HUNTER BROOD MARE "TINA" AND HER FOAL . . 260

THOROUGHBRED STALLION "DIAMOND JUBILEE" . . 318

THOROUGHBRED HUNTER SIRE "THE TINMAN" . . 332
turner's ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE ORIGINAL

EDITION : END OF VOLUMF.

TITLE-PAGE

1. FRONTISPIECE TO "NIMROD ON THE

CONDITION OF HUNTERS"

2. THE MEET

3. BREAKING COVER

4. NEARLY DONE UP

5. THE STAND STILL

6. HOUNDS IN FULL CRY

7. A COLD BATH

8. THE RIDER SPILL'D

9. CLEARING THE BROOK

10. DEATH OF THE HUNTER

11. THE AWKWARD PREDICAMENT

12. THE DEATH OF THE FOX

The Publisher has much pleasure in acknowledging his indebtedness to
Mr Walter T. Spencer, 27 Neiv Oxford Street, W.C., for the use of
his brilliant impressions of the first a7id only edition of " Turner's Illus-
trations to Nimrod on the Condition of Hunters" from which the repro-
ductions contained in this volume have been made.

EDITORIAL NOTE

THE Editor, in the revision of these letters
" On the Condition of Hunters," has been
anxious to retain their original form as
far as possible, but with our present
state of knowledge — more especially the letters bear-
ing upon Veterinary work — it has been necessary to
delete a considerable portion of the text, replacing it
with facts of an up-to-date character.

In some of the letters this alteration has diminished
the pagination, whilst the original index had to be
recast in consequence.

The total volume of the work has been " cut
down," but the Editor trusts that this expunging of
useless matter will not be thought to have diminished
the brilliant character of the letters as originally
penned by this famous sportsman, and that the
" Condition of Hunters " will meet with the same
hearty welcome as the older editions did.

F. T. BARTON.

INTRODUCTION

" Doubtless God might create a better berry than the strawberry,
but doubtless God never did." — Dr Boteler (a Physician of old).

THE following remarks on the choice of
Horses, their management, and condition,
are founded on the experience of upwards of
twenty years, some part of which was pur-
chased at the price at which that commodity is generally
sold ; and although I am aware that we have not much
to learn from the "old ones" on this subject, yet it
may amuse some of my readers to see how far their
ideas and our own accord ; as also to shew in what
esteem and honour the Horse was held by them.

The object of Dr Paley's Natural Theology is to
infer intention and design from the general mechanism
and evidences of art apparent in the animal frame ;
and certainly divine wisdom is in nothing more con-
spicuous than in the infinite variety of living creatures
of different constructions — every part of them being
formed with stupendous skill, and fitted with the
utmost nicety to the purposes for which they appear
to have been intended. The relative adaptation of
their parts to their specific purposes is one of the
strongest evidences of design in Him who made them ;
and in no instance is this more clearly and positively
demonstrated than in the animal of which I am about

2 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

to treat. The description of the horse has been
deemed a subject not unworthy of the best and ablest
writers of antiquity ; nor indeed has it been considered
beneath the notice of inspiration itself : for grand
and sublime as have been the allusions to him by
ancient and modern authors, they all fall short of, and
are lost in, the majestic language applied to him by Job
(ch. xxxix.) : " He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth
in his strength : the glory of his nostrils is terrible. He
swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, neither
believeth he (for joy) that it is the sound of the
trumpet." The horse has also given birth to many beau-
tiful similes. Juvenal compares a degenerate person
of quality to a broken-down race-horse ; and TibuUus
elegantly introduces an old worn-out racer to shew the
transition of all human glory. The tongue of an empty-
pated fellow has been humorously compared to a race-
horse, as going faster for the less weight it carries.

As to Homer and Virgil, they put even a poet's
licence to the stretch when they touch on this subject.
Each of them makes his horses of heavenly extraction ;
and the former takes as much pains to trace the pedi-
grees of his horse as he does those of his heroes. Twice
he compliments Greece on the beauty of her women
and her horses ; and makes those of Achilles immortal,
after having stood still and wept for the death of his
friend Patroclus. In his description of the coach-
horses of Diomed, he descends even to their clothing
in the stable ; which seems to have been ornamented
in a manner suitable to the tinsel and tawdry taste
of an Asiatic Prince. Neither has Virgil been behind-

INTRODUCTION 3

hand with him here ; for, with a true Homeric spirit,
he tells us that the horses which Csesar consecrated
when he passed the Rubicon wept, and refused their
food on the day of their master's death. Of Virgil,
however, it may be justly observed, that he gave
to the world what in his day must have been considered
most useful information respecting this noble animal ;
and whenever he has an opportunity of introducing
him in his poem, he descends to the minutest parti-
culars as to colour, shape, furniture, etc., and dwells
upon him in a manner that plainly shows the particular
esteem in which he held him.

It is difficult to determine the nature of animal life,
but it is evident that it cannot exist without certain
organised parts ; and in proportion as this organisa-
tion is complete, is the vigour it possesses. When we
compare the different species of animals we find each
of them possessed of powers and faculties peculiar to
themselves, and well adapted to the peculiar sphere
of action allotted to them. Mere strength requires
solidity alone ; but when, as in the horse, it is united
with that suppleness and activity which we see them
possess, what a multitude of combining powers must
it not require ! What levers, springs, etc., must be
called into play ; and how small a space do they
occupy, at the same time allowing full liberty of
action ! Look at the fetlocks of a horse, how small
they are ! and yet we find them capable of lifting a
great weight, in addition to his own, to the height
of five, six, or even seven feet ^ from the ground, and

^ It is wonderful what a bound or spring some horses have the

4 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

supporting it again in its descent with vastly in-
creased force.

All bodies, animate or inanimate, derive their beauty,
more or less, from their aptitude to the uses for which
they were intended ; though among the former some
may be said to derive it from circumstances inde-
pendent of this aptitude. Birds, for instance, appear
conscious and proud of their ornamental plumes, and
take no small pains to clean and preserve them. What
enamel, however, can be much finer than the lustre of
some horses' skins ? In the latter — the inanimate
world — variety, regularity, and just proportions of
their different parts constitute their principal beauty ;
for what would become of the wreathed and fluted
column under a pile disproportionate to its strength ?
If, therefore, symmetry and proportion are necessary
to form a perfect figure, where are they more frequently
met with than in the horse ? That elegance of form
in which there is no unnecessary weight to oppress
the muscles is particularly conspicuous in the better
sorts of our English horses, when brought into con-
dition for hunting or racing. The regularity and just
proportion of their limbs confer a peculiar grace and
beauty on the body to which they belong ; and when
we consider the good qualities they possess — the fire
and spirit of their temperament, yet general docility
— the agility of their movements, which we call action
— their courage, their accomplishments, passive for-

po-vrer of exerting. In 1821 Mr Mytton's horse, " the Hero,"
clezired timber seven feet in height, with a very short run to it,
in Mr JelUco's grounds in Shropshire, with Mr M. on his back.

INTRODUCTION 5

bearance — and, above all, their indispensable utility
— we cannot be surprised that in aU ages and in all
countries they have been objects of admiration and
gratitude. If, therefore, the logic of Socrates be
admitted, that what is good is beautiful, and that
fitness is essential to beauty — the horse must " bear
the bell " among the animal creation. Exclusively
of his beauty, if he be not the strongest, he is the
bravest and fleetest in the forest ; and if custom had
not dignified the lion with the title of " king of the
beasts," reason would have bestowed it on the horse.

To some animals Providence has imparted strength,
to others subtlety ; some are made dreadful by their
ferocity — perhaps, in the first instance, by way of
warning mankind from a state of indifference which
too great a security might produce : but in the horse
is implanted this happy combination of qualities,
which render him so particularly subservient to the
purposes and uses of man. Were his nature, with his
gigantic strength, different from what it is, it would
be impossible to tame him ; for education never alters
nature. Fortunately, however, it is no less true than
extraordinary, that animals which are most timid are
hardest to be tamed ; whereas those which, like the
horse, are of a bold and generous disposition — having
less fear because they have less suspicion — rather
solicit than avoid the kind offices of man.

Frenchmen, generally speaking, are bad judges of
animal life : but let us hear what one of them says on
this subject.* "Of all animals the horse has the finest

' " Spectacle de la Nature."

6 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

turn of shape, is the most noble in his indinations,
the most Hberal of his services, and the most frugal
of his food. He would sooner die under the weight
of his labours than decline them. Is he to bear his
master himself, he seems sensible of the honour. He
studies how to please him ; and, at the least signal,
varies his pace : is always ready to slacken or re-
double, or precipitate it, when he is acquainted with
his master's wiU. Neither the length of the journey,
nor the uneasiness of the way, nor ditches, nor rivers
the most rapid, can discourage him. He springs
through every obstacle, and is a bird whose career
no impediment can check." Thus far the Frenchman
goes on very well, and has described the sort of horse
for which a Melton man would have no hesitation in
giving five hundred guineas ; but when he comes
to a more minute description of his form, he produces
one which is only fit to carry a Frenchman. He says,
" he should have a small head, be high and thin
chested, of a well-turned shape, with a belly somewhat
round and tight, and thin legged. This," he adds,
" is the most proper for services of a genteel nature, will
do honour to his rider in performing feats of chivalry,
will excel in the chase or course, and will be service-
able in travelling, or in pursuit of the enemy." He
finishes by saying that the most valuable saddle horse
is the EngUsh gelding, the Spanish genet, or the Arab.
That able zoologist, the late Mr Pennant, very
justly observes, that the horse is found in England
of many mingled breeds, whilst most other countries
produce only one. Our race-horses, he adds, descend

INTRODUCTION 7

from Arabian stallions, and the genealogy faintly
extends to our hunters. The strength and courage
of our draught horses are derived from those of Ger-
many, Flanders, and Holstein. The British cavalry
was remarkable even in the time of Julius Caesar,
yet we know not what was the primitive breed.

Fabulists have accounted for the original birth of
the horse in two ways : first, that Neptune created
him by a stroke of the earth with his trident ; and,
secondly, that he was begotten of the wind. These
are grand and poetical ideas : but what Neptune
had to do with horses, unless it were with the hippo-
campi, or sea-horses, I am at a loss to imagine : and
although it appears he took one of his names from his
skill in breaking them, yet I never hear of the relation
between them but I think of the Irishman and the
horse marines. Fabulists, painters, and poets, however,
do not stop here ; and although Noah is said to have
refused a passage in the ark to the mule, they are not
satisfied till they surpass Nature, and attempt to unite
in one figure what she has wisely divided between
two. By destroying nature, they substitute infirmi-
ties ; and, however beautiful their centaur, their
Pegasus, their satyr, their dolphin, or their mermaid
may appear in a picture or a poem, they would cut a
sorry figure were they realised : and I have always
been of opinion, that a brawny young fellow, stark
naked, with a huge pair of wings on his back, might
[tali auxilio) just as soon be taken for a devil as an
angel. In this manner they have deformed and dis-
honoured both man and horse, by creating a centaur ;

8 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

and, strange to say, many grave writers contend for
the actual existence of the monster. Plutarch
mentions one as having been seen at Corinth ; and
Pliny, who ought to have known better, says he him-
self saw one embalmed in honey, which had been
brought from Egypt to Rome by the Emperor Claudius.
This, however, is not the last upon record ; for St
Jerome mentions, in the life of Paul the Hermit, that
a centaur had been seen by St Anthony. Now, as
one good father could not, with propriety, doubt the
veracity of another good father, it seems he only
doubted the eye-sight of the Saint, and suspected the
object to have been an illusion of the devil. I think
we may fairly conclude that these monsters never
existed but in the imagination of a madman, or a poet,
or of some outlandish Greek who first saw a man upon
a horse's back, which is not altogether an unnatural
conclusion. Few stories, however, are more famous
in historical fable than the battle of the centaurs with
the Lapithae, when they all got drunk at a wedding.
Authors are divided as to the time when men first
mounted horses ; but from passages in the Bible, it
appears that we are indebted to Egypt for the
equestrian art. That it was cultivated in Homer's
time is certain ; and it seems the Greeks transmitted
it to the Romans, who soon excelled their masters.
Herodotus, in Thalia, speaks of hunting on horses in
the time of Darius : also, in Melpomene, that the
Amazons hunted on horseback with their husbands.
Xenophon teUs us Cyrus did so when he exercised
himself and his horses. Ovid speaks of Castor and

INTRODUCTION 9

Pollux being mounted on horses whiter than snow at
the hunting of the Caledonian boar. It does not,
however, appear that horses were brought into Greece
long before the Trojan war.

Several countries have claimed the honour of being
famous for their breed of horses ; but Tartary seems
to be the indigenous one. They were great breeders
also in Argolis, Cappadocia, and in Macedonia. In
the latter country there were kept in the Royal stud
three hundred stallions and thirty thousand mares ;
but Epirus, formerly a kingdom of Greece, seems to
have been the Yorkshire of the East. According to
all that has been said on the subject, great attention
was paid to preserve the breeds pure. In Tartary,
a bad race-horse was immediately castrated ; and
among the Arabians the certificate of leap and produce
was delivered with all the forms and accuracy of a
title-deed to an estate. They had three classes of
horses in Arabia : first, noble ; next, nearly so ; and
the third, common. These answer to our thorough-
bred, half-bred, and cart-horse. To obtain posses-
sion of the first class has always been very difficult ;
and many interesting anecdotes are upon record of
those whose necessities have compelled them to part
with them.

After what has been said, supposing it to be true,
we cannot wonder at the high honours that have in
all ages been paid to the horse, and that he has made
so conspicuous a figure in the history of every country.
Darius was chosen King of Persia by the neighing of
his horse ; and it has been gravely asserted that

lo THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

Alexander would never have pushed his conquests
half so far as he did, had not Bucephalus stooped to
take him on his back. The history of this horse is
elegantly blended with that of his master. It appears
that when brought for Philip to purchase, he was
extremely restive, but was soon made to submit to
the courage and superior horsemanship of his son.
This so pleased the father, that, kissing him, he ex-
claimed, " Oh, my son, seek some kingdom equal to
thy worth, for Macedonia is too little for thee." We
are farther told that he built a city in honour of the
horse, and called it after him. If history is to be
credited, one Roman Emperor raised his horse to the
Consulate, and another made him a guest at table,
where he was fed with gilt oats out of an ivory manger :
his stable was of marble, his collar set with pearls,
and his clothing, of rich purple, fit for a Bishop. In
Morocco, horses were made saints,^ and when the
King went abroad, he caused one of them to be led
before him richly accoutred, and his tail held up by a
Christian. Oriental Princes always sent a horse as a
present to their favourites. When Trajan stayed at
Antioch, several petty Princes sent him presents —
among which was a horse, that, when brought before
him, kneeled and bowed to him. It is told of Cyrus,
that, having had one of his famous grey horses drowned
in passing a large river in Asia, he was so vexed that
he stopped the course of it, and divided it into three
hundred and sixty channels. So attached was this
great Prince to horses and horsemanship, that among

1 " The World."

INTRODUCTION ii

his subjects it was considered a disgrace to be seen
publicly on foot. Among the ancient Grecians, horse-
men were placed above the commonalty, and next to
those of the highest rank and fortune. The same
respect was also paid to the Roman Equites ; and in
the present day a sub in a dragoon regiment thinks
himself equal to a captain of foot.

No trifling respect, if not honour, is paid to the
horses of our own country. They exceed all other
animals at least tenfold in their value ; and their
comfort and convenience are, generally speaking,
strictly attended to. William the Conqueror improved
the breed of EngHsh horses, as did the Earl of Shrews-
bury in his (William's) time. In Edward the Sixth's
reign an Act was passed to make stealing a horse
felony without benefit of clergy, but it did not extend
to other cattle ; and in that of Harry the Eighth, all
persons whose grounds were enclosed were obliged to
keep two brood mares of a certain size.

We are now arrived at such perfection in the breed-
ing and forcing of horses, if I may be allowed such an
expression, that we have nothing to learn from those
who have gone before us : but the principles laid down
by ancient writers on this subject, particularly by
Virgil and Pliny, both good judges, are strictly correct.
The former says, if you want to win a prize at the
Olympic games, consult the dam of your colt. This
was exactly the opinion of the late Lord jGrosvenor,
the greatest breeder of race-horses this country ever
saw. The present Earl has confirmed it by breeding
very extensively from Thunderbolt, but it has been

12 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

only out of two or three of his best mares that he could
get a winner. This has also been very strongly
exemplified at the last Newmarket meetings by the
produce of the Duke of Grafton's famous mares
winning aU before them.^

It is much to be lamented that among sportsmen
the prejudice against mares is so strong, as, in con-
sequence, the value of many good hunters, and, sub-
sequently, many good brood mares, is never known ; for
being so generally rejected by those persons who would
give them the fairest chance of distinguishing them-
selves, they fall into the hands of farmers and others,
who cannot for obvious reasons give them that oppor-
tunity. If we look back to the great performances
on the road against time, we shall find that by far
the greater number of them were by mares ; and
Eleanor ^ winning the Derby and the Oaks (in 1801), and
the running of Lord Grosvenor's Meteora,^ were
perhaps never excelled if equalled by horses. The

' The produce of Coquette, Diana, Piquet, Miltonia, Parasol,
Medora, Prudence, and Penelope, won (thirty times), in 182;;,
prizes amounting to ;£ 11,317.

* This excellent mare when in training had forty-nine engage-
ments, and was the winner of twenty-eight prizes : she was the suc-
cessful competitor for both the Derby and Oaks at Epsom ; she also
won the King's Plates at Newmarket and Lincoln ; the Gold Cups
at Oxford, Newmarket, and Egham ; and ;£2567, 59. in specie.
Eleanor was dam of Nell by Johnny, Muley by Orville, Troilus by
Walton, Active by Partisan, My Aunt Nan by Pioneer, etc. etc.

^Meteora's career was truly brilliant. In addition to £i^io, she
won the Oaks at Epsom, the Royal Plate at Chelmsford, two Classes
of the Oatlands, the Audley End Stakes, twice one-third of 25 gs.
Subscription, the Jockey Club Plate, two Cups at Stamford,
the Somerset Stakes, and the Cup at Brighton. She died in
1821.

INTRODUCTION 13

Arabians have always preferred mares to horses.
They have been found to endure hunger and thirst,
and all other privations, better ; and although in our
climate horses are seldom put to the test in this respect,
yet, when travelling between the tropics in a desert,
it must be a most valuable consideration. In a race,
it is true, mares are put upon a par with geldings ;
but it must be admitted that they are more perfect
in their nature, and, with the exception of the period
of genial desire, I conceive them to be more than equal
to them in any kind of exertion on the road or in the
field.

By the Spanish proverb, " He that will have a mule
without a fault must keep none." Perfection is
seldom found in any living being ; but certain it is
that, of all animals in which perfection, or as near to
it as their nature will admit, is required, it is in a horse
to carry a man or a woman on the road ; and were
I requested by a friend to purchase a good hack for
him, I should consider him to have given me a com-
mission ten times more difficult than if he had re-
quested me to purchase half a dozen hunters ; and
for the following reasons : In the first place, the
price offered for a hack is seldom sufficiently great
to induce the owner to part with him if he is really a
good one ; and to be a good one, he must not only
be a hunter in miniature, but he must be possessed
of many good qualities that may be dispensed with in
a hunter. A horse may have twisted fore-legs, fleshy
feet, thrushes, or corns ; may be startlish, fretful,
and awkward in his slow paces, and yet be a brilliant

14 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

hunter over a country.^ But the qualifications of a
good hack are so numerous as to be almost dishearten-
ing to look for them : he must have good fore-legs
as well as good hinder ones ; he must have perfect
feet, a good mouth, not given to start, safe on his legs,
gentle in his temper, and quiet to ride on all occasions.
A fidgety hack, however good in his nature, is very
unpleasant, and in hot weather insupportable. He
is fit for nothing but to ride to covert at the rate of
twenty miles in the hour ; and in that case his being
a little eager to get on may be immaterial, as the
disease and the remedy travel together. I remember
asking a young Oxonian whether his hack was a good
one, and his answer was, " Capital ! he ran away with
me every yard of the road (fourteen miles) to covert
this morning." For such quick work, however, it
is necessary that a hack should be well-bred. A
low-bred one will go very pleasantly at this rate for
about ten miles, when he wiU begin to roll about and
become unsafe. In the language of grooms, he will
" cry out for his mamma." There are very few excep-
tions to this rule, for Nature seldom goes out of her
course to oblige any man.

There is one most essential quality, a sine qua non
in a good hack which is, that he should go near the

^ What I have now asserted was completely verified by that cele-
brated horse The Clipper. His fore-legs were so twisted that he was
generally booted to go to covert, and his temper so awkward that it
was necessary that some one should accompany the boy who rode
him to open the gates. It is almost unnecessary to add that he
was the property of Mr Lindo, and perhaps the most brilliant hunter
that ever appeared in Leicestershire.

INTRODUCTION 15

ground, and yet go safe. Perhaps it may not be
generally known that a horse may go very near the
ground, and never make a trip ; and that another
may lift his knee almost up to his nose, and yet be
an arrant tumble-down. Were I to say which was
the safest animal in all its paces that ever came under
my observation, I should have no hesitation in saying
it was a mare that was in my own family for upwards
of fifteen years, that touched every stone which she
passed her foot over, but never made a mistake in all
that time. Lifting up the leg, or what the London
people call the " knee-up action," has nothing to do
with a horse going safe on the road. It is not on the
taking up of the foot, but on the putting of it down,
that the safety of a horse's action depends. Although
I do not go so far as to say (though it has been said)
that the fore-legs are merely pillars under the body
of a horse, and have little to do with his action, yet
I do maintain that they are entirely obedient to the
shoulder ; and if the shoulder command that the toe
shall touch the ground first, instead of the foot coming
down flat, with the heel well down, it is no matter
how high the foot is taken up by the bending of the
knee. What I have said may appear rather para-
doxical ; but a little consideration will establish the
justness of my observation. When the leg is bent,
as in action, in the form of a C, and the foot suspended
in the air, turning inwards, with a curve towards the
body, were it in that state to come in contact with a
stone or any other substance, it would pass it over
without resistance — being, as it were, at that time in

i6 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

a flaccid state ; but when the foot approaches the
ground, the limb is extended, and the whole weight
of the fore-quarters is about to be thrown upon it. If,
then, the base for that weight be not even and firm —
if the toe dig into the ground before the bearing is
completed, a trip, and a dangerous one, is the conse-
quence. My argument is exemplified thus. Man
walks very near to the ground, but seldom strikes it
with his toe. Follow him over a path where the
snow is deep enough to trace him, and you will im-
mediately perceive that he strikes the snow with his
heel, but scarcely ever with his toe. If he did, he
would constantly be injuring himself, and would
soon become a cripple. The action of a man proceeds
from his hips ; whereas that of a horse, as far as his
fore-legs are concerned, is from his shoulders ; but
the principle is the same with each : each is a piece
of curiously-wrought mechanism ; and according to
the correctness of that mechanism is their action
true.

When I try a horse with the view of purchasing
him for a hack, my trial is a very short one. I get on
his back, and, loosing his head, let him walk a hundred
yards on a foot-path. If Nature has designed him to
stick his toe into the ground instead of putting his
foot down quite flat, by which alone he can go safe,
he will do so two or three times before he goes that
distance. There are little undulations in a road of
that description which are scarcely perceptible, and
for that reason will immediately detect this sort of
action. If, on the other hand, he walk smoothly over

ONE OF THE RIGHT SOKT

INTRODUCTION 17

it without touching it, I try his other paces, and if I
like them I have no reason to fear his tumbling down.
There are other ways in which horses fall down on the
road. One is by sudden starting, when their legs
" fly from under them," as it is termed ; and another
by what is called " a false step," that is, by placing
the foot on a stone that rolls from under it ; or from
the giving way of any substance on which they may
tread ; also from the corns or thrushes, in which case
they come down to the ground more suddenly, and
with greater violence than when the fall is occasioned
by a stumble. Falls, however, of this nature generally
proceed from want of energy in their action and a
good use of their hinder legs ; but as circumstances
of this nature will occur on all roads, it shews the
necessity of never trusting a hack entirely to himself.
With the exception of post-boys and commercial
travellers, few persons have ridden the road more
than I have done ; and I attribute the trifling number
of falls I have had to never trusting my horse. I
have always made it a rule to feel his mouth lightly,
and generally more with the bradoon than with the
curb, and for the following reasons : In the first place,
to go safe on the road, a horse must carry his head
where nature intended he should carry it, and by
riding him on the bradoon he will be the more inclined
to do so. Secondly, by always feeling his mouth,
however lightly, you are enabled to give him assistance
immediately on his legs failing him, when a very little
will be sufficient to restore the equilibrium : but if
you ride him on the curb, with a loose rein, he may

i8 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

be nearly down before you feel him ; and when the
centre of gravity is lost it is not so easily restored.
Feeling a horse's mouth in this way is a still greater
security from faUs proceeding from any of the last
mentioned causes, as so little previous warning is
generally given, A few years since I was riding to
covert with a master of fox-hounds who rode heavy,
and seeing him going along at the rate of twelve miles
in the hour, up and down hill, with his reins on his
horse's neck, I observed to him that I should be afraid
to trust him. His answer was that " he could not fall."
The very next time he rode him, however, he did fall,
rolling completely over him ; and, had it not been
that the ground was soft, must in all probability have
killed or seriously hurt him. However pleasant and
wholesome horse-exercise is, it has been remarked
that no man who gets on a horse knows how or when
he shall get off him ; and certain it is that when, under
any circumstances, we trust our safety to another,
the insurance becomes doubly hazardous. Common
precautions, therefore, are neither to be despised nor
neglected. A leg, a thigh, or a skull is soon fractured,
and a really good and safe hack is not only, as I before
mentioned, the most scarce and difficult horse to be
met with, but invaluable to a man who rides much on
the road, particularly after a certain time of hfe has
gone by.

Although it is not necessary, or to be expected,
that a hack should be a hunter, yet a hunter, to be
perfect, should be a good hack, and his value is much
increased by his being so. I remember hearing a

INTRODUCTION 19

person speaking of a hunter, by a covert's side in
Leicestershire, which was for sale ; and, among other
good qualities, he mentioned that he was a nice horse
to carry a woman on the road. " Whose horse is
that ? " exclaimed my Lord Maynard, who was within
hearing. " I will give two hundred guineas for him ;
for a horse that will carry a woman well will always
carry a man." The chief paces for a hack to carry
a gentleman are the walk and the canter. A very
quick trot is a most ungentlemanlike pace, and only
fit for a butcher ; besides which it wears out a horse
much sooner than a canter, from the weight being all
thrown upon one fore-leg at the same time ; whereas
in the canter it is equally divided between both.
Added to this, a canter is much more easy, as well as
safer to the rider, the horse having his haunches more
under him than when he trots, thereby more likely
to recover himself in case of making a mistake, which
the best is sometimes subject to. Fast trotting also
distresses a horse more than cantering, because in the
one he is going up to the top of his speed, and in the
other much below it. Trotting, however, has been more
in vogue lately in the sporting world ; and the match
between Mr Barnard's mare, of the Arabian breed,
and Captain Coltson's horse, for 500 gs., was a wonder-
ful performance. It appears that the mare, who won,
did the last mile within six seconds of the rate of
twenty miles in the hour without being pushed — the
speed of the horse having fallen off. Had the race
been continued for one other mile at the pace [the mare
did the last, she would have trotted ten miles in the

20 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

extraordinary short space of half an hour and fifty-two
seconds}

Some cantering horses appear to consult the ease
and comfort of their riders by never breaking into a
trot until pulled up for that purpose ; and I have met
with a few in my time that did not appear to be going
more than eight or nine miles in the hour, and yet
were going eleven. This is the perfection of action in
a hack ; and I never see one getting over the ground
in this delightful and smooth manner, but it brings to
my recollection the anecdote of a gentleman who sent
for his huntsman into his dining-room to inquire after
the sport of the day ; when, after describing the
country he had drawn over, and the run he had had, he
finished by saying that " his hounds went like hell and
d n, and the old mare carried him like oil ! "

Demosthenes, being asked what was the first point
in oratory, replied — action. What the second ? —
action. What the third ? — action. Had the sage
Grecian been catechised in this way as to his opinion
of a horse, he could not, with all his eloquence, have
expressed himself more aptly ; for action is everything:
without it the finest form is of no avail ; although in
justice we must admit that we do not often find very
fine shape and make unaccompanied by it. Some-
times, however, there is a helplessness and want of

^ This event took place on Tuesday, June 4th, 1822, in the Grove
Park, near Gerrard's Cross, Bucks, over a two-mile circle. It was
to trot nine miles against each other, and to start at different ends
of the two miles. It was as fine a race as ever was run, and both
were neck and neck at the seventh mile, when the horse began to fall
a little off his speed.

INTRODUCTION 21

energy about a well-shaped horse which we cannot
account for — arising, perhaps, from some physical
cause not apparent to the eye. I have frequently
been asked my opinion of a horse when standing in
the stable. My answer has invariably been, " Let
me get upon his back, and I will teU you." A judge,
however, may form some idea of what a horse is before
he mounts him, from the position of those two most
essential points — the shoulders and the hinder legs ;
for if they are not in their proper places, it is in vain
to look for true action. You may as well expect an
ass to play the fiddle, as a horse to carry his rider
pleasantly, unless he have good lengthy shoulders
and well-bent hinder legs. A friend of mine, who is
become fastidious in his judgment, goes so far as to
say that no horse can have a good mouth with straight
hinder legs. He is so far correct, inasmuch as no horse
with straight hinder legs can pull together ; therefore
neither his head nor his heels can be where they ought
to be, and consequently he can never be fit to carry
a gentleman.

LETTER I

THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

HAD some sensible and rational groom
given to the world the result of his
practice in the stable, I should not have
taken up my pen on this humble subject,
conceiving he would have been better qualified for the
task. But as no instructions of this nature are before
us, and they appear to be much wanting, I will en-
deavour to furnish them to the best of my ability.^ Mr
White's is the only one on this subject that I ever was
possessed of. It appears to be written by a man who
understands his profession, and his practice is rational
and safe. He has a long chapter on condition ; but he
writes as a veterinary surgeon, treating scientifically of
the anatomy and pathology of the horse, and stating
such defects as operate against getting a horse into
condition — as also recommending some preventives of
disease after hunting, etc. But for directions as to
work, feeding, and other means by which we are to get a
horse fit to appear at a covert-side, we look in vain. Mr
White, however, as I before observed, was a veterinary
surgeon ; and it is not, generally speaking, from
veterinary surgeons that we are to expect such direc-

^ This work has been revised by several veterinarians.

THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 23

tions. Their attention is turned to more important
subjects ; and it is from those alone who have made
it either the business or amusement {labor ipse voluntas)
of their lives to superintend the management of hunters
that we are to receive practical and useful directions.
Among the latter I may class myself. For twenty
years of my life I have had a stud of hunters ; and
although I have had two as good grooms as fall to the
lot of most men, I never gave them control over my
horses in the stable ; but acted on the principle that
two heads may be better than one, and that the person
who rides the horse is a better judge of his state than
the person who cleans him.

I shall endeavour, therefore, to detail the result of
my own practical observations on this most essential
point — a point on which depends not only the place
which every man who rides to hounds is to maintain
in the field, but his safety in that place ; and — what
is of no small importance, from the high prices at which
horses have lately been sold — the safety of his horse
afterwards.

In illustration of argument, or in corroboration of
facts, it is impossible to avoid sometimes talking of
oneself, particularly on such a subject as this ; but I
beg the reader to understand that it is my wish to
suggest, rather than dictate. I shall, therefore, merely
describe that method of treating the hunter, in his
preparation for the field, which I have found to be
the most safe and advantageous — leaving others to
judge of its propriety, and to adhere to their own plans,
if they prefer them to mine. The situation of a

24 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

hunter, well ridden up to hounds, is one of great peril
and danger ; and it may be some recommendation to
the plan I have pursued, that in a long series of years
I have never had the distemper in my stable, nor more
than one dead horse dragged out of it. I may also
add that I have had more than my share of success
with my horses.

Mr Locke was of opinion that such is the diversity
of the tastes and relishes of men, that it would be
difficult to write a book which might not please some ;
and one of the " old ones " has observed that every
man should do something to make himself useful and
profitable to mankind. If, then, by communicating
the result of my experience on this subject, I may
amuse some, and be the means of enabling others who
pursue the diversion of fox-hunting to do justice to
the physical powers of their horses, and thereby
diminish their sufferings (for suffer they must) from
the work which they are put to perform, I shall not
think my time has been misemployed. It is a subject
on which theory is worth little. The information
required must be the result of practice or close observa-
tion alone. Be it remembered, that it was at the
suggestion of a cobbler that the Grecian painter
altered the shoe of his figure. If I differ from some
old-established rules, it will be on the principle that
no notions, however handed down to us, which our
reason cannot approve, should influence our judgment
in matters of this nature, but we should be solely
guided by what appears rational and true ; and " he
who will not reason is a bigot, and he who cannot is

THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 25

a fool." Ignorance and prejudice are fading fast,
and common sense finds its way into the stable, as
well as into other departments of general economy,
and knowledge predominates over ignorance and
error, as man governs other animals.

The word " condition " is one of the widest latitude.
Dr Johnson defines it thus : "a quality by which
anything is denominated good or bad," Strictly
speaking, therefore, the adjective "good" or " bad "
is wanting to give it its proper signification. It has,
however, been generally applied in a favourable light.
Our old writers were wont to call men of rank and
fortune " gentlemen of condition " ; and in our own
times, if we see a horse, or a piece of land, looking well,
we are apt to say " they are in condition." As, how-
ever, by the word condition, when applied to the horse,
we mean a state quite contrary to a state of Nature,
if follows that art is necessary to produce it ; and as
all measures which tend to throw Nature out of her
destined course hy violence are bad, it also follows that
time, great caution, and judgment are necessary in
the use of them ; for which reasons it is not in the
power of every man calling himself a groom to get a
horse into condition. In the first place, it requires
a larger stock of strength of mind than persons of this
description are generally possessed of, to induce them
to lay aside old prejudices and customs ; and, what is
a still harder task, to acknowledge that they know
nothing. That there are scientific grooms it is true ;
men capable of getting a stud of horses into perfect
condition without the master's eye ; but it is not in

26 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

the power of every man who keeps his hunters to get
them. They are scarce ; and their demands for wages,
and other concomitant expenses, are not within the
reach of us all.

In the common language of the stable, a horse is
said to be " in condition " when he is full of flesh, has
a shining coat, and a healthy look ; whereas, with
all these outward appearances, being in perfect health,
he may be quite incapable of exerting his physical
powers with effect : for although, in some measure,
the skin may be said to be the complexion of a horse,
yet it is more by the feel than by his look that his good
or bad condition is to be appreciated.

It is well known that animals in a state of domesti-
cation exhibit powers unknown in their wild and
natural state ; and so does man. With respect to the
latter, it has been ascertained by the hynanometer, or
measure of strength, of Regnier, that the physical
powers of man in a savage state are only as 51 to 69
of that of a Frenchman, and 71 of that of an English-
man. Good food, aided by exercise, invigorates the
muscles by consolidating the flesh ; and the texture
of the body depends, in great measure, on the food
on which all animals live.

Next to the nature and accomplishments of a
hunter, his condition is of the first importance. In
my own opinion it has always been considered of such
paramount necessity, that I have thought no pains or
expense ill bestowed to obtain it ; having so often
proved that a middling horse in condition will beat
a good one not fit to go. The system which I have

THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 27

adopted for upwards of twenty years is now becoming
more general ; but when I first commenced it, it was
quite contrary to that pursued by my friends and
neighbours, and particularly obnoxious to my groom,
who told me my horses would be ruined — that every
feed of com they ate in the summer was thrown away
upon them — that their legs would be spoiled — their
feet contracted ; and that they would be blind, broken-
winded, etc. The system I allude to is, never to give
a hunter what is called " a summer's run at grass," and,
except under particular and very favourable circum-
stances, never to turn him out at all.

When the utility of any generally adopted practice
becomes doubtful, it is entitled to a fair discussion ;
but before we condemn it we should be certain that
it is wrong ; and when a man takes upon himself to
contradict received opinions, and prejudices sanctioned
by time, he should bring valid proof of what he asserts.
He should set aside the authority of others, and use
his own reason. He should refer to his own experience,
which is the surest test of truth. When, however,
a gentleman undertakes to interfere with his groom in
the management of his stable, he has no trifling diffi-
culties to contend with. The pride of science is
humble when compared with the pride of ignorance ;
and ignorance and presumption accompany each other.
He must, therefore, be prepared for a contest ; but he
has the staff in his own hand, and he is wrong if he
yields it to another.

I am now called upon to state why I consider
the practice of turning out hunters to what is called

28 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

" a summer's run at grass" to be injurious to them,
and why I prefer my own place of never turning them
out at aU, except, as I before observed, under par-
ticular and favourable circumstances.

As I was not in the world fifty years ago, I cannot
tell what hunting was in those days ; but I have
often conversed with those who have seen and described
it ; and I should conceive that the Revolution of the
French empire could not have been more complete
than has been that of fox-hunting within the period
alluded to. The style of the hound, the horse, and the
man ^ who rides him, have all undergone a change in
the regular march of time ; and fox-hunting has not
been excluded from that blaze of new light that has
dawned on our present age. Whither this light will
extend, or what it wiU set fire to, is not for me to
trouble myself about here. It is enough for me to
observe that, whenever improvement finds its way
into one part of an establishment, it must be accom-
panied by improvement in others, or the benefit of
it is lost ; and if the fox ^ and the hounds go faster in

^ A modem fox-hunter, stepping out of his carriage by a covert-
side, looks more Uke as though he were going a-courting than fox-
hunting. Those of the Old School thought this was carried too far.
The late Mr Forrester, of Willy Hall, in Shropshire, who hunted that
country many years, gave his coverts, when far advanced in life, to
a pack of fox-hounds set up in his neighbourhood by some farmers.
Having ridden out one day to see them, he was asked how he liked
them ? " Very much indeed," replied the veteran : " there was
not one d — d fellow in a white-topped boot among them."

- A fox found by the drag, as was the custom in former days, as
soon as it was light, and before he had digested his chicken, could
not be supposed to run so fast as one whipped out of an acre of gorse
at one o'clock in the afternoon, as is the fashionable time at present.

THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 29

1822 than they did in 1772, the horse that follows
them must go faster also. When I began to look at
fox-hounds, on a pony, in the Christmas hoUdays,
they appeared to me to be a different kind of animal
to those which I have seen since. Comparatively
speaking, harriers now go the pace of foxhounds in
those times, and fox-hounds that of greyhounds.
The style of horse, the seat upon him, have all been
revolutionised, and fox-hunting in some countries
must soon change its name to " racing after a fox."
When a celebrated hard rider comes to confess that
he was beaten two miles in twenty-two minutes, with
a good horse and a good start, which I was witness to
with the Duke of Rutland's hounds, what can be the
difference between going over Leicestershire on a
hunter after a fox, or going over the Beacon at New-
market on a race-horse ? The pace, when going,
must be nearly the same ; and the only thing that can
enable the hunter to continue it, is the relief he gets
by being pulled up at his fences. If, therefore, the
pace of a hunter — and it is the pace that kills — is
anything like the pace of the race-horse, the prepara-
tion for that pace should be in some measure similar,
or we must admit that he has not fair play.

There is an expression at the beginning of this paper
which is entitled to particular consideration. I say
that " all measures which tend to throw Nature out
of her destined course by violence are bad." Now
we must be aware that Nature never intended that
a horse should eat a peck or six quarterns of com
in a day besides beans or peas ; be kept in an under

30 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

oxygenated atmosphere, instead of the pure air ; be
clothed, sweated, and cleaned — to say nothing of the
work he is called upon to perform. If, then, his nature
is, as it were, to be thus changed, how can we expect
that it can be done but by slow degrees ? " Use,"
says the old proverb, " is second nature " ; but the
word use implies custom, and custom is not established
but by length of time. How, then, can we reasonably
expect that a horse turned out to grass for the summer,
and taken up, full of bad flesh, the first week in August
(which is about the time those who are in the habit of
turning out their hunters generally take them up),
should be in condition and fit to go to hounds by the
end of October or the beginning of November ? As
I have before observed, we think ourselves lucky if
we can bring a race-horse to the post, fit to run, in
eight or twelve months ; but a hunter is to be made
fit to follow hounds in as many weeks ! Nature,
however, let me repeat, will not be put out of her
course by violence, and time alone will admit of the
change we wish to produce. Training-grooms are
well aware of this ; and those who entrust their horses
to them have too often occasion to repent of not having
sent them sooner to their stables, to prevent their
being hurried with their work and condition. If, then,
time is so necessary in the hands of a training-groom
with a horse which is sure to have been in a certain
degree of work and preparation previous to his
arriving under his care, what chance can a hunter
have to be in condition in November when he is taken
out of a rich pasture in August ? Ask a training-

THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 31

groom to look at a hunter that is fit to go, and observe
what he says. He wiU first feel his crest, and then,
laying his hands flat on his ribs, he will tell you if he
likes him. " This horse is well : his flesh feels as if
it had been taken off, and well put on again." Now, as
before a horse can be in condition his bad flesh must
come off him, as certain as the horn at the top of his
foot must find its way to the bottom of it, think what
time it must take to accomplish this change, if it is
to be accomplished, without injury. In proof of
what I assert, look at all persons' hunters in the month
of March. They are then in condition, just as there
is no further occasion for it, and with most of them
it is all going to be destroyed by four months' run at
grass. Observe to a friend at the beginning of the
season, whose horse has been at grass in the summer,
that he is not looking well, but is sweating, and all
in a lather as he trots along, and he will tell you " it
is the month of November — a month so bad for horses
— but in a short time he will look as well as any man's
horse." What an excuse would this be for Mr Prince
or Mr Robson, should they bring a race-horse to the
post out of condition at the Houghton Meeting in
November ! A horse, if he is a sound one, is to be
got into condition by any given period of the year, if
time be allowed to do it as it should be done.

A friend of mine, who has tried the powers of a horse
as much as any man could do, has justly observed
that " grass is a very good preparation for a bullock
for Smithfield market, but a very bad one for a hunter."
As for myself, I have long been of opinion that more

32 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

hunters are ruined by being turned out to grass than
persons are generally aware of ; and when I see one
in blooming condition going to be turned out for the
summer, I always think that it is almost even betting
that he never is in condition again. When I first set
out in life, hunters were turned out under circumstances
still more unfavourable than they are at present.
They were not even physicked ; but, as soon as hunt-
ing was over, their clothes were stripped off, and after
being turned out for an hour or two for a few times in
the middle of the day, to prepare them for the change,
they were sent to take their chance — perhaps on some
strong feeding land — to meet the young grass, as it
was called, and there to remain until about the 12th
of the succeeding August. This was done under the
false impression that spring grass purges horses ;
whereas it has been clearly proved that if a horse goes
out to grass foul, he comes up from it still more foul.
The load of bad flesh he acquires in this state may be
termed a sort of " oleaginous dropsy," the effect of
a general atony of the absorbents, created by the
immense quantity of succulent food he devours, and
by the sudden stop put to the evacuations by sweating
and other means resorted to when in regular work.
In later times horses have had the advantage of being
cleansed by physic before they are turned out ; but
even this cannot prevent the evils attending the prac-
tice of giving a hunter what is called " a summer's
run at grass." To say nothing of the accidents they
are subject to when turned out at large — as most
diseases of horses arise from plethora — their being

THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 33

at liberty to gorge themselves uncontrolled is fre-
quently productive of diseases of various kinds. Nor,
indeed, can we wonder at it. Habit, or rather custom,
cannot so far overcome Nature as to admit of an
animal being kept eight months in the year in a warm
stable, and in an equal temperature, and the other
four to be exposed to the noon-tide heat and mid-
night cold with impunity. These extremes cannot
fail to produce an increased action of the arterial
system. Inflammation often attacks (perhaps un-
perceived) those organs which are most readily in-
fluenced by local irritation ; hence blindness, and
what is vulgarly and stupidly called " a grass cough "
— ending in broken wind, or roaring — are produced.

I have hitherto appeared to have been speaking of
the evil of turning out hunters to grass, as far only as
regards the state of their bodies, without a reference
to that of their legs and feet, which have generally
been the chief consideration with those who have
pursued that plan. I have, however, no hesitation
in saying that the idea of a summer's run at grass
being beneficial to the legs of a hunter is a most
erroneous one, and that with respect to the feet, they
may, by proper management in the stable or loose
house, derive all those advantages which they would
receive from grass. As what I am going to say on
this subject may be contrary to the generally received
opinion of many, I shall be careful to assert nothing
but what I have confirmed by actual experience. I
have had in my stable, as all men who have kept them
must have had, two hunters with their legs equally

34 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

round, full, and " knocked about," as we are apt to
say, by a season's hard work — fuU of bangs, blows,
and contusions of all descriptions, I have turned one
of them out to grass, after being properly physicked,
and I have kept the other in a loose house, also well
cleansed by physic. At the end of two months I
have found the legs of the horse in the loose house
perfectly fine, and reduced to their natural size ; and
I have found those of the other, which was at grass,
as round, or nearly so, as when he first went out. Let
us give ourselves time to inquire into this matter,
and we shall no longer wonder at the result of the
experiment. If we injure one of our own limbs by a
strain, a blow, or any other cause, do we continue to
use it, or do we give it rest ? Does a horse in training
injure one of his legs by a blow or a strain — which from
the nature of his work he is so liable to — does he go on
with his work, even if not lame, or is he " indulged,"
as they call it in the stables, with two or three days'
walking exercise, which they term rest ? All this
applies to the hunter. To say nothing of his gallop-
ing over the hard ground — perhaps leaping — I think
I may venture to assert that, at the most moderate
calculation, he travels on an average at the rate of
half a mile in the hour, or twelve miles in the course
of the day and night. At this pace, if he is at grass
for three months, he travels one thousand miles.
Some horses, I have no doubt, exceed this distance ;
but the thousand miles, or say five hundred if you like,
must be a bad recipe for limbs which have been in-
jured by hard work and strains, and whose sinews

THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 35

and fibres have lost much of their proper tone and
vigour.

Before I proceed any further on this subject, I do
not wish the reader to suppose that I am averse to
hunters being turned out, as I before observed, " under
favourable circumstances," the nature of which I shall
explain hereafter. All that I condemn is the practice
of throwing a horse out of his condition by a long run
at grass. I am aware that the dews of the evening
may be favourable to the feet of horses ; but I also
contend that they can, by proper management, receive
all those advantages in a loose house during the
summer months. As I have set out by promising
to assert nothing but what I have experienced the
truth of, I shall state the case of a horse of my own
which was in my stable for fifteen years, with the
exception of one winter's run. He was a thorough-
bred horse, and had run several times at Newmarket
and other places. He had a chronic cough on him
when I first became possessed of him, which affected
him after his water, and when he got foul in his body.
His feet, as is too often the case with thorough-bred
ones, were disposed to contract. He was also a hard-
feeding, gorging horse, and took ten drachms of aloes,
generally aided by calomel, to stir his bowels. Now,
as it was not tried, I cannot presume to say what would
have been the result of the experiment ; but I have
every reason to believe that had that horse been turned
out to grass for half those fifteen summers he would
have been broken-winded. When I shot him, at
twenty-one years old, he was in beautiful condition ;

36 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

and his feet remained perfectly sound until within
three months of his death, when disease attacked one
of them, and I thought it too late in life to attempt to
remove it.

In the case of masters of hounds, I am aware that
the plan of keeping hunters up in the summer cannot
be so easily accomplished, from the number of their
stud ; therefore servants' horses must take their
chance. They are, however, generally taken up soon,
and get into work by degrees, in cub-hunting, which
gives them an advantage ; and wear-and-tear of horses
of this description is to be calculated upon as a
matter of course by those who keep fox-hounds.
When Lord Sefton hunted Leicestershire, his own
horses, that cost him six or eight hundred guineas each,
were ridden about in the summer quietly with the
hounds, although they were turned out at night under
favourable circumstances. It was impossible to ex-
ceed the condition these horses were in to carry high
weight.

LETTER II

OBJECTIONS AGAINST TURNING HUNTERS OUT TO A
summer's run at grass — PHYSIC

MY principal objections against turning
hunters out to a summer's run at grass,
as far as relates to their legs, consist of
three. The first is the great risk we run
of injuring their legs by the work we are obliged to
give them, when heavy, to get rid of the load of flesh
which they have accumulated at grass. My eyes
were opened on this subject by witnessing the pro-
gress of a stable of hunters belonging to a friend of
mine, with whom I was on intimate terms. He was
a heavy man, and generally had a stud of five or
six hunters, which he was in the habit of turning
out for a summer's run in strong feeding land. The
consequence was, they came up overladen with
flesh about the last week in July, or the first in
August. When in the stable no man's horses were
better looked after, for he was a good judge of such
matters ; but towards the end of September, or the
beginning of October, I always found that out of these
five or six horses he had two or three lame ones. On
questioning him as to the cause of their lameness, I
was generally told they had thrown out a bit of a
splint, got a blow on their legs, or some trifling reason

38 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

was assigned. It, however, too often happened that
they were either obUged to go through the process of
blistering, perhaps the operation of firing, and then
not fit to ride till after Christmas. I, however, soon
found out that it was the work these hunters were doing,
before they were fit to work — the galloping under this
load of flesh — that destroyed their legs ; and the
example before my eyes led me, twenty years ago,
to the determination that turning out a hunter to a
summer's run at grass to help himself to as much food
as he pleased to eat, and accumulate this load of flesh,
which was to be got rid of only at the expense of his legs,
was a most pernicious system, and was the cause of
the number of lame horses which I met with in the
stables of my friends. From that period to the present
I have never given a hunter a summer's run at grass,
nor would I recommend any one to do it who wishes
to be well carried to hounds, and to preserve his horse
to a good old age. Rest from his labours, I admit,
is essential to a hunter as well as to a race-horse. It
will not do to have him always going ; or, like the
race-horse, he will get stale. Green meat is also
necessary ; at least, cooling and wholesome ; but that
is to be had in a loose house ; and a small piece of
land — a few square yards — if his owner has no
paddocks, is sufficient for him to exercise himself in
and keep himself in health. If it were not so, what
would become of stallions that live this kind of life
for twenty years together and do well ? The in-
fluence of habit on animal economy is very strong,
and soon overcomes Nature.

TURNING HUNTERS OUT TO GRASS 39

With respect to the feet of hunters, all the advan-
tages obtained at grass are within our reach in the
stable. I have heard and read a great deal about
horn contracting in oil and expanding in water : but
we want neither oil nor water. It is moisture that we
require, and not wet. The latter is so far from being
serviceable to the feet of horses that it is really in-
jurious. Let those who doubt what I say keep a
horse for six months in sponge boots, and see what a
state his feet will be in. We read in history that the
horses in Hannibal's army were rendered useless by
travelling three days successively in water. Their
hoofs (for shoes they had none), we are told, came off.
They would have travelled for thirty days over a
sandy desert with less inconvenience. By watering
a hunter three times a day in the summer at a pond,
or in a running stream, and keeping his feet stopped,
three times a week, with cow-dung mixed with clay, or
damp (not wet) tow stuffed into them, we have all
the advantages that can be obtained in this respect by
turning him out to grass. As to what we hear, or
read, of the bad effects of standing on hot litter, as
disposing horses' feet to contract, I do not listen to it,
as my answer is — what business has a hunter to be
standing on hot litter ? There always is clean straw
to be had, and a boy to set his bed straight, whether
in a stall or in a loose house.

My second objection to turning hunters out to grass
is one which escapes the observation of many ; and
that is, the great stress which is laid upon the sinews
of the fore-legs of most hunters when in the act of

40 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

grazing. It is well known that the legs of horses are
seldom, if ever, much longer, at any period of their
lives, than they are when they are foaled, or at least
at the expiration of the first year ; and that the body,
when at maturity, rises to the height prescribed, as it
were, by the length of the legs. This, however, chiefly
applies to horses which have been reared in a natural
state, and not forced by corn, which most colts now
are that promise to make valuable or first-rate hunters.
In this case, more than usual, or, we may venture to
say, intended growth of the body takes place, which,
whilst it adds much to their value, and produces what
we so much prize — the short-legged horse of power
and size — yet it makes it very difficult for such a horse
to reach the ground with his mouth, his head being so
far from it when erect. Indeed he cannot do it
without either half kneeling down, or greatly straining
his fore-legs. I lately witnessed a striking proof of
what I here assert. I saw a remarkably fine hunter
in the act of filling himself with grass ; and the only
way in which he could get at it was by placing one
fore-foot close to his hind ones, and the other close
to his mouth when it was on the ground, and even then
there was a tremor in his legs which too plainly shewed
the stress laid upon them to enable him to reach his
food. We have all experienced this, more or less,
as we have let our horses stoop to drink in shallow
water.

My third and most essential objection to turning
hunters out to grass is, not so much on account of
their legs and feet — for without good legs and feet

TURNING HUNTERS OUT TO GRASS 41

horses may go very well over a country — but it is the
destruction of their condition which is so detrimental
to them, for it is impossible that it can be restored
by the time they are required to go into the field
again. ^

With respect to the effect of condition on the horse,
it is in the stable of a post-master that I take my
stand. When I see a pair of under-sized, apparently
worn-out, horses put to what, in the language of the
road, is called " a bounder," that is, a gentleman's
carriage with three in and two out — with " every-
thing belonging to the family," as the post-boys say,
" but the kitchen grate " ; when I see these animals
draw this load a fifteen-mile stage in the morning
without difficulty, return home, and take another
such a load in the evening ; when I see them, with
skins as fine as race-horses, stand out exposed to all
weathers, washed all over when they are hot, and all
this with impunity ; I ask myself what enables these
animals to do this ? Is it their natural physical
strength ? Is it the goodness of their nature ? My
reasoning faculty tells me it is neither. They would

^ It so happened that whilst (July 26, 1822) in the act of writing
this, the groom (as he is calledl of a neighbouring gentleman called
on me with a message from his master, and the following conversa-
tion passed between us : " Has your master taken up his hunters ? "
— " No, Sir, he never takes them up till the first of August ; but
this year he has only one to take up." — " How so ? " — " He has
sold one, and the other died last week." — " Of what did he die ? "
— " Of the blood." — " What do you mean by the blood ? " — " He
was so terribly fat, his blood stagnated : the mare is terribly fat
too." — " How shall you get it ofi her ? " — " Oh, we sweats it oflf."
— " How are her legs ? " — " Very middling." — Here the conversa-
tion ended.

42 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

both fail. No ! it is solely to be attributed to the
six, eight, ten, twelve, perhaps fourteen years' hard
meat which they have got in them — to that consoli-
dation of flesh, that invigoration of muscle, that
stimulus to their nature, which this high keep has
imparted to them — which give them, as it were, a
sort of preternatural power ; inasmuch as but for that
stimulus they would never be able to perform more
than half of what we see them do. It is true that
during the progress of this preternatural state, or what
on the road is called the seasoning, many of them lose
their eyes, get big legs, etc. ; but this is chiefly owing
to no preventive means being taken by their owners,
who find it more to their account to let them take
their chance of losing an eye, or perhaps both, than to
lose their work, from physicking, etc., which cannot
be done without rest from their labours. I have,
however, no hesitation in saying that a horse, provided
he is of a sound, good constitution, may be kept on
hard meat, and highly fed, for twenty years, if he live
so long, without suffering in his wind, limbs, or eye-
sight, if he be well groomed, and what the veterinary
surgeons call prophylactic or preventive remedies are
properly administered. We all know that, from the
great length of the arterial system, horses are subject
to inflammatory complaints ; but these complaints
are acknowledged either to proceed from atmospheric
causes, or to accompany sudden changes of food,
temperature, etc., and more commonly attack horses
that may be said to be only " half in condition,"
horses that are ridden about the country, and exposed

TURNING HUNTERS OUT TO GRASS 43

to such disposing causes. What these preventives
are I shall take occasion to mention as I proceed. To
the three objections which I have now stated to turn-
ing out hunters to a summer's run at grass, I might
add a fourth ; and that is, the bad effects which arise
from the constant stamping of their feet to get rid of
the flies, which materially injures them, and is often
productive, not only of splints, but of ringbones, than
which nothing is more difficult to cure.

Having recapitulated the disadvantages of the too
common method of turning hunters to grass for the
summer, I shall now state in what way they should
be treated during those months when hunting ceases.
My first object, it plainly appears, is to obtain condition,
and to obtain it in a manner least injurious to the animal
we have to deal with ; and as it is useless taking up
time in exposing past errors, I will proceed to detail
the plan I would pursue were I a servant employed
to get a stud of hunters into condition. It has been
the fashion of late to be intricate on the plainest
subjects ; but saying much does not prove much.
" Non est quod multa loquamur." My argument will
be the vulgar one of experience ; and I will endeavour
to make myself understood, so that, should any gentle-
man choose to let his groom read what I have written,
he may not mistake my meaning. In my humble
opinion writing on such subjects as these should be
nothing more than a sort of literary conversation
between the writer and the reader ; and, after all,
as Aristotle observes, perspicuity without meanness
is the perfection of style ; and common expressions

44 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

must be best, for, had they not been proper, they
would not have been common,

I have before made some comparisons between the
race-horse and the hunter, conceiving the treat-
ment of the one to be in many respects applicable
to the other. I need not repeat my conviction that
condition is equally essential to both. The chief
points of difference between them appear to be in the
sort of work they are called upon to perform. The
one is not more than a few minutes in completing his
task ; whereas the other is often ten or twelve hours
about his. The preparation, therefore, must be differ-
ent ; and much as I admire the economy of the racing
stable, particularly their feeding and regularity, I
would not fix upon a training groom as exactly quali-
fied to get a stud of hunters into condition, any more
than I would choose a thistle-whipping huntsman
to hunt a pack of fox-hounds. In the first place, the
training groom would be apt to draw his horses too
fine for the continued fatigue they have to go through ;
and in the next, although I admit that there is no
strength without wind, yet he would be inclined to
give them more of quick work than is necessary to
prepare a hunter for the field. Good flesh, as I before
observed, is strength ; and in the preparation of a
hunter, particularly if he be to carry a heavy man,
to get him high in flesh and strong in work is the per-
fection of the art of grooming. In one respect, how-
ever, the race-horse and the hunter are nearly on equal
terms. Each must have work, and each must have
rest. The only difference between them here is, that

TURNING HUNTERS OUT TO GRASS 45

the former rests in winter, and the latter rests in
summer. Neither of them can be always on his
legs, or they will be equally stale in their way. But
when the race-horse rests, his condition is going on.
He may have some green meat given to him, if there
is any to be had at the time ; but at all seasons of the
year he is never to be deprived of his com.

Lest it should be supposed that I am averse to
turning hunters out at all in the summer months, it
will be better, perhaps, not to proceed farther without
explaining myself on that head. So far from being
averse to it, I would strongly recommend it, under
favourable circumstances. In case of having recourse
to bhstering, it is most serviceable ; and, after firing,
almost necessary — but then they should be turned
out only at night, and into a place where there is but
little grass, and have two if not three feeds of corn a
day, but nothing else to eat till they go out, unless it
be a few vetches, for four or five days at a time, when
they are young and tender, in the months of May or
June ; but this should not be repeated more than
three or four times, as they tend to make horses very
foul, and when in pod are most injurious to them. It
is not every one who keeps hunters that has paddocks
to turn them into ; nor, indeed, do they fall to the lot
of many ; but when they are to be had the advantage
is great, as a horse is safer in them, and the smaller
they are, within reason, the better ; for it is not the
grass that we want, but the exercise and the moisture
of the ground for their feet, and the bracing effects of
the pure air. If only one or two hunters are turned

46 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

into a large paddock, and the grass grows upon them,
some sheep should be put in with them to keep it
down. Their bite also sweetens the herbage, and
makes it more nutritious ; but paddocks should never
be mown. Paddocks, however, are always to be made,
and at a trifling expense. A small piece of ground —
say thirty square yards — is sufficient. Let it be
hurdled around, and then lined with faggots reared up
from seven to eight feet high. A stallion may be kept
in these places with the greatest safety as to his break-
ing out of them, for he will never attempt it so long
as he cannot see through or over the fence. The
faggots, so far from being worse, are better for the use
they are put to ; and they are within the reach of
every one who resides in the country at five shillings
a score, if he do not grow them himself. The hurdle
that lets the horse in and out should often be changed,
and then he will be still less inclined to attempt to
break out.

However beneficial this turning out a horse in the
summer may be, it is comparatively trifling with the
advantages that are reaped by a winter's run. I have
seen horses, as it were, renovated in their constitution
by being turned out for a winter ; and, as far as re-
lates to their legs and feet, it is, I think, the only time
when anything effectual can be done for them, when
the injury has been considerable.

I think I need say no more to convince the reader
of my full conviction of the injurious method of turn-
ing hunters out to a summer's run at grass, and shall
conclude that part of my subject with an anecdote

TURNING HUNTERS OUT TO GRASS 47

which a friend of mine furnished me with the other
day, so much to the point that I hope I shall be
pardoned for introducing it here. I only lament
that I have not the pleasure of knowing the lady in
question, that I might have an opportunity of con-
versing further with her on a subject on which her
ideas were so congenial with my own. My friend
was walking in the streets of London, when his eye
was attracted by a remarkably fine pair of long-
tailed coach-horses, which, by the arms on the panel
of the carriage, appeared to be the property of a rich
old maid. On complimenting the coachman on their
comely appearance, he remarked that " they were
very well for their age — one of them being twenty-
six, and the other twenty-three years old." " I
suppose," said my friend, " they have been much
indulged." " Not they indeed, Sir," said Coachee ;
" they work as hard as anybody's horses on these
London stones, and my mistress goes all over England
with them to the watering-places in the summer ;
and as for grass, they have never tasted it since we
have had them, for she says she is sure it would give
them the belly-ache." The old lady, it seems, acted
on the good old principle of letting well alone !

Before I enter upon the system which I have pursued
and which I so strongly recommend, I will make a
few remarks on what is called the Old Plan — that is,
giving a hunter three months' run at grass, and taking
him up the end of July or beginning of August —
accompanied with some observations on what I con-
ceive to be the best and safest method of treating

48 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

them under such disadvantageous circumstances.
The common method of treating the hunter that has
been at grass has been to bleed him the third or fourth
day after he comes to the stable, and about the seventh
or eighth to give him his first of a series of three doses
of physic. The only remark that I have to offer here
is, that the bleeding is not only useless, but improper ;
and the waiting seven or eight days for (in the language
of grooms) " a little hard meat in him," before he has
his first dose, is also equally absurd. As I shall have
a good deal to say about physic, and its effects, in
another place, I shall only observe that, as physic is
to be given at any time, and under any circumstances,
with perfect safety, the sooner the hunter has his
first dose after he comes into the stable, the better
he is enabled to withstand the sudden change from the
natural to the artificial state to which we are about
to subject him ; and the sooner will his habit of body
be prepared for that excitement which his subsequent
exercise and change of diet are certain, more or less,
to produce. I have seen some of my acquaintance give
their hunters physic when at grass, with the hope of
preventing their getting too fat ; but their expecta-
tions have failed, inasmuch as the aptitude to get
flesh always increases after a horse has been well
cleansed by physic, as training grooms can more
particularly vouch for. If, however, a person does
turn his hunters to grass, I see no objection to their
giving them physic. It may be the means of forward-
ing their condition, by getting sooner into work,
when taken up for the season.

PHYSIC 49

As the system of getting hunters in condition which
have been at grass is, in most respects, so well known,
it would be presuming in me to attempt to give direc-
tions respecting it ; I will therefore merely detail
the plan I would pursue had I a horse to deal with
under such circumstances. My directions to my
groom should be as follows.

The hunter should be taken up certainly not later
than the 20th of July. Soon after this period
the nights begin to get chilly, and his coat would
receive a check if exposed to them. It would lose
that soft, silky feel which it generally has if the horse
is in perfect health previously to that time. When
first taken to house he should be kept as cool as
possible, and, if it can be avoided, there should not
be more than one horse in every other stall, be the stable
ever so large. We will suppose a man has six hunters,
perhaps all kept in one stable in the winter. When
his horses are first taken up, he should not put more
than two or three at farthest into it, and the rest into
a hack-stable or loose house, with the doors or windows
open, so as to keep the temperature as low as he can.
As time is precious, and, as before observed, physic is
nothing more than the means of cleansing by evacua-
tion the stomach and intestines, as sweating gets rid
of the superfluous flesh and fat, the sooner he has his
first dose the better. As his bowels will be relaxed
by the grass he has been eating, his physic should be
milder than usual ; but that must depend upon pre-
vious knowledge of the constitution of the horse.
Generally speaking, five drachms and a half would be

50 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

sufficient, if well prepared by bran mashes before-
hand. It is ridiculous to see a horse in physic in July,
just taken out of the open air, where he has been for
three months, clothed up and hooded. He wants
nothing of the sort : he may be riddden out naked ;
and if he refuse warm water, which most probably
he will, he may drink at the first pond or running
stream he meets with in his exercise. No one holds
the danger from the operation of physic more cheap
than I do. I could fill a volume with all the nonsense
I have heard grooms, and sometimes their masters,
talk on this subject. I conceive that, with common
caution, a horse is in no more danger from a dose of
physic than his master is from a dose of salts. I do
not approve of strong physic ; because it is useless to
give it, when a mild dose, with proper preparation,
will do what is required.

To return to the hunter. By the time he is ready
for his second dose, he will be, in some measure, re-
conciled to the change of temperature — from the open
air to that of a confined stable — and a little more
caution is necessary during the operation of it. Unless
the weather happens to be very warm, he should have
a hood on him if he goes out early in the morning, and,
at all events, one warm body cloth, or his coat may
receive a check which it will not recover for some
time. If he has had his first dose a day or two after
he was taken up — say the 20th of July — allowing
seven clear days between the setting of each dose, he
will be through it all by about the 17th of August,
up to which time, and for a week afterwards, he should

PHYSIC 51

have nothing but gentle walking and trotting exercise,
of about an hour and a half at a time, before the heat
of the day ; and by no means should a brush be laid
upon him, as it opens the pores of his skin and renders
him more susceptible of cold. Indeed, all the groom-
ing he requires at this time is to have his legs well
rubbed — particularly with the hand — three times a
day, and oftener if the circulation be languid, and his
body well wisped with a good solid hay wisp, a little
damped. Should a horse have had some physic at
grass in the summer, or late in the spring, before he
was turned out, and not appear foul, it may be better
to stop a fortnight or three weeks between his second
and third dose ; and, if a bit of soft ground can be
found, to give him a little work in the time. If his two
other doses did not work him hard, it will be advisable
to add half a drachm of aloes to the third dose, as it
will take more to move his bowels now than it did
before he got the hard meat into him, and had a little
work.

Having said that there is nothing to fear from the
operation of physic, I beg to be understood to mean
provided the horse has been properly prepared to
receive it, and the drugs are good of their kind. By
giving him two large loose mashes for two days in
succession, the bowels become so relaxed as to prevent
the possibility of danger ; and by an alteration lately
made by the veterinary surgeons, of having the horse
exercised on the day he takes the ball, a milder one does
the business, and the operation is much quickened.
It generally begins to work on the evening of the day

52 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

he takes it, and by stable time the next evening it is
beginning to set, and the horse is comfortable and
well, instead of enduring perhaps thirty-six hours of
continued sickness. I strongly recommend my
readers to procure their physic balls from a veterinary
surgeon in their neighbourhood, as professional men
prepare them in a safer and more convenient form,
and cold water may be given with it, with safety, if a
horse refuses warm. Grooms do not like this altera-
tion of exercising the horse on the day he takes the
ball, and will tell us it ought to lie in them for a day
or it does not operate so well. One moment's re-
flection will convince us that as there can be no virtue
in the aloe but that of clearing the intestines, the
sooner it does its office the better. They might as
well say that an emetic should lie a whole day in a
man's stomach before it is suffered to operate.

LETTER III

THE EFFECTS OF CONDITION — THE STABLE, AND
STABLE MANAGEMENT

IN all matters of domestic economy, maxims
pass from mouth to mouth, and are established
by tradition, without even making the ex-
periment, as that might at once give them the
lie. We seldom inquire into the causes of things
continually before our eyes. Habitual acquaintance
renders them familiar to our observation, and checks
that curiosity which is the strongest incentive to
knowledge. We see such things, but never inquire
how they came to be so. The phenomena of disease
— the phenomena of life itself — are not more un-
searchable, or more difficult to account for, than are
those changes and alterations which take place in the
condition of horses. I once heard a veterinary surgeon
of great repute declare, that he would give five hundred
guineas if he could find out why a blind horse should
have a smooth coat in winter and a rough one in
summer, which happens to nine out of ten.

We are too apt to look upon a horse as a piece of
mechanism which we can use at our pleasure, without
ever considering that the machine must be in order
before we can avail ourselves of its power. A horse

54 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

out of condition, and a horse in condition, certainly
bears more resemblance to himself than a horse-
chestnut does to a chestnut horse, but he is assuredly
a very different-looking animal in one state to what
he is in the other. In persona, if I may be allowed
the expression, he is the same — in re, quite another
being : in the one state, he is comparatively weak
and powerless — in the other, equal to greater exertion
of power and speed combined than any other animal
which the hand of nature has formed. It has lately
been the fashion to put the powers of man in com-
petition with those of a horse, on a journey. Clad in
a flannel jacket and trousers, he may travel over as
much or more ground in a week than a horse ; but
put a proportionate weight upon his back, and see
where he would be ! Surely the well-attested fact of
Mr Highwayman Nicks' ride to York must set this
matter at rest ! ^

The period is now arrived when the condition of
hunters is put to the test. Previous to the month of
November no man who has anything else to amuse
himself with, or who has a regard for his neck, or his
horse, should be seen by a covert-side unless it be
on a hack cub-hunting, which after all is but a

^ In 1696, Nicks, a noted highwayman, robbed a gentleman at
Gad's Hill, in Kent, about four in the morning ; but, apprehending
that he was known to the person he had robbed, made for Gravesend,
where he lost an hour in waiting for the ferry-boat, yet, by crossing
the country to Huntingdon, and then keeping to the northern road,
he reached York, and appeared on the bowling-green in the evening
as he proved upon his trial for this robbery. The Jury acquitted
him, thinking it impossible he could be at two places so greatly
distant between sun and sun.

THE EFFECTS OF CONDITION 55

melancholy recreation. The ditches are not only so
full of grass, or so " blind," as we say, that the best
hunter on earth may be deceived into a fall ; but the
country in other respects is not fit to ride over. How-
ever soft it may be at the surface from the autumnal
rains, the substratum is hard ; and where cattle have
trodden in the preceding winter, holes remain, which
are not at this time visible, but which serve as a sort
of trap for horses' feet, and are particularly dangerous
and injurious to old horses. It is not necessary that
a hunter should be a perfectly sound horse — that is to
say, provided he be not ridden over a country till it
is in a state to receive the pressure of his weight,
without jarring him at his fences or in his gallop. By
the first or second week in November, this is generally
the case ; and if a horse has been in the hands of any-
thing like a groom, he ought by this time to be pretty
well prepared for the field. By long-continued slow
work — but increasing in pace as his condition increases
— assisted by proper stable management, he ought
now to appear by the covert-side with credit and
advantage. What this work should be, and in what
this stable management should consist, shall be the
subject of the following pages.

The condition of a horse must proceed by slow
degrees : it is the work of time ; and it is in vain to
expect it on any other terms than as the result of a
long course of preparations, followed by severe work.
In a clear fortnight after he has had his last dose of
physic he should begin to do some work ; for without
it no progress can be made. This, however, should

56 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

be gradual ; and for the first month should consist of
long protracted exercise, rather than what is called
" good work." He should be kept out of his stable
for three or four hours in the course of the day ; and
if ridden gently across a country, and now and then
with a pack of harriers (weather permitting), it will
greatly promote his condition, by hardening his flesh,
increasing his strength, and improving his wind. At
this time the use of alteratives is indispensable. By
their mild and gradual impression a healthy action of
the bowels is obtained, and thereby what, in stable
language, is called " fog " (but which might more
properly be termed debility, or depression of strength),
is got rid of, and the general appearance and condition
of the animal much improved. Indeed, without the
use of alterative medicines ^ — exclusively of physic
— no hunter can be got into blooming condition ; that
is to say, to look well in his skin, to dry immediately
after a sweat, and to be in full vigour of body. Of
these medicines there are several sorts in use ; but
the diuretic and diaphoretic are in my opinion the
best. It is almost needless to observe that the latter
act upon the skin : but as sensible perspiration in the
horse is not to be obtained by medicine without
difficulty, and having recourse to larger doses than
may be safe or convenient for him to take when at
work, and it is insensible perspiration that we wish to
obtain, these alteratives should be combined ; for
it is from their gradual and almost imperceptible

^ The use of alterative and diuretic drugs requires discrimination,
and the Editor does not recommend their use in general.

THE EFFECTS OF CONDITION 57

operation that we are to look for the effect we wish
to produce. Nitre has been much used by grooms as
a cooling diuretic, and a preventive of disease from
such causes ; but it must be borne in mind that
nitre is a strong repellent, and of a debilitating
nature.

All this, however, without a good stable, and good
stable management, is of no avail. It is a maxim
as old as Hippocrates himself that food should be
proportioned to labour. Diet, therefore, is a most
essential point to be attended to in promoting and
preserving the condition of a horse ; for, as evacuation
is the cure, repletion is the cause of disease. Horses
in a state of nature are subject to few disorders. As
has been elegantly observed, " they contract no
disease from unseasonable indulgence or inordinate
revellings : the pure stream their drink, the simple
herb their repast ; neither care disturbs their sleep,
nor passion inflames their rest." The state, however,
in which we keep them for the different purposes to
which we apply them, is strangely at variance with
this temperate and natural state ; and it is only by
constant recourse to physic and exercise that we can
preserve their health under such trying circumstances.

We are told that in former times, before wheat was
found out, oats fed the vassal and his lord, as they
now do many a Welch Squire and Scottish Laird.
Formerly wheat was given to race horses, as more
nourishing than oats ; but now the latter form the
chief food for aU descriptions of horses. Beans, how-
ever, have for some years been allowed to hunters.

58 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

and when given with discretion are most beneficial.
I remember hearing Mr Warde exclaim, as his hounds
were settling to their fox, and he expected a good run,
" Now we shall see what gentlemen's horses eat old
oats, and what eat new." I am inclined to think that
this distinction may be applied to those horses which
eat beans, and those which eat none ; for they help
to bring them home at the end of a long day, and sup-
port their strength in a run. They are said to dispose
the constitution to inflammatory complaints, which
I believe to be the case when given in large quantities
to horses of plethoric habits, and whose work is
moderate ; but, when given in proper quantities, are
most nutritious and wholesome. Two single handfuls
in each feed of com is the allowance for a hunter who
is fed (as he ought to be) five times a day.

In the quantity of hay given to a hunter there is
also a great alteration within my recollection, not
more than half the quantity being now put before
him. About eight pounds a day, or one truss a week,
is considered sufficient for a hunter that will eat five
feeds of corn per day. A larger quantity is found
to increase the size, consequently the weight of the
carcase, to injure the wind, and destroy the digestive
powers. Among the brute creation we find extra-
ordinary instances of long abstinence, but the horse
is not of that tribe. He is a voracious animal, and
requires a daily supply of food : nevertheless it is
advisable that his appetite should never be cloyed,
but that he should always appear eager for his food
on his groom coming to him after being shut up his

THE STABLE AND ITS MANAGEMENT 59

regular time ; and if one handful of good hay be found
in his rack, he should have no more till next stable
time, when his appetite will be sharp. If given to eat
his straw, the setting-muzzle, in this case, must be
made use of.

In consequence of the lateness of the hour of meet-
ing with hounds — now seldom before eleven o'clock —
hunters do not require so much food as they formerly
did, when they were out a much greater number of
hours from their stables ; and there is no doubt, but
at the pace hounds now go, an empty stomach is
necessary, or why put the muzzle on the race-horse ?
In Leicestershire this short allowance of hay has been
carried to a great extreme ; but a full belly will not do
for that country ; and amongst the Meltonians horses
are not required to come out often, owing to their
generally having such large studs.

Hunters are not always to be fed alike ; allowance
should be made for the distance to covert ; for when
a horse has to go twelve or fourteen miles in a morning
to meet hounds, he may be allowed a little more hay
overnight than if he had but four or five, as he will
empty his stomach on the road, and there is reason to
expect a long day. As to whether a hunter should
have any water on the morning of hunting, that is a
point not so much considered as it ought to be, for we
should be guided by his constitution. If he is apt to
scour, and throw off his meat on the road, I should
recommend his having none ; but if, on the other
hand, he holds his meat well in him, has some distance
to go, and is not called on till ten or eleven o'clock in

6o THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

the day, he should have six or eight swaUows, or go-
downs, as the grooms call them, between five and six
in the morning. This quantity of water, or more, is
always given to the race-horse on the day he runs his
race, as it makes him enjoy his food, and digest it
afterwards, and it is all absorbed by the time he is
called upon to run. Nothing is so apt to make horses
scour as change of food and water ; for which reason
it is advisable that a hunter should go from his own
stable to meet hounds, if the distance does not exceed
fifteen or sixteen miles, rather than sleep out, and be
subject to the effects alluded to. If, however, he does
sleep out, and is affected by the change, he should be
watered before he leaves home, and have very little
where he sleeps, which will in some measure counter-
act the evil. One would suppose that this apparent
derangement of the bowels would be most injurious
to a horse which has to follow hounds ; but I remember
being in the company of a very heavy and desperate
rider, when this subject was discussed, and he assured
us, that were he called upon to say on what day he
considered himself to have been carried across a country
in the best style, and with the least distress, he should
say that it was by a horse that scoured most violently
on his road to covert, and looked like a shotten-herring
when he got on his back. All, therefore, that can be
said on this subject, is that there are exceptions to all
rules, and that the case in point is in favour of an
empty stomach and a short allowance of hay. One
thing is certain, that it is scarcely possible to tire a
sound man, when in strong exercise, with an empty

THE STABLE AND ITS MANAGEMENT 6i

belly ; but give him a good dinner and a bottle of
wine, and he is soon defeated.

When on this subject, perhaps I may be excused for
introducing an anecdote of a naval officer, who resided
some years back not a hundred miles from Gloucester.
The captain had a very good mare, on which he ap-
peared one day by the covert-side as usual, when, on
some one remarking that she scoured very much, he
observed that she had got a dose of physic in her. It
appeared that his groom, tliinking that a little rest
would be of service to himself and the mare, had given
her a dose of physic without his master's knowledge ;
but the captain was not to be shoved off in that way,

and after d g his eyes about half a dozen times,

sent her to covert, and rode the run, which she per-
formed as if nothing more than common had occurred.
This, we must also admit, is in favour of an empty
belly.

I now come to the corner-stone of all conditions in
horses — the stable, and stable management — the latter
of which has undergone considerable alteration since
I first began to keep hunters.

Were I to recount the numerous instances of the
benefits arising from good, and the evils, disasters,
and dangers which I have witnessed from bad con-
dition in my own and other persons' hunters, I could
fill a volume. I shall, however, content myself with
one or two instances of the beneficial consequences
of good condition.

A very intimate friend of mine, well known in the
sporting world, and an excellent judge, gave one

62 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

hundred and fifty guineas for a horse called " Hermit" ;
but soon after he purchased him he was obHged to go
into Leicestershire — not to hunt, but for the purpose
of having the advice and assistance of the famous
Doctor Chesher, for an injury of his spine, occasioned,
it was supposed, by riding a hard-pulling horse. Being
obliged to remain under his care for the space of two
years, he took a house, and amused himself in the
winter with his greyhounds, of which he had some of
the best in England, as they proved themselves by their
running at Newmarket and other places. During this
time Hermit was kept in lavender. He had an excel-
lent loose box, and his condition went on the same as
if he had been constantly hunted. In the summer he
was physicked, soiled, fed with carrots, and ridden
quietly about, with every now and then a gentle
sweat. In the winter he was regularly sweated, ridden
with the greyhounds, and had some good brushing
gallops ; by which means, and being in the hands of
an excellent groom, his condition was as perfect as it
was possible to make it. He looked big, and rather
full of flesh ; but it was that sort of flesh which in-
creased rather than diminished his strength.

It is true that Hermit was a particularly fine fencer,
and, if I may be allowed to apply such an epithet to
a horse, he was an elegant goer in all his paces ; but
when well clapped to over a country, he had not the
reputation of being a stout horse. It might be said
of him, as was said of another horse by a celebrated
sporting character who wanted to account for his
not turning out to be quite so brilliant a hunter as

THE STABLE AND ITS MANAGEMENT 63

he had represented him to be to a person who had
purchased him — that he was a very good horse when
he went his own pace, but when he wanted him to go
his pace it did not suit him. This I take to have been
in some measure the case with Hermit. When the
pace was not tremendously quick, he was a deHghtful
horse to ride over a country, with a perfect snaffle-
bridle mouth, and he could hop over all the gates in the
country with the elegance of a Vestris. In Leicester-
shire, however, he was unknown as a hunter, any
farther than now and then appearing by a covert's
side, with his owner on his back, but who was forbidden
the pleasure of riding him to hounds. Notwithstand-
ing this — notwithstanding that he had never been
seen to do anything in that country but canter up and
down by the side of a covert, and hop over a gate or
two, which was as easy to him as going through it — yet,
strange to say, he was purchased by the late Capt. St
Paul, at the enormous price of six hundred and fifty
guineas !

Now, reader, we will suppose that this Hermit, who
only four years before was purchased at the vulgar
price of thirty-five pounds, had been turned out for
the two preceding summers in one of those fat meadows
in Gloucestershire by the Severn's side, where his
owner lived, and had been taken up in the months of
July or August, where, under such circumstances as
I have mentioned, would have been found the six
hundred and fifty guinea customer ? No ; it was to his
blooming condition — the work of two years — and to
that alone, that his owner was indebted for the im-

64 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

mense price he got for him. His frame was brought
to a pitch of perfection, by a continuation of high keep
and good grooming, that made him quite a different
animal to what nature had intended him to be.

A curious and rather unfortunate circumstance at-
tended Hermit's dehut in Leicestershire with his new
master on his back. In a most severe burst, he stood
still in the middle of a field, and went into strong
convulsions. His rider bled him in the mouth for
instant relief, which being observed by Mr Loraine
Smith, a caricature soon made its appearance, repre-
senting the scene described, under which were written
the following words : " An Apostle administering
relief to a distressed Hermit." It is but justice to
observe that the horse was not well when he went out
in the morning ; and all who have witnessed Captain
St Paul's manner of " putting them along," can easily
conceive the possibility of his riding a better horse
than Hermit into convulsions. In the course of a
short time, however. Hermit came to the post again,
and was a great favourite of his master for many
years after he quitted Leicestershire.

LETTER IV

STABLE MANAGEMENT — CASE OF FERRYMAN

HORSES are to be purchased in all places
and at all times, but condition is not
to be purchased with them ; for which
reason, he who wants to increase his
stud should always buy his horses in
the spring of the year, having then the summer before
him, in the course of which, if the animal is a sound
one, his condition can be accomplished. Upon this
principle I looked into Tattersall's some years since
in the month of May, when I perceived a strong, cross-
boned looking horse, with some good hunting shape
about him, " going " at 50/,, and before I could get
around him to ken him over, he was " gone." Finding
he was purchased by a dealer, I gave him five pounds
for his bargain, and took him away with me. Soon
after my arrival at home I met with a person who
knew him, and who informed me that he was got by
Joe Andrews, and was a capital fencer, but that he
could not be kept in condition in the stable ; that his
legs always filled after work ; and, in short, to use
his own emphatical words, he looked like a hunted
devil in the winter.

E 6s

66 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

Here then, was a field for experiment. On looking
at this horse, I accounted for his not being kept in
condition by being satisfied that he never was in con-
dition. He looked all head and shoulders, and his
belly was gone. I was immediately convinced that
there was a debility and a want of tone about him that
could alone be got rid of by an entire change of his
constitution, and which change could only be effected
by the stimulus of high keep, assisted by alterative
medicines and good grooming. Suspecting that his
organic powers were weakened, and to prepare him
for the change, I gave him three doses of very mild
physic, only five drachms of aloes at intervals of twelve
days, which I found quite sufficient to work him after
two days preparation by mashes. In the course of
the summer I put him through three courses of mer-
curial alteratives, and gave him three feeds of good
old oats per day. He was never out of his loose box,
except to drink at a pond twice a-day, and ate no green
meat, with the exception of a few vetches twice, for
six days in succession. He had three more doses of
physic, equally mild, in the month of September, and
I hunted him the following season. I found him
exactly what my friend had described him to be —
an uncommonly fine fencer and a good winded horse,
but in other respects no better than the common run
of hunters. When they were sick, he was far from
well, and no liberties could be taken with him. His
legs filled after work, his flesh melted away like butter
in the sun, and he would not come again, after a hard
day, under a week or eight days.

THE CASE OF FERRYMAN 67

The next summer I treated this horse precisely
in the same manner as in the preceding one. with the
exception of giving him two bushels of oats a week,
if he would eat them ; and at the commencement of
the second season I witnessed the change that had
taken place in his constitution. His legs were per-
fectly fine before and after work, and he fed well ;
his body spread, and his carcase dropped ; and he
did not sink, as before, from the effect of a good day's
work. Hounds, on some days, could neither go too
fast nor too long for him ; and in consequence of his
clearing a high timber fence at the end of an hour
test pace, I sold him to a Noble Lord for two hundred
guineas, who, from his being so capital a brook-
jumper, changed his name to Ferryman, and one day
saw out all the second horses on him with Sir Thomas
Mostyn's hounds, in a most severe run from Shuck-
burgh, bringing his rider a long distance home at night,
when several horses were left in all parts of the country.

Notwithstanding what I have said this was not
naturally a good horse. When I first had him I could
beat him to a standstill in a quarter of an hour, and
to the last he had his good and bad days. In some
respects he was favoured by nature. From his great
length of frame he had a particularly smooth way of
going over ridge and furrow, without which no horse
can live long over a country at anything near the top
of his speed ; leaping was, comparatively, little ex-
ertion to him, and his pipes were remarkably clear.
With all these advantages, however, it depended
upon whether he were fit to go that he could carry a

68 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

man to hounds ; he required but little work, for if not
above himself he was soon beaten. To sum up all,
when his condition was good he was good. If not fit
to go, he would not — he could not go ; for he was by
nature a very middhng horse.

I think I have in this instance clearly shown the
good effect of condition, or the power of art over
nature. With respect to the horse in question it is
certain that in a natural state he was a bad horse.
In an artificial state — that is, in good condition, from
a long succession of hard meat and strong work — his
natural defects were removed, and he became a good
horse ; for at times he was a brilliant hunter, and
certainly one of the most gentlemanlike horses that
was ever ridden over a country. I shall mention one
other circumstance respecting him, and then dismiss
the subject.

On going one day into my stable I observed my
groom in the act of giving him a dose of physic, and
was proceeding to turn his head around again to the
manger, but not seeing the ball go down his gullet,
I desired him to let him remain where he was. In
about five minutes he brought the ball back again
through his left nostril into my hand. This being
something new to me I was alarmed, and sent for a
neighbouring veterinary surgeon

I think I need add no more to prove the value I
set upon the condition of a hunter — being no less in
many instances than that of the horse himself. For
example, how many horses have I seen that I should
have been glad to have purchased at much more than

THE CASE OF FERRYMAN 69

the price asked for them, if I could have purchased
condition at the same time ? But to see a promising
horse in the middle of the season, when he is im-
mediately wanted, with his coat curling in all directions
and his flesh as soft as beef upon him, what expectation
is there of any thing but disgrace and danger from the
possession of him ?

As no workman can make good work without good
tools ; so no groom, however good, can get a horse
into condition without a good stable. In the first
place it must be dry — in the next it must be warm.
I am aware that what I have to say on this subject
will be objected to by some of the old and slow ones,
who preach against the dangers of hot stables ; but
for my own part, experience has led me to declare,
that so far from ever having witnessed the ill effects
of a hot stable, I never saw a hunter in good condition
out of a cold one. Nay, I will go further, and assert,
that a horse, which no exertions of his groom can get
to look and to be well in a cold stable in the winter,
shall, on his being removed into a warm one,^ be in
good condition in a month. Not being a philosopher
I cannot explain the why and the wherefore of this
apparent phenomenon. All that I can say is, that
it is so ; and were I to hear Sir Humphry Davy
himself expatiating upon the impropriety of horses
being shut up in a hot stable, breathing an under-
oxygenated air ; were I to hear him say that atmos-

^ A moderately warm stable is favourable towards the attainment
of good condition. A "hot" stable absolutely pernicious. — The
Editor.

70 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

pheric air was the very pabulum of animal existence ;
that it is contrary to nature and nature's laws to
breathe any other — I should listen to it all, unable to
answer him ; yet I should say to my groom, don't
mind what the philosopher says ; stop up every crevice
in the stable, taking care only that there be a pipe or
two to take out the foul air. Never mind the fresh
air, enough of that will find its way through the key-
hole, but let there be a vent for that which is fetid.
It is not in compliance with the, prevailing fashion of
the times that I speak this language. Were my object
to keep a horse merely in a state of convalescence, I
should keep him in a cool stable ; but if I want to
prepare him to follow a pack of fox-hounds, with a
man upon his back determined to ride by the side of them,
I must keep him in a warm one. Why this is so I cannot
exactly prove ; but that does not alter the case : my
argument is the vulgar one of experience ; " seeing
is believing ; " and we might as well reject the truth
of geometry, because we may be unable to comprehend
the higher branches of it, as deprive ourselves of the
effect because we are ignorant of the cause.

" Felix qui potuit verum cognoscere casuam."

We are all, however, wise after experience ; and a
man should be committed for contumacy who will
not believe what he sees.

I have always thought that there is a striking analogy
between a horse and a man, as far as their condition is
concerned. Each enters on his training with physic,
and concludes it with severe work ; each is at his best

THE CASE OF FERRYMAN 71

when least reduced by sweats : each is capable of
doubling his natural and ordinary powers. The skin
of the horse is also his complexion ; and it is not until
the prize-fighter strips in the ring that his good or bad
condition is ascertained. Nothing can exceed the
beauty and lustre of some horses' skins when in what
is called " blooming condition ; " on the other hand,
nothing can be more unsightly, or even appalling, than
the death-like appearance of the staring coat of a half-
starved doy-horse awaiting his fate in the kennel
orchard on a cold winter's day. Let us therefore
bestow a little time in endeavouring to discover why
a warm, or what by many would be called a hot, stable
is essential to the good condition of the horse.

It is with all improvements upon old systems as
with every infant science, we believe before we con-
sider, and condemn before we investigate ; by which
the simplest truths are too often disputed. In the
first place, we must recollect that the horse is originally
a native of a warm country ; and we need go no farther
than the Scotch Highlands or Welsh mountains to
prove that he degenerates in a cold one. We, there-
fore, may conclude that warmth is congenial to his
existence. In the second place, as we find the body
is as regularly renewed and replenished as is the sweat
of the brow, whatever promotes that renovation —
which warmth, by increasing the circulation, must do —
is in this case beneficial. In the third place, they who
attend to such matters will find that the constitution
and habit of a horse undergo a change when kept for
some time in a warm stable, favourable, no doubt, to

72 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

the work he has to perform as a hunter in the stable of
a hard-riding man. He is not that gross animal which
he might otherwise be if a hard feeder, and kept in
a state more nearly approaching to a state of nature.
This we may attribute to the increase of insensible
perspiration, occasioned by increased circulation,
whereby the grosser particles of the body fly off and
are got rid of. In this state he would bear some
comparison with a well-fed English farmer, when put
to perform feats of activity with a man of more re-
fined habits of life, where nineteen times out of twenty
he would be defeated. From the athletes of Ancient
Greece and Rome to the present day, the first process
of training has consisted in purifying the body, and
preparing the way for increase of vigour and activity.
This was not only done by physic, but by sweating,
which more effectually removes the superfluities of
flesh and fat ; and, when added to exercise, promotes
absorption and secretion, and invigorates all parts of
the body. I do not mean to say that I would keep a
horse in a state of perspiration ; but I would keep him
in a state of warmth sufficient to increase his circulation
and keep his coat down close to his skin, which is a
certain criterion of his being warm and comfortable.

As there is an analogy between a man and a horse
in work, let us carry it a little further and ask whether
after a hard day's exercise in the winter, a man would
recover sooner if he passed his evening in a warm room,
or if he passed it in a bivouac, or in a room that was
cold and damp ? This I think would decide the
question between a warm and cold stable for a hunter

THE CASE OF FERRYMAN 73

after the fatigues of the day. I shall, therefore, con-
clude my remarks on this part of my subject with
observing, that if it be possible to get a horse to live
well in a cold stable, which would be a novelty to me,
all the grooming on earth would never get him to look
well in a damp one. A horse is all but a barometer,
being most sensibly affected by change of weather.
As to hot stables being prejudicial to a horse's eyes
or lungs, I will not admit it to be the case, provided
there be a vent for the foul air to escape, and no
accumulation of foul litter be suffered to remain. It
is that which does the mischief ; and all grooms who
suffer a horse's bed to become foul, or a heap of damp
or wet litter to remain in the stable because they are
too idle to take it out side the door, ought to be
kicked out of it.

LETTER V

HOT AND COLD STABLES — TREATMENT AFTER A SEVERE
DAY — CLOTHING — HAY AND WATER — CLEANLINESS
— OVER-REACHING

I NEVER had a hunter go bUnd in my possession,
although I have always used very warm stables,
not lower than 63° of the thermometer in the
winter time. As to coughs being produced by
hot stables, I should much sooner suspect them to be
the produce of cold or damp ones. In a large mass of
blood, as in the horse, humours will circulate ; and
there is in some horses a strong disposition to get
flesh and become plethoric, which accounts for their
becoming foul in their work so much sooner than others,
and requiring so much more work to prepare them for
the field or the starting post. When Goosander, the
dam of Sailor, winner of the Derby in 1820, was in
training, they were obliged to stop and sweat her the
fourth day on a journey — such was her aptitude to
get flesh.

Although with all descriptions of horses this is the
better extreme of the two, it is very injurious to legs.
I once had a horse of this description, which it was
with difficulty I could keep in any place without
knocking his legs to pieces with work. I sold him to a

HOT AND COLD STABLES 75

friend for a large sum, and entreated him not to turn
him out with his other horses in the summer, as, know-
ing his constitution, I feared the consequence — ex-
clusively of the loss of two years' condition which he
then had in him. He, however, was turned out, and
came up extremely fat, with what is called a grass
cough upon him. In a fortnight after he had been in
the stable, he was attacked with inflamed lungs, and
in a month he was broken-winded.

It is quite a mistaken notion that a horse with a
long coat on his back is less liable to catch cold than
one that has a short one. Were I in a situation in
life that required my riding about the country, putting
my horse into all sorts of stables, and trusting him to
all sorts of grooms, I would use every means to put
a good coat on him ; and for the following reason :
in the first place, it lies closer to him, and is warmer ;
and in the next, it is much sooner dry. When a horse
has a long hollow coat upon him, the wind blows it up
and exposes his skin ; but, what is worse than all,
it is many hours before it is dry after a sweat, or rain,
during which time it must contain all the chilling
properties of wet clothes. A horse with a short fine
coat is not subject to that sudden and premature
shedding of it which Mr Richard Lawrence, in his
excellent paper on diseases of the lungs mentions as
one of the causes of inflammatory attacks. Although
the skin maybe said to be generally the complexion
of a horse, there are some horses which no exertions
of a groom can get to wear a good coat, and are ex-
ceptions to the rule of looking well and being well, of

ye THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

which the famous Parasol was one, even when quite
fit to run.

Another argument against hot stables is, that horses
kept in them are liable to catch cold in bad weather
by a covert-side. My answer to this is — that if his
rider will not let his horse stand still too long, and will
keep on his back, there is no danger of his catching
cold. There is considerable warmth in the pressure
of a saddle to a horse's back with weight upon it ;
and there is that kind of animation in horses with
hounds which keeps their blood in circulation.

Now I think I have said enough on the subject of
getting hunters into condition ; and the next thing is
to keep them in it ; to make them perform their work
to our satisfaction, and to get as much out of them as
we can for our money without injuring them ; for
in " bringing a hunter round again," as we say, after
a severe run, good stable management is put to the
test ; and in which some grooms will much excel
others, as all gentlemen who have known the pleasure
of having a good one and the misery of a bad one
can testify. I have no hesitation in saying that one
man shall bring a horse out again in four clear days
in better form than another shall in six.

A man may be a good farmer or a good gardener
without having read Cato de Re Rustica, or Mago
the Carthaginian ; so it is possible that a man who
cannot write his name may be a good groom, provided
he have been brought up under a good one, and only
acts upon what he has seen to be experimentally
efficacious, and does not venture out of the beaten

TREATMENT AFTER A SEVERE DAY 77

track. As, however, no man can make good work
without good tools, so no servant can do his duty by a
stud of hunters without proper materials to go to
work with. He must have a good stable, some loose
boxes, and a good saddle-room with fire-place : he
must have lots of horse-clothes of all descriptions,
bandages, hot water, gruel, and the very best old hay
and com, good exercising ground, and, above all,
plenty of strength in his stable ; for there are two
ways of dressing a horse — one to warm him, and the
other to starve him. Dressing a horse vigorously
removes obstructions in the smaller vessels, promotes
the circulation of the blood, and in bad weather, is a
substitute for exercise.

As skill and judgment are necessary in recovering
a hunter after a severe day, which I shall treat of
presently, so are they wanting to prepare him for it ;
and if not prepared he cannot go, for, as old Frampton,
Master of the Horse to William the Third, observes,
" the best undieted cock is unable to encounter the
worst that has been carefully dieted ; and so it is
with a hunter ; for a middling horse fit to go will beat
a very good one that is not so.

With regard to a horse coming round after a hard
day, even supposing him to be in the hands of the
best of grooms, that must in some measure depend
on the stuff he is made of ; but, generally speaking,
he should come out about the sixth day after the
severest run. If his legs have received no injury, he
should come out three times in a fortnight, at least
during the open weather ; and he will be the better

78 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

for being out twice a week if there have been no tiring
days. Some horses require much more work than
others ; but none of them can go the pace, and con-
tinue it over a country, unless they are in strong
work. Were I asked when I was best carried for an
hour without a check, I should say it was by a horse
on whose back I had been nine hours with hounds
on the preceding day. This, of course, was the effect
of accident. A boy mistook a pot of bhstering oint-
ment for one of hniment for the heels, and rubbed
it well into all my horses. The horse I allude to,
having been the property of an old lady, and looked
after by her coachman, had had his legs trimmed,
which made the hair strong and bristly, so that he
suffered less than the rest ; and by the help of a couple
of urine balls and fomentation he soon recovered.
The consequence was, I rode him these two days in
succession, and I shall never forget the way in which
he carried me on the second. Milton, the dealer,
gave 250 guineas to a master of fox-hounds for this
horse when fourteen years old, and sold him to a
Metropolitan sportsman, who broke his leg the first
day he rode him.

I never had the curiosity to ascertain the number
of day's hunting I have had in any one season, much
less the number of times any one particular horse had
carried me ; but I recollect the celebrated Captain
Barclay telling me, on the last day of Sir Thomas
Mostyn's hunting for the season, that he had been
carried eighty-two times that winter by four horses —
being twenty times and a half to each horse — which

CLOTHING 79

struck me as being a great performance, considering
the Captain's weight, and the strength of the country
(the Bicester) in which he hunted.

General rules cannot be individually applied ; but
there is one respecting a hunter which I have held
inviolable ; and that is, that under all circumstances,
whether the intervals between his hunting have been
long or short, he should have a sweat, and go for a
mile nearly at the top of his speed on the day before
hunting. I have generally adopted the following
plan : —

Let some heavy clothes be put on him, and, with
a light weight on his back, let him go, at a gentle rate
six or eight times around a large field that rides a
little deep, till he sweats kindly. Let him be followed
to the place by a man with some dry clothes and a
scraper, and, taking him into some building, or under
a warm hedge, let him be well scraped, and have on
his dry clothes. Then, if short of work, let him have
a good gallop for a mile, and walk home. This treat-
ment, with proper care, is unattended with any danger
of catching cold, and, if, followed by a proper allow-
ance of hay and water, will give him a wonderful advan-
tage over those horses which have not been doing what
he has done, provided he drop into a quick thing with
hounds the next day. I have seen hunters led to be
sweated by a boy riding a hack ; but however great
an advocate I may be for preserving horses' legs by
keeping weight off them as much as possible, yet a
horse cannot, in my opinion, be worthy the name of
a hunter if he cannot carry a boy in his exercise.

8o THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

Having laid some stress upon the words, proper
allowance of hay and water on the day before hunting,
I will proceed to state what I consider that allowance
to be. In the first place, if a horse will eat his com
in the morning without water, he should have none
till he comes in from exercise, and is done up, which
should be by ten o'clock at farthest. He should then
have half a pail of water,i and a proportion of his
hay, which should not exceed, for a moderately-
sized horse, ten pounds a-day. He should then be
shut up till four, when, before he is dressed over, he
should have another half pail of water, and no more
until he returns from hunting the next day, unless it
be a few swallows on the morning he hunts, when his
groom first comes to him. If this quantity of hay is
not sufficient to satisfy his appetite, and there is an
appearance in the mornng of straw in his manger, as
if he had been eating it, the setting-muzzle should
be put on him at ten o'clock, and he should remain
on it for the night, but his groom should be with him
by five in the morning, to relieve him. He should
then have his two feeds, at an interval of an hour,
and proceed to the covert at a gentle pace. When
there — provided he have been treated in the way I
have prescribed and he cannot carry his rider as he
ought to do, we must conclude nature forbids it, as
he wiU have had every assistance from art.

Long days with hounds — by which I mean severe

^ On days not preceding hunting this quantity of water is not
sufficient. He may have three-parts of a pail in the morning, or a
few swallows at night.

' SILVER CI-OUD ■

A light weight Hunter and Big Winner. Owned by James Young, Esq., Keele, Staff's

This picture represents a beautiful head, neck and forequariers of a typical

Hunter with the correct e.\pression

HAY AND WATER 8i

running, with perhaps a brace of foxes, and upwards
of twenty miles home afterwards — are most injurious
to hunters, and call forth all the skill and judgment
of their grooms to recover them from their effects.
If mere fatigue be the consequence, rest, that vis
medicatrix naturcB, will do all that is necessary : but
if a horse is what is called over-marked, his groom
must be on the alert. There are two or three direct-
ing symptoms which cannot easily be mistaken. In
the first place, his appetite fails him, and he is very
greedy for his water. His respiration is not so smooth
as it should be, and there is a considerable relaxation
in the muscles in the interstices of the hips. Some-
times inflammation comes on very rapidly after a
hard day, bidding defiance to all precautions, and,
too often, if it does not destroy him, renders the horse
unfit for a hunter, as it generally terminates in his
feet. If he does not cast his hoofs entirely, they be-
come what is termed " pumice," and take a long time
to recover. Horses that have had fever in their feet
generally go on their heels afterwards, and the inside
of their feet becomes convex, instead of being concave.
I had a remarkable instance in my own stable of
the rapidity with which inflammation of this sort
attacks horses that have been over-marked. I had
seen one very quick thing of fifteen minutes, and
another of an hour, over the finest part of Leicester-
shire ; and although my horse was at one time a good
deal beat, he came home very cheerfully, and I had no
reason to expect mischief. Before nine o'clock that
night, however, he was quite blind, and nothing but

82 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

the assistance of a veterinary surgeon, who was at
hand, and who took nine quarts of blood from him
that night, and three more the next morning, besides
physic, clysters, etc. saved his life. On the third day
his eyesight returned, but the fever settled in his feet,
and he was only fit for harness at the expiration of
twelve months. This happened in the month of
November ; and previously to my purchasing him he
had been turned out on very good land for the summer
months, to which I attributed the loss I sustained
by him : for had he been in my possession six months
sooner, I feel confident it would not have happened,
as there was nothing in that day's sport to have in-
jured a horse whose condition had been the work of
time.

When I first began to keep hunters, we knew nothing
of those great restoratives in the stable — flannel
bandages, hot water for legs, and gruel. Except in case
of iUness they were never thought of — the benefit of
which is, in my opinion, incalculable. By their use
circulation is kept up in those parts where it is apt to
be most languid ; and the practice of washing legs
in very warm water, and swathing them in large folds
of flannel, takes off soreness and inflammation from
blows and other injuries, which aU hunters are liable
to in a run over a strong country. Another advantage
attending them is, that they admit of a horse being
shut up half the time it formerly required to clean
him, which enables him to lie down, or roll, which he
wiU always do if in a loose house, before he gets stiff
from his work.

CLEANLINESS 83

When a horse has had a very hard day, I have
found the following treatment safe and effectual in
bringing him round again quickly.

There is a cleanliness in not letting a hunter be taken
into his stable until the rough dirt which hangs about
him is removed ; for which purpose he should be taken
under a shed or into another stable ; and the quickest
method of removing it is by the means of a birch
broom. Three minutes will accomplish this. He
should then be taken into his own stable, have two
or three quarts of tepid gruel, and his feet and legs
above his knees and hocks should be well washed in
water nearly hot.^ When sponged well with strained
sponges, one set of bandages should be swathed
around them. His head and body should be well
dried, which, if he is full of hard meat, will not occupy
more than an hour, when he should be shut up in a
loose house, well littered down, and a small feed of
corn allowed him. In about two hours his groom
should come to him again ; his bandages should be
taken off, his legs well wisped and hand-rubbed, his
head and body lightly brushed over, and a dry set of
bandages put on, A luke-warm mash, with a feed
of oats in it, and three parts of a pail of tepid water,
with a very small quantity of hay, will make him
comfortable for the night ; and on the following
morning he should go to exercise as soon as it is light,
and be walked for an hour with an extra cloth and a
hood. He should have tepid water aU that day, and

^ If the legs are washed it is necessary to dry them thoroughly,
otherwise this practice is liable to bring on cracked heels. — Editor.

84 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

a liberal allowance of it, with his usual oats if he will
eat them, but no beans. If his appetite fails him,
and does not return before shutting-up time that
evening, he should have half a cordial and half a
diuretic ^ ball mixed together ; which, with a liberal
allowance of tepid water, and an hour and a half
walking exercise on the third day, will so far recover
him as to enable him to return to his former high feed
on the fourth ; on the fifth or sixth have a sweat ;
and on the seventh be fit for business again (as far,
at least, as his constitution is concerned) after the
hardest day, and will carry his rider with more ease to
himself than if he had not gone through it.

When a horse is in all other respects right, and in
prime condition, it is one of the most provoking cir-
cumstances attending a stable of hunters to find him
with a had over-reach, which will prevent his hunting
for a fortnight, or perhaps more. This injury has
been generally supposed to have been inflicted by
the toe of the shoe ; to obviate which blacksmiths most
commonly square it, when they shoe a hunter, leaving
a small portion of the hoof projecting over it. Ten
years ago (from 1823), a good judge of these matters
informed me that over-reaching was not done by the
toe, but by the inner edge of the inside of the shoe ; and
taking me into a blacksmith's shop, he convinced me
of it by passing my finger along this edge of a new shoe,
which I found was almost as sharp as a knife. It is
in the act, it appears, of drawing back the hind leg,

^ Cordial and diuretic balls should always be obtained from a
veterinary surgeon, and not from non-professional sources.

OVER-REACHING 85

after having, by an over-exertion of the hind quarters,
over-stepped the fore leg, that this incision is made
(often half way up the sinews,) which I always con-
sidered was done by the toe. When made acquainted
with this, my surprise ceased at seeing horses' heels
and sinews nearly cut off by what I supposed to be
the blunt or almost round edge of the outside of the
shoe. I have ever since had the inside edge of the
hind shoes what the blacksmith's call " bevelled,"
or rounded off, and have never had an over-reach.
All horses are more or less subject to over-reach,
particularly in countries where there is much brook-
jumping.

LETTER VI

STRONG WORK NECESSARY — ILL EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH
REST — NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS OF THE GROOM

ANIMALS — particularly horses which we
take under our protection — are no longer
strangers to pain and sickness ; but, like
ourselves, struggle through a " frail and
feverish being " in continual danger of their lives from
illness ; besides a thousand accidents to which they
are exposed from the uses to which we apply them,
and the various functions and operations which man,
not nature, calls upon them to perform. It is a sub-
ject, therefore, beneath no one's consideration as to
whence these evils arise, and how they may be remedied:
to which may be added, that in few articles which
contribute to the amusement of the upper ranks in
life is there a larger capital embarked than in good
hunters — several studs of which, within my knowledge,
have cost their owners no less than five thousand
pounds, and upwards. Now, as the late Mr Richard
Lawrence observes in his Essay on Diseases of the
Lungs, to which I alluded in my last, horses kept in
a forced and preternatural state are " always on the
verge of some inflammatory disease," the man who
may point out one single hint for their preservation,

86

STRONG WORK NECESSARY 87

or suggest any expedient by which their powers may
be applied to advantage, and with safety, by those
who have purchased them so dearly, is as much
entitled to be heard, and does as much good in his way,
as the skilful and scientific artificer who invents the
most powerful and complicated machine. The one
by the help of his mental faculties produces mechanical
power far exceeding natural force ; so the other by
his humble means increases animal power in a ratio
comparatively great.

A celebrated professor of physic in a neighbouring
nation, in the luxuriancy of his imagination, considered
man as a machine, and attempted to explain the
phenomena of animal economy by mechanical and
physical principles. The pride of man, however,
which will scarcely stoop to take a lesson from the
instinct of brutes, however home it may apply to him,
felt insulted by this comparison of intellect with force,
and the Doctor got scouted for his pains. Were I,
in the indulgence of my fancy, to compare a horse
to anything so much beneath him as that which
could be formed by man, I should say he resembled
an organ, on which, if the pipes and tubes are in order,
and the bellows good and strong, a merry tune
may be played with the help of a delicate finger.
How then this instrument (to our pleasures) is to
be kept in tune shall be the subject of my farther
observations.

Next to the article of food in the condition of a race-
horse or a hunter, is to be considered the work he has to
do ; for without the one it is no matter how well he

S8 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

may be supplied with the other : and we may just
as reasonably expect crops to arise out of the ground
without awaiting the ordeals of nature, as to see a
horse in condition without a long continuance of good
food and strong work. In administering work to
the race-horse consists the chief art of training ; and
it is a matter of no less importance with a hunter in
the stable of a man who wishes to distinguish himself
in the field, and not to run the risk of killing his horse
every time he goes out.

As far as regards the last mentioned circumstance,
the chief consideration with me has always been —
not how long or how severe the day's sport may have
been, but how my horse has been prepared for it ; and
it is a consolation to hard riders to observe, that, in
my experience in the field, out of the great number
of horses which I have seen tired, or what is called
" dead beat," with hounds, I have never once known
death to be the consequence, unless it were to those
who were short of work, and not sufficiently prepared.
Were I to enumerate all the instances with which I
am acquainted of horses being lost from this cause,
it would be tiresome and unprofitable to the reader ;
but this much I will venture to assert — that it is not
in the power of the best run a fox can show to cause
the death of a good hunter, in good condition, and
fairly ridden, provided he have been out with hounds
and seen a run within the five or six preceding days,
and had a good sweat with a good brushing gallop
after it on the day before, with proper attention as to
food, etc. in the stable. A horse may be so tired as

STRONG WORK NECESSARY 89

to lie down in the field, yet it is generally the fault
of his owner if worse consequences ensue.

I have before observed that I never had but one
dead hunter (p. 25) drawn out of my stable, though I
have had many tired ones come into it ; and I in
great part attribute my good fortune in this particular
to the invariable rule I have made, let the weather be
ever so bad, to give my horse some good strong work,
and to cause him to sweat freely on the day before
hunting. I have always been aware that when the
wheels of nature are clogged, the machine cannot only
not go on as it should do, but is in constant danger of
being broken or destroyed.

It may be here observed that the race-horse does not
sweat on the day before he runs. This I admit is true ;
but the race-horse in training, when well, is always
going. He does not, like the hunter, lie still — with
the exception of an hour's walking exercise — for two
or three days after his last day's work.

Having had a good deal to do with private training,
I may be allowed to say that the very best effects
are to be found from gentle sweats, often repeated.
They keep a horse light and free in his body, without
that injury to his legs by what are called " brushing
gallops," in which every sinew about him is put to
the hazard. Long-continued exercise, we are all
aware, is of the greatest use in unloading the bowels,
giving firmness and elasticity to the muscles, and pro-
moting the general secretions ; but a horse cannot be
fit for such severe and trying exertions as he is put to
in the field unless his vessels are kept clear and open.

90 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

and his blood in a proper state of fluidity — frequently
cleansed of its excrementitious matter, which so power-
fully contributes to disease, after work. This can only
be done by repeated perspiration ; and I have heard
veterinary surgeons say that the perspirable matter
which flies off through the pores of the skin is of more
consequence, as far as clear wind and condition are
concerned, than all the other secretions.

What I have now said chiefly applies to the state
of the blood. The state of the bowels is equally
important. Rest not only generates a redundancy of
blood and humours, but the bowels become overloaded,
and distend beyond their proper size, in which state
violent exertion must always be attended with danger.
In perusing an old article on farriery, I recollect being
gravely told that a horse should not be ridden with
fox-hounds under three weeks after a dose of physic,
or with stag-hounds under a month. All this is laugh-
able ; but, if true, what would become of the race-
horse, who sweats six days after his physic sets ? For
my own part, were I to know to a certainty that I
were to see a severe day's sport with hounds, I should
prefer riding a horse which had gone through a dose
of physic ten days before : I should prefer this, not
only as a preventive of danger after it, but with the
confidence that I should be better carried than if he
had not had it.

The ill effects of rest, and the good effects of work,
on the powers and energies of a horse are astonishing.
In long-continued rest his flesh becomes soft and flabby,
and the muscles lose their elasticity, and even their

ILL EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH REST 91

substance. This is particularly exemplified in the
human subject ; for, let a man forego the use of one
of his legs for twelve months, the muscles of that
leg will fall away, though they will in some measure
recover on his resuming the action of the limb. With
horses lame in the feet this is also plainly shown. The
muscles of the chest fall away, because they are not
called into their proper action, which a cripple has not
the power of doing, although he may work every day.
This gave rise to the vulgar, but now nearly exploded
idea of chest-foundered horses, whereas such a com-
plaint does not exist. The evil lies in the feet ; and
the wasting of the muscles of the chest is the effect,
and not the cause. In strong work, when a horse is
sound every muscle and fibre of his body are braced,
as it were, until they become as tough as whipcord.

Not only the muscles of the body, but the lungs
also, are powerfully strengthened by good work. The
quickness of respiration by repeated galloping produces
an elasticity in these organs far above their ordinary
powers ; and as, particularly w4th hunters, wind is
strength, it is a consideration of the highest importance
to a man who rides over a country, as far as himself,
as well as his horse, is concerned, that his hunter be
in good wind, for without it the best fencer is power-
less and dangerous.

As far as relates to the proper attenuation of the
blood, the advantage of frequent sweating is too obvious
to require much notice here. Let a horse, highly fed,
have nothing but walking exercise for some time,
and the first day he is made to perspire his sweat will

92 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

lather like soap suds. The second day that lather
will be much thinner, and the third the perspiration
will run off him as clear as water. That perspiration
is the grand duct by which the impurities of nature
are carried off, requires no argument of mine to show ;
and so far from a horse being got into condition with-
out frequent recourse to it, even a cock cannot be
brought into the pit until he has gone through the
operation of sweating. All those gentlemen jockeys
who know what it is to waste to ride, have found the
full effect of this grand relief of nature in the light
and volatile feel which they experience after having
lost three or four pounds' weight in a walk in clothes,
and a good smoking between the blankets afterwards.
When they get up and are fresh dressed, they feel
as if they could fly ; and for my own part I have often
envied the feel of a race-horse walking back to his
stable after having had a sweat.

Exclusively of the extreme debility and laxity of
fibre produced by it, many serious evils frequently
arise among hunters from a long respite from work
in the winter, unless proper preventive measures are
had recourse to. I am no friend to quacking, in
either horses or men, when they are well. I remember
the speech of the dying man : — " I was well, I wished
to be better, and here I am," said one who attempted
to mend a good constitution. Nevertheless, being
exactly of Mr Richard Lawrence's opinion, that
inflammatory attacks are to be apprehended with
horses in a state in which the constitution is preter-
naturally excited, preventive measures must be used

ILL EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH REST 93

to guard against them. In the summer, green food,
moderate allowance of corn, and turning out at night,
are cooling remedies always at hand ; but not so in
the winter : and I have always been apprehensive
of mischief in my stable after a long-continued frost.
The organs of respiration are the most likely to be
affected, and many horses have become roarers during
such a period. This is not confined to horses, for in
the human species pulmonary complaints are always
more frequent after a severe winter.

A few days after the breaking up of the frost at the
latter end of 1822, a gentleman with whom I had a
slight acquaintance was galloping by the side of me
in some deep ground ; and on hearing his mare more
musical than she should be, and having been in the
habit of seeing her go to hounds before the frost set
in, I asked him how long she had been a roarer. He
seemed surprised, as well as alarmed, at the question ;
but the next time I met him he admitted that the
mischief was done.

This circumstance, although in corroboration of
what I have advanced as to the evils attending long
rest, without measures being taken to counteract
them, was trifling in its consequences to another
which I witnessed some years ago in Leicestershire,
One of the most distinguished members of the Old
Melton Club went to town at the commencement of
a long frost, leaving in his stable sound and well
perhaps the best hunter of that day in England. On
his return, when the country was open, he ordered
this horse to the covert's side, with another for him-

94 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

self, giving directions to his groom to ride him quietly
after the hounds to prepare him for the next day. On
coming to a check, after some slow hunting, this
celebrated sportsman observed to a friend, in a jocular
manner, " Here he comes, roaring away : who can he
be ? " Who was it but his own horse, which had
become a roarer in the stable during the long-continued
frost, and from no other apparent cause ! Thus was
a horse, worth at that time one thousand guineas,
spoiled by doing nothing.

The instances which I have now mentioned are
only two among many which I have met with of a
similar kind ; and I have always guarded against
them in my own stable by precautionary measures
— by lessening my horses' corn at least one feed per
day, taking their beans from them, and invariably
giving them a dose of physic, followed by a mild urine
ball, if time will permit, or, what may be better, a
few carrots chopped into their morning and evening
feeds. Carrots have a particularly cooling property,
and act as an alterative by the kidneys. Bran mashes,
cold, are also useful, but they must not be too fre-
quently given, as they are of a very lowering nature.

Although I object to the frequent use of bran mashes
with horses that are to follow hounds, yet I have
always made it a rule to give each horse one large
lukewarm mash in the course of the week, taking care
that he do not have it within two days of his turn to
hunt. Bran mashes, made thin, expel the contents
of the bowels without increasing the secretions, and
are great preservatives of general health.

NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS OF GROOM 95

The following are what I take to be the chief points
on which the judgment of a groom is to be exercised :
— To know when a horse becomes foul in his body ;
when he is up to his mark, and when he is below it ;
how to check incipient disease ; how to treat horses
that are not quite sound, so as to keep them on in
their work ; how to preserve their feet, and how to
feed them. He should also know how to treat thorns,
strains, common wounds and blows, which are per-
petually happening to hunters' legs ; but when any
mischief of a more serious nature may occur, he ought,
if he has his master's interest at heart, immediately
to send off for the best veterinary surgeon in his
neighbourhood ; for when disease lies beyond the
reach of manual detection, a groom (however clever
he may be as a groom), if he attempts a cure, is travel-
ling in a wilderness of error ; and the expedients he
may resort to may be worse than the original evil.
I will here offer a few remarks on each of the above
heads.

With respect to feeding — one of the first considera-
tions— I believe I have said all that I conceived to be
necessary on this subject at p. 18, to which I have
nothing to add, but to remind my brother sportsmen
of what I have before so strongly enforced, viz., that
food should he proportioned to work, or plethora, the
root of all evils, will be produced. " Plethora," says
Boerhaave, " is created by everything that maketh
a great quantity of good chyle and blood, and at the
same time hindereth their attenuation, corruption,
and perspiration, through the pores of the skin."

96 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

This authority is sufficient to enforce attention to
the golden rule to which I have just alluded.

A stint in the allowance of hay must be strictly
enforced if we wish to preserve our horses to a good
old age. We have heard of the scelera aquarum as
applied to the human species, although sportsmen
are not apt to be afflicted by such evils ; but the
mischief arising from an improper use of hay, I take
to be incalculable. In the stables of the fast coaches
this has been proved almost to demonstration. These
horses are only allowed half a truss each for the seven
days, and a broken-winded horse is now scarcely
heard of among them. I have taken some pains to
ascertain this fact by my own personal inquiries.
One proprietor, who had nearly fifty horses at work
— many of which were in as fast coaches as any that
travelled the road — assured me, lately, that he had
not one broken-winded horse in his yard ; whereas,
before he stinted them in their hay, he generally had
one in five in that state. A further proof of the good
effect of this sumptuary law in the stable is, that the
horse which lives chiefly upon corn requires less water
than one whose belly is distended with hay ; and it
must make no small difference to a horse whether he
be taken from an empty or a full rack, when put to a
coach that starts off, and continues to run, at the quick
rate of eleven or twelve miles in the hour.

Having, as before observed, had a good deal to do
with private training, I may be allowed to say that
I consider the present system of feeding the race-
horse to be very nearly applicable to that of feeding

NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS OF GROOM 97

the hunter of the present day ; and the trifling shade
of difference between them exists only in reference to
the work each has to perform. Here, however, the
difference is much less than it was formerly, and may
now be said rather to apply to the sort of horse we
have to deal with than to the business he is put to.
Strong and severe work is as necessary to the one as
to the other ; and to get a horse of a naturally hard
constitution quite fit to go to hounds, in some countries,
requires that he should be nearly as much in training
as if he were going to run a four-mile heat at King's
Plate weights. The whole system of hunting is so
revolutionised that the preparation which a horse
now requires is very different to what it was in former
times. The hour of meeting is seldom before eleven ;
the find generally quick and certain ; and horses are
often not more than five or six hours from their stables
after the best day's sport ; and the ground they go
over is frequently not so much as a plating race-horse
performs in contending three or four-mile heats.
Having said this, I see no reason to doubt the pro-
priety of feeding, sweating, and muzzhng the hunter
much in the same manner as the race-horse, only
making due and proper allowance for the relative
nature of their work, particularly as to not stripping
the hunter too much of his flesh, or losing sight of
the natural difference between the thorough-bred
horse and the cock-tail.

It is my firm conviction that no less than nine
hunters out of ten that appear by the covert side —
taking into account the present speed of hounds —

98 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

are short of quick work, for the pace they are made
to go ; and let me impress one circumstance on the
mind of the reader — that, barring epidemic complaints
and accidents, no horses enjoy such uninterrupted good
health as those in training.

LETTER VII

TREATMENT OF HUNTERS IN THE SUMMER

AS the mariner at the expiration of one
voyage repairs his bark for the next, so
should the sportsman at the conclusion of
one season set about getting his horses
into good tune for the one which is to come. I shall,
therefore, now proceed to state how I should recom-
mend a hunter to be treated when the season is at an
end — supposing him to finish it " sound, and well
up to his mark."

The first step I should take would be to put him into
a loose box, if convenient, and by degrees diminish
his com, giving him an hour's walking exercise every
morning as usual. I should then give him two doses
of physic, which would not only cool his habit of body
so as to prevent the danger of inflammatory attacks,
but would have that effect on his legs as to enable
me to see what injury had been done to them in his
work ; — whether there were any ligamentary enlarge-
ments— any injury to the joints or sinews — any callous
substances produced by blows — or, in short, anything
going wrong. The clear state of his legs which this
treatment will produce would prevent the possibility
of working in the dark, as they will become finer, to use

99

lOO THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

the language of grooms, in three weeks than they
would at the expiration of a three months' run at
grass in the summer.

I cannot but be aware that I may in some degree
be encroaching on the practice of the veterinary pro-
fession ; but such is the esteem in which I hold that
highly useful body of men — every real member of
which is a treasure in the neighbourhood in which
he resides — that so far from it being my wish to take
a guinea out of their pockets, I should prefer putting
one into them, or giving them any encouragement to
which they are so justly entitled ; and I have no hesita-
tion in saying that it would answer to any sportsman
who keeps hunters to call in the assistance of one of
them to look over his stud at the end of every season,
and to submit them to his treatment and superintend-
ence during the summer months, which would repay
him well in the end : for whatever may be the experi-
ence of a gentleman or his groom in such matters,
the veterinary surgeon, from his anatomical know-
ledge of the animal, is enabled to see defects which
are not observable by others, and to meet the danger
before it becomes insurmountable. By way of illus-
tration take the following example in my own stable.

A few years ago I had a remarkably clever grey
horse, for which I gave 220 guineas. At the end of
the season, when only six years old, he lost his action,
and went Hke an old post-horse, being to all appearance
groggy. With the most perfect feet and legs, and
without a visible sign of anything wrong, I became
alarmed, and could only account for it by supposing

TREATMENT OF HUNTERS IN SUMMER loi

that I had given him a shake at a leap with a con-
siderable drop into a road which was hard, on the
last day of hunting him. I determined, however, not
to rely on my own judgment, and sent for the nearest
veterinary surgeon of eminence in his profession (Mr
Samuel Palfrey), who was at first as much puzzled
as I was ; but, on a minute examination of his legs,
he discovered two incipient splints, as they are termed,
very little larger than peas, growing out just under the
joints of the knees. These being removed by the
operation of two mild blisters, the horse recovered
his action, and my alarm was at an end.

Now it is very probable that had this horse been
in the hands of a groom he might have been put to
all kind of torture in the stable, or, what is more likely
if in the possession of many persons, he would have
been turned out to grass with the hopes of that being
the catholicon for all such cases, and with the assurance
that he would come up sound at the expiration of his
three months' run.

What, however, would have been the consequence ?
Why, the splints would have grown, though perhaps
the lameness might have disappeared ; and when the
horse came into work again at the commencement of
the next season, inflammation would have returned,
and it would have been more than propable that half
the season might have passed away before he could
have appeared by a covert-side again. Here then
is the old adage verified — " a stitch in time saves
nine."

Indiscriminate blistering of hunters' legs has been

102 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

generally resorted to previous to their being turned
out, or thrown out of condition for the summer, under
what I may venture to call the old system of manage-
ment, now pretty nearly exploded. In my noviciate I
followed this practice myself, and have since been an
observer of it in the stables of others, but have long
since pronounced it to be a waste of drugs, as un-
necessary torture to the animal, and not once in twenty
times of the smallest benefit. On the contrary, I have
frequently seen it highly injurious, distending the
vessels so much beyond their natural state as never
to recover their proper tone again ; and, indeed, this
is almost certain to be the case if applied when any
active inflammation is going on in the limb. My
experience, indeed, has led me to place but little faith
in blisters to horses' legs, unless the injury to which
they are applied has been of very short duration. As
to their reducing callous substances and obstinate
splints and curbs, to which they are too often ignorantly
applied, a sponge with cold water is equally effective,
and divested of the torture. As preparatory to firing,
in some particular cases, and in all those of incipient
excrescences of bone — such as splints, curbs, and bone
spavins, just budding — the timely application of a
blister will nine times out of ten effect a cure ; and
when to these you add their use in diverting certain
inflammatory attacks, when applied externally to
the body, you close the catalogue of their virtues —
by no means a scanty one.

For injuries to horses' legs when they are serious
or of long standing, firing, with time, is my favourite

TREATMENT OF HUNTERS IN SUMMER 103

remedy, I must here make one observation ; and
that is, that I have ever been sparing of punishment
to horses when it could be avoided, not only on the
score of humanity, but for a natural regard which I
have always had for so noble an animal. I must
take heed, therefore, how I speak of firing a horse
being a " favourite remedy " with me, or I may have
some canting moralist on my back, and be set down
for the greater brute of the two.

Perhaps there are few sportsmen who arrive at a
good old age without having themselves experienced
the potential cautery. When appUed to a horse's leg
it is called the actual cautery, being administered
in the form of a red-hot iron. In both cases the opera-
tion is severe ; but the impression on my mind is,
that horses suffer more by severe blistering than they
do by firing.i

In April 1822 I had a hunter of mine fired in both
his fore-legs. Previously to the operation he was
blistered as I wished — besides strengthening his legs,
which appeared about to give way — to reduce a callous
substance that had formed on one of his tendons.
Being of an irritable temper in the stable, he suffered
much by the blistering, and was so uneasy that I was
obliged to have a man to stand at his head with a
small switch in his hand, for six hours, to prevent his
rubbing one leg against the other, by which he would
have blemished himself. When ready for the opera-

1 The application of vesicants, the actual cautery, or a combination
of them, is necessarily attended with a considerable degree of pain,
but the benefits are undeniable. — Editor.

104 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

tion I sent him to be fired, with orders to my servant
to lead him gently home afterwards. Being a resolute
horse he struggled much on being thrown, but when
down and secured he did not appear to feel anything.
When he got up, and his head turned towards home,
he was so fuU of play that the servant was obliged to
ride him, or he would have broken away from him on
the road. The same operator fired another hunter for
me the following week for a young ringbone. He
merely put a twitch on his nose, and he never stirred
a foot from the ground. The consequences of these
operations were, that the ringbone on one horse was
stopped in its progress to lameness ; and the enlarge-
ment on the tendon of the other, although of more
than twelve months' standing, quite disappeared,
and his legs all in place again. Now all the blistering
ointment that ever was made would not have effected
one of those cures, if it had the other : and with respect
to the relative suffering caused by the operations of
blistering and firing, I have only to observe that the
effect of firing is merely local, whereas the anguish
of a severe blister deranges the whole system, and
often produces strangury and other spasmodic affec-
tions. I shall conclude this part of my subject by
observing that I have never fired a horse when I thought
other means would answer the end ; but I would do it
on the principle that I would go to a dentist and have a
tooth drawn, rather than suffer protracted pain and
illness from temporary or palliative measures. The
operation in both cases is severe, but soon over ; and
I shall never think we are debarred of inflicting a

TREATMENT OF HUNTERS IN SUMMER 105

certain degree of pain on animals given to us for their
services, if those services cannot be available on other
terms.

Having given the hunter his physic, and the liberty
of a loose box, his legs will be reduced as nearly to a
state of nature as can be expected after what they
have gone through, or after the injuries they may
have received. If no ligamentary enlargements, or
callous substances on the sinews or on the tendons,
should appear, a man may congratulate himself that
his horse has been so fortunate as to escape them,
and his legs may go on for another year ; but they
should be minutely inspected, and by one who knows
the evils when he sees them (no mean accomplish-
ment), and, having found them, circumstances alone
must direct us to which of the two remedies must be
applied. If blistering will reach the cause, it has
certainly the reputation of being the milder operation
of the two ; but if the injury is considerable, the parts
where it exists material, and of more than one or two
months' standing, nothing but the actual cautery
can be depended on. With those horses which carry
high weights firing is too often a sine qua non ; for
when once nature gives way under such circumstances,
nothing short of so violent a remedy will restore the
injured parts. Curbs, splints, and, above all, blows
on the legs, are frequently very obstinate to deal with,
often requiring repeated blisters, followed by firing,
to get rid of them.

With respect to horses' feet in the summer, there
are two opinions amongst good judges as to whether

io6 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

the fore-shoes should be on or not — the hoofs, in the
latter case, being often rasped around the toe to pre-
vent them chipping or splitting. For my own part I
prefer the tip, or half-shoe, leaving the frog to press
on the ground. A few nails around the front of the
hoof cannot be injurious provided the heel be left free
from them. If a horse's foot is inclined to become
convex, or pumice, then he should go without his
shoes, on the same principle as the inside of the black-
smith's hand becomes hard by the constant use of
his hammer. I had a fine hunter with this sort of
feet, which I restored to their proper form by making
him stand on flags all day for three months in succes-
sion. The internal part of the foot, which had, as it
were, dropped from it proper place, was forced back
to it again, and the disease, if I may call it such, did
not return.

LETTER VIII

HARD MEAT verSUS GRASS — PHYSIC

FROM the experience of graziers and butchers,
as well as by the reports of the meat markets,
we find that some summers are particularly
unfavourable to the beasts of the field,
consequently to those hunters which have been
managed under the old, and perhaps too common,
system of three months' run at grass ; and, as there
is nothing like proof, I satisfied myself of the truth of
what I have asserted in the following manner :
Knowing that a neighbour of mine had his hunters
out, as usual, I rode to his house to see them ; and
wishing to put matters to the test, I took a horse of
my own with me that had been summered, if I may
use such a word, nearly, though not exactly, accord-
ing to the method I have recommended, and I will
state the result in detail. My horse had had two doses
of physic since the last season, was not turned out
till the first week in June, and then only at night, on
a third year's lea which had been closely fed down in
the spring. During the bad weather he lay in at
night, and was turned out at four in the morning,
taken up at ten a.m., and out again at five in the

evening till nine, when he was housed for the night.

107

io8 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

When only out at night he had a small portion of hay
in the middle of the day, and two feeds of oats, to
which were added, as the weather was cold, during
the rest of the time he was out, a double handful of
beans, not split, in each feed. When in the stable,
by day, he was exposed to great circulation of air,
as the casements were taken out of the windows and
the door open. My neighbour's horses, seven in
number, had been turned out as soon as hunting was
over into a field of eight acres of tolerably good land,
always used for the purpose, with plenty of shade
and water, and had had no physic since the commence-
ment of the last season. Himself and his groom
entered the field with me, and I was much struck with
the sad appearance of the horses. The " qui color
albus erat nunc est contrarius alho " might have been
aptly applied here. There were two grey horses in
the field, but there was very little white about them ;
The black horse was anything but black, the chestnut
a kind of dun, and the bay horses presented a kind of
sickly compound of red and yellow, which it is not in
my power to define. There was no reflection of the
solar rays on their skins, and they had altogether a
miserable appearance. Three out of the seven had
coughs, their crests were low, their bellies large, and
their action feeble.

On my remarking to the owner of these horses how
ill they looked, he observed, that they did very well
in that field last year, and that they had come up in
what he called " very good condition." — " That is
very possible," said I, " because last summer was

HARD MEAT VERSUS GRASS 109

one of an hundred. The grass was roasted till it
resembled hay, but now your horses are starved."
— " How can that be," replied my friend, " when
there is so much grass ? " — " That there is grass,"
replied I, " I admit ; that is to say, in places under
the shade of trees and in wet spots, which they will
eat, as you or I would eat a dog or a cat when starving :
but they would as soon eat the fungus that grows
amongst it as touch it now ; and where the feed is
sweet, you perceive they have gnawed it until there
is no bite left to support so large an animal as a horse,
and particularly one whose appetite was a short time
since satiated with high keep." I now remarked
to him the difference between my horse and any one
of his seven. The coat of my horse was of its original
colour, and lay close to his back : he was fuU of vigour
and strength, rather fatter than I wished to see him ;
but dirty as he was — having been only taken up the
day before (the loth of July) — we could see a gloss
down his quarters and shoulders, and his flesh was as
firm as if he had been in work. He had no cough,
but appeared in perfect health ; and, by way of ex-
periment, I rode him rather fast for about a mile and
a half on my own road home, to see whether he would
perspire quickly, which he did not, though full of glee,
and eager to get home, and, as it happened on that
day, under a hot mid-day sun.

Now let us contrast, if they can be contrasted, the
advantages and disadvantages of these two plans,
and balance the account between them. It is true
that my neighbour's horses will have cost nothing but

no THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

the value of about an acre of ground to each horse
from the period of their being turned out until they
are taken into the stable again ; and mine, supposing
him to have consumed his acre of grass, and to have
had his two feeds of corn a day, since the time the
others were deprived of it, will have cost, in addition,
144 quarterns, or nine bushels of oats, and about one
and a half of beans, the expense of which does not
amount to more than two pounds. Now we will
suppose, for the sake of argument, that necessity
required that either one of my friend's horses, or my
own, were to have been exposed for sale in a week
from the time the comparison was made — what, may
I ask, would have been the result ? Why, I will
venture to assert without fear of contradiction, that
as two gentle sweats and some good wisping would
have made my horse look nearly as well as when in
work, he would have produced an addition of twenty-
five per cent, on his value beyond that of my neigh-
bour's ; and therefore, supposing them to be each
worth 100/. when in condition, he would have paid
25/. for having eaten a twelfth part of that value in
com.

We may look at it in another light. If the condition
of my horse, by the superior firmness of his flesh, and
his increased vigour, be so much better in the month
of July or August, how much better still must it be
in the month of November, when he will be called
upon to follow hounds — particularly so, when in the
interval he has to go through that wonderful process
of nature, the change of his natural covering, or coat,

HARD MEAT VERSUS GRASS iii

which so visibly affects him ! Were a man told that
he must write a book, or build a house, in three months,
would he do either so well as if he had a longer period
allowed him to arrange and consider the subject for
the one, or to select and season the materials for the
other ? This applies still more powerfully to the
horse, inasmuch as all operations of nature require
a stated time.

As I was returning home from inspecting my neigh-
bour's hunters, I was amused as well as instructed
by the following conversation, which took place
between one of his tenants (a farmer) and myself : —

" Mr 's horses," said I, " look badly." " Why,

yes," said the farmer ; "I told the 'Squire so some
time back ; but I don't hold with the way in which
some of you gentlemen keep your hunters. You keep
them in a warm stable, full of good corn, for eight
months in the year, and then turn them out to shift for
themselves the other four. Now," added he, " this is
not the way I like to keep my cart horses. I like to
keep them pretty well all the year around ; for if they
are kept up and down (verbatim), there is sure to be
something the matter with them — grease, or some
humours." These were precisely his words, and I
registered them carefully in my recollection ; for
nothing can be more true than that the greatest evils
arise to horses from subjecting them to extremes of
food, as also of heat and cold. Philosophers tell us that
if this globe were to experience, in the space of one year,
the heat of the torrid and the cold of the frigid zones —
which it undoubtedly would do were the elliptic to

112 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

make an angle of twenty degrees more than it does
with the equinoctial line — three parts of it would be
uninhabitable, as neither plant nor animal could
sustain the two extremes ! With reference, then, to
the unnatural condition of horses, and the unnatural
purposes to which we apply them, the more considera-
tion I give to the subject, and the more my experience
teaches me, the more I am convinced that, with few
exceptions, the stable is the place for hunters ; and
that subjecting them to sudden changes of diet, and
to the vicissitudes of this uncertain climate, is pro-
ductive, or at least the predisposing cause, of nine-
tenths of the diseases and evils (to say nothing of
accidents) which happen to them : and were I to be
told that I were to receive a good annuity subject
to the life of a horse, I would keep him in the stable
all the year, as the most likely means, with proper
exercise and grooming, of preserving him to a good
old age. I have been more confirmed in this opinion
by conversation I have had at different times with
officers of dragoon regiments, on the numerous diseases
— glanders in particular — to which troop horses are
liable ; and I have generally found them to proceed
from the following causes — namely, bad grooming^
want of physic, to their only being what may be
termed " half in condition," and, under aU these
unfavourable circumstances, to their being exposed to
the vicissitudes of weather, and sudden transitions
from heat to cold, and from cold to heat.

Now although, fortunately for those who turn out
their hunters, they are generally taken up again before

HARD MEAT VERSUS GRASS 113

the most trying period to the constitution arrives —
namely, August or September, when hot days are
succeeded by chilHng fogs at night — yet I think we
may venture to assume that those horses must be
foaled for the purpose, and made of more than common
materials, which could submit with impunity to having
their saddles and bridles taken off as soon as they
come home, and turned out into a field to roll themselves
in the dirt, and fill their empty and debilitated stomachs
with cold spring water.

Although " among a multitude of proofs one does
the business," and one would satisfy me as well as
a hundred, yet, having others to convince, I thought I
would submit the propriety of turning hunters out
to grass for the summer to one more test ; so, the morn-
ing after I had seen my neighbour's horses, I got upon
my hack, and rode to a park some miles distant, where
I knew some hunters were turned out, and where they
were charged five shillings a week for their keep, from
the superior character of the pasture. Had I enter-
tained any doubts, however trifling, on the disadvan-
tages of a summer's run, my visit to this park
would have dissipated them all : but I had here a
particularly favourable opportunity of selecting one
subject out of several that I met with, either of which
would have been sufficient with which to illustrate
the solidity of my argument ; and this was a chestnut
mare, the property of a gentleman who had sent her
twenty miles to run in this park. Now it so happened,
that, as I was riding along the turnpike road, the second
week in May, I met this mare on her road to this park.

114 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

Having ridden in the same race with her for some
Hunter's Stakes about three weeks before, I had
observed that she was looking remarkably blooming
and well, and when I met her in the road she was
but little altered in her condition. Her crest was up,
her muscles hard, her legs quite in place, her eye was
lively, and her skin was beautiful. When I saw the
same mare in the park, only nine weeks after I had
seen her on her road thither, I knew her, undoubtedly
because I expected to find her, but had I met her
anywhere else I certainly should not have taken her
for the same animal. Her crest was gone, her carcase
was swollen, her eye was dull, her action was languid,
and her colour, from having been an excellent chesnut,
was become (for I can compare it to nothing else) like
that of half-baked gingerbread, without the smallest
gloss on her coat, which lay hollow on her back ; and,
to sum up all, she looked as if she were rotten.

Now it is by no means my intention to imply that
this mare was rotten, but I only wish to enforce the
striking contrast between her former and present
appearance ; but of this, however, I will not only
pledge my existence, but, what would be worse than
the loss of life, I will consent to be condemned to live
upon horse-flesh the rest of my days, if this mare, by
any skill of her groom, by any art, save that of magic,
can he reinstated in the condition in which she was when
I met her in the road, until hunting is over the ensuing
season. I should here observe that the rest of the
horses in this park looked equally bad as the mare I
have been speaking of.

HARD MEAT VERSUS GRASS 115

In my rides about the country in the month of May
1823, I met two other hunters on their road to grass
for the summer. I asked the servant who was leading
them whither he was taking them ? He answered,
to a tenant of his master's, who always summered
them for him in his meadows. "Is it not a pity,"
said I, "to turn them out now they are in such a

fine condition, and their legs appear so good ? " " Oh,

no," said the man, " it will do them a deal of good."
— " Are you quite well in health ? " said I. Not
knowing the drift of my question, John smiled, but
made no reply. " Have you any bodily complaint ? "
— " None, Sir," was his reply. " Would you wish
to be better than you are ? " He said he should not,
" Then," replied I, " you should have persuaded your
master to have kept his horses at home, which would
have saved you and him a great deal of trouble between
this and Christmas."

In corroboration of the hard-meat system, I was
particularly struck with an observation of the Earl
of Darlington, respecting the horses of some officers
of a light dragoon regiment who hunted with his
hounds in the Raby country. " I know not how it is,"
said his Lordship, " but no expense or trouble is spared
with my hunters, and my stables are excellent ; but
none of them look like these officers' horses." Now,
as far as my experience has led me, I have never had
reason to think that officers' horses in general were
well groomed. On the contrary, their being called
upon at all hours, and the almost constant access to
barrack stables, must be much against them ; but

ii6 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

these minor evils are light in the scale against a long
continuance of good hard meat and pretty regular
exercise.

If we convince a man against his will, we are told
that we do nothing, for he immediately relapses to
his former opinions. This reminds me of a passage
in Cicero, when writing on the immortality of the soul :
— " I know not how it is," says he, " but when I read
I assent ; but when I put away the book, and begin
to think on the subject, all that assent vanishes."
So much for the effect of prejudice in a mind so highly
cultivated as his ! How, then, can we wonder at its
taking still stronger hold on many of us less favoured
mortals ? Cicero, however, could not satisfy himself
by experiment ; but we can : and let me conclude
this part of my subject with the exhortation to every
sportsman who rides hard, and wishes to be carried
well over a country, never to let his horses get out of
what is called " good hard meat " — the only ground-
work of condition. It may be asked, would I work
them in summer ? Certainly not ; but of the two
extremes I have no hesitation in saying that gentle
work, with com, is better for a hunter than no work
without corn, for reasons which I have before shown.

Having mentioned in a former Letter (p. 49) that
I should have something more to say on physic,
I conceive the present to be the most proper time for
communicating it. It is true that in strengthening
and augmenting the capacities of the body beyond
their ordinary powers, whether in a man or a horse,
the evacuating process is always had recourse to ; but,

PHYSIC 117

before we apply our theory, we should be acquainted
with the constitution of the subject to be operated
upon ; neither must we lose sight of local circumstances
and exceptions.

I was once flogged at school for making a rule
absolute when it was not so, and I have never for-
gotten the lesson. Notwithstanding this, I am one
of those who for some years of my life submitted to
the practice of my groom to give my horses three
doses of physic in succession at the commencement of
their being what is called "got into condition for work" ;
and I am almost ashamed to add, that, without
taking the trouble to give it a moment's consideration,
I was led to join with him in his creed that less would
not do, for the two first stirred up the humours, and the
last carried them off ! My better judgment at length
convinced me that this practice was an erroneous one,
often productive of serious mischief, and by no means
to be made general. Common sense might at first
dictate to us, in these words — " If your horse be well
why physic him at all ? " Experience, however, has
proved to us, that, to guard against the preternatural
excitement produced by high keep and strong work,
a sort of periodical evacuation of the system by the
bowels is necessary to preserve the health, if not the
life of a horse, as repletion would be almost invariably
the consequence ; but why these three doses are to
be hurried indiscriminately through every horse that
is to be prepared for hunting, in the month of July or
August, I have yet to learn : and what led me to a
serious and rational consideration of this subject, so

ii8 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

as to doubt the propriety of the practice, was, first,
the reason my groom generally gave me for it ; and,
secondly, its effects on my horses.

As for my groom's reasons for these three doses in
a fortnight, the only effect they had upon me, when I
took the trouble to consider them, was to make me
smile at their absurdity, and to banish them from
my mind with the contempt they merited. The effect,
however, of these three doses of strong physic afforded
a salutary hint, which I did not so soon lose sight of.
At the expiration of the third dose I always found a
urine ball, or, perhaps two, were to be given to get
rid of a fulness of the legs, which was said to be always
produced by physic. " Indeed, then," said I, " are
the means to which we resort to strengthen the nervous
system, and to prepare it for severe exertion, productive
of a contrary effect ? Are we bringing on debility, of
which swelling of the legs is the most infallible proof,
by means intended to produce the opposite effect ?
Something must be wrong here, and we must endeavour
to alter it."

When we look back into old writers on farriery, we
are as much astonished that more horses were not
killed by some of their cathartic drenches, as that any
of them were cured by some of their absurd nostrums.
There is an admirable hit at these ignoramuses in
Bucklaw's recipe for a strain, in the Tales of my Land-
lord. " Take," says he, "a fat sucking mastiff, flay
and bowel him, stuff him full of black and grey snails,
roast a reasonable time, and baste with oil of spikenard,
saffron, cinnamon, and honey, anoint with the dripping,

PHYSIC 119

working it in." After all there is no great exaggeration
in this. A relation of mine — a clergyman, educated
at Eton and Oxford — stood by and saw a country
farrier give three pounds of shot, and two ounces of
gunpowder in a pint of milk, to a mare of his labouring
under violent inflammation of the lungs, with great
difficulty of breathing. About five minutes after she
had taken it she staggered a few paces, and fell dead
on the spot. My friend being a prudent man, I re-
monstrated with him on the impropriety of wasting
so much powder and shot, as the twentieth part of
the dose, in a more compressed form, would have
produced more speedy relief.

At the period to which I allude, when I first directed
my attention to the operation and effect of physic,
I had a horse, to which I have before alluded, and which,
as never having been what could be called a perfectly
sound horse, but having stood fifteen years in my
stable, with the exception of one winter's run, a model
of condition, has been a sort of landmark to me in
directing the operations of my stable. The horse was
in the habit of taking ten drachms of Barbadoes aloes
and one drachm of calomel, in his three doses, in suc-
cession, and which appeared barely sufficient to pro-
duce the desired effect. Now I have good reason to
believe that this horse had been in the habit of taking
his ten drachms of aloes and his one drachm of calomel
from the time he came out of training at five years old,
and therefore less would not do ; but for some years
before he died he received all the benefit that could
be derived from physic, by what I conceive to be not

120 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

more than half the dose — namely, seven drachms of
Barbadoes aloes, and no calomel. This alteration
was effected by a better method of administering
it. His bowels were relaxed the two preceding days
by at least half a dozen loose bran mashes : he was kept
very short of hay during this time, and set upon the
muzzle at night ; and he had a considerable portion
of exercise on the day on which he took the ball, with
as much tepid water as he would drink, before he felt
nausea from the ball. Thus was the same effect
produced from a much less powerful, and — as must
be the case where drastic medicines are concerned —
also from a much less dangerous cause, and the con-
stitution relieved from the powerful impression of
mercury. The practice of physicking horses in this
mild and rational manner is now so well understood
that it is nearly disarmed of all apprehension of danger,
which formerly attended it.

When necessary, I am a great advocate for mercurial
physic. Though I have administered it very fre-
quently, I never found any bad consequences to ensue,
with proper care and attention ; but I have known
several instances of horses being lost from its effects
through careless and unskilful management. It is
the property of mercury to stimulate the whole secret-
ing system more equably than any other medicine
that we know of ; and it is the only remedy to be
depended upon to thoroughly cleanse and change a
foul habit of body to a healthy one, by exciting action
in the glands, and giving increased energy to the
absorbents ; but, if given in too large quantities, it

PHYSIC 121

weakens and exhausts by its too powerful impression.
I confess I was once rather surprised to see some
thorough-bred colts belonging to a friend of mine
exposed to heavy rain with a dose of mercurial physic
then in operation ; but it was under the direction of
a very eminent veterinary surgeon, who ordered it, and
who said he would bear the responsibility. The only
way of guarding against cold is to be superior to its
influence, which I conclude was the case with these
colts running in a state of nature.

One of the advantages of the hard-meat system in
the summer is the forward state in which we find a
horse on the first day of August ; and I name that day,
because on or about that time hunters which have
been altogether out for the summer are generally
taken up. Instead of being that dropsical-looking
animal, out of all form and shape, that a horse from
grass is, he wants nothing but a sweat or two to put
him, to all appearance, in place. His flesh, in which
I include his muscles, is firm and elastic, and he has
not that superfluous load of it, with a redundancy
of blood, that good pastures create, and is therefore
not so liable to those inflammatory complaints which
so frequently attend a sudden change of diet. To a
horse in this state I would never give more than two
doses of physic before hunting commences, and those
as mild as his constitution will admit. Circumstances
must direct us when to administer another, which I shall
allude to hereafter when writing on the duties and
qualifications of a groom. Generally speaking, a
hunter thus prepared will go on in his work until the

122 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

first interruption from frost, when a third dose may be
most beneficially administered.

One of the principal auxiliaries to the condition of
hunters is long-continued exercise, or what grooms
caU " keeping them out." A helper — the lighter
the better — should ride one horse and lead two, one
on each side of him. I have never been fond of too
much walking ; for in this pace, as may be seen by the
track of his footsteps, there is a great exertion of the
hind leg of a horse, by which curbs and spavins are
often occasioned. In the " jog trot," as it is termed,
the hind leg falls short, and is comparatively in a state
of ease. I have, therefore, always directed my groom,
when travelling horses on the road, to trot them gently
the greater part of the journey ; and I recommend
that pace to hunters at exercise, where the ground is
not too hard or uneven. In the months of September
and October they should go out early in the morning,
on account of the bracing effects of the air, but always
in clothes and hooded, and be kept out for three hours
at a time. During these months the brush should be
very sparingly used, it being the moulting season
with them ; and a damp hay-wisp is better, for obvious
reasons. A few years since I saw a stud of hunters
at Christmas, whose owner had not suffered a brush
to be used to them up to that period, and their skins
were particularly glossy and fine. It is difficult,
however, to restrain grooms from the use of them,
unless they are under lock and key, which was the case
in this instance. When speaking of exercise, I should
have observed that high ground should be chosen for

PHYSIC 123

this puq)ose, if within easy reach, as wonderful benefit
is derived from gentle work against a hill, and a great
relief to legs. Add to this, the breathing a purer air
is of no small advantage when the lungs are excited
by action.

LETTER IX

ON THE FOOT

EXPERIMENTAL philosophy has been hard
put to it in its researches into the foot of
the horse. Indeed Nature herself seems
to have exerted her very nicest art before
she could form anything in the shape of animate
substance capable of being hammered with the force
of a sledge-hammer, and all this with impunity,
for twenty years in succession. To accomplish this
she has had recourse to all the art and power of
mechanism — to springs and cushions, pulleys and
levers, and to every contrivance to prevent concussion
in the internal parts of it ; whilst the outward part
is composed of a substance of all others the most
suited to its purpose, being firm enough to bear the
weight of the horse and his burdens, and admirably
adapted to the adhesion of nails, by which shoes are
affixed to it for its protection. Notwithstanding,
however, the unrivalled excellence of the workman-
ship, it is too often unequal to the purposes to which
we apply it ; and the diseases and injuries of the feet
of horses form a bane for which no antidote has hither-
to been discovered, and which so frequently blast the
hopes and expectations of the sportsman, who goes

i«4

ON THE FOOT 125

to bed at night in the behef that he has a horse in his
stable worth five hundred guineas, and when he gets
up in the morning finds him not worth as many shiUings.

What I have to say on this subject is the result of
experience, never having seen a proper dissection and
injection of the foot of a horse ; and perhaps it is well
for me that I have not — for I remember hearing my
Lord Maynard declare that he had never had a happy
moment since he had witnessed that operation ; " for
now," said his Lordship, " I expect my horses to be
ruined every time they step over the sill of their stable
door." From the numerous horses, however, that I
have seen cut up in the boiling house, added to the
great attention I have paid to the subject, I have, I
think, a pretty correct idea of the form and construc-
tion of the horse's foot, and the causes of the diseases
that attack it — I wish I could add that I were able to
point out the cure.

It is, perhaps, presumptuous to say what may
have been the intentions of the Creator. Might we
be allowed to question whether it were intended
that the foot of a horse should be shod with iron,
and that the horse should be driven or ridden on hard
roads. From the adaptation of the parts my humble
faculty supposes both ; and yet we must express our
surprise why so many ages should have passed over
before such ends should have been effected. From
what I have heard and read on the subject, there is
no proof of shoeing horses, as we shoe them, being
practised until the ninth century of the Christian era ;
and we must admit that he was a bold man who first

126 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

ventured to drive nails into the foot of a living horse.
I may be told that we have only negative proof of
this, inasmuch as there is no mention of horses being
shod with iron by any of the ancient writers on
husbandry, horsemanship, or the veterinary art.
Neither is there any representation of horse-shoes in
any of the remains of ancient sculpture, although the
artists of antiquity were so minute in their designs
as even not to omit a nail in the wheel of a carriage.
No mention is made by their historians of shoeing-
smiths, or horse-shoes forming part of the materiel
of an army ; but we have numerous instances of
their cavalry being obliged to halt on their march on
account of their horses' hoofs being worn down and
spoiled. On this account it was that they so much
esteemed horses with hard feet. The Bible speaks
of these, whose hoofs were " counted like flint " ;
and Homer and others, of " iron and brazen-footed
horses, with loud sounding feet " — all which, with
the equi sonipides of the Roman Poet, we may consider
as poetical ornaments. That the ancients had a
contrivance to protect their horses' feet, by a kind
of sock fastened on them, is certain ; and to this day,
in some eastern countries, these socks are used and
sold to travellers by persons stationed for that purpose
on their roads. We all remember — as a political
event of some interest was attached to it — Vespasian's
coachman stopping on the road to put shoes on his
mules, which no doubt were shoes of this description.
Indeed socks are now sold similar to what we may
conclude these to have been, to be used when a hunter

ON THE FOOT 127

loses a shoe in the field. They are made to fasten
under the flap of the saddle till wanted. They buckle
around the fetlock joint, and the bottom of them is
shod with iron.i

Shoeing horses is not now universally practised,
as in many of the eastern countries they are still
ridden bare-footed. It is most probable that the
practice of shoeing became more general as gravel
was used for roads ; for, although paved roads were
in use in very early times, they were not so injurious
to feet as sharp flinty gravel. I have read that
William the Conqueror introduced horse-shoes into
England, and that Henry de Ferrers, who came over
with him, got that surname because he was entrusted
with the inspection of the farriers, and that his de-
scendants still bear six horse-shoes in their arms.
It is further added, that that Sovereign gave the town
of Northampton to some person as a fief, in considera-
tion of his paying a stated sum yearly for the shoeing
of horses.

Nature is seldom defective in her work ; but, with-
out proper consideration, we might be induced to
think that she had been so with respect to the hoofs
of horses and the teeth of human beings. Before,

1 Of the " horse-sandal or removable horse-shoe," invented by Mr
Percivall in 1830, that gentleman says, " I am not merely a reviver
or restorer, but ' an original inventor,' since this is the first thing
of its kind which has appeared before the public with any chance
of success." The sandal consists of two parts : the shoe — the iron
part, or that which defends the bottom of the foot and sustains the
wear ; and the straps, composed of web, whereby the shoe is fastened
to the foot. It is not only light {its weight not exceeding half a
pound) and conveniently portable, but strong and protective.

128 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

however, we can substantiate this charge, we must
prove that it was intended that horses should carry
heavy weight on their backs, or be driven at the rate
we drive them on hard roads, or that human beings
should eat and drink boiling-hot food ; for I believe
that the teeth of savages, in a state of nature, are
said to last to the latest period of their lives. With
regard to Europeans, it is certain that their teeth,
generally speaking, do not endure half their natural
existence ; and were it customary to ascertain the age
of a man, as we do that of a horse, by looking into his
mouth, we should generally find at the age of forty
as great a lack of grinders as Sancho did in the jaws
of his master after one of his renowned battles.

It cannot be denied that the treatment and diseases
of horses' feet embrace a subject of the highest im-
portance, not only to a sportsman, but to all who
possess valuable studs for the common purposes of
life. It is a subject on which I could write a volume
— the result of observation and practice. Indeed, it
may be said that enough has been written upon it
already ; and we must also admit that no small
quantum of quackery and bookmaking has been the
result. We have had shoes of all descriptions, some of
which must excite a smile ; and the short reign they
had proved their inutility and folly. My experience,
however, has led me to the following bold conclusions
— first, that the original form of a horse's foot has
nothing to do with his soundness ; secondly, that
contraction of the hoof is the effect, and not the cause
of disease ; thirdly, that unless nature has done her

ON THE FOOT 129

part efectually, by forming the foot of good materials,
all the art of Mr Coleman and the whole body of
veterinary science is of no avail ; and, lastly, when
disease has once thoroughly taken possession of this
delicately formed organ, the boiler is the only remedy.
With respect to my first assertion, it would be as
preposterous to say, that because a man may have
a neat leg and foot, or an elegantly turned hand, he
were never to be attacked with gout or rheumatism in
either of them, as to suppose, that because a horse
may have a perfectly formed foot he is never to be
subject to disease. Much as I am an advocate for
good shoeing, it would be equally preposterous to
assert, that unless a horse be shod agreeably to one
or two particular systems he is to become a cripple.
When we consider how many various methods of
shoeing are practised in different countries, we must
be well aware that they cannot all be agreeable to
nature ; therefore we must conclude that shoeing
is not the chief consideration, as, in spite of its very
worst application, some horses continue sound in
their feet for a great number of years, whilst others,
shod by the first practitioners of the art, are irre-
coverably lame before they have worn out a dozen
sets of their orthodox shoes. When, however, we
consider the delicacy and intricacy of the structure,
with all its various articulations, we cannot wonder
at its not being perfectly comprehended at first sight.
As under the roof of our parents we imbibe our first
notion of things, it may be allowable to go back to such
data. In my father's stable, although — from his
I

130 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

principle of treating them, working them with a belly-
ful of grass in the summer, and of hay, good or bad,
in the winter, with " abhorrence of physic " — every
other horse in it was broken-winded, yet (and I was
a close observer) I only remember one at all tender
in his feet, though they were shod by a blacksmith
who never heard of the principles of nature in his life
— who never knew there were such things as bars in
the foot of a horse, but who took his butteris and pared
hoof and frog till he was tired, and then made a red-
hot shoe ^ do the rest of the business ! Let not the
reader imagine that this was a system I approved,
for I think the good old gentleman had much luck on
his side, and only mention it to show that some horses
attain their twentieth year — which several of his did
— perfectly sound in their feet, though shod by a
smith who violated all the principles of nature, save
one — that is, he suffered the shoe to rest on the wall,
which is the chief natural bearing of the horse.

However lightly I may have now spoken on this
subject, no man holds good shoeing to be more essential
than myself ; and, to prove what I assert, I some years

1 When the late celebrated Colonel Thornton kept fox-hounds in
Yorkshire, he was extremely particular about the shoeing of his
horses. Taking up one of their feet one day, he observed that a
hot shoe had been applied to it. " Tell that rascal of a blacksmith,"
said he to his groom, "if he ever dares to apply a hot shoe to a

horse's foot of mine again, I will apply one to his ." (The

reader must guess the rest. ) A short time afterwards, as the Colonel
was returning from hunting he caught poor Vulcan in the fatal act,
when, galloping up to him, with the assistance of two of his whip-
pers-in, he made good his promise, and stamped him a posteriori
with the insignia of his profession. It is unnecessary to add that the
actual cautery was in this case a sovereign remedy.

ON THE FOOT 131

since made myself acquainted with the operative part
of preparing a horse's foot for his shoe with the drawing
knife, under the tuition of a first-rate performer from
the College. Having done so, I was ever afterwards
enabled to direct those who shod my horses, and found
the best effects from my instructions. In one instance,
in particular, I found them of infinite advantage. I
went to spend the summer months, a few years since,
with a friend who resided in the interior of the prin-
cipality of Wales ; and conceiving that gentle exercise
at that period would be serviceable to two valu-
able hunters I then possessed, I took them with me.
Dreading the uncontrolled operation of the butteris
in the hands of a Welsh blacksmith, I took my drawing
knife with me, and the first time my horses wanted
shoeing I prepared their feet myself. Contrary to
my expectation the Welshman approved of and
profited by the example I set him ; and, in a very
few lessons, became a shoer on the principles of
nature, which was also of no small importance to my
friend, who had eight coach horses (seven greys and
a piebald) in his stable at the time, which Messrs
Tattersall afterwards sold for him for as many hundred
pounds.

Were I to purchase a horse at a large price I should
certainly like to see him with a fine circular foot,
sound, elastic frogs, and strongly-defined bars. I should
like to see the hoof full in the front, free from ribs or
seams, and of a blue shining colour. But when I have
seen all this, am I to imagine that I have got a horse
whose feet are secure from disease ? Am I to imagine

132 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

that so long as I contrive to preserve this circular
foot, these sound and elastic frogs, and these well-
defined bars, I am to have a sound horse ? Let me
not take such " flattering unction " to my soul ! No :
this horse is liable to disease in his feet as well as an-
other whose hoofs are narrow — whose heels are high —
whose frogs never touch the ground — provided nature
formed them in such a mould, and also provided she
formed them of good materials. If this were not the
case, what would become of the mule, the donkey,
and the Arabian ? I could bring a hundred proofs
of the truth of what I am now advancing, but will
only state one or two at present.

In 1818 I heard of a very clever, well-bred young
horse, the property of a clergyman in Bedfordshire,
that had gone well one day for half an hour with the
Oakley hounds, when the country was very deep,
and was to be sold for one hundred and thirty guineas.
I went to see him for the purpose of purchasing him.
But I must here enter a little into detail, for the sake
of establishing one point.

On my arrival at this gentleman's residence he was
on a visit to a friend, so that I only saw his horse in
the stable ; but, as he was expected at home early
the next morning, I gave him the meeting at an ap-
pointed hour. On examining this horse's feet,
previously to taking him out of his stall, I found them
perfect. I had him trotted at the end of the bridle
down hill, upon pavement, when he went perfectly
at his ease ; and after riding him a short time I pur-
chased him at the price stated, and had him led by a

ON THE FOOT 133

careful servant of my own into Leicestershire, at three
easy days' journey of twenty miles each. The fifth
day after he arrived I got on his back to ride him to
covert, and found he was lame. Immediately mount-
ing another horse I ordered my groom to get his shoe
off, and to put his foot into warm water, supposing
his lameness to proceed from some trifling cause.
My horse, however, was never sound again ; and
because I could not prove that he was lame before I be-
came possessed of him, I never saw a shilling of my
money again.

Now I must here observe, that when I saw this
horse on the morning previous to my purchasing him
I thought he did not stand quite square on his fore-
legs, but that he seemed to have one of them — the
faulty one — a little more forward than the other.
I observed it again when I saw him the next day,
and mentioned it to his owner, who assured me that
it was only caused by his looking over the side of his
stall at another horse — adding, that as he had bred
him he could answer for his never having been lame
in his life. All this was very true. The horse never
had been lame ; but, at the time I am speaking of,
incipient disease existed in his foot, and the travelling
into Leicestershire produced inflammation and lame-
ness. The veterinary surgeon who attended him
declared that if he wanted to make a drawing of the
foot of the horse he should have been glad to have
taken his for a model, so perfectly was it formed in
all its parts and features. On dissection, two years
afterwards, all this fine form was obliterated, and a

134 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

total derangement of the necessary organs of action
presented itself.

The next is an instance e contra. Three years ago
I heard of a horse, the property of a farmer near
Gloucester, that had been going particularly well with
Colonel Berkeley's and Mr Hornyold's hounds, and
was for sale ; but though he was what we call " all
over a hunter," no one would purchase him, because
he had " small contracted feet," as they were de-
nominated, and was " certain to be lame." His price
was 150 guineas. Being at this time on a visit to
Mr Homyold, I got on my hack the next morning,
and rode to see him. I found him just as he had
been described to me, with small feet, high heels,
and frogs not within an inch of the ground ; but,
convinced of his soundness, I bought him for £150,
and sent him part of the road that evening into
Warwickshire, with orders to my groom to give him
a dose of physic previously to my riding him with
the hounds. He, however, very soon attracted the
eye of a celebrated sporting character in that country,
who rides heavy, and who gave me the price of another
good horse for him, in addition to what he cost me,
and does me the honour to call him " Nimrod." He
has never been at all lame, or even tender in his feet,
nor would his owner take 500 guineas at this moment,
if such a price were offered for him. I may here add
that Hermit (p. 64) , who was sold for so large a price
in Leicestershire, had very narrow heels with very small
frogs, but was never lame from such causes in his life,
and was most particularly good on the road. On

ON THE FOOT 135

talking over these matters lately with a friend of mine
who has been a great breeder of race-horses, and has
had much experience in others, he observed, " You
remember my Currycomb colt ! I never took such
pains with any horse's feet in my life as I did with his,
to make them perfect, but he was never sound after
four years old. My Zodiac horse, that I rode so many
seasons, had very narrow feet, with scarcely any frogs
at all, and never was lame in his life."

LETTER X

ON THE FOOT — In continuation

"It is absurd to suppose there are no final causes, because we do
not see the efficient cause. The equality of three angles of a triangle
with two right angles, cannot be made to be, though there may
be some other thing prior to it, without which it cannot be. My
horse, which is lame, cannot be made lame, though there may
be a cause for his being so : — there may be a naU in his foot."

Petwin's " Letters on the Mind."

WE attempt in vain to account for some
of the dispensations of Providence, but
to suffer seems the natural attribute
of mortaUty. The natural diseases, how-
ever, of horses are but few ; and, in justice to humanity,
it must be admitted that they, as well as others which
owe their existence to man, have occupied their share
of attention ; and we cannot, without impeaching
the mercy of the Creator, for a moment imagine that
there are many diseases without their remedies. It
is, however, a maxim in physic that to find out the
disease and its cause is half the cure ; though it often
happens that the former is the more dififtcult point to
accomplish.

I conclude my last letter with some observations
on the foot of the horse, with a promise of continuing

them in this. " When the ploughman took the helm,"
136

ON THE FOOT 137

says the fable, " the gods left him to himself ; " and
I must be cautious how I enter into this field of art,
or I may be compared to the man who set about learn-
ing animal economy by dissecting a statue. Never-
theless, as all knowledge is progressive, few practical
sciences arrive at perfection until they become the
objects of general inquiry ; and therefore I may be
allowed to contribute my mite to the fund. Experi-
ence often points out guides more certain than any
theory, and one triumphant certainty is worth a
thousand doubts. At all events evidence cannot
cheat us, but, on the contrary, has that sovereign
dominion over our minds, against which argument
has no chance to contend.

Although it is well that every man should have some
idea of the operations of nature, few have much know-
ledge of anatomy, unless intended for the medical
or veterinary profession ; but without its demon-
strative evidence, all is doubt and uncertainty, and
we go on, accounting for one thing by supposing
another, until we exhaust every species of error.
Find out the cause and remove it, and the effect ceases !
Remove the film, and the sight is clear !

In searching for truth it is useless to expose former
mistakes and errors ; we should only look to well-
established facts, and to the unexpected discoveries
which present themselves. In my last letter on this
subject I venture to oppose the long-received opinion
— an opinion emanating from the highest authority —
that contraction of the foot was a cause of lameness,
and, that unless the frog received pressure, disease,

138 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

and consequently lameness, were the certain effects.
Now, the natural consequence of this opinion has been
the stumbling block I alluded to in shoeing, giving
birth to the expansion shoe, the thin-heeled shoe,
and the artificial frog, which have, in their turns,
ruined many thousand horses. The reader may
exclaim, " Surely this is bold language ! " It may,
I allow, appear presumptuous in a humble individual
like myself to state my opinion in opposition to that
of such a man as Mr Coleman, to whom we are, after
all, indebted for laying down the first real principles
of veterinary science in this country ; by whose means
they have been conveyed to all parts of the kingdom ;
and to whom may be traced that light which has
recently and generally been thrown on the art which
he professes. We are all, however, wise after experi-
ence ; and my experience has fully demonstrated
that thick toes and thin heels will lame the soundest
horse that was ever foaled, when put to' severe work,
and that pressure on the frog is by no means essential
to, or a wide circular hoof by no means a proof of,
the soundness of the foot.

With respect to the first of these positions, I have
often experienced a converse effect. I have more
than once had a horse in training, whose sinews
showed some symptoms of giving way ; when, on
lowering the toe and raising the heel, those sinews
have been relaxed, and the horse has gone on well
in his work.

With regard to the frog, I am fully aware that
Nature never furnished an animal with such an organ

ON THE FOOT i39

without appropriating to it some useful function ;
but, on a nicer examination of the foot of a horse
than that which a hving subject presents us with,
it is very evident that the heels, and not the frog,
form the first natural bearing for his weight ; and,
in a state of nature, the latter will not touch the ground
on a level and hard surface until the crust of the former
is worn down, as I have a hundred times witnessed
in colts which have travelled a long distance bare-
footed. Add to this, that however well adapted the
frog may be to act by second causes, and also to prevent
injury to the parts beneath it, yet (speaking plainly),
from the stuff it is made of, so highly elastic — when
considered as a preventive of contraction — its powers
of opposing horn and iron must be very feeble indeed.

As I shall, hereafter, offer some remarks on pre-
paring the foot for the shoe, in which attention to
the frog and its properties will not be overlooked, I
shall now proceed to the important discovery to which
I alluded in my last, relating to the nature and seat
of the disease called " founder, or groggy lameness "
— a discovery which has hitherto never been noticed
by veterinar}^ writers, with the exception of one or
two have who lately touched upon it. The reader will
observe that it is a disease strictly confined to the
forefeet ; so that the last-mentioned organ, the frog,
can have no peculiar relation to it, as that organ
exercises its functions equally in all the feet.

Now the following is the manner in which I stumbled
upon this (to me) new light in the veterinary horizon,
in which I am much inclined to think there is still

HO THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

some twilight remaining, which the bright sunshine
of knowledge and experience has yet to dispel. Hap-
pening to go to London the latter end of September
1823, I was requested by a friend in the country to
purchase a hunter for him, for which purpose I went
to the Bazaar. There I got into conversation with
Mr Turner, the head veterinary surgeon to this splendid
establishment, and who also so well performed his
part in the rostrum on the auction days. On my looking
at the feet of some horses, and making some observa-
tions on them which were in unison with his ideas and
practice, he entered freely into the subject, and at
last spoke of " the navicular disease." Now it so
happened (and here I must expose my ignorance),
that though I knew there was such a joint in the foot
as this, yet I was ignorant of its technical appellation ^ ;
and therefore was obliged to ask for an explanation,
which, in the most obliging and scientific manner, he
instantly furnished me with ; at the same time inform-
ing me that the discovery of this disease, as the seat
of navicular lameness, was due to a brother of his, who
practised the veterinary art at Croydon in Surrey.

Being all for demonstration, when I can get it, and
convinced that there are but two ways of obtaining
knowledge — one from our own experience, and the
other from the experience of others — I obtained from
his brother an introduction to Mr Turner, and waited
on him at his residence at Croydon, where I found he
was the son of an eminent practitioner of his art.

^ I knew this bone by the name of the nut, or shuttle bone, and
was also aware of the joint it formed with the flexor.

ON THE FOOT 141

On my arrival at Croydon Mr Turner was prepared
with one dissection of the leg of a horse just killed,
to show me the original structure of the interior of
the foot ; and with another denuded of hair and flesh
so as to enable him to point out to me the situation
and office of the navicular bone and joint, wherein,
he contends, the seat of the disease called " founder,
or groggy lameness," is invariably to be seen ; and by
the very clear and able manner — suited to my capacity
on such subjects — in which he unfolded the evidence
necessary to estabhsh the fact, I shall be able to detail
it, I trust, in such language as may be intelligible to
the reader, being similar to that in which it was
conveyed to me.

The navicular bone has its derivation from the Latin
word " navis," being supposed to resemble a boat ;
but, in my opinion, the old appellation of " shuttle
bone " need not have been disturbed, as the resembl-
ance here is the stronger of the two. By that wonder-
ful organ — the great flexor tendon of the leg — passing
immediately under this bone, and articulated with it,
the joint called the " navicular joint " is formed.
Immediately under this joint is the fatty or elastic
frog, also one of the greatest curiosities in nature ;
and under that is the horny or elastic frog. It is also
worthy of remark, that the navicular bone passes
across the foot from one side to the other, just above
the centre of the frog, forming, as it were, a double
joint with the pastern bone and the flexor tendon ;
thereby acting as an auxiliary supporter to the coffin
bone, in receiving the weight from above. On this

142 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

weight being received from the pastern, the navicular
bone descends with the pressure, inclining backwards,
conveying the weight to the fatty frog, and thereby
acting as a powerful spring to all that portion of the
foot which is posterior to the coffin bone. On inspec-
tion of this joint, in its healthy state, the navicular
bone (which forms the joint with the flexor tendon, by
a corresponding convexity in the centre of the bone)
presents an exquisitely polished surface, resembling
a shell, though at the same time it is highly vascular,
and has the power of secreting that phenomenon in
animal economy, synovia, or joint oil,^ by which the
joints are lubricated when in action.

Now it appears most clearly that there are two
distinct causes for the disease of the navicular joint
— one, from any effectual opposition it may meet with
in its descent, as above described (and which descent,
as it receives the weight perpendicularly, and not
obliquely, as with the coffin bone, is essential to prevent
concussion) ; and the other, by inflammation, which
attacks the synovial membrane which lines the joint
and which may proceed from various causes ; though
I should imagine concussion, or jar to the foot, to be
the principal one ; notwithstanding, to oppose con-
cussion to a certain extent, seems to be the principal
intention of the parts in question.

From the information Mr Turner was so kind as to
afford me, and from the specimens he presented me
with, I am enabled to form the following notions of

^ The tendons expand at the point to form a sheath — the navicu-
lar bursa.

ON THE FOOT 143

the disease of the navicular joint : — First, inflammation
attacks the membrane lining the joint, succeeded by a
diminution of the synovia, and a general stoppage
to the healthy secretion of the parts. The consequence
of this is increased friction, succeeded by abrasion of
the delicate and highly sensible membranes of which
they are composed. Secondly, absorption from the
centre of the bone takes place, causing a hole in it
very similar to that which we see in a carious tooth ;
and, lastly, a strong adhesion of the tendon to this
hole, forming a disease the most prevalent, and at the
same time the most formidable to which the horse
is liable. In slight cases I found there had only been
an absorption of the cartilage which covers the bone,
without any loss of, or hole in, the bone itself, and
then there was little or no adhesion of the tendon
to the bone.

Now to aU those who have experienced the painful
and distressing effect of a small bone spavin in a horse,
it must at once be obvious that to create action in a
joint in the state above described must be the cause
of excessive suffering to the animal ; yet such is the
case with all groggy horses.

Of the extreme sensibility of joints we need no
further proof than to be told that the most trifling
exposure of their cavities very often terminates fatally,
by excessive irritation. Even bones cannot rest or
move upon each other with impunity, but are protected
by ligaments which surround their joints, and by a fine
vascular membrane which lines their different cavities.

Whatever may be the credit due to Mr Turner

144 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

for his able and satisfactory researches into this
dreadful disease, it is but just to observe that it has
not altogether escaped the notice of others. Mr Cole-
man, in all his publications, has never reverted to this
disease ; though I understand that since his attention
has been directed to it by Mr Turner, he has admitted
it. Mr Goodwin did mention one instance of it in a
late publication, in the case of a gentleman's hunter
whose foot he dissected ; but to Mr Turner alone is
the merit of establishing the incontrovertible fact.
These gentlemen, however, speak of it as an individual
instance ; and it must be highly gratifying to Mr
Turner to find that eminent practitioner Mr Goodwin
(veterinary surgeon to his Majesty,^ and whose book
I have perused with the greatest pleasure) stating,
that " although this disease might have been pre-
viously known to exist in particular cases," (only one
of which appears in his practice), " it was not under-
stood to be the general cause before Mr Turner in-
vestigated the subject."

For my own part I hate a hovering faith, and would
at any time travel a hundred miles rather than remain
in doubt on a subject of this interesting nature. On
my viewing Mr Turner's specimens all scepticism
vanished, but some curious reflections came across
my mind. " Why," said I to myself, "do we take
so many opinions upon trust, when we have ears to
hear, and eyes to see, for ourselves ? If this fact be
established, what must after-ages think of those
volumes of error that have gone forth to the world

» George III.

ON THE FOOT 145

on a subject surely of no such impenetrable difficulty ?
or that one humble individual should have it in his
power to say, that, after all the exertions of the veterin-
ary body, not only has no cure been yet discovered,
but no real cause demonstrated, for hy far the most
common disease incident to the theme and subject of
their inquiries and labours ? As for contracted hoofs,
I have already stated my opinion of them in terms
which cannot be mistaken. They have no more to
do with the cause of lameness than the pen I now hold
in my hand. Among Mr Turner's specimens is the
most contracted foot I ever saw, for the heels fairly
overlap each other, with no appearance of frog. It,
however, carried an old horse quite sound to his dying
day ; but the navicular bone and joint are as sound
as adamant. Had it been in the power of mere out-
ward compression to have lamed a horse, this horse
must have been lame ; but this I do not believe to
be the case, and I will state my reasons why.

Every part of the internal cavity of the foot which
could be affected by pressure, being of an elastic
nature, and no joint being within its immediate in-
fluence, contraction, from whatever cause it may
proceed, cannot come on so rapidly but that the parts
would adapt themselves to the change. How fre-
quently are hind feet contracted — but when have we
heard of lameness as the consequence ? Should
contraction arise from the mechanical effect of shoeing,
which must be progressive, there is a still slighter chance,
from the reason just stated, of disease being produced
by it.

K

146 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

'Were anything wanting to convince me that the
seat of foot lameness is in the navicular joint, I should
take my stand in the hinder hoof. This, it appears,
is never affected with navicular disease. But why, may
I ask, does it not ? The answer is — it does not
receive concussion sufficient to injure the navicular
joint : it comes obliquely, and not perpendicularly,
to the ground, as does the fore-foot ; neither does it
support anything like the same quantity of weight.

Now, for the sake of argument, it may be asserted,
that as, from the form of the animal, it was necessary
that the fore legs should carry a greater proportion
of the animal (say nothing of the rider) than the
hinder ones. Nature has been deficient in not providing
accordingly. To this I answer, that for all natural
purposes she has provided ; but not against going
at the rate of twenty miles in the hour, with additional
weight, and opposed to two of the hardest substances
we have — iron and stone. It is " the pace that kills "
here, as well as in other cases ; and to the moderate
pace at which horses in foreign countries are ridden
(a fact universally allowed) is to be attributed the
more general absence of foot lameness, and not to
their clumsy method of shoeing, which I shall allude
to hereafter. ,

From having been so much on " the road " my eye
is quite familiar with horses having this (navicular)
disease ; and I know them when I see them standing
in the stable. They stand in a position peculiar to
themselves, leaning obliquely backwards, as it were,
to ease the fore feet, and trying to rest their weight

ON THE FOOT 147

more on the toe than on the heel. This would not
be the case were the lameness produced by pressure
on the cartilages, as then the impression would be
general.

When some of my acquaintance, who may be said
to have been great footmen as well as great horsemen
all their lives, come to read what I have now written,
they will, I think, be convinced that they have had
a good deal of their trouble for nothing — not but what
I highly appreciate the value of an open and wide
foot in a hunter, in keeping him above ground over a
deep country, as I would draw out manure on tender
land in a broad and not a narrow-wheel cart ; but I
allude to those whose anxiety has been so great to
preserve open feet as a preventive of disease. To one
friend of mine this particularly applies. He had a
very valuable gig horse, which he never drove in the
winter, because he said he had such narrow feet that
he would certainly be a cripple, unless he passed the
winter months in screw shoes, by means of which,
I admit, his feet did appear to be somewhat wider
at the heels when he came up in the spring, though
they soon resumed their old shape. These narrow
feet, however, never failed him, for the navicular bone
was sound.

Now I have no doubt but this was the disease
which " the ancients " termed " cofhn lameness."
As most of them are, fortunately (for horses), now in
their own coffins, it is no harm to say that they could
not have given a much stronger proof of their ignor-
ance ; for, from the oblique direction of that bone.

148 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

added to its being surrounded by, and embedded in,
springs, its injury must be of rare occurrence >

When I say that injury to the navicular joint
proceeds from concussion, are we not surprised that
mischief is not done every time a man leaps his horse
into a hard stony road ? General rules, however,
never apply to individual cases : and in no part of
animal economy is there more variety than in the
foot of the horse, not only as to its shape, but as to
what it is made of. I have had horses whose feet have
been very perfectly formed that could not go at all
without their fore shoes ; and I had one, which I sold
to Mr Lechmere Charlton for a large price, that carried
me from the further end of Witchwood Forest in
Oxfordshire, to Bourton on the Hill in Gloucester-
shire, a distance of at least eighteen miles, in two hours,
without a fore shoe, and without the smallest injury
to his foot, which was a narrow one — by the bye not
a soft country to go over, and the shoe was off at the
finish of a capital run, so that I know not what dis-
tance the horse might have gone barefooted.

I must now bring this letter to a conclusion, but
shall resume the subject, it being, in my opinion,
one of the most interesting that ever occupied the
attention of a sportsman, as far as the stable is con-
cerned. In the meantime it may not be amiss to
observe, that as concussion appears likely to produce
foot lameness, by peculiarly affecting the part I have
been treating of, it should be avoided as much as is

' Fracture of the'coffin or pedal bones, also the navicular bone,
though uncommon, does occasionally occur. — Editor.

ON THE FOOT 149

consistent with absolute necessity for it, and valuable
hunters should be kept off hard roads as much as it
is possible to do so.^ This applies merely to concussion.
Inflammation of the synovial membrane which
lines the joint may arise from other causes, which it
may be more difficult to describe. It may be well
to observe, that suffering horses to go a long time
without being shod, or removed, and thereby suffer-
ing the sole to become morbidly thick, may be one
cause of inflammation, as offering too much resistance
to the descent of the navicular joint. Standing long
in the stable, and then suddenly called into action,
is also very likely to derange these highly-sensible
parts, as indeed it is the cause of various bodily
complaints.

^ On returning home from hunting with a friend of mine who
was riding a horse he had purchased from me, and was trotting him
at the rate of nine miles an hour on the high road, whilst I was
riding by the side of it — " Why," said I, " do you knock your horse's
feet about in that way when you can avoid it ? " His answer was
— " If they will not stand what he is now doing, he is not worth
what I gave you for him." This was bad logic.

LETTER XI

CONDITION RESUMED

AS the latter end of July is the period when
all hunters should be in the stable, I
resume my remarks on " Condition," and
shall continue them until I have concluded
what' I have to say on the subject. I make no apology
for the minuteness of the detail, as I am well convinced
the subject is one which will command the attention
of my readers ; and I am happy to be able to com-
municate the pleasing fact, that numbers of my
brother sportsmen have adopted my system of sum-
mering the hunter, with the anticipation of the best
results. I have also had an opportunity during a late
excursion through some of the best hunting countries,
of hearing of, or seeing, numerous studs of hunters
summered in this manner, belonging to sportsmen of
the very first order, who adopted it long before I put
pen to paper on the subject. Among others I called
on Mr Weedon, the Earl of Plymouth's groom, whose
opinion, as one of the best hunting grooms in England,
I was anxious to obtain. I found that he carried the
object of condition still further than I do. as he in-
formed me that all those horses of his Lordship which
were flesh on their legs were walked out for an hour

CONDITION RESUMED 151

or two every morning during the summer. Mr
Weedon has Hved fourteen years (reckoning from
1824) with Lord Plymouth ; and to any one who has
witnessed his Lordship's style of riding across a country,
it must be evident, that, unless Mr Weedon knew his
business weU, he would not have remained fourteen
years at the head of perhaps one of the most valuable
studs of hunters in England. Mr W. is also a man of
manners and education superior to the generality of
persons filling situations similar to his own, which
induced me to go several miles out of my road to see
him.

There is always a dehcacy between sportsmen, which
forbids them prying into the stables of each other, at
any period of the year ; therefore I did not even
express a wish to see Lord Plymouth's hunters (about
seventeen in number), but called on Mr Weedon at
his residence, which is about a mile and a half from
the Earl's seat in Worcestershire. It appeared he had
never heard of Nimrod or his letters ; but when we
came to compare notes on the subject of condition
of hunters, I could almost have persuaded myself
that he had been the author of them, instead of myself
— so exactly did our sentiments tally. With respect,
however, to giving hunters walking exercise throughout
the summer, he there goes a step beyond me ; but on
mature reflection I am convinced he is right. On
talking the matter over, each of us referred to Mr
Potter, the Earl of Sefton's celebrated groom, who
always adopted that plan, and to whose very superior
condition I have before alluded. " When horses are

152 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

fresh and well on their legs," said Mr Weedon, " the
advantage of always keeping them going in this
gentle way, is incalculable at the commencement
of the season. It invigorates their whole frame,
strengthens the muscles, preserves their bowels free,
and keeps them from getting out of shape and form."

On conversing with Lord Molyneux, at Chester
races, on Potter's stable management, his Lordship told
me that he was now steward to his father, and of course
had nothing to do with the horses ; but we both
agreed on the very superior form the Earl's hunters
were in when he hunted Leicestershire : and, as I
before observed, they were always walked out with
the hounds in the summer. On my asking Lord
Molyneux after the horse he called Oxford, he told
me he was quite well, but had had an operation per-
formed upon him. I saw this very first-rate horse
a short time afterwards in London, looking remarkably
well ; but I shall have occasion to speak of him again,
when describing the celebrated Ditchley day with
Lord Middleton's hounds when he hunted Warwick-
shire, and when Lord Molyneux rode this horse, and
was one of three who saw it.

During my excursion I spent a day with Mr Lockley,
who has ever been celebrated for the condition of his
horses ; and knowing that he had a very favourite
hunter, for which he had refused a large sum of money,
I had some curiosity to see how he was treated, I
found him in his stall, out of which, with the exception
of travelling into Leicestershire, and other hunting
countries, he had not been for three years — not even

CONDITION RESUMED 153

into a loose box. He had been soiled for a fortnight
on clover, which had let his carcase down a little ;
but in every other respect he was fit to go to hounds
at a week's notice, and his groom had ridden him ten
miles that morning on the road.

On my journey homewards I saw the Earl of Jersey's
groom, and found his horses treated exactly in the
same manner as Lord Plymouth's, with the exception
of their not being ridden out. They were, night and
day, in large loose places, with chains across the doors,
which were open ; and they were full of com. I
asked his groom, whom I have known many years —
and a most excellent servant he is, and high in his
master's confidence — whether he kept their shoes on
or off ? when he told me they wore half shoes, or tips,
merely because they kept the stopping in their feet,
by which means they were kept moist.

When on the subject of feet, I cannot pass over a
passage I have met with in Mr Goodwin's work,^ which
I here transcribe.

" I have invariably observed," says Mr Goodwin,
" where horses are turned out to grass during the dry
and hot summer months, that, on bringing them up
to be put into stable condition, their feet are in a
much worse state than they were when they went out,
dried up, and so hard and brittle, that, on the applica-
tion of a tool to bring them into a form fit to receive
a shoe, the horn breaks like a piece of glass, and all
the naturally tough and elastic property is lost, so
that it requires some months to remove the bad effects.

' This is an old work on " The Diseases of the Feet."

154 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

If it is necessary that a horse should be put out of
work during the hot and dry weather, I prefer a large
box or shed, and soiling with green food ; by which
means two objects are gained — viz. all the injurious
effects of a drying wind or a meridian sun on the hoofs
are avoided, which creates such an excessive evapora-
tion of the natural moisture absorbed into the horn
from within, that it not only becomes dry, hard, and
brittle, but the whole homy box tightens on the
sensible parts, and frequently produces great mischief.
But in a loose place moisture may be applied in any
desirable way. The other advantage of a shed or
box is, that horses are sheltered from the terrifying
effects of flies and heat. Horses at grass are much
inclined to thrushes ; and whether they have shoes
or tips, or are without either, it is necessary frequently
to inspect their feet, and to remove all superfluous
horn, otherwise the foot will grow out of all form."

I think I have now said enough of the evils attending
summering hunters in the field ; and I think the
foregoing observations of Mr Goodwin will be an
answer to all those who say " it is absolutely necessary
for their feet." That they can exist sound and well
for fifteen years without it, my own experience has
assured me ; but the following well-authenticated
account out-herods Herod. The circumstance is thus
related in the 8th vol. of the Sporting Magazine, p. i6o :
— " Lately died, at Barnstaple, in Devonshire, a
chesnut horse, in his 39th year. He was well known
in many hunts thirty years ago. The gentleman in
whose possession he died, bought him at two years

CONDITION RESUMED 155

old, at which time he took him to house, and rode him,
summer and winter, for between twenty and thirty
years, without ever turning him out, and he died of an
accident at last."

Philosophers will tell us, that there is a condition
which is natural, and a condition which is not natural,
to aU bodies animate or inanimate, liquid or solid.
So much for the operation of external causes ! Now
most men will admit that the natural condition of
the ass is for the most part a sorry one, having more
than his share of that vis inertice which keeps things
in their places. Internal causes, however, operate
with him most forcibly ; and it is wonderful how this
vis inerticB is changed into a vis vivida by a plentiful
allowance of good oats and beans. I beg pardon for
introducing so mean an animal as this to the notice
of the reader, when speaking of what relates to the
horse, but time has been when this patient and better
deserving slave was held in higher estimation.^ In the
former state, however, he suits my purpose best,
though the question might be asked — what has an
ass to do with the condition of the horse ? My answer
is, that the ass, when in condition, is so far pro tempore
exalted in the scale of beings, as nearly to approach
the horse ; as the following anecdote will prove.

On my return from Epsom races on the Derby day
(1824), my attention was attracted to what is vulgarly
'yclept a " donkey chaise," in which were a man and

^ It is somewhat singular that in the Decalogue we are com-
manded not to covet our neighbour's ass, but not a word is said
about the horse.

156 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

a woman of no small dimensions, going at a very
rapid pace, and drawn by a small ass. Curiosity led
me to follow them, when, as far as I could judge by
the pace of my own horse, I found they were going
at the rate of nine miles an hour on a very indifferent
road. On being observed by a friend, he rode up to me
and told me he had seen this humble vehicle on its
way to the course in the morning give what is called
the go-by to several carriages-and-four, and that he
was equally struck with the extraordinary appear-
ance and action of the animal. On my asking the
owner of him a few questions about him, he informed
me that he had done three miles in fifteen minutes
with him on the road for a wager, and that he would
back him to do it in less ; at the same time giving
me his address, when I found he was a blacksmith,
residing at Mitcham in Surrey. " Do you keep your
ass on Mitcham Common ? " said I, anticipating his
answer. "Oh, no!" replied the son of Vulcan, "he
has never been out of my stable for three years, and
he eats as good oats and beans as your horse does."
— " It is accounted for," said I to my friend : so we
pulled up our horses, and gave Neddy the road.

Before I finally take leave of the evils of summering
horses at grass, I must be allowed one word more.
The reader wiU recollect my illustrating some of my
arguments against it, by describing the state in
which I saw seven hunters, the property of one
gentleman, at the concluison of the last summer ;
and also one mare which I went to look at on
purpose. I have now to add, that one of the eight

CONDITION RESUMED 157

horses died in the course of the winter, and six of the
other seven were never in condition at all, and the
mare died after the first good run she dropped into.
From a pecuniary point of view, including accidents
and all other casualties, I have no hesitation in asserting,
that in the course of twenty years the bullock-feeding
system of summering hunters shall be fifty per cent,
against those who adopt it ! As to accidents, they are
as numerous as unlooked for ; and I know not when
I should have done enumerating them were I once
to begin. At Chester races, a gentleman by the name
of Purshouse, well known in Staffordshire as a good
sportsman and a still better rider, came up to me,
and said, " You remember my pigeon-eyed horse ? "
— " To be sure I do," replied I : "he was a hunter,
and could carry weight well ; and I have been often
delighted to see you ride him across a country." —
" I shall never do it again," added he ; " for he is
gone broken-winded. I turned him out to grass in
the summer, when he used to amuse himself by gallop-
ing round his pasture tiU he was heated, and then
lying down in a pond to cool himself. He did it too
often, and inflammation of the lungs was the con-
sequence."

During the season for physicking hunters, let me
strongly recommend all my brother sportsmen to
caution their grooms against giving too strong doses
to their horses, and to prepare them well by bran
mashes. 1 Misfortunes, they say, seldom come alone ;

^ This celebrated sportsman's remarks re the administration of
physic, are admirable and correct. To obtain and regulate the

158 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

and when at Chester races I was also informed of a
sad mistake on this important subject, which had
that week occurred in the stable of an old schoolfellow
of mine, and a brilliant performer over a country,
in the Cheshire Hunt, whose groom had given a horse
of his ten drachms of aloes, without a sufficient pre-
paration, and he was buried on the day I heard the
story, having lately been purchased in Leicestershire
for either three or four hundred guineas. — Another
death by physic, occasioned by bad management,
came to my ears a few weeks since. This was the case
of a horse which I sold at two years old, and was now
five. He was very promising for a hunter, and Mr F.
Holyoak was in treaty for him, when death put an
end to everything.

I have before observed that I never lost, or had a
horse in any danger, from physic ; but with such horses
as are at all apt to be griped it is desirable to give
the dose overnight, as in that case the symptoms
would shew themselves in the day time, when relief
would be more readily administered. I shall, however,
have much to say on this subject at another time.

proper action of Barbadoes aloes it is always expedient to give the
horse two or three bran mashes before administering the bolus. —
Revising Editor.

LETTER XII

PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN THE MOULTING SEASON
— SWEATING

NATURE so delights in freshness that she
will not suffer her creatures to wear their
old clothes ; and to the horse — no doubt
her favourite — she has given two suits
in the year — one in the spring and the other in the
autumn. The periods alluded to — but particularly
the autumnal one — are the most trying of any to those
kept in an artificial state — the constitution being by
the law of nature more than commonly susceptible
to morbid impressions. Thus it is, that, comparatively
speaking, so few gentlemen's hunters commence the
season in blooming condition ; at least, it is one of
the principal obstacles to that desirable end. People,
in the warmth of their imagination, seldom advert
to causes and effects ; but the animal economy is
affected in so many various and unlooked-for ways,
that a groom, to be sure of his object, must ever be
on the alert. He wiU soon find out there is no
cathohcon for getting horses into condition. He must
investigate ; he must reflect ; he must exercise his
reason, and make all the use of his common sense,
if he has any.

i6o THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

August and September are the usual months when
horses which have lived well begin to cast off their
summer coats ; and it is, or at least it ought to
be, the period when those used for the purpose of
hunting have gone through their course of physic.
It is, however, too often the season in which injury
is done to the coat of a hunter, which he does not
get the better of till Christmas is past. I have before
observed that no horse, or at any rate not more than
one in a hundred, wiU be in blooming condition until
he has (besides his physic) gone through a course of
alteratives to sweeten and correct the acrimony of
his blood. Now the difficulty is to give them this
medicine, and to give him his work also, without
injuring, or what in the stable is called " setting,"
his coat. Many persons, on this account, postpone
sweating their hunters until the moulting season
has gone by ; but with proper treatment this pre-
caution is not necessary, and the delay is fatal to the
condition of their horses. The secret here merely
consists in keeping them warm, particularly on the
days they sweat, and thus avoiding a sudden con-
striction of the pores — more than usually susceptible
by the diaphoretic properties of the medicine they are
taking. Indeed I must go one step further, and assert,
that if, at this trying season, a horse is exposed to a
stream of cold air, after having had his blood vessels
extended by exercise, and his skin relaxed by medicine,
the bloom wiU be taken off him as effectually as if
he had been turned out into a straw-yard for a week.
The blush on the human face is scarcely more tran-

PRECAUTIONS IN MOULTING SEASON i6i

sient than the bloom on a horse's skin — so intimately
connected are its extreme and minute vessels with the
vascular system at large. It may, indeed, so truly
be called his complexion, that a man of observation,
in the habit of daily inspecting his stable, can see with
a glance of his eye if his horse is doing well or not.
In the degrees of discernment, then, consists the merit
or demerit of a groom ; and even then, unless he knows
the causes of effects — the why and the wherefore —
all is still darkness.

As a fine genius is said to be a man at his highest
perfection, and as, next to man and woman, the horse
is the paragon of animals, so may we call him, when
in the highest possible condition, the next fairest sample
of a happy combination of nature and art. The bow,
however, must not always be bent. It was observed
by Hippocrates that the health of man was most
precarious when arrived at the highest pitch ; and I
am sure this may be applied to the horse. In this
respect training grooms are, generally speaking, the
best physiologists, and more awake to the sudden
alterations which take place in those under their
care ; or, in the more humble language of the stable,
when a horse becomes foul. Inasmuch, then, as pre-
vention is preferable to remedies, is this a most
important part of a groom's services to his master,
as he may be the means of checking incipient
disease.

There are progressive stages in all diseases ; but
those of an inflammatory nature, and to which horses
in condition are most exposed, are often so active and

L

i62 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

decisive, that if we wait for directing symptoms we
are lost. The progress of them is frequently, and
indeed generally, so rapid, that unless speedily arrested
in their course, mortification, and consequently death,
ensues. In many instances, however. Nature gives
us timely notice, as in the case of the race horse in his
work. The practice of his trainer is — after he has
gone through his first preparation — to feed and to work
him as long as his constitution supports him ; and
when Nature says " enough " — by his appetite failing
him, and other symptoms which will be hereafter
explained — he has physic, green meat, and rest, and
then starts fresh again ; or, in their more technical
and not inexpressive language, " becomes free " ; for
they are well aware that, so long as the wheels of nature
are clogged, the machine cannot proceed as it should do,
and the whole system becomes deranged. Judging,
therefore, by the rule of optics, is a most essential
qualification in a groom.

The common appellation, then, given to this change
in the animal economy of the horse is, that he has
become foul ; or, in other words, that his blood is
vitiated and his system over-excited ; nor can it be
much better expressed. That he should become so,
from the unnatural state of excitement in which he
is kept, unless preternatural means be taken to correct
it, is by no means to be wondered at ; but as habit
lessens the noxious influence of all changes in animal
economy, and finally gets the better of Nature herself,
we have nothing to fear if we are awake to impending
circumstances. That such is the fact, has been pretty

PRECAUTIONS IN MOULTING SEASON 163

well ascertained by other animals as well as horses.
The celebrated Mr Abernethy procured a rabbit, six
weeks old, and fed it with cabbage which had been
grown upon flannel, sprinkled with distilled water : the
animal preserved its health as perfectly as if it had been
running in a warren. The no less celebrated Dr
Fordyce enclosed in glasses, filled with common water,
some gold and silver fish. He changed the water
every three days, and without any other food the fish
lived and thrived for fifteen months. He then ex-
changed this water for distilled water, and, to prevent
the probability of insects getting access within the
vessel, he closed it up carefully ; but the fish grew
and performed all their natural functions as perfectly
as if they had been swimming in a pool. Either the
Brahmin who lives entirely upon vegetables and water,
or the Englishman who is carniverous and drinks
brandy, must violate his nature ; but we find each
of them living to a good old age.

Now as relating to horses, there is little doubt, but
that, as the blood is the mainspring of life, it is to the
viscid and unhealthy state of it that this foulness of
habit is to be attributed ; but let not the reader imagine
that high keep and warm stables are alone to bear the
blame. No ! — the derangement of this vital fluid is
more often occasioned by poor, bad living, than by
good ; but the treatment in the one case is very
different to the other, and in the latter much more
difficult to succeed in. In the progress of human
existence, indeed, I will venture to assert that for
one case of disease arising solely from generous living.

i64 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

fifty may be traced to the want of it. Intemperance
is nowhere to be commended ; but " air, exercise,
and good nourishment, " said Sir Astley Cooper, in
his lecture on scrofula at St Thomas's Hospital, " are
the three great points to be attended to in the pre-
servation of health. There is no other specific," adds
he, " for the cure of this disorder, and he who says
there is, attempts to gull mankind by the assertion
of what is not true." For my own part, I have known
many water drinkers,^ but I never could find out that
they lived longer than wine drinkers, provided the
latter kept within the bounds of moderation, and
followed the sports of the field. " Drink no longer
water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake,"
said Paul the Apostle, in his tender regard for his dear
friend Timothy.- As we are now, however, speaking
of horses in condition, I must confine myself to the
effects of high and not of low keep.

To preserve health the blood must be kept as nearly
as possible in a state agreeably to the standard of
health. The great object of condition in horses being

^ An excellent anecdote is on record of the great Chief Justice
Mansfield. Probably with a view to prolong his own days, he was
always anxious, when old witnesses were in Court, to know their
customary habits of life. It so happened that two very old men by
the name of Elm were one day the objects of his inquiry. " You
are a very old man," said his Lordship to the elder brother ; " I
suppose you have lived a very temperate life." — " Never drank any-
thing but water, my Lord," said Mr Elm. " Nor you neither, I
suppose," said the Judge, addressing himself to the younger brother.
" When I could get nothing else, my Lord," was the reply. " I
always took my glass with my friend." — " Well, then," replied his
Lordship, " all that we can say is, an elm will flourish, wet or dry."

" I Tim. v. 23.

PRECAUTIONS IN MOULTING SEASON 165

to increase the living power, in how far this is to be
effected without risking the health and life of the animal
consists the whole art of grooming. It remains, then,
now to point out how and when a groom is to be aware
that he is pushing this system beyond what Nature,
with all the precautions of art, will bear.

The distinguishing symptoms of foulness in a hunter
are these : He appears unweU without any specific
disease. His mouth is hot, his eyes look dull, and
sometimes yellow. His coat loses some of its usual
gloss, and stares between the hip bones, and some-
times on the poll of the neck. His appetite frequently
remains good ; but he is more than usually anxious
for his water. His heels are scurvy, and sometimes
crack. He stales often, but a little at a time. His
urine is highly coloured, and his excrements hard, and
often covered with a slimy fluid. He is dull when at
exercise, and frequently coughs without any appear-
ance of having taken cold. He loses flesh, and looks
dry in his skin. His legs and ears are often cold, the
latter being frequently found wet after exercise, and
sometimes deprived of part of their covering. His
crest falls ; the whole tone of his system appears
relaxed ; and, without his groom exactly knowing
why, he is not the horse he was a week ago.

Bleeding (or what the grooms call " changing the
blood ") used to be the favourite system pursued in
this case ; but I have long since abolished bleeding
in my stable, except in cases of inflammatory attacks
or when horses have been over marked with hounds
— in the former of which it cannot be done too

i66 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

speedily, or too copiously, so as not to reduce too
much.i

Before we apply our theory we must consult the
constitution of our horse, and also attend to circum-
stances. In all cases we may rest assured of one
thing — viz. that from whatever cause any ill-effect
may proceed, that effect will never cease to show itself
until the cause which produces it be removed. In all
common operations the operator is apt to look at the
ultimate end of his work, without considering the
intermediate steps which are to lead him to it ; but this
will not do in the stable. The operation of getting a
horse into condition is so opposite to that which is
purely mechanical, that circumstances are to be
anticipated, as well as provided for, beyond what
we first bargain for.

As there can be no condition without work, I am
supposing that the symptoms before alluded to occur
when horses are in full exercise. In the racing stable
the most common plan pursued is, a dose of physic,
some green meat, and a remission of work for a few
days ; and this generally restores them to their
former strength and vigour. With hunters, however,
one of these recipes — the green meat — is never to be
exhibited when they are in work, neither is it always
convenient to give up the use of a horse for a period
sufficient to enable him to go through a dose of physic
with advantage. Alteratives alone must then be
depended upon.

^ Bleeding is still very useful in acute engorgement of the lungs,
if the animal is fairly full in flesh. — Editor.

PRECAUTIONS IN MOULTING SEASON 167

Although the word surfeit may be considered an
indefinite term, yet there is a species of foulness in
the habit of our horses which comes under that de-
nomination, and is produced by a sudden constriction
of the pores of the skin, when exposed to a stream
of cold air, after having been expanded by severe
exercise. Here the blood is most materially affected,
as the matter which should have been thrown off by
perspiration is thrown back upon the circulation, and
the whole mass of it is at once contaminated. The
symptoms here cannot be mistaken, as they almost
immediately shew themselves in the staring and un-
kind appearance of the coat — by a cough, swelKng
of the legs, or, in some instances, by a violent in-
flammation of the lungs, which comes on about the
third or fourth day. In the mildest of these cases
a change of the blood, or, more properly speaking, an
alteration in the quality of it, is absolutely necessary ;
but this must be the work of time.

On the first appearance of this change for the
worse in the condition of a hunter, I have endeavoured
to stop its progress by giving him half a drachm of
calomel with a drachm of emetic tartar over-night,
and a dose of physic in the morning, and have several
times succeeded in doing so. When time and cir-
cumstances would not permit of the calomel and physic,
from a drachm to two drachms of tartar emetic, in
half an ounce of cordial ball, may be given every other
day for a week — taking especial care that more than
common attention be paid to the horse whilst under
the effect of the medicine, by keeping him warm.

i68 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

in and out of the stable ; with plenty of leg-rubbing,
a bountiful supply of straw, and tepid water. Gentle
exercise also at this time — but not to create per-
spiration— is most material.

As almost all diseases of horses are of an inflamma-
tory nature, the good or ill condition depends upon
the pure or impure state of his blood ; and which,
as far as Nature is concerned, can only be regulated
to a certain standard by food and exercise. Allowing
each of these to be administered to the best
possible advantage, yet there is that disposition to
change — generally leaning to plethora — in the habit
of aU animals under preternatural excitement, that
occasional evacuations by the bowels, or else a course
of alteratives, are necessary every six weeks, or two
months at farthest, to preserve them in uniform
health. The evacuation I allude to is a light dose of
physic, not exceeding six or six and a half drachms
of Barbadoes aloes, with the bowels well prepared
by from four to six bran mashes beforehand ; and
when I speak of alteratives, I mean those which
induce a healthy action of the bowels and skin by their
gradual and mild impression, and not those which
act strongly on the kidneys, and are termed diuretics ;
to most of which, with hunters, I have the greatest
possible objection, for reasons which I shall state
hereafter. Alteratives, however, I must observe, are
only expected to preserve a horse in his condition ;
for without physic not one in a hundred will ever
arrive at his best ; or, at least, remain so for the period
for which his services are required.

PRECAUTIONS IN MOULTING SEASON 169

In a former letter I have stated that I never
had but one dead hunter dragged out of my stable,
and that event was occasioned by a sudden collapsion
of the pores, from standing still by a covert-side in
rain whilst a fox was dug out, after a short burst of
only twelve minutes, but just enough to do the mis-
chief ; neither do I recollect but two instances of
dangerous inflammatory attacks, in both which cases
the horses recovered and did well. In addition to this,
I now declare that I never had a horse that went
blind in my possession ; I never had one that went
broken-winded ; I never had a horse suffer from
worms ; neither did I ever experience lameness from
thrushes, cracked heels, etc. All this good fortune
I attribute to three simple causes : first, to never
turning horses out, except in cases of accident ;
secondly, to giving them plenty of exercise, generally
bordering upon work ; and thirdly, to never suffering
them to go more than six weeks or two months, when
in work, without giving them either a dose of physic
or alteratives, which, discharging by the skin, the
bowels, or the kidneys, act sufficiently for my purpose.
I have before described what I consider the best
method of physicking horses, in the progress of which
I have never had an accident. I have always borne
in my mind what I have learnt in conversation with
veterinary surgeons, that, though the stomach of a
horse be proverbially strong, yet the intestines through
which the drugs have to pass are extremely delicate,
and highly sensible to anything of an acrimonious
nature. The alterative I have chiefly made use of

170 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

has been the common antimony of the shops, giving
an ounce per day for eight days in succession — with
the occasional addition of a little yellow resin. When
strong symptoms of foulness appear, and it is incon-
venient to physic, I then prefer the emetic tartar as
an alterative. With the latter, however, a great
deal of good grooming and care is necessary, or mis-
chief may ensue from its stimulating property ; as
it may indeed from the antimony, if the system be
overcharged with it. When foulness of habit proceeds
still further than this, and amounts to a cutaneous
disease, I stop short in my practice, as mercurial
or other preparations are necessary, which I am
afraid to encounter. I only profess what is termed
the prophylactic, or preventive, art. When disease
appears I fly to the first veterinary surgeon I can meet
with,

I must now return to the former part of this letter.
As there can be no condition without work, the hunter
to be in good form by November must now begin,
and in the course of the months of August and Septem-
ber he should have some gentle sweats — at least one
in each week. Having clothed him pretty heavily
for this purpose, put a light boy upon him to ride him,
or have him led in a soft meadow ; or, if you have
not that at your command, in a fallow field which
has been rolled and dragged in the course of a pre-
paration for a wheat crop. The common exertion
to get over such ground, at the same time that it will
benefit his general action as a hunter, will soon cause
him to sweat, though he do not exceed a trot of about

SWEATING 171

seven or eight miles an hour. If the weather be never
so warm, take him into a well-sheltered place to
scrape him, so as not to expose him to a stream of
air : for this being his moulting season, his skin will
be very susceptible of cold — more particularly so if
he is at the same time taking the emetic tartar, or
any other alterative. When nearly dry — which, if
he has been treated as I recommend in the summer,
he will soon be — put a dry hood and other dry clothes
upon him ; let him walk ^ quietly for twenty minutes
or half an hour, when he will be in good order for
dressing. The curry-comb, with blunt bars to it,
and the hay wisp are the only implements to be used
in dressing him, as he will part with his dust suffi-
ciently for present condition in his sweats. Let him
have his water tepid, and be shut up for six hours
without being disturbed.

The plan I have laid down will greatly tend to
promote the condition of a horse by unloading the
vessels, purifying the blood, increasing his muscle,
and setting him quite free in his body — the proof of
which will very shortly shew itself in the shining and
healthful appearance of his skin, and the increased
liveliness of his spirits. It will also secure him from
the risk of inflammatory complaints, by diminishing
the disposition to plethora, which must naturally
arise from eating the quantity of corn (unassisted by
such evacuation) which hunters should now be allowed

^ The pace, after sweating a hunter at this time of the year, must
be regulated by the temperature of the air. Walking will generally
do, but the circulation must be kept alive till he is in his stable.

172 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

— viz. five good feeds in the twenty-four hours.
Grooms should always recollect that fever will accom-
pany repletion : it is, indeed, against the manifest
law of Nature to calculate otherwise,

I must here observe that the system just laid down
cannot be pursued in the month of August (if, indeed,
in the month of September) with a hunter which has
had his summer's run at grass, but only with one
which has been properly summered ; and it does not
require a conjuror to inform us which of the twain
will be most fit to go to hounds in November !

When speaking of the coat or hair of horses, it must
be remarked that the coat itself is not always an index
of their general health, as there are some who, at
certain periods of the year, never have a good one ; but
the skin is always a criterion to judge by. If that
feels dry, with hard lumps upon it, and is of a dusty
hue, with a scurf arising on the surface of it, we may
depend upon it our horse is not in kind condition —
even should there be no affection of his lungs, which,
under such circumstances, is always to be appre-
hended. We may be sure his skin is preternaturally
distended, and wants relaxing by such medicines as
will act gently on its fibres, and also improve the
general health. It is by the state of the skin that
naturalists decide whether the climate is, or is not,
too severe for animals which are not indigenous to
it. If what is called " the yolk " rise on the surface
of it, the animal will exist and do well, but not other-
wise. Those inveterate disorders, grease and eczema,
are cutaneous maladies of common occurrence.

SWEATING 173

Returning once more to the present season of the
year — a season in which so much good or evil here-
after depends — I have only to urge the absolute
necessity of administering alterative medicines to
hunters first beginning to work ; and the only pre-
caution necessary to preserve the bloom on their
coats, or to secure them from any inconvenience from
their effects, is to keep them warm, both in and out
of the stable ; to give them plenty of hand-rubbing
to their legs, with a liberal allowance of good old com.
There are many grooms who delay giving their horses
severe exercise till the month of October ; but — I
speak from experience — horses so managed are not
in condition on this side Christmas. That there can
be no condition without long-continued work, is as
true as that there would be no day if there were no
night.

As there is nothing like a little practical information,
I give the following detail : This day (August 15,
1824) I had a hunter sweated. She had on her a
thick blanket-rug, under a quarter-sheet and breast-
plate, with a single hood. She was once walked
around a fallow field (fresh rolled and dragged) of
sixteen acres, just to enable her to throw off some
of her meat. She trotted three times around it, and
cantered twice. She then walked home, about a
quarter of a mile, to her stable, where (as it rained)
she was scraped. I stood by with my watch in my
hand, and in twelve minutes her neck was dry. At
the expiration of nineteen minutes she was dry all
over, having been well wisped ; and, after walking

174 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

out for a quarter of an hour, she was brought in and
dressed. In an hour she was shut up, having had
half a pail of tepid water, and her corn.

It must be observed that the mare in question is
very forward in her condition, otherwise she would
not have dried so soon. It was only her second
sweat, but it ran off her like rain water. She was
soiled, at different times, in the summer, but never
lay out, and has had a course of alteratives since her
physic.

LETTER XIII

TREATMENT AFTER A HARD AND LONG RUN — CLIPPING

THE cock was sacred to ^Esculapius, by reason
of his extreme vigilance. In a former letter
I have observed that one of the chief
points on which a groom has to exercise
his judgment is, in being apt to discover whether a
horse be over-marked after a severe day's work with
hounds. I have already detailed the directing symp-
toms of this too frequent occurrence ; but although
I have stated what I have found, by my own experi-
ence, to be the best way of treating him after what
I have termed " a very hard day," yet I have not
mentioned what I consider to be the most effectual
measures to be adopted when his life appears in
danger. A bad horse will seldom lose it in this
honourable way ; but a good one, not properly pre-
pared, will too often go till he dies.

When a horse is very much exhausted after a long
run with hounds, a noise will sometimes be heard
to proceed from his inside, which is often erroneously
supposed to be the beating of his heart, whereas it
proceeds from the excessive motion of the abdominal
muscles.^ All horses, however, who die from exertions

^ This sound is due to spasm of the diaphragm or midriff, as it is
more popularly called. — Editor.

175

1/6 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

beyond the limits of vital power die from suffocation ; ^
and on this account, as soon as we perceive a horse
to be much over-marked, he should have from three
to four quarts of blood drawn from his neck imme-
diately on his getting home, to relieve the pressure on
his lungs ; and one ounce of carbonate of ammonia
(salt of hartshorn, a powerful stimulant) should be
given him every four hours during that night, and part
of the next day, in a ball. Although he should be
put into the coolest stable that can be found — nay,
indeed, into an open shed, well littered down, if the
symptoms are alarming — yet a strong determination
of the blood to the surface should be kept up by
friction of the legs, belly, and head, and by very
warm clothing on the body. A good cordial ball,
or a pint of mulled port wine well spiced, should also
be given him, and his bowels should be relieved by a
clyster of warm gruel. If the impeded action of the
heart and arteries do not soon abate, he should be well
blistered behind his elbows, and lose some more blood ;
and I think I may venture to say that if this treatment
does not save his life, there is too much reason to fear
he is beyond the reach of man.

Many persons are apt to imagine that when horses
are over-marked, cordials are improper, and that the
reducing or repellent system is alone to be pursued.
This, however, is quite a mistaken notion ; for al-
though bleeding is resorted to in order to relieve the

^ When hunters are brought into the field without being con-
ditioned or winded, they are very liable to suffer from pulmonary
apoplexy or acute engorgement of the lungs. — Editor.

TREATMENT AFTER A HARD RUN 177

pressure on the lungs, from the greatly increased
action of the heart and arteries, yet a stimulus
is afterwards wanting to assist almost expiring
nature.

Permit me to lay great stress on the propriety of
putting a horse, which may be thus unfortunately
situated, in a place where he has free access to air,
for a hot stable is destructive to him. When one of
Lord Derby's huntsmen's horses came home last
season in a very exhausted state, after a very tiring
run with a second deer, this error was committed :
he was put into his usual stall, and the usual warmth
of the stable was increased by the presence of almost
every servant in the house, who came from motives
of humanity to inquire after the fate of a favourite
old horse. Had he been well littered down under an
open shed, he would have had some chance for his
life ; whereas, in the situation in which he was placed,
he had but little, and he died the next day.

I remember witnessing a very strongly marked
instance of the dangerous effects of placing horses
in warm stables before the circulation of the blood
is restored to its proper standard. We had killed a
fox with Lord Middleton's hounds in Warwickshire,
close to the house of a gentleman who was out, and
who asked several of us to take some refreshment.
Cantering forward to order it, he thoughtlessly put
the mare he had been riding into her stall among four
other horses, and proceeded to the house. We had
scarcely sat down to our luncheon, when he called
me out of the room to inform me his mare was iU.

178 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

On going to the stable I found her on her knees.
" She is fainting," said I : " bring her into the air,
and she will recover ; " which she almost immediately
did, and, after walking gently about for twenty
minutes, she returned to her stable comfortable and
well.

Although it has been the fashion in the Old School
to condemn the use of cordials, yet I have no hesita-
tion in saying, that in the hunting stable such medi-
cines are invaluable ; and were a pint of port wine ^
made warm with spices given to a hunter after a
very hard day's work, I have no doubt but it would
be as serviceable to him as it would be to his master.
After all, what is fatigue ? It is a sudden exhaustion
of strength, producing languor and faintness — the
consequence of too great a hurry of the animal func-
tions ! Whatever, then, speedily removes these
distressing symptoms, and gives strength and cheerful-
ness to the body, cannot fail in being beneficial.

In all those distempers which dissipate the nervous
fluid or animal spirits, I am certain cordials are good ;
and in all obstructions whereby the perspirable matter
is thrown back on the circulation, producing a sudden
diminution of strength, with increased languor and
weight, they cannot fail to be of service. In the
commencement of colds they are very effectual, by
increasing insensible perspiration ; and to horses
which are what is termed " washy," and which throw
off their meat, or to those which are much below
their mark, they are extremely beneficial, as they not

1 Unquestionably an excellent restorative. — Editor.

TREATMENT AFTER A HARD RUN 179

only invigorate the blood, but increase the elasticity
of the muscles and strengthen the whole nervous
system.

Let me not be understood to recommend the use
of cordial balls on every trifling occasion, such as a
horse refusing to eat a feed of corn. In my experience
with hunters I have never been much troubled with
bad feeders — it being nineteen times out of twenty
the fault of the system pursued with them, if a horse
will not eat sufficient for the purpose he is applied to.
Only let him be well cleansed with physic, and kept
on good hard meat, and I will answer for his eating
enough. Nothing is so prejudicial to a shy feeder as
being part of the year in, and part out of, his stable.
By being always kept in, and fed regularly, his appetite
returns, as it were mechanically, at stated periods ; and
if kept quiet, he will eat his allowance in the twenty
four hours. Keeping horses quiet has more to do with
feeding than people are aware of ; and I have had a
few horses in my time, which, though they would not
pick up their com quite clean in the daytime, would
eat half a bushel in the course of the night, if given
to them.

Fretting and nervous horses are very apt to refuse
their feed in strange places. A friend of mine came
to see me last hunting season, and in consequence of
my stables being within hearing of the cry of hounds
in the kennel, one of his horses v/ould not touch his
corn for two whole days. Not having a cordial ball
at hand, I gave him a teaspoonful of Cayenne pepper
on the third day, which so stimulated his stomach that

i8o THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

he set to and ate voraciously. This was a receipt of
the late Lord Stawell's for horses that were delicate
feeders.

The use of tonics is not sufficiently applied in the
progress of a hunter's condition. At certain periods,
particularly in the month of October, horses are subject
to considerable debility, which tonic medicines alone
will remove. There are mineral tonics which are
well known to every one ; but for valuable horses
there is nothing like the best Peruvian bark, from
which I have experienced the best possible effects.
Mr Manning, Lord Jersey's head groom, recommended
it to a very delicate, but a very brilliant, horse of
mine some years since, and his general health was
wonderfully improved by it. He had a weeping at
his eyes from the lachrymal glands, a laxity of body,
an indisposition to carry flesh, and general debility
about him, which a steady perseverance in the bark
entirely removed.

It has been a standing apophthegm with the doctors
of old times that nature never purges herself unless
she wants purging. Of the human subject I do not
treat ; but with cattle this certainly is the case. If
a cow or an ox at grass purge, or " shoot," as it is
called, a dose of physic, about the same as you would
give to a horse, will invariably cure it. Some horses,
however, have always relaxed bowels, but still keep
themselves in condition. Mr Warde has a chestnut
mare — one of the finest animals of her sort that I
ever saw — who is always in that state, but nevertheless
she is always equal to her work. The best treatment

TREATMENT AFTER A HARD RUN i8i

for such horses is constant hard food,with the occasional
use of cordials and tonics.

To preserve health, a balance must be preserved
between the ingesta and the egesta ; consequently
another requisite in a groom is, observing a proper
medium between repletion and evacuation. I have
before observed that the greater part of diseases of
horses arise from plethora, and plethora from high
keep. Nevertheless without high keep horses cannot
do their work with hounds as it ought to be done ;
and, generally speaking, hunters do not eat a sufficient
quantity of corn, particularly if they are to carry
high weights. Road coach-horses, in some stables,
set us a good example for feeding ; and I have no
hesitation in saying, that in the hands of a good groom,
or in the stable of a gentleman who knows what a
hunter should be, a horse in open weather, when he
can do work, should have what corn he can eat.

I always accustomed myself to get upon my horses
now and then in the progress of their condition (and
I strongly recommend the practice to my brother
sportsmen), just to enable me to feel them under me ;
and I am almost inclined to assert that I can perceive
the difference of an extra feed of corn per day in the
increased vigorous action of the animal. Reflection,
however, must not sleep, and we must proportion work
to the diet, so as to keep the circulation alive, and
prevent the blood from becoming viscid ; for there
is a standard here to be observed which will not admit
of variation : and if we overload the system with more
than the efforts of nature — assisted even with such

i82 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

exercise as at this season of the year can be given them
— can get rid of, something will soon grow wrong.
Here, then, it is that those useful auxiliaries, alterative
medicines, are so essential.

Horses that have been well kept in the summer will
sometimes have their bodies covered with lumps, or
" bumps," as they are called, having somewhat the
resemblance of the effect of a sting from a wasp or a
bee ; but nothing alarming is to be apprehended from
them. On the contrary, they indicate increasing
vigour : and a mild course of diaphoretic and diuretic
alteratives, assisted by not less than three or four
hours' gentle exercise every day, will, in good time,
remove them.

How provident soever nature may have been in
the formation of the animal in question, the goodness
of his wind, after going a certain distance at a rapid
rate, will chiefly depend on the work he has been
doing. Thus it is with a human being. The divers
after pearls in the Gulf of Persia, who remain under
water for such a length of time, are obliged to keep
themselves in the almost constant practice of diving,
or they would be unable to perform their task. There
are numerous organs, appendices to the lungs, em-
ployed in the act of breathing ; and all of them being
either muscular or elastic, require to be kept in tone
to preserve their power and elasticity.

I have said before, that the muscles and fibres of all
animals relax with rest. Wishing to avoid asserting
anything on subjects of this nature but what I have
proved by the safest of all tests — experience — I must

TREATMENT AFTER A HARD RUN 183

here, once more, have recourse to my own stabk ;
and I hope the example I am about to produce will
not be lost on my brother fox-hunters. Some years
since I went to spend the week at that long-established
and truly sporting carnival, Shrewsbury Hunt ; and
on the Wednesday Sir Richard Puleston's hounds met
at Atcham, the seat of Lord Berwick, about four miles
from the town. I had out on that day a very good
mare, called Barmaid ; and as I had also at that time
a very good groom. Barmaid was very fit to go. I
likewise had in the field a bay horse, which I had pur-
chased a few days before from Mr Underbill, at that
time a great Shropshire horse-dealer, and which, as
might be expected, was not at all fit to go. I rode
the mare myself, and my groom rode the horse, with
directions to put him along as far as he could without
distressing him, and then to pull him up. It so
happened that we had a remarkably fine run over the
severest part of Shropshire — the base of the Wrekin
— when our fox, being headed, retraced his steps, and
was killed in the plantation where we found him.
There was a large field out, and of course a great deal
of distress ; but the mare carried me close to the
hounds the whole way, took her fences clear to the
last, and enabled me to see what I do not recollect
to have ever seen since — namely, a young hound
snatch at the fox as he met him in a ride in the covert,
when dying before the pack ; but on his shewing him
his teeth, with a sort of convulsive grin peculiar to
this gallant animal in the last struggle for his life, the
puppy dropped his stem and suffered the fox to pass

i84 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

him. Now comes the sequel of the story. In conse-
quence of this run Sir Richard purchased Barmaid to
carry his huntsman, which she did in capital style for
several seasons, and was killed (mind, reader !) — not
by what I can exactly caU a blank day, but by trotting
up and down Mr Whitmore's coverts, at Apley in the
Shiffnal country, with a fox which never broke away
at aU ! The fact was, this mare was a very hard feeder,
and required a great deal of work ; but a long frost
having suddenly broken up, she was called upon before
she was fit to go, and her vessels being overladen by
rest, death, from acute engorgement of the lungs was
the result.

Now then for the horse. Being by nature a game
one, he went farther without shewing his distress
than a bad horse would have done ; and my groom —
a better judge in the stable than out — not having
sufficient discrimination, did not pull him up in time ;
and although he did not go half the distance the mare
went, he was obliged to be left that night within four
miles of Shrewsbury, where I saw him, on my road
home, in such a state that I offered him in the evening
for ten pounds to any one who would have him, though
I had given nearly a hundred for him a few days
before. He, however, recovered ; and having made
Underbill an allowance to take him again, he sold him
to'a gentleman in that country, who rode him a season
or two, when he was also purchased by Sir Richard
Puleston, to carry this same huntsman, which he did for
several seasons. He was not a fast horse, but when fit to
go hewouldnot easily tire, and he lived to be an oldhorse.

TREATMENT AFTER A HARD RUN 185

The above is, I think, a pretty strong proof of the
absolute necessity of preparing a horse well before he
goes to hounds, and the danger of riding him when un-
prepared. Numerous, however, as these instances are,
they do not appear to make that impression upon
sportsmen which they ought to do ; and I repeat my
assertion, bold as it may appear, that, taking England
throughout, not one hunter in ten is fit to go to a covert's
side. I will also venture to add, that provided a horse
— not what I call " well prepared " — can go half an hour
at a clipping pace with hounds, taking his fences well
to the last, it is in the power of his groom to make
him go for forty minutes equally well — an advantage
of no small importance at the time, to say nothing of
the diminution of risk from the effect of the exertion
he is put to. There is a market, also, in which these
additional ten minutes would put an additional hundred
guineas, if not more, on his value.

There is another stumbling block too often in the
way of my brother sportsmen in their stables ; and
that is, they do not sufficiently regard the constitutional
peculiarities of their horses, but are too apt to prepare
them all nearly alike ; whereas a wide difference
exists in the treatment of them. To prove this we
must go to the racing stable. Lord Foley's Osprey,
by Eagle out of Miss Furcy (sister to Chippenham) by
Trumpeter, would neither take a dose of physic, nor
stand training in any way ; yet, when taken out of his
paddock, he could beat half the horses at Newmarket
for half a mile. Lord Oxford's Victoria was obliged
to be physicked after every race she ran, and in one

i86 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

instance (well known to all country trainers) worked
it oft on the road from one country race to another,
but winning at both places. The dam of Sailor, as I
before mentioned, was obliged to stop a day on her
journey to sweat, such was her disposition to feed ;
whilst Mr Mytton's Euphrates never wore a setting
muzzle. When Major Pigot had York and Manti-
damun, he himself told me that the one horse had three
doses of physic in the same space of time that the
other had seventeen !

In a correspondence I have had with Mr Weedon,
my Lord Plymouth's groom, on the subject of sweating
hunters in the month of September, he very properly
observes, that in such matters " no given rule can be
laid down which is not liable to some exceptions " ;
but in general, he tells me, he sweats his horses twice
a week. " This I do," said he "in soft ground, with
as little clothing as I can help, except when a horse
happens to be very stout, and then I think more
clothes necessary. These points," added he, " must
be regulated by the groom, who ought to study the
different constitutions of the animals, and give them
exercise suited to their strength," These are Mr
Weedon's own words on this essential point ; and the
reader will find they are much in unison with what
I have hitherto said on the subject, which from so
good a judge I cannot but consider as a compliment.

On the method of sweating hunters, Mr Weedon
makes the following observation : — " As to the method
of sweating hunters, some think it immaterial ; but
I consider it the most safe to ride them singly. But

TREATMENT AFTER A HARD RUN 187

should I have a horse, the legs of which have become
stale, I clothe him well, and have him led by a lad
on a hack, and sweated in that way." With valuable
horses, such as Mr Weedon had to deal with, this
precaution is good.

There is one sentence in the letter which exactly
accords with my doctrine in the stable. " The time,"
says Mr W., " I begin to condition my hunters [though,
as I observed to you before, they are partly in condition
all the year) is about the middle of August. I trot at a
moderate rate, but sufficient to warm them, and thus
until the middle of September, when I begin to sweat."

There is but one point on which Mr Weedon and
myself are at issue. He tells me he gives his horses
from four to five hours' walking exercise at this period
of the year. In one of my letters on this subject I
have stated my objections to long-continued walking,
and those objections are founded on my own experi-
ence, and the experience of others, carrying more
weight than my own. The only cases of diseased
hocks in horses previously sound, which have occurred
in my stable, have been produced by travelling at a
foot pace on the road ; and I gave a very good reason
why such should be the case. Bullocks walking up
to London market, laden with flesh, frequently throw
out spavins on the road.^

In a former letter I have, I think, said nearly enough
on the subject of stinting hunters with hay, but I have
not been sufficiently explicit as to water — in the

^ This sentence appears to be worthy of attention, being new to
the Editor.— F. B.

i88 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

administering which considerable judgment is neces-
sary, in a stable of hunters of all ages, sizes, and con-
stitutions. Every man at all acquainted with anatomy
will tell us, that when the stomach and intestines are
filled with water, the viscera press against the dia-
phragm, by which means the lungs are impeded in
their functions, and temporary suffocation takes place
when the animal is put to quick work. Indeed it
was the old and generally well-received opinion, that,
by galloping horses up hills in this state, the air
vessels of their lungs were ruptured, and broken wind
was the consequence.

As water is the only diluent a horse takes, a certain
quantity is of course essential to his existence ; but
to such as are not clear in their wind — from whatever
cause it my arise — no more than what is sufficient to
promote digestion should be given on the day before
hunting, and none after three in the afternoon. A
very small portion of hay should also be given them, and
the setting muzzle put on at night.

They who are so unfortunate as to possess finely-
formed horses, with all the accomplishments of a hunter,
excepting clear wind (and how often do we meet with
such horses !), will find the greatest advantage in
attending minutely to these particulars. Such horses
should likewise be always kept internally clean by
physic, as their desire for water will be thereby
diminished, and they should never be more than six
weeks or two months without some evacuating
medicine ; neither should they in the hunting season
be ever five days without a sweat. The cure here.

TREATMENT AFTER A HARD RUN 189

we must remember, can never be radical, but it may
be palliative ; and therefore we should try all means
in our power to promote it.

It is, I know, generally supposed that the horse is,
by nature, a voracious animal, and will not endure
long abstinence ; but I think experience teaches to
the contrary, and we have it on authorities not to be
disputed. Travellers inform us that the inhabitants
of Eastern countries ride their horses for two or three
days together at a slow pace — only giving them a
handful of herbage every eight hours, and they only
drink once in twenty-four. We know the power of
education in creating the disposition and temperament
of animals, and therefore I see no reason to doubt the
fact.

The size of a horse's stomach when compared with
animals of his bulk is small ; and could hunters live
entirely on corn, I have no hesitation in saying they
could do their work better without eating any hay ;
but this they cannot do. I have, however, in more
than one case, debarred a horse from eating any long
hay — only giving him a sieve full of cut hay (saint-foin,
if it could be procured) in each feed of oats, and have
found the best effects from it, when the pipes have not
been so clear as I could wish.

When on the subject of hay it may not be amiss to
state what I found to be the best sort for horses that
follow hounds. It should be grown on sound land,
be full of flowers, of colour approaching to green ;
not dusty, or showing signs of being what is called
" mow-burnt," and it should feel hard in the hand.

I90 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

It should be fresh from the rick, or it imbibes moisture
from the air ; and when of this description, a little of
it is sufficient, as it will supply in quality what it
wants in quantity, Oats should be short and sweet,
and should rattle as they are put into the bin, and if
of the last years' growth but one they are to be
preferred.

I have a little more to say on the subject of water.
All alterations of diet affect the animal economy ; but
with horses in high condition nothing does it so quickly
and visibly as a change of water. The number of
pumps and ponds between Newmarket and Doncaster
will, nineteen times out of twenty, secure the St Leger
Stakes to the north-country horses, and vice versa with
our great Stakes in the south. I had not been at
Brighton three days last winter before I experienced
the effect of the water in the altered appearance of
my horses.

I do not approve of the practice of constantly giving
hunters warm water in the house. It should stand
in the stable for at least one night before it is used,
and then it is perfectly safe, when horses have not
been sweated, or been with hounds. As, however,
a draught of cold water has always a slight effect on
the circulation, a hood or extra cloth should be thrown
over a horse's loins after he has partaken of it.

A handful of bran stirred up in a bucket of cold
water has a two-fold effect. It softens the quality of
the water, and from the colour it imparts to it encour-
ages horses to drink gruel when they come home after
hunting. The danger of giving cold water after a

TREATMENT AFTER A HARD RUN 191

severe run, or after profuse sweating, I need not
expatiate upon. The stomach — that great centre of
sjmipathy — partakes too much of the general ex-
haustion of the system not to be highly sensible to
such an extreme. When its blood-vessels are distended,
which no doubt they are after severe exertions, cold
water will sometimes produce a total stagnation of
the blood, and immediate death will ensue. A friend
of mine lost a valuable gig horse in this way. He
was driving him one very hot day, and by way, as he
thought, of refreshing him, gave him a few swallows
of water out of a deep well, and he was dead in half
an hour. At all seasons of the year water that is
exposed to sun and air is to be preferred, but that
which runs over gravel is always cold.

Although cold water, after great exertion, is danger-
ous, yet it is wonderfully refreshing to horses that are
exhausted. I remember once tiring a horse in the
wildest part of Northamptonshire, and no village at
hand. I left him in the field with my groom, scarcely
able to walk ; but he brought him home (sixteen miles)
that night, recovering his strength and spirits, as he
told me, after every sip of water he gave him on the
road. The present system of giving gruel to horses
on their road home, and when they get into their
stable, is a most excellent one, and greatly promotes
their recovery from fatigue.

Horses that are troubled — as many a good hunter
is — with chronic cough should have great attention
paid to them in their water. They invariably cough
after drinking it, which too plainly shews the effect

192 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

it has upon them. They should be kept very short
for two days before hunting. Their bowels should be
kept free by physic, and an occasional loose cold bran
mash will lessen their desire for, and obviate the
necessity of, much water. I always have found horses
which are subject to chronic cough naturally hard
feeders. Frequent gentle sweats, producing a deter-
mination to the surface of the skin, and thereby re-
lieving the lungs, should never be omitted.

What a man has always to do should be done well ;
therefore it may not be amiss to state what is con-
sidered by grooms to be the best method of treating
a horse when in the stable. Whoever has noticed
an experienced nurse handling a young infant must
observe a peculiar method of touching it which nothing
but practice can give her. Thus it is with a groom.
There is a method of handling a horse peculiar to one
who knows his business, which a bystander, who is
a judge of such matters, cannot mistake. Even in
the act of stripping him — before he puts his hand
upon him to dress him — there is a method to be
observed. Having secured his head and muzzled
him, he first unbuckles his roller and the near side
of his breast -plate ; when passing his left hand down
the spine of the horse, he draws the clothes off, over
his tail, and throws them into one side of the manger.
By this method every hair in his skin will lie smoothly.
When his clothes are replaced, having been well
shaken, they should be put some inches forwarder
than they are intended to remain ; when the groom,
going just behind the tail of his horse, should draw

TREATMENT AFTER A HARD RUN 193

them gently down to their proper place, for the reason
before mentioned. The roller and breast-plate being
buckled, a hood, or a linen rubber, should be thrown
over the quarters. Nothing looks so awkward as to
see a groom pulling a horse's clothes in an opposite
direction to his coat, which must be the case if he
puts them on lower down, or nearer to the tail, than
he intends them to remain. In general the head and
neck are dressed before the body is stripped, for which
purpose the horse should be turned round in his stall ;
and when his legs are rubbed, first with straw and then
with the hand, the toilette is completed.

When a groom who knows his business has stripped
a horse, he should feel him, to judge how he is getting
on in his condition, and whether he be getting his
flesh on the right points. Having satisfied himself
on this head — having stripped himself (that is to say
if he be a working groom) — he sets to work to dress
him — an operation in which some greatly excel others.
There is, however, no harder work than dressing a
horse as he should be dressed — taking into account
the atmosphere in which the workman breathes.

A good dressing to a horse is, I have reason to
believe, a far greater benefit than we are apt to give
credit for. It produces an afflux of blood to the surface,
promotes a general circulation of the system, gives
elasticity to the lungs, and greatly assists wind and
digestion. The brush, when vigorously applied, has
a medicinal effect on the spiracula of the skin — a
great relief after sweating. It must resemble the
benefit derived from the use of the flesh-brush to the

194 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

human frame, so much esteemed in the warmer
countries previous to the wearing of linen. The
ancients had an instrument which they called a
" strigil," which they employed for this purpose ; and
to which Persius alludes when speaking of the Roman
baths —

" I puer, et strigiles Crispini ad balnea defer."

The dust in horses' skins, though it may be called
an extraneous matter, secreted by the vessels of the
skin, has, no doubt, its use in keeping the animal
warm, and affording nourishment to the roots of the
coat. Sweating, with the vigorous application of
the brush, will alone remove it ; and for this reason
the use of the brush should be very limited during
the moulting season. Among the many advantages
of keeping hunters in the house in the summer, may
be reckoned that of their changing their coats sooner,
and, consequently, being better prepared to meet
the cold weather when it comes.

The late punishing times have enforced economy
upon most people ; and all good judges have given
up the use of body-clothes and breast-plates in the
stable, and only use them at exercise, where they are
necessary, in the winter, to prevent their clothes
blowing back when meeting the wind. A sort of
blanket is now used, which is manufactured in the
North of England, and is very warm and comfortable
and comparatively of trifling cost. If I had all the
money now before me which I have expended in body-
clothes, it would purchase me a good hunter — for
they are soon demolished if horses sleep in them.

CLIPPING 19s

Very few saddlers know how to make them properly
— scarcely ever cutting them deep enough or long
enough for full-sized horses. I am, however, a great
advocate for warm clothing in the stable. It promotes
the insensible perspiration that is always going on
through the pores of the skin, and tends to keep horses
in health.

It may be expected that I say something on the
practice of clipping hunters. The grand object of a
groom is to make his horses look as if they were well
groomed, which they cannot do unless they have
a fine short coat ; therefore, of course, he conceives
a fine short coat to be conducive to health and con-
dition, and no doubt it is. I should certainly prefer
seeing a horse of mine with a fine short coat without
the aid of clipping ; but if that were not to be accom-
plished, I would certainly have him clipped. The
advantages of a short, and the disadvantages of a long
coat, I have already treated of.

As it always has been, and ever will be, with most
innovations on old-established systems, objections
have been made to clipping horses, and some silly
reasons given for them. That they may be susceptible
to cold, if exposed to it soon after the operation, is
rational to conclude ; but in all my inquiries from the
owners of such horses I did not find this had been the
case. One gentleman gave it a pretty good trial.
His horse was finished clipping on the Thursday,
and he swam or forded a canal three times with him
on the Friday with Lord Berkeley's stag-hounds, and
he was not the least the worse for it. Fat sheep,

196 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

we know, are shorn in the months of February and
March, and are exposed to the air with impunity,
which has often excited my surprise. Some days,
however, should always elapse between clipping and
work.

The value of any acquisition is only to be estimated
by its usefulness. Never having tried clipping, I
cannot speak from my own experience ; but I have
been informed that horses so treated will do their
work better, and come round sooner, than they did
before ; and I think it is easily accounted for. I was
told that a master of fox-hounds had tried it in his
stable with the best effect ; and having had the
honour of being introduced to him in the spring of
1824 at Messrs Tattersall's, he confirmed what I had
heard. It is a very nice operation, and requires much
practice and no little skill to do it well ; but as Nature
is not easily imposed upon, it is always to be detected.

LETTER XIV

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED

IT is a principle in unison with all well-known
facts that our will has no power over our belief ;
and to doubt nothing and to understand nothing
are much the same. In the common walks of
life the moment a man steps a little from the beaten
track, that moment is he opposed in his march ; and
were he to yield to every obstacle he meets with, his
progress would be but slow. He would resemble the
man who went to a fox-chase resolving not to leap ;
whereas, to the fearless and experienced horseman,
half the pleasure of that noble diversion consists in
getting clear over, or in breaking down, the barriers
which oppose him.

In the progress of my letters on the condition of
hunters I have certainly gone a little out of the beaten
track ; or, in other words, I have travelled in a road
not much frequented. In the progress of these letters
also, I have ventured to condemn a system practised
by, I fear, more than two-thirds of my brother sports-
men ; and I have attempted to prove that that system
is wrong. Had I written these letters more than
twenty years ago, when the method I have recom-
mended was first used by myself, and but very partially

197

198 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

adopted by others, I should have been naturally
prepared for opposition ; but in these communicative
times I am only surprised that the advantages of it
have not circulated throughout all sporting countries
— even to the county of Forfar.

My first opponent was the Bit of a Jockey ; but
I have done with him — not conceiving that (though,
perhaps, a useful writer on other matters) a person
whose sporting days, by his own account, were ended
before ours began, and who never saw Buckle ride,^ can
be an authority for any practical system now adopted
in the sporting world. As well might a man sit down
and write a topographical description of London and
Westminster, and in the concluding chapter inform
us that he had never seen Charing-cross !

My next opponent was The Old Sportsman, who
talked of " mashed potatoes and Swedish turnips " ^
as the best food for hunters, and wished us to believe
that horses and dairy-maids did their work better
when rough in their coats. His hounds, however,
were all for the pot, and, by his own account, found
more hares than foxes. The first blow is said to be
half the battle ; but I had the last with him, and I do
not think he will resume the contest.

Next comes a correspondent under the signature
of " X. B.," who commences his letter by saying,
" Does not your valuable correspondent Nimrod
think too much of his horse having five years' old
oats and beans in him ? If this were absolutely

^ See Sporting Magazine, vol. xiv. N.S, p. 144.
^ See Sporting Magazine, vol. xi. N.S. p. 268.

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED 199

necessary," continues he, " what would become of
our two and three-year-old horses in the race ? We
find they can run full as well as those at a more
advanced age. In 1823 and 1824 the Craven Stakes
were won by two-year-olds." ^ My answer to this is
— first, that in my country two year or three year-
old colts cannot have five years' hay and corn in them;
secondly, / did not say it was necessary for a hunter.
He concludes the sentence by telling us, " / believe
the two-year old colts are taken from grass in September
to run in April."

Now on all subjects but one I hate the words " I
believe." One man believes one thing, and another
man believes another — neither of them within two
distances of the mark, nor could an argument of a
thousand years bring them one whit the nearer. What
would a Cambridge Professor say to a man who
approached his chair and talked of believing ? " Bring
me demonstration. Sir," he would say, " and I will
listen to you ! " Now had X. B. taken the trouble
to inform himself on this subject before he put pen
to paper, he would have found that no two-year-old
colt taken from grass (which in the sense he applies
it, in opposition to com, of course means grass only)
in September ever did, or — we may safely add — ever
wiU, win the Craven. He would have found that such
colts have as much corn as they can eat from the time
they leave the dam, and even before they are weaned ;

1 In 1823, by the Duke of Rutland's b. c. Scarborough by Catton,
dam by Haphazard ; in 1824, by Lord Verulam's ro. c. Vargas, by
Orville out of Vittoria by Sorcerer.

200 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

and that in these days a well-bred colt, with engage-
ments over his head, may be said to be in training
from the very day he is foaled ! As to grass, there
certainly may be some in the paddock he is reared in,
but it forms a small portion of his food even in the
course of the first year. That a two-year-old colt
should win the Craven is anything but extraordinary
— indeed the race is made for him. The course is
but a little more than a mile,^ and when the weights
were fixed the chances must have been considered
equal. Were the race, however, over the B. C. in-
stead of where it is, where would be the two-year-old.
His only chance then of winning it would be to put
five years' old corn into him, and the recipe would be
worth something.

The circumstance X. B. brings forward of Trajan,
taken from grass, being beaten by Match'em, is rather
a singular way of recommending the grazing system ;
and his (Trajan) having distanced two others (he does
not say what) in the race, does not mend the matter
at all ; as, for aught we know, they may have been
at grass also — may have bolted, or tumbled, or God
knows what — as it is sixty-two years since (1755)
the event he alludes to took place.

When X. B. speaks of four months' training being
sufficient for the race-horse, he talks equally out of
book ; and I had nearly forgotten my good manners,
and said he talked something else, when he told us he
should be delighted to see a valuable hunter of his
gallop about a hard field in the summer till he was hot.

^ Across the Flat, one mile, two furlongs, twenty-four yaxds.

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED 201

Were it possible that, during such frolics, a horse could
be divested of his skin, and we could have a peep at
the internal machinery of his frame, we should see
such twists and contortions of his joints that, if they
did not make us tremble for the safety of them, would
at least satisfy us that they must be a bad recipe for
any injuries those joints may have received in their
work in the winter. As to exercising horses in the
summer, let those who think it amuses them practise
it, on the score of humanity ; but, for my own part,
I never yet saw a horse out at exercise that did not
wish to return to his stable.

In your last number ^ a gentleman from Forfarshire
(a sportsman, I am certain) comes forward, and,
after enumerating '' pot bellies, running thrushes,
pleasant roaring " (awkward music for those who pay
to hear it), etc. etc., as the concomitants of the grazing
system, energetically says, " Now take my plan !
The hunter," says he, " must be turned out when days
and nights are warm." Here, unfortunately, he is
opposed by one of our first writers on the veterinary
art, who says, " I have always found that when the
greatest heat prevailed in the course of the day, the
nights were cool, the fogs more copious and heavy,
and that diseases amongst horses were then most
prevalent." Nothing can be more true than this.
In proportion as the action of the heart and arteries
has been excited by the warmth of the day, the greater
must be the effect of the damp and vapours of the
night.

^ See Sporting Magazine, vol. xv. N.S. p. 194, etc.

202 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

" The effect," says the North Briton, " on the
sinews and joints of the hunter, by a run at grass, is
past doubt in my experience." May I request him to
state whether he have proved the result by a close
application of his system with the one I recommend.
His recommending turning horses out to grass as a
preventive of botts cannot but create a smile, and
is one of the thousand instances we meet with of a
man sitting down to write on subjects before, instead
of after, he has given himself time to think. If we
are to believe writers on natural history, horses kept
in the house cannot have botts : they are the larvae
of a fly that only molests him in the sunshine, but to
whose existence and propagation they are as essential
as the air we breathe is to our own lives. Hear what
a very highly-esteemed writer ^ on the diseases of
horses says on this subject : " The flies from which
these botts are produced inhabit the country, and do
not come near houses, at least not near those of great
towns ; and therefore horses are never liable to have
botts in their bodies if they have been kept in the
house, especially in town, during the summer and
autumn."

Your Northern correspondent concludes his letter
by lamenting that so many promising young race-
horses are nipped in the bud by early training ; but
as aU the great stakes are for young ones, the owners
of them will make their hay when the sun shines.

In the same number X. B. again comes forward.
He begins by telling us that a horse shut up in a well-

1 Osmer.

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED 203

littered stable in the summer must be in a fever, or
in a state of perspiration. Away with all such trash.
If this were the case, what would become of all
the race-horses, post-horses, coach-horses, covering
stallions, wagon-horses, saddle-horses, and all others
used in the hot months ? Take a horse from grass
and put him into a warm stable, and no doubt he will
sweat ; but not so if kept on hard meat, or with
occasional soiling.

X. B. talks of lessening the quantity of a hunter's
food, instead of physic, to prevent plethora ; and of
changing the nature of it for that which is " less solid
and more easy of digestion." Surely here is the Old
Sportsman come again with his Swedish turnips
and mashed potatoes ! All this tender food may do
very well for a lady's pad, or for the lady herself ;
but such language, when applied to the hunter, is
absurd. His remarks on physic are equally unfortu-
nate, and the " I believe " again stares us in the face.

I have just found out that X. B. must be an Irish-
man. He tells us that " when the late Colonel Mellish
had a stable of hunters all in high condition, he could
seldom have the horse he wished, as they were fre-
quently amiss and obliged to have physic." As this
gentleman paid me a handsome compliment in the
concluding sentence of his letter, I ought not to be
too hard upon him ; but in future I shall not notice
the observations of one who appears so little qualified
to offer them.

I am sorry to observe that many of my brother
sportsmen are convinced of the evils of turning hunters

204 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

to grass, and yet subject them to these evils. I lately
had a remarkable instance of this. A friend of mine,
riding very heavy and very hard, came to see me, and
by way of punishing him for biting one of his other
horse's eyes out in the morning, he rode one of his
hunters, a horse I have known for many years, and
few people have a better when fit to go. On my
observing that he looked like anything but what he
should be, I asked him what he had been doing with
him in the summer ? " What I ought not to have done
with him," was his reply : " I turned him out to grass.
He has lost all his muscle, and he is not half the horse
he was when he went out. Besides this," added he,
" he has got a bad kick on his hock, and is in the

hands of the veterinary surgeon at , who thinks

the enlargement will be reduced by continued fomenta-
tions."

The next morning my friend and myself rode out
together. His horse was wet with sweat, whilst the
one I rode (summered in his stall, with only ten days*
soiling) was as dry on every part of his body as when
he came out of the stable.

Your sceptical readers shall have a little more
demonstration. A mare which I rode last winter
(1823-4) i^^t with an accident ; and being got by
Walton out of Highland Lass, I thought she might
breed me a racer, so I put her to the horse, and turned
her out. She soon got very fat and sound ; but, not
proving with foal, I took her up after being out nearly
three months, and she has had every justice done by
her since she has been in the stable. She stands in a

A brood Hunter Mare. Owned Ijy Captain Heyvvood Lonsdale of Shavington,

Market Drayton. A noted Prize-winner. The picture depicts a beautiful

neck and withers

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED 205

stall between two that have been summered in the
house, and chalk is not more unlike cheese than is her
condition unHke that of her neighbours. One of these
is the mare that was sweated in August till " the sweat
ran off her like water," which X. B. seems to think so
cruel and so weakening, Perhaps he is not aware
that some of our first-rate stallions are sweated once
a week during the covering season.

After what I have now said I have done with pro-
ducing proofs of the good effects of summering the
hunter in the house, and shall conclude the subject
with mentioning an occurrence which happened —
rather a propos — with the mare I have just been speak-
ing of. I rode her to call on my next-door neighbour,
who keeps a pack of fox-hounds ; and when he saw
her, he exclaimed, " Ah ! you have had your mare
clipped, have you ? " " No," said I, " she is not
cUpped, but she is in clipping condition," which is
a much better thing. She now dries after a sweat in
three minutes, which my neighbours can testify. Where
is the horse which has been summered in the fields that
will do this ? Another circumstance took place with
the Brighton harriers last winter. I was riding
another mare which had three years' hard meat in her,
when we were caught in a very shower of rain. In
about ten minutes after it was over, Mr Carr, the
gentleman who manages the Lewes harriers, rode up
to me and said, " Your mare puts me in mind of a
dirty boot by the side of a clean one." " Why so ? "
said I. " Because she is dry, and every other horse
(seventy in number) in the field is wet," was his

206 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

answer. This must denote increased vigour of
body.

I seldom hunt in October, for more reasons than
one. First, the flies have not done stinging the horses ;
secondly, the country is not fit to ride over ; and
thirdly, I have always been of opinion that the month
of October should be solely devoted to the master of
the hounds and his servants. Mr Chute's hounds,
however, being within easy reach of me, on the 22nd
October 1824 I went out with them ; and on the
road to covert I overtook the pack. " How all the
horses sweat this morning ! " said the huntsman :
" see how it runs off them ! " " My horse does not
sweat," said I, "I am certain." On my servant
coming up with him he was as dry as when he went
out of the stable. What is this a proof of ? I have
now, however, done with proofs.

In my twelfth letter on this subject I spoke of tonic
medicines being essential to the condition of some
horses at this season of the year ; and have been
called upon to state what I consider the best mineral
tonic used for this purpose. The following ball, given
two or three times a week till effect be produced, will
be found to answer the desired end : —

Sulphate of iron, ^ ounce.

Ginger i drachm.

To be made into a ball in the usual way.

LETTER XV

ADVICE TO FARMERS — BREEDING — TREATMENT OF
BROOD MARES AND COLTS — CLIPPING

THE mind sleeps and is refreshed. It is
now two months since I have put pen to
paper on my favourite subject — the con-
dition of hunters ; so return to it with
increased pleasure. Although I have been silent, my
eyes and ears have not been shut.

In my last I observed that I had something to say
on this subject to farmers. My object is to induce
them to breed horses, being convinced that no other
stock on their farms can pay them so well. When,
however, I recommend them to breed horses, I mean
that they should set about it as it ought to be done,
or they had better leave it alone ; for I speak without
fear of contradiction when I assert that, generally
speaking, no branch of rural economy has been more
abused and neglected than this. It is useless, however,
to expose errors that have passed : let us endeavour
to avoid them.

Under proper management a good three-parts-bred
mare may be a little fortune to a farmer. I know one
in the neighbourhood of Ludlow which did not begin

2o8 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

to breed until she had carried that ornament to fox-
hunting, the late Sir John Hill of Hawkeston, for
eleven seasons, when she produced, if I may so express
myself, a thousand pounds' worth of horse-flesh in
the space of seven or eight years. I myself gave two
hundred and sixty guineas for two of her colts when
rising four years old, and they both proved good
hunters. From what other stock, may I ask, could
such a return be made ? I may safely assert that the
produce of this mare more than reaUsed the fee simple
of the land that reared them.

I have not time to be prolix, therefore must come
to the point. When a prudent man lets loose his
capital, his first consideration is whether it will return
to him again. In this instance he may make sure
of it if he will follow these simple directions. Let
him purchase a well-bred mare, not so much regarding
her size as her points and action — particularly requiring
that she have a sound constitution and good legs.
Let him send her to a horse also of good form, with
freedom of action and a sound constitution ; also being
particular as to the state of his legs and feet. Never
let him breed from a naturally infirm horse, whose legs
have shown more than ordinary weakness ; ^ and,
above all, let him fix upon one which has what the
veterinary profession call a short canon — that is,
the bone extending from the knee to the fetlock, com-

^ Though of course we should prefer legs that have never given
way, yet a stallion that has raced much is not to be rejected because
he has broke down at last ; but we should carefully avoid those
which have thrown out curbs, spavins, ring-bones, etc.

BREEDING 209

monly called the shank bone. Let him begin to breed
from his mare before she is much injured by work ;
as in that case, if she does not breed to please him with
her first and second foal, he can dispose of her and
purchase another.

A very celebrated fox-hunter has observed that
" the goodness of horses generally goes in at the
mouth." Let the breeder, then, bear this in mind,
and take care that the foal be dropped early, and
the dam well fed for the first two months with bran
mashes, carrots, etc., till the spring grass arrives.
If the mare should prove a good nurse, the colt will
not require corn till he is weaned, which on no ac-
count should be delayed beyond the first or second
week in September. Here the grand mistake has
arisen, to which we are indebted for such numbers
of misshapen horses as this country abounds in.
Farmers, in general, never think of weaning their
colts till after Michaelmas, long before which period
there is little or no virtue in grass, but, on the contrary,
it is sour and unwholesome.

From weaning time to the following May, the colt
should be well kept on a full allowance of sweet hay,
with at least two good feeds of oat per day, and he
should be kept warm. He should have a head collar
on, with a small strap hanging down to his knees,
which will admit of his being handled every day ;
and every two months his toes should be rasped, and
his heels opened a little with the drawing-knife. In
March or April he should have two mild doses of physic,
which will cause him to grow ; and when the weather
o

210 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

is warm he should be turned out into a good upland
pasture for the summer with plenty of shade and water,
but taken up every month to have his legs examined
and his toes rasped. The second week in September he
should be housed again for the winter, when his belly
should be the measure for his corn. When docked,
his tail should be left eight inches in length, which
will preclude the disagreeable necessity of having the
operation repeated.

Early in the following spring, when turned two
years old, he should be broken, but not backed ; and
physicked as before directed. In the first or second
week in June he should be cut ; ^ and when recovered
he should be turned out for the summer. When
taken up again for the winter, he should have two
mild doses of physic, and be very well kept, giving
him a few carrots, or a large bran mash once a week.
Very early in the spring he should have a little more
very mild physic ; and in a fortnight afterwards he
should be backed, and taught his paces by a person
who understands the business. Idleness, from this
time forth, will be an enemy to him ; and as soon as
he is perfect in his paces he should do what in the
training stables is called " a little work." Exercise
will strengthen his legs, enlarge his muscles, improve
his form, and make him grow. From this time forth

^ Though I have spoken of two years of age being the best time
for cutting colts, yet this must depend on circumstances. If the
owner of him has not a convenient place to keep him in, he must cut
him the first year. Also, if he is likely to be too large for his legs,
or what is termed " top heavy," the first year is to be preferred.
It is customary to castrate at one year. — Editor.

BROOD MARES AND COLTS 211

he should be treated as a horse in every respect but
in his work, which should be moderate till the fifth
year ; but previously to that time a customer will
always be ready for him, and if his owner is disposed
to part with him, his average price will be from one
to two hundred sovereigns.

The action of the colt, especially that of the shoulders,
will be greatly benefited by riding him up and down
hills and trotting him gently on deep ground. He
should be taught to leap at three years.

When I say that a colt should be treated as a horse
after the third year, I mean, of course, that he should
be treated after the system I have laid down for hunters,
and not allowed his summer's run at grass. Hard
meat will make him powerful and handsome : grass
wiU render him, comparatively speaking, heavy,
pot-bellied, and shapeless.

What I am now going to advance may appear like
straining the point ; but I am convinced of the truth
of it, and therefore boldy assert it. It is my confirmed
opinion, that unless a colt be what is called " deformed,"
it is in the power of good keep, exercise, and physic,
to make him what is termed " a fine horse," and one
that will sell for a large price, either for harness or the
saddle. No one but those who have witnessed it
are aware of the improvement in shoulders, thighs,
gaskins, etc., from good oats (old) and beans, accom-
panied by regular work and proper riding. Being
a great man for proof, I will mention one instance,
which is as good as a hundred.

Five years ago, i.e. in 1820, I was riding to meet

212 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

hounds in Oxfordshire, on a five-year-old horse, which
I had just purchased, and which was much out of
condition. I was joined by a brother sportsman,
whose experience in horses was considerable, and who
was going on the same errand. " What have you
got there ? " said he, with some expression of surprise.
" A brute," said I, " that I purchased the other day
out of a Welsh drove." " I thought he was not your
sort," continued he. Having summered this horse
after the system I adopt, I happened to come across
my brother sportsman with the same pack of hounds
the following season, just as I was mounting " the
brute out of the Welsh drove," with the intention of
riding him for the day. " You have a very neat horse
there," said he ; " where did you get him ? " " Oh,"
said I, " you know him." " No," replied he, " I never
saw him before." " What ! " said I, " do you not
recollect the brute out of the Welsh drove ? " I
sold this horse the following season to Mr Vincent
Corbet for two hundred guineas — having previously
refused that sum from him for another person.

When stating matters of fact on subjects so inter-
esting to sportsmen, no one who belongs to that
honourable class would object to his name being
mentioned, by way of producing proof, without which
argument goes for nothing. The gentleman I allude
to is Mr Martin, of Ham Court in Worcestershire,
a very hard rider to hounds, and whose father suc-
ceeded to the estates of the late Major Bland, who
hunted that country when I first rode over it.

As another instance of the captivating properties

BROOD MARES AND COLTS 213

of condition I might mention that when at Hunger-
ford, in January 1825, I sold one of my horses, which
I considered under my weight, to Mr Starkey, of Spy
Park in Wiltshire, who told a friend of mine afterwards
that he bought him more for his condition than any-
thing else.

One word more to farmers. If those who follow
hounds, or who breed good horses without doing this,
would pay more attention to the condition of their
horses, by keeping them up in the summer, putting
good instead of bad flesh upon them, they would
be very well paid for their hunting, or their trouble.
The}'^ may take my word for it, there never was such
a demand, I might almost say outcry, for hunters as
there is at the present day.^ It is very well known
to many of my acquaintance that I have lately had
several earnest requests to purchase hunters for my
friends, but I have been quite unable to comply with
them. I will not say I might not have seen two or
three horses that may have suited them, but I could
not think of recommending them on account of their
want of condition ; for what is a hunter without
condition ? — a source of vexation, disappointment,
and danger.

All persons do not set the same store by condition
that I do ; but if they were as much alive to the ad-
vantages of it, they could not fail to do so. The follow-
ing fact will best show the price I put upon it : — A blank

^ Previous to turning'out a stag one day last season before Lord
Derby's hounds, I breakfasted at a gentleman's house in Surrey
Our party consisted of eight ; and five of them were eagerly inquiring
after hunters.

214 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

sheet of paper was offered to me about six weeks back,
by a gentleman who keeps hounds, with a request
that I would write my own cheque {i.e. a cheque for
my own price) on his banker, and he would sign it,
for a mare, which is certainly a model of the art of
grooming as relates to the condition of a hunter ; but
which offer I refused — saying, I should not refuse such
an offer for the mare, but I could not part with her
condition. Wishing to advance nothing of this sort
without the accompanying corroboration, my customer
was Mr Taylor, of Holleycombe Lodge, the Member
for the city of Wells.

I have now to notice two communications in your
November number on this highly interesting subject
— the Condition of Hunters. The first is a very able
Letter from Cheshire on the subject of clipping, to
which I shall allude more fully at a future opportunity ;
but as the author, Equestris, asks my opinion, it is
— that I would have every horse clipped that has got
a long coat ; and it would answer extremely well if
one or two men in the neighbourhood of every Hunt
would perfect themselves in the art of doing it ; for
they would have plenty of custom. Caution, how-
ever, should be observed. Mr Farquharson lost one
of his best horses last season in consequence of riding
him too soon after the operation was performed. On
the other hand, Mr Bartlett, the dealer in Oxford Street,
told me last season that his horse was clipped on the
Thursday, and on the Friday he swam a canal three
times with the Berkeley stag-hounds, and no ill effects
were produced.

BROOD MARES AND COLTS 215

The other letter which calls for my attention is from
the same part of the world, and treats of the effects
of the late distemper among horses.^ It concludes
with the following passages : — " Though I cannot
subscribe to all the doctrines advanced by your
ingenious correspondent Nimrod, yet I gladly add
my mite to the proof that it is a very mistaken notion
to give hunters a summer's run, under the idea of
freshening their feet and legs. I can now call to mind
five hunters turned out last summer perfectly sound,
and which became lame at grass." Now this I consider
a main prop to my argument, as it is evident the writer
knows what he is about, if he be not a professional
man. If, as he asserts, the stable or loose house is
the best place for the legs and feet, no doubt can remain
as to its being the best for the body, where extremes
of heat and cold, as well as accidents, can be avoided —
setting aside the folly of putting a load of flesh on an
animal, which must almost all come off again at the ex-
pense of his legs. When speaking of extremes of heat
and cold, reader, mark this ! The thermometer stood two
degrees lower on the twenty- fourth of June 1824 than
it did on Christmas-day ! This is the old story over
again, but it cannot be too deeply impressed on the
observation of the reader. " Nunquam nimis dicitur
quod nunquam satis discitur." — " A man cannot repeat
those things too often which we cannot too minutely
observe," is somewhere about the English of it.

I wish I had not again to notice your correspondent
X. B., as but little pleasure or amusement can arise

1 See Sporting Magazine, vol. xv. N.S. p. 96.

2i6 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

to the reader from an argument in which I may, with-
out presumption, assert my opponent is no match
for me. " What impudence ! " says one : " What
assurance ! " says another : and many there are, no
doubt, who think that impudence and assurance are
synonymous terms ; whereas nothing can be more
opposite to each other. The one is a mere boldness
which a man assumes from a pretension to qualities
he does not possess ; the other, the natural conse-
quence of that consciousness of being right which arises
in every man's breast when he knows that he is so.
To the one we owe nothing ; but to the other we are
indebted for the greatest treasures of antiquity — for,
neither Cicero nor Demosthenes, neither Ovid nor
Horace, would have written as they did, had they not
talked of the immortality of their works, and of the
monuments that would be raised to their posterity ;
and I honour the judgment of a people who allowed
them a reputation which it was their interest to support.
Notwithstanding what I have said, I am in perfect
good fellowship with X B. , and shall be happy to hear
from him on any other subject than that of the con-
dition of hunters and race horses, on which I not only
repeat my conviction that he has nothing worth com-
municating to the sporting world ; but there are not
wanting those who think that he has obtruded his
opinion without any pretensions to its being heard.
It is true, as he asserts, philosophers of old did believe
a thing possible, and attempted to prove it afterwards ;
but where, may I ask, is X. B.'s proof ? Surely not in
the boy (what a specimen of grooming !) who had the

BROOD MARES AND COLTS 217

care of the black mare just taken out of a paddock,
and gave her too much com ; or in the ride to Ton-
bridge Wells in the month of April. " Ne sutor ultra
crepidam," said Apelles to the cobbler.

X. B. argues strangely. When speaking of the
races between Match'em and Trajan, in which Trajan
was beaten twice, he says, " When I spoke of four
months being sufficient, was it not to enable Trajan
to run as he did, and that the extra training he after-
wards had did not mend the matter ? " Certainly,
I assert, it did not ; because Match'em, the horse he
was beaten by each time, had his extra training also.
Had he stood after the first race, Trajan might have
won the second ; but we may say of him,

" He, like the hindermost chariot wheel, was curst.
Still to be near, but ne'er to be the first."

X. B. accuses me of perverting the meaning of his
words. If he writes in allegory, he should tell me
so ; but when speaking to matters of fact, I must
take him literally. He could not but have seen that
I was writing in irony when I spoke of putting five
years' corn into a two-year-old ; though it would not
be the first nor the second time that an old one has
started as a young one.

X. B. is rather happy in his allusion to what the
hunter did when he was a foal ; but perhaps it will
occur to himself that he has done some things when
he was a boy which it might be dangerous for him to
attempt now. Let us dismiss the subject, then, with
this request — that he will keep his pity for others,

2i8 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

and not offer it to me, for there is a pitifulness in pity
which I abhor. If I give it, I never wish to receive it.

I have now a word for another correspondent —
a Mr Smith, of Woodhouses — who has ventured to
contradict my assertion, that a noise, or beating, which
is often heard in the inside of a hunter after a very
severe run with hounds,^ proceeds from the motion
of the abdominal muscles, and not from the heart.
I beg leave to inform Mr Smith that I have too often
experienced this to believe his or any other man's
assertion to the contrary ; and as it happens, I have
two bits of proof close at hand — for on these matters
(as I say of Mr Warde's hounds) I go not a yard without
the scent. Even eloquence, without conviction, goes
for nothing ; and on paper it is still more essential.

About a fortnight ago we ran a fox upwards of
fourteen miles, from point to point, with the Hamble-
don hounds ; and having ridden a horse not half in
condition, he was, as might be expected, somewhat
distressed — never having had what could be called
a check the whole way. When he got to his stable —
having trotted him rather briskly to it, to enable me
to send a hack to a friend — he had not recovered
himself, and the motion of the abdominal vessels was
as plainly to be heard as the chiming of a church clock.
Having my present object in view, I sent for Mr
Ayleward, the farrier, who resides at Alresford, to
witness it ; and not content with this, but wishing
for further corroborating testimony, I took the Rev.

^ This sound has been already alluded to as proceeding from
spasm of diaphragm. — Editor.

BROOD MARES AND COLTS 219

Mr Norris, who resides near Havant (who had also
seen the run), into my stable, and convinced him of
the fact. What is singular, Mr Norris told me, that
when he saw what I had written on this subject in one
of my letters on the condition of hunters, he spoke
of it to a veterinary surgeon in his neighbourhood, who
immediately confirmed the truth of it — adding, that
the noise could not proceed from the heart, unless the
heart lay where it should not lie.

A short time since, a gentleman by the name of
Taylor — who resides at Beworth, and hunts regularly
with Mr Villebois', or the Hambledon hounds — in-
formed me that a friend of his had a horse, in the
inside of which, towards the hinder part of his body,
he always heard a beating noise after a run, but could
not satisfy himself whence it proceeded. I then told
him it was from a convulsive action of the abdominal
muscles. 1 The noise is not at all like the beating of
the heart, and the ear immediately directs us to the
seat of it.

Mr Smith also doubts the use of cordials when a
horse is much exhausted after a run ; but an appeal
to common sense will save me the trouble of replying
here. Mr Smith may be a veterinary surgeon, which
I think he is ; and he may be an excellent practitioner ;
but with all the respect which I have always expressed
towards that highly useful profession, there are points
on which men who have much experience in riding
and the management of hunters can dictate a little
to them. Is it to be supposed that either themselves

^ Due to spasm of the midriff. — Editor.

220 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

or myself could direct Mr Robson how to bring a race-
horse to the post ?

There is one part of Q.'s letter which I do not ap-
prove of, and that is his motto — " Nugis addere
pondus." He must allow me to say — and I am sure
as a sportsman he will admit the justness of my obser-
vation— that nothing which tends to fit that noble
animal, the horse, for the severe, if not almost un-
justifiable exertions we put him to, and thereby
alleviate his sufferings, can come under the denomina-
tion of trifles. As the Poet says —

" That heart is hard in nature, and unfit
For human fellowship, as being void
Of sympathy, and therefore dead alike
To love and friendship both, that is not pleased
With sight of animals enjoying life ;
Nor feels their happiness augment his own."

Without applying these lines to Q., whose apostrophe
to his favourite old hunter rescues him from the charge,
too much importance cannot be attached to this
subject. For my own part, I almost adored the horse
before I could ride him. How much, then, must my
regard for him be increased in gratitude for all the
pleasure he has afforded me ! It grieves me to see
him abused : but abused he must be when ridden
after hounds, at the pace they now go, when he is
not in proper condition for the purpose — and how
few do we see that are so ! The horse is a generous
animal, and waits not to be asked whether he can do
what we require of him. He goes till he dies. But we
should not trespass on his generosity : no, we should
give him every assistance our reason, our judgment.

BROOD MARES AND COLTS 221

and our experience can dictate ; and I think I have
said enough on this subject to make the most sceptical
of your readers beheve that he cannot be equal to his
work till the greater part of his labours are at an end,
unless he has been treated on the system I recommend.
It is now becoming pretty general in some countries,
I wish it may be so in all ; and if what I have written
may tend to make it so, not only will one object be
attained, but I shall derive an inward satisfaction
of mind on which I can put no price. For this shall
my sins be forgiven me ; and the sun of my old age
will set without a cloud,

I think Q. was imposed upon when he was told
of " the cocktail that ran four miles from grass, and
came in with a dry crust on her coat." I certainly
have a mare (not the one I have before spoken of)
whose condition is so perfect, that if hounds are running
up-wind, and slacken their pace a little, she becomes
dry, as several of my brother sportsmen have wit-
nessed ; and what makes it more remarkable, she is
of a hot and fractious temper.

In one of my former letters on this subject I spoke
of a method of shoeing a hunter so as effectually to
prevent his cutting himself by overreaching his legs
in deep ground, or in leaping brooks. It is sometimes
difficult to convey our ideas on paper to the minds of
others without the help of the pencil ; and some of
my brother sportsmen have told me they could not
exactly comprehend what part of the shoe I recom-
mended to be bevelled off. It is the inner edge that
requires bevelling.

222 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

I have never had an overreach since I have used
these shoes, but I frequently see them when the pre-
caution is omitted. A gentleman (Major Pester)
had his horse very much cut a short time since with
Mr Villebois's hounds ; but on my asking him the
question, I found the edge of the shoe was not bevelled
off.

LETTER XVI

ADVANTAGES OF CLIPPING — SALT MARSHES — HAY —
GREEN MEAT

ONE of our ancient historians observes
that when he tells us what he has heard,
he leaves us to form our own opinions as
to the truth of it ; but when he describes
what he has seen, he speaks to men, and expects to
be believed. Theory certainly gives us an advantage ;
but in all matters of external nature, it is experience
that proves.

I have already declared that I have long since been
freed from vulgar prejudices and bigotry to ancient
customs. I will not go so far as to assert that I would
do so and so because our forefathers had not done
so and so before me ; yet their not having done it
would by no means deter me from the attempt : for,
if we may judge from modern improvements, we have
too much reason to think that, with a few exceptions,
they were a very dull race of men. Other circum-
stances also tended to rid me of these bars to im-
provement, and nothing more than a psissage I met
with some years ago in one of our Greek authors.
Being now on my travels I have not the volume to
refer to, but the following is the substance.

224 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

The Emperor Darius (a pretty straightforward
one, I beUeve), growing sick of hearing of the ancient
customs of his people, and that nothing was right but
what had been done by them in past ages, had recourse
to the following expedient to cure them. He sent
for a dozen of his subjects, and put to them the follow-
ing question : " What reward shall I give to you if
you will promise to eat your fathers and your mothers
when they die ? " His subjects, with one voice,
exclaimed, they hoped His Majesty would not repeat
so unnatural a request, as nothing he could give them
— not even his kingdom — would induce them to
comply with it. On a signal being given, twelve
Indians, brought thither for the purpose, were ushered
into the Royal presence, and to whom the Emperor,
through his interpreter, put the following question :
" What reward shall I give to you not to eat your
fathers and your mothers when they die ? " The
savages fell upon their knees, and with yeUs and
lamentations implored the King not to enforce such a
command, as nothing should induce them to forego
so signal an act of respect to their departed parents.

Having thus written, it may be easily imagined
that I was not to be deterred from clipping a hunter
because my forefathers had never clipped one before
me ; but, on the contrary, being eager to adopt any
experiment which may tend to promote my favourite
object — the condition of the hunter — I availed myself
of the first favourable opportunity of trying it ; and
I now give the result.

In November 1824 I purchased a horse of fair

ADVANTAGES OF CLIPPING 225

character, formerly the property of Mr George Dehne.
He had been turned out to grass in the summer ;
had had his three doses of physic ; had been hunted ;
and was what is called " in condition." When,
however, I came to ride him, I found him quite below
the mark, and not so good by a stone as from his form
and action he ought to have been. He had a long,
thick coat upon him, and was what grooms call
" very bad to dry " — always breaking out three or
four times in the course of the evening of the day on
which he hunted, and his ears were generally cold and
wet. In addition to these signs of debility, he always
had a damp feel to the hand, down his quarters, in
the stable, after only common exercise, and he sweated
with very little exertion. I gave him some tonic
medicines (bark and gentian root), during the opera-
tion of which the dampness on his quarters ceased,
and he appeared more healthy and vigorous ; but on
leaving off the medicine the symptoms returned. I
then had him clipped ^ and in the course of a fortnight
the good effects were visible. His flesh increased ;
his muscles grew larger ; he did not sweat so soon ;
he dried sooner ; and the dew on his quarters, when
in the stable, was very seldom to be perceived. He
broke out, however, as it is termed, after every day's
hunting as before, and continued to do so till the end
of the season ; neither will anything obviate that,
or put him into condition but being summered upon
hard meat.

^ The beneficial effects of clipping can hardly be over-estimated,
and it should always be done with long-coated horses. — Editor.

P

226 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

It has never yet happened to me not to be able
to get a short coat upon a hunter, or to make him
dry soon, and not break out again after a run, when
summered in the house and subjected to a proper
course of alterative medicines when in his work ;
but should I ever be in possession of a horse whose
state of body renders him liable to such inconveniences,
I would instantly have him clipped. With common
precautions — an extra rug and a hood at exercise for
two or three days after the operation — no danger ^
need be apprehended ; and I will take upon myself
to say that a clipped horse will come out once, if not
twice more in a month, and at the same time keep up
his flesh better, than one with a long, thick coat. Not-
withstanding this, the natural short coat is to be pre-
ferred, and is, 7iinety-nine times in a hundred, to be
obtained by proper stable management.

In the second part of Mr William Percivall's
*' Elementary Lectures on the Veterinary Art" (with
the perusal of which, as far as I have yet gone, I am
extremely well pleased) are some interesting remarks
which apply indirectly to clipping. " The coat of the
horse," says he, " is shed twice during the year — a
phenomenon exhibited with great regularity so long
as the animal remains wild : but as soon as he is
domesticated, this process is influenced by many
circumstances connected with the stable manage-
ment ; though by none, perhaps, more than the
temperature of the stable. Heat," adds he, " is

^ It is a general' practice to clip hunters in the present day. —
Editor.

ADVANTAGES OF CLIPPING 227

absolutely and indispensably necessary to the pro-
duction of a fine coat : cleanliness, friction, and atten-
tion to the general health — aU comprised in good
grooming — contribute to this condition of the hair ;
but the principal, the essential agent is heat, either
generated by warm clothing or conveyed by natural
or artificial temperature. To explain the operation
of heat upon the skin and coat, it must, in the first
instance, determine an unusual flow of blood to it,
and probably increases the circulation of the cutaneous
system ; the natural consequences of which are an
augmentation of its secretions, among others of the
perspirable fluid, and of the unctuous or oleaginous
matter that pervades the hair : this gives a renewed
suppleness to the skin, and a kindly feel and gloss to
the coat. Without the agency of heat, then, it is
absolute nonsense to talk of making horses look well
in their coats. A strong sympathy," however, adds
Mr Percivall, " exists between the skin and the ali-
mentary canal ; and we might ad infinitum bestow our
labour on the former without effect, unless we were at
the same time to direct our attention to the latter."

Now, although Mr Percivall afterwards insists on
the necessity of well-ventilated stables, he com-
pletely bears me out in my assertion at the com-
mencement of my labours on this interesting subject
— " that no horse can look well in a cold stable ;
neither can any hunter be in blooming condition
without the use of alterative ^ medicines ; and that, by

^ The Revising Editor has a profound respect for most of Nimrod's
remarks, but fails to agree with the author when the latter expresses

228 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

some means or other, to be in health, he must have a
short coat, which will enable the perspired matter
to escape."

With reference to clipping, or to short natural coats,
it may not be amiss to observe that Mr Percivall
speaks of horses in certain climates that are hairless ;
and it appears that Mr Sewell,^ in the course of his
visit to the Continental veterinary schools, met with,
at Berlin, " a preparation of the skin of an African
horse, which had not the slightest appearance of a
single hair upon it."

I now beg leave to offer my sentiments on the
operation of clipping the hunter in a few words. /
would recommend every horse to he clipped if turned
out to grass in the summer, as affording the only possible
chance of getting him into condition for hunting till
hunting is almost over ; and I would clip every horse
on which I could not get a good coat by any other means ;
but I should much prefer a natural short coat, close in
its texture, glossy to the eye, a little unctuous or oily to
the touch, and quite free from curl or scurf. I should
then, and only then, be sure that my horse was well.

I should enter more upon the benefits resulting
from this practice had they not been so clearly
defined by a master-hand under the signature of
Equestris. This writer says : " I must own myself
a very decided advocate for the clipping of hunters,
having observed such horses to have had a most

the opinion that a hunter cannot be got into condition without
the use of alteratives.

^ This was the late Professor Sewell.

ADVANTAGES OF CLIPPING 229

decided advantage, during the last season, with the
Cheshire, Sir Richard Puleston's, and Sir Thomas
Stanley's fox-hounds, as well as with the Chester
harriers. Experience and observation are, in this
matter, worth a bushel of a 'priori reasoning ; but
scientific argument and rational explanation are not
wanting to aid and enforce the practice of dipping.
In the first place and to begin with the most trifling
reason — the horse is a pound lighter ; and the coat
affording little resistance to the brush, your groom is
not half so soon fatigued in dressing, and lays double
strength upon the surface. This causes a greater
determination to the extreme vessels, and the in-
sensible perspiration is proportionably increased.
We invariably find a connexion between the action
of the skin and that of the intestines ; and this is
sufficiently evident in a well groomed horse ; the
lacteals of the bowels seem to have a corresponding
action communicated to them — they absorb and
select the pabulum of the blood with increased vigour
— the secreting vessels of the stomach furnish the
gastric solvent more abundantly — the liver more
readily acts, and separates those vitiated parts which
have fulfilled their duties in the circulation, and
require to be thrown out of the system, but in their
transit, in the form of bile, perform other important
uses, in stimulating the intestines to that regular
peristaltic motion which secures a change of particles
to the vessels which absorb the nourishment for the
blood. But the abdominal viscera do not alone
benefit by the more intimate friction which is admitted

230 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

to the skin of a clipped horse. The lungs are wonder-
fully assisted the more the insensible perspiration is
increased the less work for them to accomplish, the
less will be the determination to the internal vessels ;
and consequently the less risk of congestion in the
minute bronchial ramifications of the lungs. Every
man of information knows that most important
changes are effected on the blood in passing through
the lungs : the blood is carried to them in a black
state, or venous blood : it is returned of bright red
colour, or what is called arterial blood. Now this,
we know, is effected by the atmospheric air being
freely admitted to the air cells of the lungs. In
respiration, the air is vitiated, as well as diminished
in bulk.

The groom is universally anxious that his horse
should carry a fine coat ; and, to effect this, the heat
of the stable is to be raised by every means in his
power ; and, in consequence, the formation of am-
moniacal gas takes place, and is diffused through the
building, which, owing to the want of proper ventila-
tion, cannot escape : therefore those highly delicate
and sensitive organs, the eye and the lungs, are
exposed to all the destructive effects, not of the heat
merely, but of the pestilential effluvium raised and
held in atmospheric solution by this heat. When
the horse is well clipped the coat is fine, and lies well
without any trouble ; therefore the groom does not
find it necessary to raise the heat of his stable beyond
a proper point, to effect that which he fancies, but I
do not, to be a sine qua non of good condition — namely.

ADVANTAGES OF CLIPPING 231

a fine coat. Never let us forget that condition is that
state of the body in which the various powers of the
horse are fitted for the most active and useful exertion ;
and this must mainly depend upon the lungs : there-
fore, if the atmosphere contain effluvia not useful in
purifying the blood as it passes through the lungs ;
but, on the contrary, positively pernicious, the volume
of pure air respired must be less fit for the use of the
lungs in an inverse ratio to the heat of the stable. I
hope to see the day when this will be acknowledged by
racing grooms, when I anticipate, that, instead of
the constitution of that beautiful animal, the race
horse, being ruined generally, and unfit for the turf
at eight years old, he will be in reality, what nature
designed, only just come to his prime. As a general
rule, I wish to persuade all grooms to think, whenever
a stable is so warm or so close as to give the slightest
irritation to the eyes of the person coming out of the
open air, it is then not in a fit state for any horse to
breathe, and he cannot breathe it without detriment
to his condition, although I allow it may contribute
to the smoothness of his coat, which is, in my opinion,
a totally different thing.

" A sporting friend of mine, who is always to be
found in the front ranks in the Nottinghamshire Hunts,
heats his stable by hot air, insisting ' that the horse
is an animal which delights in heat ; and being
found in the highest perfection in warm climates, a
warm atmosphere must be natural to him, and there-
fore most proper ' : but I contend, that a horse,
like the Arabian or Persian, always breathing pure

232 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

uncontaminated warm air, with its full proportion of
oxygen, picketed perhaps without any covering, or
at most sheltered from the rain only by a tent, and,
whenever exercised abroad, still surrounded by the
same pure and warm atmosphere, cannot fairly be
drawn in comparison with the English horse, which,
to be useful, must be exposed to every variation of
our variable climate.

" We are keeping our pampered field and turf
horses in a temperature in which we, with the heat
of our bodies only at 98, could not long exist without
inducing disease, either in the active form of fever
and inflammation, or in the more imperceptible,
though equally destructive forms of scrofula, hepatitis,
and a long et cetera of chronic diseases. How then
can we expect that the horse, with the animal heat
at 100° F., and therefore more fitted to withstand cold
than ourselves, should retain his health for many
years when subjected to such murderous discipline ?
Surely the sensations of the animal itself must be the
best criterion of what nature requires ; and I will
venture to say that nine horses out of ten will, if the
stable door be open, instantly walk out into the fresh
air, instead of remaining in the close contaminated
atmosphere, which our wise grooms and their equally
wise masters insist upon being best fitted to bring
the muscular power of the horse to the greatest
perfection.

" I hail with delight any plan, any idea, which,
however remotely, saves my favourite horse from
the horrible discipline of living in an atmosphere

SALT MARSHES 233

where the proper changes and purifications cannot
take place in the lungs, and from the egregious folly
of pampering an animal in a heat of seventy degrees,
when his utility depends upon his being able to
perform his work with comfort and ease in an atmo-
sphere of forty."

" Great benefit has to my knowledge," observes
another correspondent (Snaffle), " frequently arisen
from a summer run in a salt marsh, where a part was
daily flooded at high water, and where the pasture
was not too luxuriant, and the necessary shelter
afforded. It has, I am aware," he continues, " its
disadvantages ; among which may be numbered the
dangers likely to arise from huddling so many horses
together ^ as are generally found in a marsh, and that
it does not suit all constitutions, or, generally speaking,
young horses."

As Snaffle asks my opinion on this plan I readily
give it, acknowledging at the same time that I
never tried it, nor would I recommend anyone to
do so. About two months ago I spent a week with a
friend of mine in Warwickshire, who, amongst all
the agreeable things this world can afford, has three
good hunters in his stable. " Now," said he to me,
" I have found out how to get hunters into condition !
Don't preach to me about hard meat and alteratives ;
but give me a good salt marsh." Going the next
day into the stable, I saw his favourite horse with
a very enlarged hock. " What's this, Will ? " said I

^ There is the same risk (though a greater one) attending any
horses sent to the agistor's. — Revising Editor.

234 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

to his groom. " He was kicked in the salt marsh,
Sir," replied Will. " This is a clever grey horse,"
resumed I to his groom ; " what makes him so thin ? "
" He has been in a salt marsh." " What is the
matter with his hock, that it appears twice as big as
the other ? " " He was kicked in the salt marsh.
Sir." " Are you certain," continued I, " that neither
of them has caught the glanders ? " On his assuring
me that neither of them had, I told him his master
was always a lucky man, or he would not have come
off so cheap. So much, then, reader, for the benefit
of a salt marsh ! But " what is salt without its
saltness ? " is a question which has been asked before.

As I find I have still some opponents to my plan of
summering the hunter in the house, and though some
of them are so feeble that they are scarcely worth a
remark ; yet upon the principle that " Nihil tarn
fir mum est cui pcriculum non sit etiam ah invalido " ;
or, in humble English, that " the strongest things are
in danger from the weakest " ; I shall bring forward
a little more testimony to my aid, as I have it so close
at hand.

In the first place, I rode the horse of which I have
just been speaking one very wet day this last season
with Mr Warde's hounds. I had another horse out
which had been summered in the stable, and which
returned home at the same time with the other — each
drenched with rain. The horse summered in the
stable was dry and had his clothes on in little more
than half an hour ; whilst the one summered in the
field was not dry after three hours' hard labour being

SALT MARSHES 235

bestowed upon him by two stout men. This was the
first week in December.

The following is a still stronger case. In the month
of January 1825, I spent a week with Mr Smith, who
has the management of the Hambledon hounds ;
and as there were no convenient public stables at
hand, he was kind enough to give me two stalls among
his own stud. It so happened that we returned to-
gether one day after hunting ; and whilst lounging
about the kennel, about half an hour elapsed previous
to our going into the house. In this short period the
horse I had been riding was dry, and had his clothes
on ; whilst the heads and fore-quarters of those Mr
Smith and his men had been riding were not finished
dressing, neither were their saddles taken off. I had
the clothes taken off my horse to convince Mr Smith
that he was perfectly dry ; and I need not add that he
expressed his opinion satisfactorily as to which was the
better plan — summering the hunter in the house, or
summering him, as his had been, in the fields.

On talking over this matter with Sir Bellingham
Graham — than whom no man of his years has had
more experience in good horse flesh — he told me that
in the summer of 1824 he unfortunately turned out
an old favourite of his, which had been ten years in
the stable, and he went broken-winded in six weeks !
" Though getting an old horse," said Sir Bellingham,
" I would willingly give one hundred guineas to have
him as good now as he was the day he was turned out." ^

^ British veterinarians do not look upon the " grazing " theory as
a cause of broken-wind. — Editor.

236 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

I could bring forward innumerable instances
similar to the above, but my greatest triumph is now
at hand : — Mr Harvey Combe, with whom I had passed
a few days whilst hunting with the Old Berkeley
hounds, and who, I had previously heard, and was
soon convinced, was a strenuous opposer of the system
of summering hunters in the house, and no argument
of mine appeared to make the least impression upon
him. On the last evening of our meeting, however,
he addressed me thus : "I certainly have opposed
your plan, but I never shut my eyes to conviction ;
and, from what I have seen of your horses, and the
manner in which they have carried you, I shaU not
turn my horses to grass again in the summer."

Meeting with Henry Oldaker the next morning,
on my road to Sir Thomas Mostyn's hounds, I ad-
dressed him thus : " Oldaker, I congratulate you."
— " On what, Sir ? " said he. " Why," rephed I,
" next season you will ride across the country like a
gentleman ; your horses wiU be kept in condition in
the summer." — " Mr Combe told me so yesterday,"
continued Oldaker.

Now, reader, one hundred sovereigns is a very
pretty " find " in any man's pocket, and particularly
so in one which is sometimes drawn a blank ; but,
as I hope for salvation, I would not take that sum
for this admission of Mr Combe's. It had no little
additional weight with me, as coming from a man,
not only a good judge of most things, but a man
remarkable for a natural independence of mind and
manner, which is observable at first sight.

HAY 237

During the months of March and April ahnost all
horses look well ; but I should be unjust to myself
and to the system I am advocating, were I not to state
that all through the early part of the season the con-
dition of my horses was admitted, by all who saw
them with the different packs of hounds with which
I hunted, to be very superior. I should also be unjust
towards my brother sportsmen were I not to inform
them of every circumstance that might contribute
to this superiority ; and one is, the strict attention I
pay to the quality of the hay my horses eat when getting
into condition. As there is nothing like chapter and
verse upon these matters, I now state, that with fifty
tons of hay in my own rick-yard, I sent five miles
for that which I considered much superior, and for
which I gave five guineas per ton.

During the early part of the season there was one
property attending the condition of my horses which
I must be allowed to mention, and which particularly
attracted the notice of my brother sportsmen ; and
that is — the clean appearance of their skins after sweat-
ing. When we see a thick scum, having a resemblance
to paste, hanging upon a horse after profuse sweating,
we may be assured his blood is not in a proper state ;
and this is almost invariably the case up to the end
of February with horses which have been summered
in the fields, and whose blood has not been well
cleansed by alteratives or sweating, of which,
under those circumstances, time will not sufficiently
admit. Some people will tell us they do not
regard seeing their hunters lather when they sweat :

238 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

I never suffer mine to do so in the fields in the
hunting months.

I was much pleased with an observation made
to me by Mr Wilde, veterinary surgeon, of Oxford,
when shewing me his conveniences for summering his
hunters, of which he has a considerable number, for
the use, not of the reading, but of the sporting part
of the University. " That quantity of grass," said
he, " (from loolbs. to i5olbs. in weight) which a horse
eats per day, when left to his own discretion, distends
his bowels, and consequently weakens the powers of
his digestion to such a degree, that, when he comes
all at once to live on hard food, danger from in-
flammatory complaints must always attend him.
As to the evils from grazing to hunters' legs and
feet, those," continued he, " are innumerable. Rest,
and not galloping about, kicking and stamping, is
what hunters' legs require."

Although summering hunters in the stable has
become pretty general in some counties, yet I have
reason to believe that I go one step farther than most
others do, in giving them but a small quantity of
green meat. The advantage, however, of stinting
them in this article of food in the summer is very
evident in the winter ; and I lately proved it in one
instance, by a comparison with a horse out of a stable
long celebrated for condition — namely, that of Sir
Henry Peyton. We had run a fox very sharply with
Sir Thomas Mostyn's hounds for twenty-five minutes,
and came to an awkward check owing to a change
of scent. Observing Sir Henry's horse smoking very

GREEN MEAT 239

much, and the one I was riding not smoking at all,
but getting dry about the neck and shoulders, I rode
up to Sir Henry and pointed out the relative state
of our steeds — at the same time remarking to him,
that hunters should eat but a small quantity of green
food in the summer, and that only at intervals.
Sir Henry's horses have for many years been summered
in the house, eating plenty of com, but I have reason
to believe more grass than is good for them.

I have often been asked what quantity of green
meat I would give a hunter in the summer. My
answer is — as much (repeated at intervals during the
months of May and June) as will relax his bowels
for three or four days together, and then put him back
on his hay. It is a very good plan to mix hay and
grass together ; and in my opinion, vetches (if given
at all) should never be given for any length of time
alone. Soiling animals in the stable is a practice
of very old date, having formed part of the Virgilian
system.

I have also been more than once asked whether
I do not make rather a free use of antimonial alteratives.
My answer has been, that I do so — being convinced
that hunters, which must not be sweated like race-
horses, but which ought to have as much good keep
in them as they have, cannot be got clean in their
habit, and put into proper condition without them.
Of their efficacy I was by accident convinced very
early in life, by a circumstance which occurred in
my own family. My father was a better judge of
books than of horses, but, as a matter of course, had

240 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

always a certain number of the latter in his stables,
though condition was a stranger there. One year,
however, by the help of a Welsh pony, the riff, or
mange, was introduced amongst them, and they were
all regularly dressed over before the saddle-room fire
with sulphurous and mercurial preparations ; and
regular courses of mercurial and antimonial alteratives
were administered to them. The effect of all this
was so great that the old gentleman used ever after-
wards to declare that he never had his horses in con-
dition but once, and that was owing to their having the
mange. The effect, however, was visible for twelve
months afterwards.

It happened to myself some years since to have
a brilliant hunter in my stable ; but of so vicious
a disposition that all attempts to clean, with wisp
or brush, certain parts of his body were attended
with great personal danger. Wishing to avoid
accidents, I always had him washed with warm water
and soap, to which he quietly submitted, and we dried
him as well as his temper would allow us. It then
occurred to me that washing hunters which had very
fine coats might be beneficial, inasmuch as it would
be the means of their being cleaned quickly, and the
effect of the warm water and the friction would be
beneficial to them after their fatigue. I lately found
out, during my visit to Melton, that Sir Henry Good-
ricke had done it for some time past in his stables in
Leicestershire, and had experienced from it the very
best results.

Sir Henry was one of the very hardest riders of

GREEN MEAT 241

the day, and, as such, quite awake to the necessity
of having his horses in condition. Here, however,
he goes one step beyond me ; for he not only gives
his hunters the best hay and oats with their green
meat in the summer (with exercise also), but he adds
beans to their food.

LETTER XVII

DISADVANTAGES OF CLIPPING — TREATMENT — COMPARA-
TIVE EXPENSE OF SUMMERING IN THE HOUSE AND
AT GRASS — FIRING

REWARD sweetens labour." This is a
proverb almost as old as Time, and it
speaks the language of Truth. I have
received so many flattering testimonies
to the benefits derived from my system of summering
the hunter, that I sit down again to the task with
renewed vigour. One individual, however (perhaps
of the description of persons who would not beheve
though one arose from the dead), says he cannot
afford to summer his hunters in the house. I flattered
myself I had succeeded in making it appear, that, in
the end, it were by far the cheaper way of keeping
them ; for, independently of the fact, that four horses
so summered will do the work of five summered in the
fields, should it be a man's object (as the term is)
to keep his money together in his stable, the fascinating
power of high and blooming condition, with firm
flesh and prominent muscle, will alone effect it —
for that will always command customers. For my
own part, I can safely assert, that almost all the good
luck I have had with my horses has been the result

DISADVANTAGES OF CLIPPING 243

of a perseverance in keeping them upon hard meat,
and secure from the mischievous effects of the un-
restrained use of their legs, and the sudden, and
consequently dangerous, changes of this variable
climate — setting accidents quite out of the question.

I have hitherto carefully avoided asserting anything
on my present subject but what has been the result
of experience in my own, or in some other man's,
stables ; and it is my intention strictly to adhere to
this prudent plan. I shall therefore (having tried
it) proceed to give my opinion of clipping the hunter,
which will only occupy a few lines.

Were I to give a good price for a promising young
horse for the purpose of making him a hunter, and
keeping him for my own use, and a man were to come
into my stable and tell me he would give me one-third
of his value if I would have him clipped, I would refuse
his offer. I look upon clipping as nothing but a bad
substitute for good grooming, and an operation
attended with several disadvantages. In the first
place, when once performed it must always be re-
peated ; and in the second, it is a constant eye-sore
to a person who is fond of seeing his horses looking
well, as it effectually destroys that bloom on the skin
which is not only so beautiful, but also so confirmatory
of the sound health of the animal ; and lastly, by
depriving him of the protection which a short thick
coat, lying close to the body, affords him against the
scratching of thorns and briars, it very frequently
causes a horse to refuse rough places in a fence which
he would not have refused before. It is a remedy

244 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

to be sure, or at least a palliative ; but I had rather a
horse of mine should endure the disease it is intended
to relieve, until I could bring a better medicine to his
aid ; and were I to become possessed of a hunter
which required clipping, I would put up with his long
coat and evening sweats, until, by strengthening his
general system, I got rid of the latter, to which the
former is by no means a certain contributor. It is
quite possible — and I have an instance at this moment
in my own stable — for a horse to have a long coat ^
(and some horses at certain periods will not wear a
short coat), but still to look very blooming to the eye,
and dry immediately after a sweat, as is the case with
the horse I speak of. I am not weak enough to suppose
that clipping will not continue to be practised because
one individual disapproves of it ; but I may be
allowed to say I will never after this year practise it
again. The horse I had clipped last winter must now,
I fear, be clipped again, for I abhor the sight of him
in his present state — his coat somewhat resembling
a poodle dog ; but his evening sweats are got rid of
by the method I pursued with him in the summer,
which I shall presently detail. Clipping may be all
very well for those who cannot, or will not, get their
horses into condition by other means ; and to such
only do I recommend it.

^ Two or three of my brother sportsmen have told me that
keeping their horses up in the summer has not shortened their coats
so much as they expected ; but they all said they dried immediately
after coming into their stables, and were not subject to evening
sweats after hunting — a most material point gained. I am happy
to say I have not met with one man who has had reason to repent
having followed my advice.

TREATMENT 245

It may not, perhaps, be uninteresting to detail
the way in which I treated my hunters during the
summer of 1825, taken from minutes made in each
succeeding week. They were six in number, and
their treatment is severally described.

From the regular course of alterative medicine
which my horses go through in the course of the
hunting season, it often happens that at the conclusion
of it there is no immediate call for physic, and such
was the case with them last spring. They ceased
from their labours on the 20th of April, and (with the
exception of one that was fired) continued their usual
food, with very gentle exercise, till the seventh of
May, when they had their shoes taken off and some
grass given them in the day time, but racked up at
night with hay ; and so treated till the nineteenth of
the same month, when they were put entirely upon
hay again. On the eleventh of June they were soiled
again in the day time, till the twentieth of that month,
when they were prepared for physic, which they had
on the twenty-second. From that time four of them
never tasted grass again ; but the other two had a
few vetches (say about an armful) mixed with their
hay every other day till the sixth of July, when they
were all shod, and began gentle exercise. From the
seventh of May, to the sixth of July — a period of
eight weeks and four days — these horses were without
shoes, their feet having been closely pared down ;
and they were thus treated. Nos. i|and 2 were in a
building sixteen yards long by six wide, well littered
down, and with an outlet into a small green-yard.

246 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

in which there was a running stream. No. 3 was in a
covered building, twelve yards long by six wide, one
half littered down, and the other half a well-paved
brick floor, but no other outlet. No. 4 was in a box,
eighteen feet by eighteen, kept quite dark to keep
out the flies, which terrified him to an uncommon
degree. This horse was turned out into a small
paddock forty yards square, about six times in the
course of the summer, after the sun was set, but no
fence we could make would confine him there. No. 5
was fired, and stood in a stall all day, but put into
the paddock in the cool of the evening and very early
in the morning. No. 6 was kept in an airy box, but,
being vicious, was not out in the paddock so often
as I wished her to be. Each horse had three quarterns
of oats per day, and three of them had a single handful
of beans in each feed. Each horse also stood two
hours every day in a clay-box. The clay-box is a
covered building, sixteen feet by twelve, on the floor
of which a waggon load of clay was spread, and about
every third morning two or three buckets of water
were thrown over it. I consider this a most essential
benefit to horses' feet, increased, no doubt, by their
walking a certain distance every day barefoot, with
their soles thinly pared and their frogs well let down
on the ground. On the eighteenth of July they each
had one other mild dose of physic ; and in the month
of August each horse ate half a pound of antimony
— an ounce a day for eight successive days.^ This

* A very sporting character in the North of England wrote to me
last year to ask me whether I did not think the quantity of antimony

COMPARATIVE EXPENSE 247

is all the physic my horses have had since the last
hunting season, nor do I expect they will require any
more till after Christmas ; but they have partaken
freely of alterative medicine, some of them, whose
nature is gross, having had one alterative ball every
week.

Now, then, let us make a Uttle calculation as to the
expense of summering these horses in the way I have
been describing, and compare it with what they
would have cost at grass. We will call the period
nine weeks for the sake of avoiding fractions. When
in work, six horses in my stable ate exactly three
hundredweight of hay per week ; but in these large,
loose places, allowing for waste and better appetites,
we will give them nearly double the quantity, and say
six horses shall eat five hundredweight per week.

Two tons five cwt. of hay, at ;^4 per ton .
Seventy-one bushels of oats, at 4s. per bushel
Beans .....

Six horses at grass nine weeks, at 4s. per week

Difference . . . . . ;^i3 18

Thus it appears that the difference in the expense
of six horses summered in the house, and six horses

here used excessive ? I answered his letter by assuring him that I
had always found the best effects from it. It corrects the acrimony
of the blood, promotes the secretion, and I might almost say ensures
future condition. As a proof of this, it is in some shape or other the
leading article in all alterative medicines for man or horse. A
clergyman in Devonshire wrote to me some time since, referring me
to an article in the EncyclopcBdia Britannica, containing a curious
account of a highly-beneficial experiment on feeding pigs by the
help of this drug.

19

0

14

4

I

ID

24

14

10

16

248 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

summered in the fields, only amounts, after all, to
£13, i8s. ; three pounds of which would at least be
repaid in manure made in the time. As to the sum
of £13, i8s., at least twice that amount would be
realised in the value of any one of the horses if he were
exposed to sale at the commencement of the following
hunting season,

" You are a great man for proof," said a friend to
me a short time since ; " why do you not offer the
following bet to the sporting world, and I will go
your halves ? Let two hunters be tried to within
half a pound of each other, on the 20th of April,
when hunting generally is at an end ; and let one be
turned out to grass on the ist of May, and taken up
on the ist of August, and let the other be summered
on your plan in the house. Give the horse summered
in the fields a stone, and run him two miles for two
hundred guineas on the ist of November." My
answer to this was, that, in the first place, the sum
proposed was unnecessarily large for the object of
deciding the question ; and, in the next place, 14 lb.
was great weight to give ; but as far as one hundred
guineas for the match, and 10 lb. as the weight given,
I was open to any man who would accept the challenge
and think it but fair to say I have no doubt of the
result.

I perfectly agree with my friend in thinking that
on matters of this nature proof is everything ; and
by way of proving the value of condition, I am willing
to expose the history of my own stable, which will
shew that the value of the animal does not consist

COMPARATIVE EXPENSE 249

in the prime cost, but in the effect produced by con-
dition. I have five horses now in my stable, which
cost only one hundred and ninety-four guineas, and
one which cost seventy. For the last-mentioned horse
I have been twice offered 200 gs. and once offered
150 gs. For two of the others I was last season offered
my own price. One of the five I purchased for fifteen
pounds. She was twice sent to Tattersall's, and was
also at half the Commission Stables in London, but,
although got by Walton out of Highland Lass by
Highland Fling, a son of Spadille, no one would offer
five pounds for her, and no wonder — she was a weakly-
looking animal, with a hollow back, a dejected
countenance, and a pot-belly, and said to be half
bhnd. I will shew her (I hate boasting) for sym-
metry, power, and action against anything of her
size ; and I have no hesitation in saying she is equal
to as much weight again as she was when I purchased
her.

When discussing the subject of summering hunters
lately with a friend, who is an advocate for the grazing
system, he made use of the following expression :
" I dare say it may be all very well to keep them in
the house in the summer, but then they have not the
benefit of the rest which they get when at grass." I
could not help smiling at this strange perversion of
facts ; and ventured to ask him whether, if he were
to be examined in Natural Philosophy, and asked
what is rest .-^ he would answer, motion ? and that
would not be a whit less absurd. If rest be desirable
for a hunter's legs after the labours of a winter, surely

250 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

he must obtain it more effectually in a small, confined
place than when suffered to run over a large track
of land, stamping the ground with his feet for sixteen
of twenty-four hours of the day and night. I also
put the following question to him : " Suppose I
were to say to you, I am going to send one of my
hunters as far as York, will you let my servant lead
yours in his hand — would you not think I were mad ? "
He answered in the affirmative ; and I believe he
thought I really was so, when I told him I had rather
a hunter of mine were led to Edinburgh and back,
than that he should be turned out to grass (I mean
merely as far as regards his legs and feet) ; and for
this reason : when travelling on turnpike roads
as they are now formed, a horse has a flat and even
surface for his foot to bear upon, and he might travel
at a slow rate ; but when turned out on hard and
uneven ground, abounding with holes, cart-ruts, etc.,
with the privilege of choosing his own pace, injury
is frequently done to the cartilages of the foot which
is never afterwards removed. My experience has
led me to believe that, in most hunters of a certain
age that have been ridden hard over a country, there
is more or less of ossification of the cartilages of the
fore feet (as well as the large flexor tendon which
passes over the navicular bone), owing to the violent
inflammation the laminae have been subjected to in
the excess of action in leaping, etc., to which these
parts have been exposed. Should this not be the
case, the fetlock joints of hunters are all apt to be
injured, and the ligaments surrounding them become

COMPARATIVE EXPENSE 251

inflamed and rigid, which accounts for their so often
going feelingly (as it is called), though not absolutely
lame, for the first hundred yards from their stable
door. Stepping on sloping, uneven ground immedi-
ately detects this injury ; and what I have said on
this subject leads me to the following conclusion,
which perhaps may be new to some, and rather
sceptically received by others. It is my firm opinion,
however, that if horses had to travel at a moderate
rate — say nine or ten miles an hour — over a road
faced with iron, but presenting a perfectly level surface,
we should have very few horses lame in the feet. It
is a well-known fact that, though they go much faster
now than they did before Mr MacAdam taught us how
to make our roads, there are not half the post-horses
foundered in their feet at the present time that were
so when ruts and quarters abounded in all roads,
and the animals scarcely knew what it was to step
upon a level surface, and have an even bearing for
their feet. Exclusively of the fact of my having
seen many horses which would trot quite sound on a
level, hard road, but would be invariably lame on
that which was sloping and uneven, my mind was made
up on the subject by ocular demonstration in one of
my own hacks, the particulars of which I will give.
Some years since I was in the habit of frequently
visiting a friend who resided twenty miles from his
county town, but who generally rode over to it in
the summer months on the market day, being sure
to meet some sporting friends ; and when I was at
his house I never failed to accompany him. By way.

252 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

as he erroneously supposed, of favouring our horses,
we went about twelve miles of the twenty through
green lanes and fields, or what is commonly called
" a bridle-road," and we always rode fast. In those
days I had a very good hack, which I was in the habit
of riding long distances on hard turnpike roads with-
out ever perceiving any injury to his fetlock joints
or feet ; but it was not so after these twenty miles,
at a quick pace, through these green lanes (in a deep
country, always harder in the summer), where the
foot scarcely ever was indulged with an even bearing,
and the joints always on the twist. When I went
into the stable in the morning I always found his
fetlock joints full and sore, and he invariably went
stiff and feeling upon them when first taken out.
My friend, however (one of the old-fashioned sort),
would never believe that the hard turnpike road
was much less injurious than his green lanes, and for
the reason I have already given : for which reason
I again assert, that I had rather a hunter of mine
were led five hundred miles on a good turnpike road
than that he should be turned out for a summer's
run ; and here I confine myself entirely to the legs
and feet. As far as the great panacea rest is con-
cerned, as also his general bodily health and con-
dition, the journey to Edinburgh would be much
in his favour.

I must now return to one part of my subject on
which I have been (I think I shall prove) unfairly
dealt with by one or two of the Old School, who have
advocated summering hunters in the fields ; and I

COMPARATIVE EXPENSE 253

am more anxious to do so, inasmuch as it relates to
a charge of cruelty towards my favourite animal,
which I should very unwillingly remain under. " How
cruel," they say, " to keep a horse in a prison on
a fine summer's day, and not allow him to snuff the
breeze — to make his bed on his native earth — and
partake of the common enjoyment of Nature ! "
Now, reader, mark what I have to say.

For what reason flies were sent into the world is
not for us to inquire, but here they are ; and one
would almost imagine that a curse, like our own, was
entailed upon the animals they persecute. Certain,
however, it is, that their harassing properties are a
considerable alloy to the common enjoyment even
of those animals (cows, sheep, etc.) which are every
day exposed to the noon-day sun — and this for at
least fourteen of the twenty-four hours in the summer
season. But how greatly must this annoyance be
increased to thin-skinned, well-bred hunters ! And
what will they not do to get away from it ? I will
state a case or two that came under my own observa-
tion in the course of the summer of 1825.

One of my horses, No. 4, I have already said, is
more than usually terrified by flies. My helper came
to me one day, and said he could not go into the box
to him. Knowing him to be a fine-tempered horse,
I became alarmed when I saw him rearing and kicking
to a violent degree, and thought he was seized with
the staggers. At length, however, I espied a fly in a
certain part of his hinder quarters, which was with
much difficulty removed, and he then was quiet as

254 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

before. I endeavoured several times to turn this
horse into a paddock early in the morning and late
at night, but nothing but a brick waU seven feet high
would have confined him in it ; and I should like to
shew many of my sporting friends one fence which
he came over to make his way to his stable door. All
through the warm months of August and September
this horse was obliged to go to his exercise covered
with clothing, and all attempts to ride him with harriers
in October were useless, as he would kick to such
a degree, the moment a fly settled upon him, that it
was dangerous to go near him.

Now, reader, let me ask you what would have
become of this animal (No. 4) had he been turned
out into some gentleman's park for the summer ?
Perhaps you will say he would have become used
to the flies in time. We do not see that thick-hided
buUocks and cows become reconciled to them, nor
do I think it would have been the case with my horse ;
but, allowing the fact, this circumstance would not
have come to his relief until he had most materially
injured his legs and feet by galloping and stamping ;
and as to his body, I am satisfied that it would have
been reduced to a skeleton. No. 6 also, the only one
besides the two I have mentioned which was turned
into the paddock, came four times over the gate,
though bushed up with thorns, to get back to her
stable. So much, then, for the cruelty of keeping
hunters in the house in the summer ! And I think I
may be allowed to say, a prison — if a stable can be
called one — must lose its horrors when its inmates

FIRING 255

make such desperate efforts to return to even its
solitary cells.

It may be asked whether I take any pains to
keep my stables cool ? I answer, none, but those
which are within every man's reach. I open the
air-valves over the horses' heads ; take the case-
ments out of the windows, and darken the stable as
much as I can by placing old horse-cloths against the
windows, which latter method very much contributes
to keep flies from entering, as we know they will not
play in the dark. Another summer, however, I mean
to be provided with straw mats, to fit the open parts
of the windows, which, if made thin enough, will
sufficiently admit external air, and, by being dipped
three or four times a day in water, wiU, by evapora-
tion, greatly cool the internal air, as well as completely
defeat the flies.

Owing to the multiplicity of stables which my
horses inhabit in the course of the winter, my object
has been to keep them as cool as I could ; conse-
quently I did not put the casements into my stable
windows until the 5th of September, when the
thermometer suddenly dropped to 52 in the shade ;
and I kept them naked tiU the nineteenth of that
month.

When in Leicestershire last season, Sir Harry
Goodricke asked me my opinion of firing the hunter.
Now, although I intend to treat upon this part of
our stable discipline as I proceed with my subject,
I told Sir Harry that I scarcely felt myself justified
in giving a decided opinion on the effect of firing, as

256 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

I did not think I had had a dozen horses fired in the
course of my Hfe. I certainly have had wonderful
luck with the legs of my hunters, and I attribute it
to causes which I must not now stop to describe :
but among the chief are, the frequent use I make of
alteratives — keeping away general as well as local
inflammation (the principal causes of almost all
disease) ; also never hurrying my horses in their work
when first getting into condition (the late Sam
Chifney was of opinion that there was as much art
in training horses' legs to stand work, as in training
their bodies to run) ; the frequent use of bandages,
and a loose place after work ; and, lastly, the absolute
rest I give them in the early part of the summer,
which enables the limbs to regain their almost primi-
tive tone and vigour. There are cases which I shall
hereafter speak of, in which firing, however skilfully
performed, is of no avail ; but in justice to the opera-
tion, or rather to the necessity for it — for it is a sharp
one — I have no scruple in saying that, when properly
executed (but the task is frequently difficult), it suc-
ceeds much oftener than it fails. It so happens that
I have two horses in my possession now that I have
fired since I have possessed them ; one because the
sinews were about to give way, and the other because
the legs always filled after a hard day, with occasional
symptoms of lameness — all of which symptoms have
since disappeared ; and in the other case the operation
completely succeeded. Nevertheless, when it can
be avoided it should never be had recourse to ; and
the present system of mercurial charges, applied in

FIRING 257

the summer time to horses' legs, greatly diminishes
the necessity for it. The reader must be aware of the
disadvantage I labour under in treating of so many
subjects in so limited a space ; they must expect,
therefore, that I shall have occasion to return to some
of them at a future opportunity — particularly the
preparing hunters for their work, with the least
possible expense of legs, which can only be done to
advantage with horses of a gross habit of body by
the effect of alterative medicines. As the hunting
season, however, is now commenced, I wish to guard
my brother sportsmen against an evil which has
deprived me of three good hunters in my time, but
which might have been avoided if proper precautions
had been taken — I mean fever in the feet, and other
inflammatory attacks, produced by severe work with
hounds. I do not so much address myself now to
those persons who keep first-rate grooms, as they are
generally awake to this danger ; but many of my
brother sportsmen, who, though equally fond of the
sport, and desirous of keeping in the front rank, may
not have that advantage.

After a severe day every horse ought to have some
gentle medicine, if it were only to keep off fever,
and bring him sooner into the field again ; and, in
general, an alterative ball or a diuretic ball will be
sufficient. Should he, however, appear much dis-
tressed, one of the following balls should be given,
which, by its stimulating quality and its general
effect on the secretions, will greatly tend to restore
him, and prevent ill consequences : —

R

258 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

Ethiops Mineral . . -4 ounces. "■

Diapente . . . .8 ounces.

Balsam of Sulphur . . 8 ounces.

To be made into sixteen balls.

The above, the reader will observe, is one of the
old-fashioned recipes, but they may be assured of its
good effects. It was the favourite nostrum of the
noted Mr Perry Wentworth, and was given to me
by Mr Peacock of Basingstoke.

I conclude my present letter with the following hint.
Last autumn twelvemonth I purchased a mare at
Messrs Tattersall's for thirty-nine guineas. She was
the property of Mr Payne, of Selby Hall, in North-
amptonshire, and, as I afterwards learnt, was sent up
to be sold for what she would fetch, being a tremendous
puller. On getting her home I tried her in all the
bridles I was possessed of, but could make nothing
of her, and was on the point of sending her back to the
hammer, to get what I could for her, when a thought
struck me that I could try what my saddlers could
do for me. Being a man of few words on these
occasions, I wrote them the following note : " Brown
mare versus Nimrod ; you know what I mean." They
immediately sent me down the facsimile of the bridle
Mr Lindo used to ride The Clipper in, which is in
the following form : the length of the cheek is nine
inches ; that of the port two inches and a half ; and
there are three players hanging down over the tongue,
which prevent the mouth from getting dead. When I
first rode her in it she attempted all her old tricks (Mr
Payne told me, in Leicestershire, that she ran away
with him over three gates before he got a puU at her),

FIRING 259

rushing at her fences, and running her head anywhere ;
but she soon found out that she was mastered, and I
now ride her in a common bridle with the greatest
ease. When Mr Chadwick saw me on her one day
last season with Lord Anson's hounds, he observed
the Chpper was the only bridle that was ever made for
a hard-pulling hunter, as, with all its severity, it
never produced a dead mouth — which I certainly
found to be true. Of course it requires a light hand,
or danger would attend it at fences.

LETTER XVIII

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED

IT is upwards of two years since I wrote my
last letter on this interesting subject, but I
now intend to pursue it to its conclusion.
In these my labours I am encouraged and
solaced by one reflection. Four seasons have now
elapsed since I awakened the attention of my brother
sportsmen to a different treatment of their hunters
at the various periods of the year ; and I have never
yet had this cast in my teeth — " / have tried your
plan : I have followed your directions in my stable :
hut I have received no benefit therefrom." On the
contrary, I have had assurances out of number of the
excellent and permanent effects derived from a steady
perseverance in them ; and, as Truth is called the
daughter of Time, I think I am justified in coming
to the conclusion — that I am right. Certain is it I
have had some opponents ; but theory alone has been
brought to bear against me, and that could not stand
long. Classically speaking, we might as well give the
preference to the historian Livy's eloquent account
of Hannibal's celebrated Passage of the Alps to that of
the soldier Polybius, who personally explored his route.
Now, lest I should be deemed presumptuous, I
shall take this opportunity of counteracting such an

a6o

I

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 261

impression. About two years back a hard-riding
Warwickshire sportsman addressed me thus : " We
are highly indebted to you for your excellent plan of
treating hunters in the summer." " Pardon me,"
I said, " it is not my plan ; it was known and prac-
tised before I was bom." " That might be," replied
my friend, " but to yourself is due the credit of having
made manifest what was not made manifest before."
This, then, is the credit I take ; and here ends my
preface.

I am not aware that, at the present moment, I
have anything very particular to add on the subject
of summering the hunter — nothing certainly as far
as theory can direct me ; but a little practical matter
must always be welcome to those who have studs. At
the conclusion of last hunting season {i.e. the season
of 1826 and 1827) I hired Thomas Morris, Mr Hay's
groom, for the Marquis of Cleveland ; and having
heard from several of the very superior condition of
Lord Cleveland's hunters this last winter, I wrote to
Thomas Morris to know how they had been treated
in the summer, and I here transcribe his answer.
** January 2, 1828. My stud is looking as well as any
I ever saw, and all the gentlemen in the country praise
them much. I have not a lame horse among the
twenty-three we have here (Newton House), which
is not often the case in any stables at this period of the
year. Part of the stud were kept in boxes all the
summer, and the remainder were kept in stables all
day, and turned out at night. Each horse had a
bushel of corn per week, and came up very well. I

262 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

never had horses in better condition in my life."
I am proud to think that my labours on this subject
have not been thrown away on so old a sportsman
as Lord Cleveland.

Although in the progress of these letters I may
be again called upon to revert to the ill-effects of
turning out horses in the summer, I shall dismiss it
now with only one observation, which particularly
applies to the misconceived notion of a summer's run
giving rest to a horse.

It is the idea of immortality that apologises for
our sorrows, and renders the present condition of
humanity in the smallest degree intelligible. The
sufferings of animals must ever remain a paradox ;
but here I had better put a finger on my lip — for I
believe we are told God gives no account of His conduct
to us children of men. However, that they are not
exempt from the general curse is too apparent to
admit of cavil ; and among their natural tormentors,
flies may be reckoned first.i

I am not going to descant upon every species of
the fly, from the gnat which plays in the sunbeam to
the pestiferous zimb which depopulates countries,
and whose distant hum strikes terror into the rhino-
ceros and elephant, and makes them coat themselves
in mail ^ to resist him ; but simply of those well-
known insects which so unceasingly annoy our horses

^ Virgil speaks of the moaning of cattle in a state of nature ; and
thus says St Paul : " For we know that the whole creation groaneth
in pain together until now."

^ They roll themselves in mud and mire, which, when dry, coats
them over like armour. The prophet Isaiah speaks of this fly.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 263

and cattle in hot weather in this country. During
a hot day of July, when the sun was at its height, I
walked down to one of my meadows, in which there
were a brood mare, two two-year-olds, and two
yearling colts. There was water — a running brook — in
the meadow, and there was also plenty of shade. But
where did I find these suffering animals ? Did I find
them in the shade, sub tegmine fagi ? No ; the
cestrus was there. Did I find them in the water ?
No ; the blood-suckers were there also. I found
them crowded together in the middle of the field ;
at one time rubbing each other's heads together to
get rid of the smaller flies from their ears and eyes —
the latter highly inflamed ; then stamping their feet
with violence against the ground ; then walking a
sort of figure not very unlike that of a modem quad-
rille ; and lastly — all patience under their suffering
being exhausted — galloping from one end of the field
to the other as hard as their legs could carry them.
And this is what some choose to call rest.

Hitherto I have treated chiefly of the condition of
the hunter in health, so shall now proceed to enumerate
and refer to some of the principal diseases commonly
affecting hunters and other horses.

Vertigo, or Megrims. Curb. Humours, Local and

Broken Wind. Coat and Clipping. General.

Bangs and Blows. Cutting. Lampas.

Broken Knees. Crib-biters. Lungs, Inflamed.

Blisters. Capped Hocks. Legs, Big.

Bowels, Inflamed. Docking. Unnerving.

Bleeding. Foot-lameness and Physic.

Blindness. Shoeing. Roaring.

Corns. Firing. Ring-bone.

264 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

Rowels,

Strains.

Thorns in Legs.

Sinews.

String Halt.

Wind.

Sore Backs.

Salt and Water, its

Ditto, Thick.

Spavins,

Effects on Legs.

Windgalls.

Splints.

Sand-crack.

Worms.

Staked Horses.

Teeth.

Yellows, etc. etc.

Strangles.

Thoroughpin.

VERTIGO, OR MEGRIMS

Affections of the brain and convulsive disorders
are by no means of rare occurrence in horses ; for
instance, the vertigo, or megrims, in coach-horses —
although from a more judicious mode of feeding we
see less of the latter than formerly. Such horses are
unsafe either to ride or drive. This is one of those
obscure diseases that veterinary surgeons have to
protect themselves against when certifying a horse
as sound. It is of most frequent occurrence in
harness-horses.

BROKEN WIND

Once broken-winded, it is almost a waste of words
to say much about him. The only cure is the copper. ^

What broken wind really is, appears to me to
be still somewhat of an undecided point ; neither
have dissections, by the most skilful practitioners,
by any means solved the problem. The best proof
of this is to be found in the several views taken of
it by our ablest writers on the veterinary art, each
differing, and some most materially, from others.
Whether the air-cells of the lungs are ruptured or
not, to this moment appears doubtful ; but such

^ Nimrod's cure is certainly a radical one. — Editor.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 265

must have been the presumption before the com-
plaint was christened. The walls of the stomach are
usually found to be attenuated.^

One point, I believe, is allowed. Broken wind
is ninety-nine times in a hundred preceded by chronic
cough. Now, were I a groom, I should have but little
fear of chronic cough (from which indeed one-third
of our hunters are not at this moment free) ; for
as the said cough is in ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred produced by plethora, occasioned by bad
grooming, improper food, and inattention to the state
of the bowels, I should know what I had to contend
with, and, by regarding it as the warning voice, steer
my course accordingly.

Mr W. Percivall says (Lecture 38), " Exercise — at
least laborious and unprepared-for exercise (an ex-
cellent epithet this) — is an obvious source to which
we may trace disease {i.e. of the lungs)." Nothing
can be more true than this ; yet my experience has
never presented me with an instance of a man taking
his unprepared horse into the field, and (although
thousands have been killed by it) riding him with
hounds until his wind was broken. It is certainly a
general impression that a horse's wind can be broken
by hard riding up hills, etc., but such views are
erroneous. Feeding on dusty or mouldy hay, and
driving immediately after feeding, especially on bulky
food, are very liable to be followed by broken-wind.

If a man has a broken-winded horse in his stable,

^ The pathology of broken wind is still very unsatisfactory. —
Editor.

266 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

and (which is often the case) still finds him service-
able, he tells him, almost as plainly as if he could
speak to him, what treatment to pursue. He must
not be fed on bulky or dry food, and never driven
until reasonable time has elapsed after feeding and
watering.

I have reason to believe there is a great similarity
in the suffering of a badly broken-winded horse and
the human asthmatic. A very intimate friend of
mine was violently affected with asthma for fifteen
years of his life. Although the horse never recovers
his natural health when once he becomes broken-
winded, my friend got rid of his asthma about twelve
years back, and has enjoyed excellent health since.
He attributes his recovery to going to India with his
regiment ; but he has frequently told me no earthly
consideration would tempt him to accept of existence
accompanied by that disease.

Now when we consider, first, how great are the
restorative powers of the horse, and what able hands
the veterinary art is in, we may marvel at no cure
being found for this too-frequent grievance. But
so it is ; and so will the disease be perpetuated as
long as horses are made use of and domesticated by
man. A " double " expiratory effort and a cough are
significant of this complaint.

BANGS AND BLOWS

Sporstmen are necessarily exposed to these evils
in their stables. If the injury be on the sinew, and
severe, the safest way is to give up the horse for the

I

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 267

season. My treatment has always been this : A
dose of physic, and foment till inflammation subsides,
then gently stimulate.

It may be here remarked, that giving up a horse
for the season is pleasanter in theory than in practice.
Admitted : but in the end it will prove economy ;
and let it be remembered, that in all stables of hunters
which are ridden anywhere near hounds, the calcu-
lation scarcely admits of not more than four sound
horses in five. Injuries of this nature are best left
in the hands of a veterinary surgeon.

BROKEN KNEES AND USE OF KNEE-CAPS

I have little to offer here. The first two hunters
I ever possessed having broken their knees on the
road, made me careful in the use of knee-caps for
travelling, when the mischief generally occurs. I can
remember when these things, called knee-caps, were
a constant source of torment, not only for ever coming
loose and slipping down, but seriously injuring the
skin in wet weather.

I have no faith in the various nostrums for the
cure of broken knees. When inflammation is subdued
we must trust to nature for the rest. Mr W. Percivall
tells us (Lecture 33),^ " that if the cutis vera, and
consequently the bulbs of the hair, be injured, a scar,
or bare place, is the consequence — a few light-coloured
or white hairs only growing upon the place, which
appear to be the offspring of defective pulps."

^ A series of veterinary lectures published nearly a century
ago. — Editor.

368 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

A sportsman thinks little of a broken knee in a
hunter, provided the blemish be not very great, or the
action of the joint rendered defective by it. I re-
member selling a horse fifteen years back for a large
price in Leicestershire, forgetting to tell the , pur-
chaser he had a broken knee until the deal was con-
cluded, with the exception of the money being paid.
Scarcely a remark was made by him on my informing
him of it, and he paid me the following morning. A
hunter must be absolutely free from any stiffness of
knees and shoulders.

BLISTERS

I never argue against the use of anything by the
abuse of it : we might as well inveigh against gold
and silver at once ; but I confess I am a determined
enemy to the indiscriminate use of strong blisters.
The legs of many horses are made of such good and
lasting materials that they bid defiance to such treat-
ment ; but can anything be more absurd than the
(I am sorry to say) still prevailing practice of bUster-
ing a sound horse all-fours ^ previous to turning him
up for the summer ? Is not the effect of blister to
excite violent inflammation on the parts to which
it is applied, and consequently to relax the cellular
membrane or skin ? In aU cases of lameness arising
from weakness and relaxation of the limb, their
application must be most injurious ; and to their

^ To blister a horse upon all four limbs at the same time,
is a cruel and useless procedure, though seldom practised. —
Editor.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 269

use do I attribute the ruin of many hundreds of
English hunters.

I was pretty effectually cured of the indiscriminate
use of blisters very early in hfe ; and the lesson, having
cost me a hundred and thirty guineas, made a rather
lasting impression. I roused the sleeping lion, and
could not pacify him again ! I now nearly confine
the application of blisters to bony excrescences in their
very incipient state, among which of course are in-
cluded spavins, splints, and ring-bones ; also to the
external surface of the body, as counteractors of
internal inflammation, or counter-irritants, as they
are called ; and here they avail but little unless very
speedily had recourse to. If judiciously applied in
strains, I do not condemn their use, as they serve to
unload the vessels near the affected part.

Indiscriminate bhstering of horses' limbs, etc., must
be condemned, but the judicious employment of
bhstering agents is frequently attended with the
most beneficial results. Hunters and other horses
do after several years' hard work — more especially
if such animals have been worked before they have
arrived at maturity — begin to get very puffy about
the joints below the knees and hocks, or it may be
at the last named joints themselves.

It is seldom, under these circumstances, that
marked benefit fails to follow the application of a
blister, properly applied. Apart from the utility of
vesicants for such purposes as the foregoing, the
swelling that a blister creates is often of service in
throwing an injured part into a state of repose, thus

270 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

enabling the effused inflammatory products to estab-
lish a fresh bond of union in the meantime.

The most useful blistering agent is cantharides
(Indian blister beetle or Spanish-fly), either as an
ointment or as a liniment.

Mercurial compounds are largely employed or a
combination of these and the foregoing. Iodine
ointment will thus blister and is particularly valuable,
where a joint is at all " puffy " as in bog-spavin, etc.
The addition of an equal quantity of common tar
greatly enhances its value for such purposes.

Before the application of a blister, the hair ought to
be clipped off, the part washed with soft soap and
warm water, and then thoroughly dried. Rub the
blister into the skin for twenty minutes, employing
smart friction.

To prevent the blistering agent from scarring the
parts below, smear the latter freely with vaseUne.

The animal must now be tied up for twenty-four
hours, or else a cradle used.

In the course of three or four days smear the
blistered area with vaseline or some oleaginous
preparation.

BLINDNESS.

Here comes another of the curses on good horse-
flesh. " Although the diseases to which the eye of
the domesticated horse is obnoxious," says Mr W.
Percivall, " when compared in number with the many
set down by opthalmic writers to the organ in man, are
certainly very few, yet there is one among them that

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 271

has proved in all ages of veterinary medicine so pesti-
lential, and that even at the present day so obstinately
pursues its end in spite of all remedial measures, that
this of itself is a sufficient reason for us to become
well acquainted with the anatomy and physiology of
the eye, and pay more than ordinary attention to it
in a state of disease." It is scarcely necessary to
observe the writer here alludes to cataract. Now it
may with propriety be asked, why not remove a
cataract from the eye of a horse as well as from that
of a man ? My only answer is, it has been tried, and
found to be impracticable ; but Mr W. Percivall
plainly tells us why. In the first place, a horse in
spectacles would be awkward even on the road (among
blind ditches particularly so) ; and, after the loss of
the natural lens, art must supply the deficiency. In
the second, cataract being almost invariably a sequel
of inflammatory action, and various other parts being
at the same time likewise the seat of disease, it is
rarely unaccompanied with morbid alterations in
other textures : in fact, adds he, it too often happens
that there is a total disorganization of the whole globe.
Unless, therefore, we can perform miracles as well as
operations, and restore all these altered parts to their
pristine condition, we had better never think of
handhng a cataract knife.

Now, although two years ago I had it in my power
to state that up to that period I never had had a
hunter go blind in my possession, yet I consider this
in some measure fortuitous, and will not suffer it in
the least to diminish the caution necessary in purchas-

272 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

ing highly-priced horses. Of course, although I wa3
once careless enough to give two hundred and twenty
guineas for a horse which had a small cataract in one
eye, I have for the most part examined the eyes of
horses I have been about to purchase most minutely,
and with what Httle skill I am possessed of, in refer-
ence to that dehcate organ ; but I am decidedly of
opinion that none but professional men are able
to give a true judgment upon it, and even theirs can
only safely apply to its present state. " In these
inspections," continues Mr Percivall, " we should not
depart satisfied with barely looking into the organ :
we ought to compare one eye with the other ; mark
the prominence of the membrana nictitans ; the
transparency and convexity of the cornea ; the
pellucidity of the aqueous humour ; the colour and
brilliancy of the iris ; the colour, figure, and size of
the pupil ; the magnitude, blackness, and prominence
of the corpora nigra,^ and last, but not least, of all,
repeatedly mark the activity with which the pupil
alters its dimensions on suddenly admitting light to
the eye. Surely this will convince us that we private
gentlemen are incompetent to this task.^

The following are stated by Mr P. as unfavourable
prognostics : — " a sunken or gloomy aspect of the eye
altogether, compared with the other ; prominence of
the membrana nictitans ; a watery state of the eye ;

^ These small sooty like bodies have been known to cause " shy-
ing" through being displaced from their normal position. — Editor^

2 I have a mare in my possession now, stone blind from cataract ;
but I could sell her to any common purchaser as sound, if he only
looked superficially into her eyes.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 273

dimness of the cornea, particularly around its margin ;
dulness or discoloration of the iris ; corpora nigra,
yellowish or spotty ; pupil smaller than the other,
perhaps hazy or milky, or containing a minute white
speck in its centre, which is incipient cataract."

Whether or not horses are near-sighted ^ I will
not venture to pronounce, although I see no good
reason why a preternatural convexity of the cornea
should not exist, as in man. I certainly have had
several horses which appeared not to be able to appreci-
ate some of the commonest objects on the road until
they came close to them, although they have been
those of everyday occurrence ; and this does not look
unlike it. A hack I purchased in Yorkshire must,
I think, have been thus affected. Although bred in
Yorkshire, a heap of stones by the road-side was an
object of terror to him ; and although I once rode him
over twenty-one in succession, he shy'd when he
approached the twenty-second ; I have also had
horses with apparently very perfect eyes which I could
never persuade to leap flying.

Mr W. Percivall says, " the loss of one eye does
not enfeeble sight, because the other acquires greater
energy, though it much contracts the field of vision."
It is, however, said to render the conception erring ;
and the cause of mis judgment of distances is the one
commonly brought forward to prove this. Now the
following experiment satisfies me, that as far as

^ It is nearly a century since these remarks were penned, but the
observation of the keenly observant sportsman in this matter
is borne out in the present day. — Editor.

S

274 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

leaping fences straight before him, the loss of an eye
is no detriment to a horse. I sit at this present
moment with a pencil-case held just at the end of my
nose, and, shutting one eye, it exactly hides from my
view the handle which opens the door. I shut the
other eye, and the said pencil-case just covers the back
of a dictionary in a bookcase seven feet from the door.
Here then is great error of conception as far as relates
to focal distance ; and if I were to foUow the direction
of the pencil-case it would at one time lead me to the
dictionary and at another to the door, according to
the eye through which I looked at it ; but when I
stand four yards from the window, and have the pencil-
case held up to one of the panes for my view, it does
not appear to vary more than one inch when looked at
with either eye, which cannot at all affect a horse
judging his focal distance at a fence.

Notwithstanding this, and notwithstanding some
of the very best hunters I ever saw have been one-eyed
horses, I do not like them. Unless very handy, and
of excellent tempers indeed, they are apt to strike
trees and gate-posts on their blind sides ; and where
is the horse that at times does not require to have all
his eyes about him ? A twig, or briar, wiU also
sometimes injure the sound eye, and then danger is
at hand. Nothing, however, can exceed the structure
and economy of the eye, particularly as to its pro-
tection from injury ; and so careful has the Creator
been that his creatures should enjoy the blessing of
sight, no animal is produced with less than two. Nor
is this all ; although the image of every object is

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 275

pictured on the retina of each eye, whilst we have two,
yet we do not see the object double, but the same as
if we looked at it with only one.

The horse enjoys a much wider range of lateral
vision than man, and he can direct it backwards,
which the latter is unable to do. This extensive
and varied view not only serves to guide him in
his rambles in quest of food ; but, adds he, since
his principal weapons of defence are his heels, with
what certainty could he have directed their stroke without
this faculty ?

The eyesight of a hunter should be absolutely
perfect, and no professional man would ever dream of
passing such a horse as even usefully sound.

Nebulous deposits upon the cornea ; displacement of
the corpora nigra ; adhesion of the iris to the lens ;
cataract ; amaurosis or glass eye ; ophthalmia and
(in tropical countries) filariae (worms) are the chief
diseases attacking the visual organs.

Necessarily any of the aforesaid abnormalities
constitutes unsoundness and most of these are of a
permanent (ophthalmia, etc., excepted) nature.
When purchasing a hunter, in fact any horse, the
Editor strongly advises gentlemen to have a pro-
fessional examination (not the examination of an
unqualified veterinary surgeon), so that much annoy-
ance and expense may be saved. He is sorry to say
that the selection of horses is frequently entrusted by
gentlemen to coachmen and grooms, who know
nothing whatsoever as to the intricacies involved in
the examination of horses as to soundness.

276 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

BLEEDING

• Error has had full scope here ; but when we consider
that, although the circulation of the blood is one of
the most important discoveries in the whole history
of physic, it has been involved in the greatest diffi-
culties, our surprise will cease, more especially when
we recollect in what ignorant hands the lancet and
phleme are to be found, and often in full practice.
However, as it is on the increased or diminished
velocity of this fluid that health or disease depends,
it is quite evident that a knowledge of those diseases
which are influenced or produced by an increased
action of the heart and arteries, and those which are
the result of a diminution in the vital powers, must
be indispensably necessary to guide the judgment
in the important operation of blood-letting.

The following passage is well worthy of being im-
pressed on the minds of all who are in possession of
horses. The erroneous opinion that bleeding can be
productive of no ill consequences can only arise from
a total ignorance of the foregoing observations. The
practice of abstracting blood under every circum-
stance (which is too common) must be attended with
the greatest hazard and danger ; for in all diseases
attended with a languid circulation, or where there
is a thinness or putrescency of the fluids, blood-letting
must be highly injurious, by inducing a greater degree
of debihty, and favouring the disposition to gangrene
or mortification. Here then is the necessity of con-
sulting the pulse of a horse before his veins are opened.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 277

Certain is it, that a judicious use of the phleme is one
of the most important operations in practice, and our
chief dependence in the early stages of some acute
and dangerous inflammations, for when this has
been copiously resorted to, medicine acts under the
most favourable circumstances, and many lives are
saved by it.

I confess I have never seen much benefit derived
from topical bleeding ; but let it not be supposed
that I mean to deny the benefit of it. I only here
speak from my own experience. One hint, however,
should not be disregarded — bleed in proportion to
strength and powers of life}

CURBS

The term " curb " is applied to a variously sized
convexity a few inches below, and in the same straight
line, with the point of the hock.

One or both hocks may be " curby," and the curbs
equal or unequal in size.

The so-called " curby hocks " are most necessarily
affected with curb, this term being employed to in-
dicate sickle-shaped or over-bent hocks. It is
hocks of this conformation that are particularly prone
to the development of curb. It is chiefly during the
" formative " stage that lameness is present, but the
legacy of the inflammatory action, i.e. the curb, does
sometimes cause recurrent lameness owing to fresh

^ Bleeding is not much practised by veterinary surgeons in the
present day. It is useful in the case of a plethoric animal attacked
with acute pulmonary engorgement, and in the early stages of
acute founder. — Editor.

278 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

inflammatory action being started, They may have
their origin in a blow : but I think we may safely
conclude that, as hunters are more subject to them
than any other description of horse, they generally
proceed from violent exertion of the hinder legs
in carrying weight (sprain) at a rapid pace,
through deep ground, and also from the effect of
leaping.!

Curbs are produced by inflammation, followed by
effusion. Common sense or reason would naturally
prescribe repellent lotions, physic, etc. ; but these
are only auxiliaries. The plan I have always adopted
has been — first, a dose of physic, then immediately
to blister (mildly), and repeat the blister as soon and
as often as circumstances will admit. The late Mr W.
Percivall recommends a patten-shoe being put upon
the foot of the affected limb, in order to relax the
extensor muscles of the hock. I have had, as may be
expected, several cases of curbs in my stable ; but
I have generally found them yield to repeated blister-
ing. I have occasionally worked horses whilst the
disease existed, and still they have progressed towards
soundness. It is an excellent plan to fire curbs and
blister in a few days afterwards. By this, however,
I do not mean to say that curbs are to be made light
of — for, on the contrary, they are very much to be
dreaded ; and I never rode a good run, over a deep
country, that I did not expect to be favoured with
one : and the very best formed hocks are not exempt.

^ There can be no doubt that curb is frequently produced in
this manner. — Editor.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 279

When curb is forming rest is the first essential of
treatment.

CORNS

Horses that work on limestone roads are more
subject to corns than those which travel over gravel ;
but I was not prepared to hear they are in some
measure periodical. The smith, however, who shoes
my horses, shoes about two hundred post and coach
horses ; and he assures me that numbers of them
are affected at particular times, and at others they are
comparatively free from them. " Very wet roads,"
he says, " are one exciting cause."

If we examine the right hand of any hard-working
mechanic, we shall find what exactly corresponds
with our idea of a com. The cuticle of the palm
(as in the case with the heel or the sole of the foot)
grows morbidly thick by the effect of external pressure ;
but this is in reality a different disease from what has
been so named in the horse's foot. In nine out of
every ten horses affected with corns, it is the inner
quarter of the sole of the fore-foot that is the seat
of corn, i.e. the bruise. If recent it is reddish, but
if older, greenish black. It may suppurate.

The following recipe was given me by a very old
sportsman, who assured me of its utility : —

Venice turpentine, half a pound.
Tar, half a pint.
White rosin, one ounce.
Burgundy pitch, one ounce.

^ Any kind of bruise to the horny sole is liable to produce a
corn, and when such is present, it is looked upon by veterinary
surgeons as sufficient ground for rejection during examination of a
horse as to soundness. — Editor.

28o THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

The above to be boiled up and applied daily on a
pledget of tow. Before applying it never fail to scrape
the part with a drawing-knife, and in six dressings
the corn will disappear.^

CAPPED HOCKS

There are several forms of capped hocks varying
from a mere thickening of the skin, to that of actual
disease of the point of the os-calcis, and the causes
operative in the production of this condition are of
a variable nature. Strictly speaking, all forms of
capped hock should constitute unsoundness, being
a deviation from the normal structure of the part.

One or both hocks may be capped, and the size of
the enlargements varies considerably.

Many capped hocks are exceedingly unsightly,
destroying the contour in this region.

Acute inflammation of the point of the hock is
usually the result of direct violence, and is accom-
panied by all the signs of acute inflammation, viz.
increased heat ; pain or tenderness and swelling.

The usual form of capped hock is unaccompanied
by the foregoing signs, with the exception of swelling.

Repeated kicking against the stall post or through
pressure upon the points of the hocks when the
animal is in the recumbent position, are causes of
capped hock.

CRIB-BITING

It has been asserted that this habit or vice, which-
ever we choose to term it, is more prejudicial to

^ The presence of a com constitutes unsoundness, and rightly
so, because lameness frequently arises. — Editor.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 281

character than to bodily exertion. This is in part
true ; for we are all aware how many first-rate horses,
of all descriptions, are crib-biters. In my own stable
I am not able to state that I have seen any ill effects
from the habit, but I have never had a horse very much
given to it, or one which could not be in great measure
prevented by a strap. However, although I last year
gave one hundred guineas for a crib-biter, I have
generally taken the advice which an old sportsman
and excellent judge of a horse whispered in my ear
many years back — " Never buy a crib-biter," said
he : "he is always getting worse." ^

CATARRH OR COLD

It is not necessary to say anything beyond a few
words, in a work of this description, relative to
catarrh. Any veterinary surgeon examining a hunter
(in fact any horse) in soundness wiU either defer his
examination until the animal is better of its cold, or
suspend the certificate until satisfied as to the benign
nature of the catarrh. This is a wise and expedient
attitude to adopt, and the only safe one in the interests
of his clients and himself.

COAT AND CLIPPING

In one of my former letters I have noticed the
changes that take place in the coats of horses ; the
effect the moulting season has on the constitution ;
and I have also given my opinion on clipping, and

^ Crib-biting is frequently the outcome of idleness. It is often
associated with wind sucking. — Editor.

282 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

which opinion I shall never alter. The hair being
a covering which nature has provided for the skin of
animals to protect them from cold, heat, and external
injury, to deprive them of it is an outrage on Nature,
which can never stand its ground ; and although
the practice is on the increase, and although in some
individual cases I do not condemn it, yet, generally
speaking, it is nothing but a substitute for bad groom-
ing and idleness,

Mr W. Percivall's " Lecture (32nd) on the Hair of the
Horse " is extremely interesting to anyone who has
curiosity to inquire into the wonderful operations of
Nature, and the coat of this animal holds a con-
spicuous place even there. Why a horse should change
his coat twice every year it is not for us to inquire ;
but in what manner the change is effected may not be
unworthy of detail.

A hair, it seems, is composed of three parts — the
bulb, the root, and the stem. At moulting time the
pulpy substance at the root of the hair shrinks and
dries up ; the stem, consequently, no longer supplied
with nourishment, loses its support and falls off ; at
the same time a new pulp appears by the side of the
old one, which, during the absorption of the latter,
grows and gives root to a new hair ; so that the root
and stem only, and not the bulb, undergo the process
of regeneration. " The coat of the horse," adds Mr
P., " is shed twice during the year — in spring and
autumn — a phenomenon exhibited with great regu-
larity so long as the animal remains wild ; but as soon
as he is domesticated, this process is influenced by

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 2

many circumstances connected with his stable manage-
ment, though by none more perhaps than by the
temperature of the stable."

With reference to the influence of colour on horses'
coats, the following is worthy of remark. The three
primitive colours — those of which all the other appear
to be either shades or combinations — are white, red,
and black. According to Richerand, the lighter the
shade the finer the hair ; as a proof of which, he says,
there are fewest hlack hairs in a square inch of skin,
more chesnuf, and most light-coloured. " This asser-
tion," says Mr Percivall, " our observation appears to
confirm ; for it is comparatively uncommon to meet
with a black thorough-bred horse, though it is a very
prevailing colour among cart horses ; and the glossy
silken coat, for which the former is so much admired,
is in none more conspicuous than in those that are
light-coloured."

The effect of a good dressing on the coat of a horse,
ripe in his condition, is too well known to require
even a word ; but the cause may not be apparent to
all. It seems there is an unctuous matter emitted
from numbers of that infinity of pores which the skin
has on its surface, which keeps up a constant greasiness
of it ; and this abounds so plentifully in those parts
subject to friction, such as the bend of the knee and
hock, as often, from want of cleanliness, to generate
a troublesome disease. Warmth and friction con-
sequently contribute to the condition of the hair, by
increasing the circulation of the cutaneous system ;
the natural consequences of which, says Mr P., are,

284 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

an augmentation of its secretions, among others of the
perspirable fluid, and the unctuous or oleaginous
matter secreted by the sebaceous follicles. This gives
a renewed suppleness to the skin, and a kindly feel
and gloss to the coat.

I am happy to have it in my power to quote the
following passage, as it is so completely corroborative
of what I have before written on this part of my
subject. " The appearance of the hair," says Mr
Percivall, " may be adduced as a sign of internal
derangement. The fact is, this is one of the most
remarkable instances we have of the sympathy existing
between the skin and the alimentary canal ; and we
might ad infinitum bestow our labour upon the former
without effect, unless we were at the same time to
direct our attention to the latter. Here a dose of
physic, or, what is better, some laxative medicine, is
required to render the currycomb and brush availing
in poUshing the coat of the horse."

On the occasional stare of the coat this accom-
plished writer is worth hearing. " Simply taking
a horse," says he, " into an atmosphere colder than
the one he has been habitually exposed to, will make
the hair stare. Now this can be no other than the
effect of contraction, not of the skin itself, but of the
muscular fibres which adhere to it — the paniculus
carnosus. In truth, it is something simiiixi t*:^ what
happens in the erection of the bristles, though that is
a voluntary act, while this is not dependent on the will.
In the one case cold is the stimulus to contraction ;
in the other, volition."

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 285

I know of nothing to add on this subject, except
the remark, that, although the coats of entire horses
are universally finer than geldings, yet I know of no
superiority in this particular between geldings and
mares. The question why blind horses generally have
a fine coat in winter and a rough one in summer, must,
I suppose, continue to remain unanswered.

CUTTING LEGS

speedy-cut, and Brushing

Or Interfering, as it is called by some. I think
owners of horses troubled with this great fault are
not sufiiciently aware that striking one leg against
the other is often a defect of the upper, as well as
the lower extremity of the leg. In choice of young
horses I have carefully avoided those which hit their
legs, particularly the hinder ones. The speedy-cut
often arises from excess of action, but knocking the
hind legs together is an infallible sign of weakness.
Shoeing may remedy it a little ; but a plain leather
boot is most to be depended upon. Speed-cutting
is a dangerous defect, and it is a frequent cause of
rejection of horses. The Editor also rejects horses
that strike their hind fetlocks (interfere) if the con-
formation of the hind limbs is favourable to this
annoyance.

DOCKING

As nearly every horse used for pleasure undergoes
this operation, it would almost appear a waste of
words to bestow a line on the subject ; but, whether

286 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

it be from the consequent frequency of the operation,
or carelessness after it, I do not pretend to determine,
fatal results sometimes arise from it. Notwithstanding
this, and the severity of the operation, we have been,
I fear, too fond of it in our hunters' stables, and I am
obliged to confess that taking two inches off horses'
tails has now and then put fifty pounds into my
pocket.

Docking colts when at the mare's foot has been
recommended, as, by taking the weight from the
extremity of the tail, it will be carried higher when the
animal arrives at maturity The proper length for the
docks of hunters, or other pleasure horses — at least
those of full size — is eight inches ; which, allowing for
a fourth part of that length in hair, forms a fair medium
between two extremes. A good tail is a great set-off
to well turned hind quarters ; but to my own eye
nothing is more disfiguring than the swish, unless it be
on a well-bred galloway.

Human nature must blush at some of her errors.
When I was a boy, all cart horses were docked close
to their quarters, under the erroneous impression of
making them strong in the spine. At that time of
day, this cruelty was heightened by it being the
practice of farmers, with few exceptions, to turn out
their cart horses in the summer — a system now nearly
exploded in all good husbandry.

DIURETICS

I have sufficient reason to be convinced that
thousands of horses are rendered unserviceable by

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 287

the violent and indiscriminate use of diuretic balls,
and particularly so when given during the time of
their being liable to be put to strong work. Too
great an increase of the urinary secretions very much
impoverishes the blood, and subjects horses to
numerous and often fatal diseases.

On this subject the reader had better hear what
Mr Percivall says in his 55th Lecture. " The general
use of diuretic medicines, coupled with the known
susceptibility of the organ itself, renders the kidney
the seat of frequent disordered function, and now
and then of violent and destructive disease. The
disordered function is probably the result of increased
action, which may or may not amount to inflamma-
tion : if it do not in the first instance, the frequent
repetition of the stimulus does not fail to give rise
to it, most likely in the chronic form ; and this languid
inflammation, which within certain Umits would die
away on a total discontinuance of the existing cause,
aggravated from time to time by the same injurious
diuretic influence, becomes at last established."

In the purchase of hay, and in the management
of my own, I have always avoided having it too much
fermented, or mow-burnt, as it is called ; for, from
its great excitation of the kidneys, it greatly debili-
tates, and produces, in coach-horses, the complaint
termed " the lick," a certain sign of a disordered
stomach, and impoverished habit. Ship oats, or
indeed any that have been heated and become stale,
will have an injurious effect on the kidneys, and for
that reason ought to be carefully avoided.

288 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

It is scarcely necessary to say that horses which
sweat frequently and profusely stale but little ; so
little, indeed, that grooms are now and then appre-
hensive of something wrong, and a urine ball is the
consequence. This proves the sympathy between
the skin and the kidneys, and accounts for the good
effect of our mild diuretic alteratives. Let me not,
however, be supposed to condemn the occasional use
of diuretic balls ; for I am well aware of their eminent
services in several complaints ; and it is by their
power of causing a reversion of action in favour of
the kidneys that we generally remove dropsical swell-
ings of horses' legs. They are also useful to cart
horses, whose robust frames are better able to with-
stand them ; and they are also very serviceable when
an evacuant is wanting (as on a journey), and there
is not time to give physic. Carrots act as a slight
diuretic with horses ; for which reason they are
excellent alteratives.

FIRING

The actual cautery is largely employed by veterinary
surgeons in all parts of the world. Its universal
adoption, is to some extent, a measure of its utihty.
That it has been abused, few, if any, will deny, but
when judiciously employed it has no equal in veterinary
practice. The fore limbs of hunters are often materially
strengthened by a light line or cross line firing.

Point firing (pyro-puncture) is a good deal employed
to such diseases as splint, ringbone, bone-spavin, etc.,
and leaves but trifling scarring.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 289

That firing is a painful operation is indisputable,
nevertheless it is preferable to what may be a greater
evil, viz. lameness.

When a hunter begins to show signs of wear in
his fore-limbs, the Editor advises firing as the best
means of toning up the sinews, etc.

HUMOURS

Theory on this subject has undergone a great change
within the last twenty years. True it is that horses
which live well, and are not properly treated, are
liable to a morbid and vitiated state of the blood,
the virulence of which (the grease for instance) is
sufficiently proved by the difficulty with which it is
got rid of, and the animal restored to its natural and
healthy state. The characteristic strength and vigour
of the horse, however, is amply displayed by the
immense and long-continued local discharge which
he will sometimes undergo, without the constitution
appearing to be much affected by it.

It is well known that a very considerable number
of hunters have passed through my hands, and of
course some of them horses of high character, by the
prices I obtained for them. In short, at one time of
my life, my friends used to tell me, that, from the
frequent purchases I made, there was but a shade
between me and the licensed horse-dealer. It might
have been so ; but we will let that pass ; and I will
proceed to state one fact, which I think I may say is
nearly, if not quite, unequalled in the annals of
horse-dealing — I never had a horse returned

T

290 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

TO ME AS UNSOUND ; and, as I assert this in the face
of the world it is fair to assume that my assertion is
correct. Perhaps it may be asked what has this to
do with the present subject — that of humours ? My
answer is, I kept my horses clean in their habits, and,
barring accidents, consequently sound.

LAMPAS

This term is employed to indicate a fulness of the
palate immediately behind the upper incisors.

Normally, it is very full during the cutting of the
incisors, and very erroneous opinions are entertained
as to its being a cause of a horse not taking his food
properly. The criminal practice of burning the
lampas has long been abolished, and rightly so, being
as cruel as it was useless. If the gums need lancing
at all this must be left to a M.R.C.V.S.

LEGS (big)

What is termed a big leg, is generally the result
of swelling taking place in the sheath of tendons after
violent strains, and those, perhaps, not properly
treated ; also from blows, where the parts become
lined by a thick coat of lymph ; also from a deposition
of morbid fluid in the cells of bones. The bones
themselves, indeed, sometimes become thick from
external injuries — that is to say, the body of the
bone is occasionally found thickened from a deposi-
tion of bony lamina over the original bone. Again,
I read, that bones will sometimes lose their vitality,
and the neighbouring vessels will take on the ossific

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 291

action, and deposit a considerable quantity of new
bone to supply its place.

So much for the theory of big legs. They are eye-
sores, it is true ; but thousands of good hunters and
coach-horses have them, and are as sound as when
they were foaled. Indeed it is a rare circumstance
to see an old hunter's legs quite free from these
callosities, although not so rare since the indoor system
has been pursued in the summer months, as, by the
help of rest and proper regimen, absorption takes
place more freely.

Barring the effects of severe accidents, nothing
more contributes to the general healthy state of a
horse's legs than keeping him internally clean, and
bandaging his legs with flannel after severe work,
so as not only to determine the blood to the skin,
but to increase the circulation of it throughout the
limb. Warm water and a loose box are auxiliaries.
The legs of many hunters, however, will get round,
do what we will with them ; but I would never take
active measures with them unless lameness were the
consequence. Bathing callous legs in cold salt water 1
is very strongly to be recommended. On this part
of my subject I shall quote Osmer, whose sentiments
so accord with my own, and with the result of my
experience in guarding against the consequence of
severe work. " To remove the inflammation of the
glands," says he, " and to prevent an induration and
enlargement of the ligamentous parts, and the integu-
ments of the fetlock joint — the consequence of re-

^ Put two double handfuls of salt into a pail of cold water.

292 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

peated violence — it is a good custom for all sports-
men to cause the joints of a horse, after a day's hunt-
ing, to be weU fomented with flannels dipped in warm
water ; and some warm flannel clothes or rollers
should be moderately bound thereon for the ensuing
night."

Before I dismiss this part of my subject I must
observe, that in nothing do horses differ so much as
in the nature, or rather quality, of their legs. True
it is, that perfect security against accidents is not
consistent with the scheme of Nature : on the contrary,
we may say, a certain insecurity is inseparable from
the delicacy of all animal structure. Nevertheless,
some horses are hard-ridden for several successive
years, and yet their limbs remain uninjured. This
can only be accounted for, I think, by the balance
between the power of exertion, and the capability of
resisting the shock that exertion produces, being pretty
equally divided. For instance, a horse with a heavy
man on his back must receive a severe shock in alight-
ing from a high leap ; but still, if the inert power of
resisting that shock bear a relation to the muscular
power with which he springs at it, he is not likely to
receive injury from it.^ I am not now going to enter
into the mechanical structure of the animal, and thence
to account for the vast difference we find in the legs
of horses ; but I have always preferred those in which
the shank or cannon-bone is short, and which are a

^ This is the case with a man. The elasticity of his hmbs is
always accommodated to his activity. Were it not so, half the
opera dancers would break down.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 293

long time in drying after having been wetted with water.
I also require a large grasp of fiat, ropy sinews, not
caring so much about the main size of the bone, as
the material of the adjacent parts.

NEURECTOMY OR UNNERVING

This operation is performed for the purpose of
prolonging the working power of a horse when it has
become lame through some disease of the limb, such
lameness not being removable by other means. It is
chiefly amongst the poorer classes of horses that the
operation attains its maximum vahie.

Neurectomy does not aim at the removal of the
cause of the lameness, but simply destroys sensation
below the seat of operation.

The forms of neurectomy practised are, viz. median
and plantar. In both operations about half an inch
of nerve is cut out. Median neurectomy is perfomed
upon the iimer side of the fore-arm, practically on a
level with the elbow.

The lower operation is carried out at the back of
the leg, just above the fetlock joint, and its chief use
is to destroy the pain arising from disease in connec-
tion with the navicular bone (navicular-thritis) , more
rarely sidebone. Median neurectomy is chiefly re-
sorted to for obscure lameness believed to arise below
the seat of operation. Of the two operations it is,
probably, the most useful.

When purchasing a hunter care must be exercised
to avoid being taken in with one that has been " un-
done " or unnerved. Loss of sensation — tested by

294 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

pricking the limb with a pin — and the presence of a
scar in the regions named, are worthy of attention
when selecting.

A horse that has been unnerved has no market
value, though it may be marketable; in fact such
animals are frequently disposed of.

PHYSIC

In my second letter on " Condition of Hunters,"
I touched a little upon this head, but promised to
return to it at a future time, it being one of the
greatest importance to all owners of horses. I am
happy, however, to have it in my power to state that,
in consequence of the late general diffusion of veterin-
ary science, the modus operandi is now so much better
understood, that fewer accidents arise from the im-
provident use of immoderate cathartic medicines than
when I first started in life, or when I commenced
writing these letters. When I look back, indeed, and
reflect upon the copious doses of aloes, good or bad,
which we were in the habit of administering, I cannot
persuade myself that the intestines of our horses were
not better lined than they are at present.

The method of administering physic to the horse,
and his treatment in its operation, being now pretty
generally understood, and, I have reason to believe,
practised, under the guidance of moderation and
reason, I shall not dwell on it long ; but the point on
which it is most difficult to decide is, at what periods
it is most advantageous to give it to horses in high
condition. In cases of internal inflammation — to

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 295

which, next to copious blood-letting, we know it to
be the most powerful check — we do not stand in
need of a guide. As an auxihary to condition, it is
acknowledged to be as essential as good hay and
com. But the secret consists in knowing when it
should be given to preserve the condition it has so
much contributed to establish ; and it is certainly
best understood in racing stables, where, amidst what
we might be induced to term the excesses of physic and
sweating, the ultra of condition is to be seen.

The theory of purgation is a subject which it will
not be expected I should enter upon at any length.
Suffice it to say, that the two principal objects are,
to unload the bowels of matter that is of no farther
service to the body, and therefore only an incum-
brance to it ; and to excite a determination of blood
to the internal surface of the intestinal canal, in order
that some of it may be evacuated in the form of
secretion. Thirdly, cathartics increase the influx of
the biliary and pancreatic secretions, and therefore
promote health by their influence on the digestive
organs.

I was much pleased with one of those pithy hints
which Mr Abernethy gave his pupils at a late lecture.
" Gentle medicines," said he, " bring about the secre-
tions ; I do not like to bully the organs into health."
This exactly accords with my ideas of the effects of
physic on horses. I am quite certain that a gentle
purgative should be given to every horse full of hard
meat once in six weeks throughout the year, exclusively
of somewhat stronger physic at particular seasons.

296 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

such as before and after work, and the consequent
changes in quantity and quahty of food. The febrile
heat, occasioned by the severe work we give them,
causes a deficiency in that mucus (as every observant
groom must be aware of, whenever he sets fair his
horses' bed) which facihtates the passage of the food,
and which deficiency of course produces costiveness,
and all its dangerous consequences. I am quite sure
that not only is this treatment beneficial to general
condition, but a means of warding off those inflamma-
tory attacks to which all horses, but particularly
those who eat much corn, are so subject. When
bowels are overloaded no animal is safe ; for the coats
of the intestines lose their proper tone, and a healthy
secretion is denied them.

What I have now said is founded on my own practical
observation, more deeply impressed on my mind by
the several narrow escapes I have had of losing
valuable horses from not paying attention to their
bowels, when apparently in the best of health ; but I
am anxious that the reader should be furnished with
still better authority ; and shaU therefore present to
him the following passage from Mr WiUiam Percivall's
Lecture on Purgation and Purgative Medicines : —

" I shall next cursorily point out the healthy states,
and some of the diseased or disordered conditions of
body, in which we are in the habit of administering
cathartic medicines : for purgatives are sometimes
given in health, as preparatives, or auxiliaries to
putting horses into condition ; whereas they are
never given in disease but to remove that which is

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 297

the cause of the malady, or that which has more or
less influence in its progress or continuance. The
simplest view we can take of the exhibition of a dose
of cathartic medicine is the expulsion of the faecal
contents of the large intestines in a shorter time than
they otherwise would have been discharged. This
is what is called " unloading the bowels," and is
the principal intention in purging horses that have
been recently taken up from grass. But it is scarcely
possible thus to limit its operation ; for every laxative
that we administer must in some degree augment the
intestinal secretions, if not the biliary and pancreatic
as well, and thus remotely be productive of other
consequences. When we improve the condition of
a horse in apparent health by the administration of
alteratives, or laxatives, or cathartics, we are said
to accomplish it by urging the various organs employed
in the digestive process to a more vigorous performance
of their functions ; but if all the meUoration the
animal's constitution has evidently experienced be
duly estimated, this confined reasoning appears to be
inadequate and unsatisfactory. There would seem
to be disorder or derangement somewhere in the
system in all these cases, the removal or rectification
of which, either temporary or permanent, was the
remote effect of the medicine, and that on which its
salutary efficacy depended. How much do a few
well-timed doses of laxative medicine contribute to
restore the condition of a poor horse ! — how in-
fluential soiling is in inducing a thriving diathesis, and
promoting fatness and sleekness, and every other ap-

298 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

pearance of robust health ! — and yet these mehorated
states probably were not preceded by any signs what-
ever of disorder or disease ! And it is in the alterative
and laxative forms that cathartics are so beneficial
in promoting health that appears to be flagging : in
fact, they are effectually, under such circumstances,
veritable tonics."

Again. — " There are certain manifestly disordered
states of body also in which laxatives are preferable to
purgatives in full doses. In all cases of habitual
pursiness or thickness of breath from previous organic
disease, in broken wind, in evident imperfection of the
digestive process, and in some cutaneous affections,
their judicious exhibition will often be found to be
eminently serviceable . ' '

As nothing that I can write can so satisfactorily
account for the operations of properly-applied
cathartics, or laxatives, as auxiliaries to the condition
and the general safety of horses' health, I shall con-
clude this part of my subject by saying, that I never
used any kind of oils as laxatives to promote condition ;
but have found great benefit in two drachms of
Barbadoes aloes, with one drachm of ginger, made
into a very small ball, and given (generally) two
mornings in succession. From five to seven drachms
of Barbadoes aloes is sufficient for any hunter pro-
vided that the animal be duly prepared beforehand by
giving it several warm sloppy bran and linseed mashes.
Six drachm physic balls should always be kept in
stock by the stud groom, and the best balls are those
obtained from a veterinary surgeon.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 299

RING-BONE

It has three times happened to me to have horses
lame without being able to ascertain the cause,
and on sending them to veterinary surgeons for
examination, the answer has two or three times been
— " incipient ring-bone." No ring-bone, however,
appeared.

Horses with short unyielding pasterns, that have
been worked on hard roads when young, are most
subject to this disease — and a most formidable one
it is : for nothing but the red-hot iron has any chance
to contend with it, and even that will not always do.
A very small excrescence at the junction of the pastern
with the coronary bone will sometimes produce
violent lameness, and resist all remedies ; whereas
another as big as one's fist is comparatively harmless.
In 1820 I gave a farmer in Worcestershire £80 for a
horse with a ring-bone as big as half a twopenny loaf.
He had, in consequence, been sold for £15. After
riding him a season I sold him for £150, and he was
never lame afterwards from that cause.

The presence of ring-bone necessarily would condemn
a hunter, in fact any horse. A horse may have this
disease of the bones on one or both fore-feet, or it
may be, on the hind, though more frequently the first-
named. In some instances very large ring-bones are
present, yet the animal remains free from lameness.
Considerable differences of professional opinion fre-
quently arise as to the presence or absence of ring-bone,
spavin, etc. The term ring-bone is often used as indica-

300 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

tive of any enlargement about the fetlock, pastern,
coronet, etc.

ROARING

Here is one of the very deep curses on good horse-
flesh, and nearly as destructive as foot-lameness.
How many hundred — aye, I may say thousand —
otherwise fresh, young, and sound horses have I seen
afflicted with this disease, and therefore, in most cases,
useless for fast work ! I am happy to say, however,
it has been my good fortune never to have had a horse
turn roarer in my own stable, having entered it sound ;
and I only purchased two, which cured me of going
to that market again. One nearly broke my neck
at a fence, having entirely lost all his powers in the
space of five fields ; and the other I christened The
Bull, for he could have been heard half a mile off if he
got into deep ground. Notwithstanding this, I have
seen two brilliant hunters that were roarers.

ROARING, WHISTLING, GRUNTING, ETC.

Roaring, and its modification, whistling, are ab-
normal respiratory sounds, and exceedingly common
amongst horses of every class.

1 Both sounds vary in their intensity, according to the
degree of disease present. Many hunters are affected,
though they continue to do their work, but no wise man
would ever think of purchasing such a horse were he
aware of its existence. If a hunter is not sound in
his wind and sight, his value becomes reduced to
whatever he will fetch. The mere fact of one man

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 301

buying a roarer, or another man purchasing a hunter
with defective eye-sight, yet both of these continuing
to do their work as well as others, sound in these
respects, is not the slightest argument in favour of
advising anyone to buy a horse with these infirmities.

Nothing short of given away prices should be an in-
ducement, and the bargain ? may be a dear one at this.

Too much care cannot be exercised to ascertain
soundness of wind and sight.

Many hunters are sold with this warranty — perhaps
the only recommendation their vendor can give.
Roaring may be developed quite suddenly. A horse
may be passed as sound to-day, yet become a rank
roarer to-morrow. Any professional man, after
considering the various causes of this defect, will
support the Editor in this opinion.

In the majority of instances this abnormal sound is
due to fatty degeneration of certain of the laryngeal
muscles, whereby the adjusting mechanism of the
larynx (air inlet) is interfered with. The functions
of the nerve (left recurrent) may be aberrated. Morbid
growths in the respiratory passage are other causes.

Sometimes a pedunculated growth near the glottis
becomes displaced, and occludes the latter, temporarily
or permanently. Morbid growths in the nasal passages
are occasional causes of roaring, and occasionally
strangles leaves the latter as a legacy.

Grunting — when an attempt is made to strike a
horse, is regarded as suspicious of roaring or whistling.
It is not necessarily an indication of this, because some
horses will grunt and yet, on testing, prove perfectly

302 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

sound in their wind. Moreover, a horse sometimes
grunts in acute pleurisy.

THE TEETH AND AGE

In a work of this description it is not necessary to
enter into a detailed account relating to the horse's
teeth, and its age as judged from an inspection of
the same.

Briefly, the Editor wishes to say that a horse has a
temporary or sucking set of teeth, and a permanent one.

The temporary incisors make their appearance
in " pairs" and are subsequently replaced in " pairs "
by the permanent ones. There are a central pair,
a middle pair, and a lateral or corner pair, and these
make their appearance in the order named. Therefore
the upper and lower jaws have each six incisor teeth.

In horses — exceptionally in mares — there are four
tusks, but these are permanent from the commence-
ment, but do not appear until about the age of four
years, and are weU up at five years.

There are twelve temporary molars — three in each
jaw — and these are called the first, second, and third,
in order to distinguish them from the fourth, fifth, and
sixth, that subsequently follow, but are permanent.

When the dentition of the molars is complete, this
makes the number twenty-four.

The first pair of temporary incisors appear shortly
after birth. These are the centrals, to be followed
in about a month by another pair — the laterals — and
by the time the foal is six months the corner temporary
incisors will be in the mouth.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 303

These changes occur practically simultaneously
in the upper and lower jaws, but when judging the
age of a horse — up to eight years at any rate — it is
usual to inspect the cutting surfaces of the lower
incisors only, and to some extent by viewing the teeth
when the mouth is shut. A yearling has a complete
set of temporary incisor teeth, and these continue to
wear until the animal has turned two years.

There is a great deal of difference between a sucking
or temporary incisor tooth and a permanent one. The
former are smaller, whiter, and don't show the same
well-marked groove on their front face that the per-
manent incisors do.

The reader will soon know the difference if he
examines the mouth of a colt that is two and a half or
three and a half years old.

The first pair or centrals are replaced shortly after
the colt has turned two years (two years and a quarter,
say), and these central permanents are about half way
up at two and a half years, and then tables come into
wear at three years. The laterals are replaced just
about one year later, three years and a quarter,
developing in the same manner, followed by the
corner permanents at four years and a quarter, fully
up at five years.

This completes the permanent dentition of the
incisors.

The subsequent changes are noted by inspection
of the " tables " or cutting surfaces of these teeth.
It is at the ages of six, seven, and eight that particu-
lar attention has to be paid to the wear and shape of

304 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

the tables, and the alteration (together with its sub-
sequent obliteration) in the shape of the " mark "
(bean). This mark is practically worn out at twelve
years. For a full description of the age of the horse,
the reader must refer to some book on dentition of
animals, such as that by F. T. Barton, M.R.C.V.S.

SALT

In my younger days the grand specific for a bad
sprain in a horse's sinews was a cataplasm made of
common salt and white of egg mixed with vinegar and
oatmeal. Salt is now, however, put to other purposes
and given internally to all sorts of cattle with very
excellent effect ; and appears likely to be as much
esteemed among the essentials to the well-doing of
the brute race in our day, as it was formerly of the
human. I really think it a good alterative — par-
ticularly in the cart-horse stable, where I have ex-
perienced its good effects, by increasing the urinary
secretions and preventing humours. When applied
to horses' legs in the way in which I have before
spoken of it, it will be found beyond expectation
efficacious : I mean, bathing legs in cold salt and
water, to promote absorption, and to reduce enlarge-
ments from blows, sprains, etc.

SAND-CRACK

It is somewhat curious that the only instance of
sand-crack that ever happened to my stud was to
a new hoof — never shod — on a mare that had been

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 305

at grass nearly twelve months, and to which case I
have before alluded. From so many years' adherence
to the indoor system, with all descriptions of horses
which have fallen to my lot, mine would have been
the stables which many persons would look to for
this destructive disease ; whereas it does not produce
one single instance. I was early in life nearly per-
suaded that unctuous applications were injurious to
hoofs ; but my experience soon gave me proof to
the contrary.

Sand-crack may appear in either the fore or the
hind feet, and be partial or complete.

In the former case the superficial horny tubes of
the hoof wall are merely split across, whereas in
complete sand-crack the fissure or crack penetrates
throughout the thickness of the wall.

Sand-crack always begins at the top of the hoof,
gradually extending in a downward direction. The
simplest form of such cracks (spurious sand-cracks)
very often begin at the lower edge of the wall in the
fore feet, but they are not of much significance.

The wall of the hoof is thinnest towards the
quarters, and it is here that sand-crack generally shows
itself in the fore foot or feet. In the hind feet it is
usually situated at the toe. There are, however,
numerous exceptions. Sometimes it causes lame-
ness, constituting unsoundness.

SPAVINS

I have possessed several hunters with what are
called blood-spavins (a preternatural expansion of the
u

306 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

vessel passing over the hock), but I never regarded
them, as I have always found them harmless. I
have also had several horses with every appearance
of hone-spavins — that is to say, bony enlargements
of the inside of the hock joint. It has been my good
fortune never to have suffered by their presence, no
lameness having been produced by them. Some
years since I sold a hunter for a good price in Mr
Tattersall's yard. " Do you warrant him sound ? "
said he. " To be sure I do," replied I : "I have
ridden him nearly three seasons, and he has never
been once lame." " But he has two bone-spavins,"
resumed Mr T. "I know he has," was my reply.
The horse remained sound, and gave his owner the
greatest satisfaction.

A bone-spavin consists of a variable-sized enlarge-
ment upon the inner and lower aspect of the
hock, affecting all classes of horses, from that of the
" Sheltie " to the Clydesdale.

The bony deposit represents the legacy of an active
inflammation of the bone and its covering (periosteum)
at the area of the spavin, i.e. the enlargement, the
latter varying from about the size of a marble to that
of a child's fist, but size bears no relationship to the
degree (if such be present) of lameness. In other
words, a horse may have a huge spavin or spavins,
yet remains perfectly free from lameness, whereas
a trifling spavin sometimes causes persistent lameness.

Hence the reason why veterinary surgeons lawfully
reject a spavined hock or hocks. The professional
examiner necessarily attaches greater importance

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 307

to bone-spavin on a horse required for fast work,
than the same on a cart-horse.

Age has also an important bearing when estimating
future probabilities. The Editor would never dream
of passing a horse having bone-spavin as sound,
irrespective of age, work, breed, etc. The client
must take the risk if he decides to purchase.

The chief difficulty in determining the existence
or non-existence of bone-spavin is when both hocks
are enlarged at the seat of spavin, more especially
if the animal has large, clumsy hocks. Even expert
opinions differ under such circumstances as these,
so that it is not very likely that the non-professional
will be able to satisfy himself in a case of this kind.

The term occult (hidden) spavin-lameness is used
when it is believed that there is a degree of inflamma-
tion at work, chiefly confining itself to the smaller
bones of the hock joint, without leaving the residue
of the inflammation at the usual seat of spavin.

A bog-spavin — as the names implies — is a puffy con-
dition of the whole hock. It is a misnomer to employ
the suflix " spavin " to a hock in this condition.

Again, the term " blood-spavin" is used when the
vein passing over the front face of hock appears more
prominent than usual. Such is not the slightest
detriment to a horse, and it is wrong for any man to
reject a horse for such, in fact were I the seller, I
should oppose such opinion, and very stoutly too.

Hereditary predisposition has, it is believed, some-
thing to do with the appearance of bone-spavin.

Perhaps I may attribute my not having suffered

308 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

by spavins to the great attention I have paid in my
purchases of horses to the proper form of the hinder
legs. I received a lesson on this point in very early
life, and never lost sight of it afterwards. There is a
particular formation of the hock joint which, in severe
work, will nearly ensure either spavins or curbs.

The proper way to examine the hocks of a horse is
to stand in the front of him, and look at them, as it
were, between his forelegs, likewise view the hocks
in profile.

SPLINTS

A splint consists of a small deposit of bone, com-
monly situated at the back of the upper third of the
canon bone. Like spavin, the splinty deposit is the
legacy of a circumscribed inflammation of the bone,
or structures intimately connected with the latter
(ostitis and periostitis).

At least 50 per cent, of the lighter breeds of horses
have splint, and its presence is a frequent cause of
rejection. Splints vary in their size, situation, number,
and shape. Veterinary surgeons attach a great deal of
importance to the situation of a splint or splints,
likewise the class of animal, its age, and the nature
of the work it has to perform.

When splints are located close to the knee, few
veterinary surgeons would recommend the purchase
of such a horse. The worst forms of splint, in the
Editor's opinion, are those tiny deposits immediately
below the knee that abrade or press upon the soft
structures adjacent thereto.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 309

These minute splinty particles often produce obscure
forms of lameness in the fore-Hmb, and require very
careful manipulation to detect their presence. They
are easily overlooked.

Strictly speaking, it is the duty of every veterinary
surgeon to reject for splint, because one can never
give a positive forecast as to what may or may not
happen. Moreover, it is a deviation from the normal
condition, no matter whether it interferes with the
present or future utility of the animal — the latter
having been given as a legal definition of soundness.

Sometimes the splinty deposit is on the outside of
the canon bone, but towards the front of it.

When examining the limb for splint, care must be
taken not to confuse the button of the splint bones
(inner and outer) with splint. The Editor remembers
a horsekeeper asking him to look at a cart foal born
with splints, but it was the buttons of the splint
bones that were very prominent that deceived the
innocent — one must add ignorant — horsekeeper. The
writer was thankful that he had sufficient of that
necessary commodity — tact and modesty, not to let
the horsekeeper appear such a simpleton before his
stable subordinates.

Lameness through splint is not at all uncommon,
though mostly occurring during the formative period.

STAKED HORSES

It may be readily supposed that, from the number
of years I have followed fox-hounds in the strongest
inclosed counties of England, I have witnessed the

3IO THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

death of several hunters by dropping short at their
fences, and ahghting with the belly on the points of
dead stakes, or live growers, either of which will have
the effect of letting out the intestines ; neither does
it require a deep wound to do this, as the rim of the
belly is but thin. Once in particular I saw a most
distressing case, which occurred when Mr Corbet
hunted Warwickshire. Towards the close of a very
fine run, a brook presented itself to our career. Four
of us charged it in a line, and got well over ; but as we
were going, best pace, over the next field hut one, Will
Barrow, the huntsman, called out to Mr Tarleton, of
Bolesworth Castle, Cheshire, to this effect : — " Stop,
Sir ; your horse's guts are out." On looking at him,
I saw his intestines hanging down to the ground ;
and, it is almost needless to add, I saw his remains on
their road to the flesh-gallows the next morning.

Now previously to the arrival of a veterinary
surgeon, there is only one thing to be done by a horse
which is staked. The protruded intestines should be
replaced as carefully as possible ; and, without any
time being lost, a pocket handkerchief should be applied
to the orifice so as to prevent the admission of air.^
The saddle should be taken off ; and by means of the
girths tied together by the pocket handkerchiefs of
friends — for generally some of the field pull up on such
occasions as these — a bandage over the part should be
formed. The horse should then be walked quietly
to the nearest stable, and there await the arrival of

^ Injuries of this nature nearly always call for immediate destruc-
tion of the animal. — Editor.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 311

medical aid. In case the intestines do not protrude,
this is, I beUeve, as safe a plan as can be pursued.
Staked wounds upon the chest, shoulder, etc., ought
to be washed with some antiseptic and a veterinary
surgeon immediately sent for.

STRING-HALT

There has been a good deal of speculative amuse-
ment about this rather common defect ; but the
ablest practitioners of the veterinary art are, I believe,
quite at sea as to the cause, ^ or cure. I never saw but
one horse with the string-halt in the fore-leg. He was
going about five miles an hour in a baker's cart, and it
gave a singular appearance to his action. The baker
told me he was not a shilling the worse for it, for the
purpose he put him to.

The following is my own experience of string-halt.
I purchased a horse in Ireland for £25 which had it in
both hind-legs to a great degree, but no horse could
beat him over the Kildare country with the little
parson on his back, who was the owner of him. I sold
him to Colonel Wardle, who rode him several years.
He afterwards became the property of a brother-in-
law of mine, who rode him till he reached his twenty-
sixth year. He was then shot with whole stockings,
for I really believe he never fell down in his life. I
am much inclined to think the peculiar action of horses
thus affected renders them safe on the road. Mr
Benson bought a horse, called Jack-Catch, from me,

^ The causes of string-halt are vsiriable, though in many cases
of a very obscure nature. — Editor.

312 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

when he hunted in Warwickshire, and I beheve he
was never better carried — the horse continuing sound
for several seasons, although he had string-halt to a
considerable degree in one hind-leg. I once had a
hunter which had it in both his hind-legs when being
" turned over in his stall," as the grooms say, but never
when out of his stable : and I had also a cart mare
much afflicted with it ; and here it is an evil. On
the road it is no detriment to her ; but at plough,
when going very slow, it breaks the uniformity of
her action, and consequently interferes with that of
the others. Several good race-horses have been
partially affected by string-halt.

SPRAINS OF TENDONS, ETC.

Although all muscular and ligamentous parts are
liable to lameness, horses are seldom lame above the
leg. Nine times in ten the injury lies between the
knee and the ground. I have no reason to complain
of injuries to my stud from sprains, having experienced
very few bad cases. I can only recollect breaking
down one hunter (by a down-leap on to a hard road),
and one hack — a thorough-bred one, who broke down
in both hind-legs at the same moment, when going
at the rate of fifteen miles an hour on a turnpike road.

There has been a wonderful deal of nonsense written
about sprains in horses' legs ^ — such as preternatural

^ " A sprain is a preternatural extension, or forcible elongation,
of the tendons, or a sudden twist of some particular joint, by which
the ligamentary junction sustains an injury, and produces lame-
ness. Horses having encountered such accidents should be turned
out in^a^still and quiet pasture, where they may be free from alarm

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 313

extension, and forcible elongation, of the tendons,
etc. etc. ; but as long as I have been enabled to consult
my reason on such matters, I have always treated
a sprain as a violent inflammation of the part, and
done all in my power to repel it by fomentations,
cooling lotions, and a dose or two of physic. Rest —
absolute rest — however, is the grand specific : and
does not the animal tell us this ? for when a
horse goes lame, is he not then resting the injured
limb?

Blistering and firing, as I said before, are coupled
together like two hounds, and one or the other of
them generally is resorted to in the cure of bad sprains.
If there is enlargement after inflammation is subsided,
some stimulant must be used ; but, since I have
experienced the effect of the mercurial plaster, I am
quite out of conceit with blistering. If firing must
be resorted to, the operation should not take place till
some weeks after the injury has been done.

Bad riders are very apt to lame their hunters in
riding them over a country. If it were possible to
give every man a good hand on his horse, there would
not be so many lame ones as there are.

and disturbance. When at unrestrained liberty, it is natural to
conclude they adapt the gentleness of their motion to the state
of their case, and exert themselves no more than a proper respect
to their own safety may render secure. It is a self-evident fact,
that a restoration of elasticity or strength of part is more likely
to be obtained by rest, and the efforts of nature, than any topical
application that can be made ! " (Taplin's " Sporting Dictionary.") '

1 Although this paragraph foot-note is derived from a very old book, it does, never-
theless, express the state of affairs admirably. — Editor.

314 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

SORE BACKS

Saddle-galls

It is many years since I have had occasion to dis-
continue the use of a horse by reason of a sore back.
Common attention to saddles (made by good saddlers),
by drying, beating, and brushing the pannels of them
after use, is all that is wanted here. Heavy women,
however, and many horsemen, from a peculiarity of
seat, are apt to wring horses' backs. The skin also
of some horses is so tender that it will gall with very
slight pressure. Strong repellent lotions, if the skin
is not broken, are the best means to apply at first ;
but if a sit-fast takes place, either the knife or some
very strong detergent ointment must be had recourse
to. I have seen some very awkward cases of sore
backs, proceeding from various causes, and often very
difficult of cure. They require a nice treatment, and
veterinary aid should be timely called in. One of
the best preventatives of saddle-gall is that of leaving
the saddle on for about an hour or so after one comes
in. This allows the back to gradually cool.

STABLES

Having, in a vast number of instances, seen horses
produced in very bright condition from very in-
different stables, I was for many years of my life very
indifferent about the structure of them. Few men,
however, have put their good and bad properties to
the test more than I have done, in the roving life
I have generally led with my horses in the winter

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 315

months. It may appear strange, but in my younger
days, I cared little what sort of a building my horses
were put into, provided I had it in my power to stop
up every hole and crevice about it, and as nearly
as possible approximate it to a hot-house. As for
ventilation, I never dreamed about it ; neither did
I consider it at all essential to the health of my stud.
All I can say is, that with such fearful odds against
me, I had no inflammatory complaint in my stable
until I had been an owner of hunters for more than ten
years, during more than eight of which my daUy
morning salutation to my groom in the winter was —
" Well, Ned, is the stable warm and comfortable ? "
" Pretty well, Sir." " That's right, Ned : put lots
of dung outside the door ; stop up every crevice over
their heads ; stuff the foot of your old stocking in the
key-hole ; and mind there is no cracked pane in the
window." Now it is quite evident that Ned ^ and
his master were two ignorant boobies ; notwith-
standing which their horses looked, and were, well.
I must also add, that this practice was not confined
to my own stable, but was in pretty general use with
some of my neighbours, who liked to see their horses
look bright and well ; and furthermore, I am quite
satisfied inflammatory attacks were not more frequent
or fatal among hunters at the period I am speaking
of, than they are at present.

* This Ned. it must be observed, was a most excellent groom,
and, having served me faithfully for nine years, obtained ;£ioo per
annum wages as hunting groom, and now keeps a very respectable
inn.

3i6 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

In a small pamphlet on the Diseases of Horses}
the writer chiefly attributes what may be termed
the indisposition of horses to the improper construction
of stables ; and for which he considers the county of
Salop to be notorious. " The consequences," says
he, "of an ill- ventilated stable are of a very serious
nature ; they are not calculated upon until your horse
points them out in language not to be misunderstood ;
and, unless the most active measures are adopted, the
rapid progress of the diseases produced by it will baffle
all your endeavours, and your horse become unsound
for life. When a stable is too much crowded or ill-
ventilated, a very powerful poison is generated there —
the pernicious effect of which soon shews itself,
especially if you bring a fresh horse within its sphere of
action." Mr H. then proceeds : "A hunter is brought
from grass in full health ; he is put into a crowded,
ill- ventilated stable ; in the course of the night, or on
the following day, he is seized with a violent shivering ;
irritation in the throat follows, with a cough, difficulty
of breathing, and inflamed eyes." Mr H. now produces
some cases of horses thus affected, which, however, we
can only look upon as the natural consequence of
bringing a horse, which for three or four months has
been breathing fresh air in his pasture, all at once to
respire the hot and stimulating atmosphere of a
crowded or ill- ventilated stable.

Now notwithstanding my conviction of the high
temperature in which a horse kept all the year round

' By Mr Edward Hickman, V.S., etc., published in 1823, and
dedicated to John Mytton, Esq.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 317

in the stable will live and enjoy the highest health,
yet my common sense points out to me the necessity
of the means of ventilation. These means, however,
should, for hunters or race-horses, be limited. No
streams of air ; no broken windows (for a horse
should stand in an equal temperature, and this he can
never have if the windows of his stable are broken, as
it will then depend on the point the wind blows from) ;
but small wooden tunnels, ascending through the roof,
the tops of which should be constructed so as to
prevent the rain descending through them.

It does not require a philosopher to point out to us,
that, when the air of any building becomes more
rarified than the external air, a wind or current of air
is pouring in from the crevices of the windows and doors,
to rest the equihbrium ; but the hght air with which
the room is filled must find vent, in order to make
way for the heavy air which enters. This fact is
proved in the following way, and has often been the
sport of children. If we set a door a-jar, and hold a
candle near the upper part of it, we shall find that the
flame will be blown outwards, shewing there is a
current of air flowing out from the upper part of the
room. Now if we place the candle on the floor, close
by the door, we shall perceive, by the inclination of
the flame, that a current of air sets into the room,
and therefore the flame will be blown inwards. In
fact, the current of warm Hght air is driven out to
make way for the cold air which enters ; and this,
I believe, is the case in the grander scale of Nature.
The light air about the equator, which expands and

3i8 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

rises into the upper regions of the atmosphere, ulti-
mately flows thence back to the poles, to restore the
equiUbrium,

The influence that cold, combined with humidity,
exercises over the animal economy, is too well known
to be dwelt or enlarged upon, and I never yet saw
a horse produced in perfect condition from a cold and
damp stable. The latter evil property is not sufli-
ciently appreciated ; but, very early in life, I saw its
baneful influence, A friend of mine, residing under
the Broadway hills in Worcestershire, paid the greatest
attention to the condition of his hunters, but never
could attain it there, although, to the eye, his stable
was everything we could desire, and it was warm and
well-ventilated. When his stud moved to Stratford-
on-Avon in Warwickshire, where his stable was very
inferior to look at, they immediately improved in their
condition. The fact was, the first-named stables were
damp, although he drained them ; and the latter
were dry.

Mr Percivall (Lecture 38) says — " He that has
clean and cool stables will have a healthy stud ; and
the converse of this will never fail to engender disease.
Above all other considerations then, in taking the colt
from his natural state, it behoves us to guard him
from the vicissitudes of cold and heat, and to keep
him in an atmosphere as pure as that of which we
have just deprived him." This is strongly in favour
of the regular in-door system, for we know the out-
door system is anything but regular : yet, with great
deference to Mr P., he has gone a Uttle too far here.

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 319

In the first place, it is impossible to keep a stable as
pure as the open air ; and, in the next, it is by no
means essential to a horse's health that it should be so,
or that he should be kept cool — on the contrary if a
hunter or race-horse. I maintain the contrary on
experience ; and affirm that a temperature of sixty-
two or sixty-three is almost essential to the perfect
condition of horses. Here, with respect to the race-
horse, I am backed by Mr Darvill in his treatise on
" Training the English Race-horse," who says that
thorough-bred horses, which have originated in a
hot climate, are not to be got into racing condition
unless kept in a stable of a certain temperature of
heat, which he estimates at sixty-three.^

Another writer on the diseases of horses says :
" The moment parturition is accomplished, the sub-
sequent existence of animals depends so much on
respiration that they enjoy health, activity, and
vigour, or become enfeebled, emaciated, and diseased,
according to the degree of purity or the state of
contamination of the atmosphere in which they
breathe. For it is to be observed that the air, in its
passage through the lungs, undergoes a decom-
position— the oxygen, or vital part, being absorbed
by the blood ; and with this fluid carried to every part
of the system, to which it imparts life and vigour.

I have good reason to believe there is no vapour
which acts more offensively on the eye-sight than

^ Mr Darvill properly observes there should be a thermometer
in every stable, which should be consulted before it is shut up at
night.

320 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

animal excretions ; and our own feelings convince
us of this whenever we enter a dirty stable. Here,
however, a great change has taken place in the practice
of grooms, and a most beneficial one it is to horses
under their care. The old plan was to put a very
large bed of straw in a horse's stall twice a week, re-
moving very little of the foul litter at other times.
The consequence was a great accumulation of offensive
matter, the greater part of which is now removed
every day, and fresh straw supplied. Another im-
provement has also suggested itself. The truss is
cut through with a hay-cutting knife, which makes
the straw go much farther, and for this obvious
reason — when it is of tolerably long growth, one end
of it gets stained, whilst the other is quite clean ;
but in this case, of course, it must all be thrown out
together.

Apologising for this trifling digression, I proceed
to state that a clean, wholesome, warm, and dry
stable is a great desideratum in getting horses into
condition ; and, although I would not carp at trifles,
yet if a person were to say to me, " I will build you
stables for eight hunters for your own use," the follow-
ing should be the plan.

I would have two four-stalled stables, in which
I would keep only six horses — i.e. three in each ; and
I would have a loose box at the end of each. If
possible I would have a southern aspect, with windows
opening from the top or downwards, or else on a
pivot in the centre, and placed so high in th^ wall
that, when open, the air may be circulated through

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 321

the stable without affecting one horse more than
another ; and the height of the interior should be
only twelve feet in the clear. I would have the stalls
paved nearly flat, with only a trifling inclination to
the centre ; each of the stalls should be no more than
six feet wide.^ There should be at least twelve feet
behind the horses, and the exterior walls and doors
should be very thick. The wooden partition walls
of the loose boxes should be only nine feet high, with
wooden bolts to the doors ; and each box should not
exceed ten feet square. The saddle-room, well fitted
up with saddle cupboards, boiler, etc., and quite apart
from the stable. Of ventilation I say nothing, that
being a matter of course ; but I would have the sides
of the stalls nine feet high at the head, with small
iron racks, and pillar reins for each horse to be dressed
in. I should always be very particular about the
stall-posts ; for these are very frequently the cause
of severe injury. When I went to see the King's
stables at the new palace at Pimlico, I was astonished
to see almost every other horse in them with capped
hocks. On inspecting the stall-posts I perceived
the cause. They were of fluted stone, and with
angles, which proved that Mr Nash knows nothing
about the inside of stables. Stall-posts should be
made of wood, quite smooth and circular ; and they
should extend to the ceiling, or at least ten feet
high.

Methinks I hear the question asked — Would you

^ The drainage should be surface, and the floor composed of
roughened cement, etc. — Editor.

X

322 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

not have more loose boxes ? A trifling addition
converts each stall into a box. Two bars, from the
two centre stall-posts to the wall, convert these stalls
into loose places, quite sufficient for the purpose we
require of them ; and the horse that is loose is pre-
vented, by a very simple contrivance, from annoying
the one that is tied up. In the stables of Sir John
Dashwood King, at Halton House, Bucks, I first saw
this used. It consists of a light cast-iron guard,
hitched to the stall-post in the first place, and then
to the top bar or rail, and extending only far enough
to prevent the loose horse touching the quarters of
the one tied up with his mouth, which otherwise he
would be inclined to do : thus it is evident that, out
of eight horses, four may always be loose, which, in
my opinion, is quite sufficient for horses in constant
work. One little improvement, however, may be
suggested here. To one of the loose boxes at the
end there should be an outside door ; then, in case
of a horse expected home out of stable hours, he may
be taken into his box and dressed without disturbing
the stud.

When we consider that after every hard day's
work with hounds an effusion of lymph takes place
in all those parts which are exposed to severe friction,
it is unnecessary to remark that the sooner absorption
of that lymph takes place, the sooner is our horse fit
for work, and the less liable is he to become injured
from the effects of bangs or blows which his legs may
have received. Now an admirable auxiliary here is
the power a horse has, when loose, to shift his position

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 323

as often as he feels inclined, and to put his whole
frame into motion, to the very great relief of all the
muscles and joints in his frame. Loose boxes are
also recommended for mares in the spring of the year,
for reasons too obvious to specify, and for all horses
labouring under disease, or lame, and for such as
carry very heavy weights.

The permanent objection to loose boxes for general
use consists in the great space of ground they occupy,
so that it is impossible to keep a large stud loose. ^

LEAPING BAR

In the leaping bar, weights are suspended at the
extreme ends ; so that in leaping, should a horse push
or strike against the bar, it bends down to the earth
before him, and he infallibly clears it, even if he were
not to leap a foot high. As some horses may not be
disposed to leap when they have discovered the trick
of the bar, it may be loaded with more weight, and
they may thus be punished into the performance.
The bar may also be fixed by bolting it with a little
bolt shot into the side posts. The notches in the
posts are to receive the axles of the bar, to raise or
lower it as required. This may be said to be a sort
of cockneyish contrivance, but I think there is merit
in it : and I am far from condemning the use of
leaping-bars, as it is so much the fashion now not
to consider a horse a perfect hunter unless he will
leap timber in a stand.

^ The value of isolated loose boxes cannot be over-estimated. —
Editor.

324 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

THORNS IN LEGS AND STUBS

There are few cases of mechanical injury to which
the horses of fox-hunters are more hable than thorns
in their legs, or stubs in their frogs or fetlocks. With
thorns, of course, the first point to be desired is extrac-
tion, but then it is often difficult to find the seat of
them ; also, when the seat of them is found, they are
not always easy to be got at, in which case I have
never been sparing of the knife or lancet. Sometimes,
however, we are compelled to wait for suppuration,
which must be encouraged as much as possible. In
two instances it has happened to me that four or
five gatherings of pus have been collected and dis-
charged before the thorn would make its appearance —
it having been, of course, deeply seated. I have the
point of a black-thorn, three-quarters of an inch long,
now in my possession, that a hunter of mine carried
nearly a whole season in his fetlock joint, causing
suppuration after every day's work. He was a game
horse, or he would not have worked sound with it,
which he never failed doing when he had got a mile
from his stable.

The following case will shew how necessary it is to
cut and search for thorns when there is every reason
to believe a horse is lame from that cause. Some
years since I sold a mare to an intimate friend for a
good round sum. The second season he lamed her,
and, after having been severely fired by the late Mr
Walton, V.S., of Shiffnall, she was turned out for the
summer. When she came into work again the follow-

CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 325

ing autumn, a large black-thorn issued from between
hair and hoof ! She was then sound ; but it availed
nothing, for she caught cold at grass, became a
roarer, and this capital mare — for there were few
better — was thus rendered useless from want of proper
management.

More hunters are ruined by stubs or splinters of
wood running into their legs and feet than by thorns.
Indeed, when we reflect on the many hundred times
in the course of a season that hunters, ridden in close
woodland countries, alight, from high banks, on ground
nearly covered with sharp-pointed stubs, from which
faggots, stakes, etc., have been cut, we must confess
our surprise that accidents do not oftener happen.
Many good horses, however, are, I fear, annually
lamed by being stubbed, as we call it, many of which
are so far injured as to be destroyed.

In the first place, there is no judging of wounds
but from appearance and locality ; therefore a
description of them is useless. Add to this, it so
often happens that ligaments, tendons, or nerves
become wounded, the treatment of which — fatal con-
sequences being always so near at hand — requires
all the skill of the regularly-bred veterinarian, who
alone is fit to direct it, and observe the attempts of
Nature in their progress. Contused and lacerated
as the parts are from accidents of this nature, we cannot
be surprised at the violent inflammation which too
often ensues. Wounds about the elbow, etc., are very
liable to be followed by an accumulation of air beneath
the skin.

326 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

THOROUGHPIN

A thoroughpin, if present, is situated at the back
of, and just above the point of the hock. It shews
itself as a bulging or slight distension, either upon the
inner or outer side, but when manipulated with the
finger, the latter by pressure causes the bulging to
grow larger to either one side or the other. In plain
language, the fluid can be pressed through from side
to side, hence the name — thro-pin, from whence
the term thoroughpin has been derived. Sometimes
both sides bulge. It constitutes unsoundness, but
very rarely causes lameness, yet nearly all veterinary
surgeons reject horses having it.

Far too much importance is attached to this simple
matter.

BURSAL ENLARGEMENTS

Wind-galls

Puffy swellings in the neighbourhood of joints
and tendon sheaths have been, though erroneously,
termed wind-galls.

Such swellings are specially common at or about
the fetlock joints, but by no means confined to these
situations. It is very seldom that a bursal enlarge-
ment causes lameness. Horses that are prematurely
worked, or horses that are hard-worked, commonly
show swellings of this nature about the joints.

The hock and knee are frequently affected. If
large, the movement of the joint, etc., is hampered.

THE HUNTER

SELECTION— CONFORMATION— AGE
BY FRANK TOWNEND BARTON

THE HUNTER

SELECTION— CONFORMATION— AGE
BY FRANK TOWNEND BARTON

PROBABLY there is no other class of horse
that requires the exercise of so much sound
judgment as that appertaining to the
selection of the hunter.

Keen perceptive powers, combined with ability
to try the animal as to its suitability to the country
in which it has to be used, are indispensable.

A hunter may perform its work satisfactorily in
one country, but, when taken into another, may give
an indifferent, if not a bad account of itself : thus,
for instance, the stiff fences in the Melton country
present obstacles not equalled in any other.

In selecting a hunter, colour seldom plays any part,
and one sees horses of almost every colour in the
hunting field ; the old maxim coming into play " that
a good horse can never be a bad colour " ; though,
of course, individual preference sometimes dominates.

Bay, brown, light or dark chestnut, and grey are
the principal colours, more especially bay and brown,
with either white or black points : most chestnuts
have white, usually about the legs.

With reference to age and height, much will depend
upon circumstances. Weight-carrying hunters are

3»9

330 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

always more difficult to procure, and command higher
prices, especially if brilliant performers, several
hundred guineas frequently being paid for such.

Boys' hunters may range from 12^ to 14.2 hands in
height, whilst for short, light-weight men, 15^ hands to
15.3 hands may be taken approximately as the height ;
but the height of a hunter is quite subsidiary to that
of its build, although, as previously stated, the nature
of the country in which the horse has to be used
must be the guide.

Where the fences are high, tall horses are necessary,
but build must not be sacrificed to this.

Some hunters are nearly 17 hands, but a short man
on a tall horse never looks well, either in or out of
the hunting field, and most hunting men value their
appearance in the saddle, more especially if the meet
is attended by ladies.

When selecting a hunter pay particular attention
to its conformation — good conformation being of
paramount importance, whilst action is equally so.
Both are more important than even absolute soundness,
though the writer beheves and always advises the
selection of the soundest animal obtainable.

The head should be light, a heavy head in a hunter
being most obj ectionable ; the forehead straight ; the
eyes large and full ; the ears erect, thin, and covered
with thin hair ; whilst the skin covering the head
and face should also be thin, rendering the various
prominences upon the skull easily felt, and readily
seen.

The high-class hunter should have a mild, keen.

SELECTION 331

and extremely intelligent facial expression, impressive
of alertness to a degree.

The country is full of half-bred hunters with no
more expression on their faces than that of vanners,
and such horses can be picked up at all sorts of
prices.

The neck must be long, narrow towards the poll,
giving an oblique carriage to the head, a lofty carriage
being undesirable in the hunter. As the shoulders
are approached, the neck should perceptibly increase
in width, be of moderate thickness, and clean along
its upper border, with a closely- cropped mane. Many
hunters are very weedy in the neck, and if this is the
case, the horse is unable to recover itself in the event
of a fall, as the muscles of the neck materially assist
in raising the fore-part of the body, in its attempt to
regain balance.

The upper border of the neck should pass into high
withers, and most of the best hunters are high in this
region.

The back and the loins of medium length, whilst
the latter must be broad and clothed with powerful
muscles, passing into neatly turned quarters — the
so-called "goose-rump" being of objectionable con-
formation.

The chest must be deep ; in fact, it is a sine qua non
that a hunter should be " well-hearted," i.e. have
plenty of space for the free play of heart and lungs
under extreme exertion.

A slightly flat side is a recommendation, though
the ribs must not be short, otherwise the horse be-

332 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

comes " tucked up " or " washy " in appearance.
When selecting a hunter the intending buyer must
fix his eyes upon the shoulders, not only whilst the
horse is at rest, but also when jumping, as good
shoulder action is one of — if not the most important
points in a hunter. In action it must be free and full,
yet fine withal ; because if the shoulders are logged
up with muscles (heavy shoulders), the free action
of the joint is interfered with, thus preventing the
animal from freely bending itself at the jumps.

Width of chest is not requisite, and often means
bulky shoulders.

Arms strong and powerful ; fore-arms of good
breadth above, ending below in broad-jointed, clean-
cut knees, not necessarily without a blemish ; in fact,
some of the best hunters have the so-called " banged "
knee or knees, which, unless it interferes with the
animal's utility, is merely a blemish, and ought not
to be allowed to handicap a clever horse in relation
to sale, though blemishes usually call for a slight
reduction in the price. A stiff knee is certainly
detrimental, so also is a low daisy-cutting action, as
such horses have no power to freely flex and extend
their joints during the leap.

The cannons, fetlocks, and feet demand special
examination. The so-called " clean " legs are in-
dispensable, and every horseman knows the meaning
of this term, which implies skin, bone, and tendon,
felt — or seen and felt. If a hunter's legs are of this
description there is little fear that they will fill up
after a heavy day's work.

CONFORMATION 333

The fetlocks must be free from disease and capable
of full flexion ; from here we proceed to the pasterns ;
and the intending buyer must keep his eyes open, as a
great deal of information can be gained from the
conformation in this region, though some latitude
must be allowed in the case of aged hunters, more
especially if they have done a lot of work.

The ideal pastern is one with a moderate degree
of obliquity — broad in front, deep from back to front,
and well rounded at the sides. It must be covered
with thin skin (clean pasterns). Pasterns that are
too oblique, too long, or light in bone, are of bad
conformation, whilst short, upright pasterns are
extremely objectionable, and generally the result of
lameness, more especially if one pastern is short and
upright, and the other oblique. Do not purchase a
hunter with pasterns of this description.

Windgalls, ringbone, and other exostoses are very
common about the pasterns, and, of course, fatal
to a horse's value (excepting the first-named). An-
other point of importance is the tendency, through
premature wear, or, it may be, through too much
work, of the fetlock joints to become puffy, but in
these cases the fore limbs will probably be over-
bent.

Much the same remarks are applicable to the hind
fetlocks and pasterns.

The feet must be sound — concave on their lower
surface, proportionate in size, of good slope, well
open at the heels, neither contracted nor cracked,
both representing unsoundness.

334 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

No mention has so far been made of splint in this
letter, which, if present, is situated between the knee
and the fetfock — usually at the back of the cannon.
Although this constitutes unsoundness, the age of the
animal, and the position of the splint, must be taken
into consideration.

Particular attention must be paid to the hocks and
to hock-action ; in fact, the hocks represent, not only
the horse's safety, but that of the rider as well.

A good hunter should be able to flex and tuck its
haunches under it almost as freely as a man can bend
his arm, and this it cannot do if one or both hocks
happen to be spavined, swollen, or their free play
interfered with from any other causes. The hock-
joints must be broad and deep from front to back,
clean in outline and covered with thin skin, neither
too upright nor yet overbent, forming an obtuse
angle with the gaskin above and the cannon below ;
if the angle is too acute, the hock becomes overbent —
the so-called sickle-shaped hock ; whilst, on the other
hand, if the angle be too obtuse, it tends to straighten
it — " upright hock," which is often thick, and want-
ing in that cleanness so essential in typically-formed
hocks.

The first and second thighs must be neatly turned,
and clothed with powerful muscles.

In addition to critical inspection the ensemble of
the hunter should be that of a thin-skinned, big-boned,
small-headed, fine-shouldered, deep-chested, clean-
limbed animal, with a neatly-turned, compact body,
and having a facial expression of great keenness.

AGE 335

docility, and quick perception, all which the bom
hunter must not only possess, but be able to apply
such according to circumstances.

Although the author does not intend to trespass
upon the subject of soundness in the hunter, he
cannot refrain from mentioning the importance of
three essentials — viz. sound sight, sound wind, and
a sound heart.

If a hunter's clock is not sound, a catastrophe is
almost sure to happen. If its sight is defective it is
very liable to misjudge distance, or to make a false
jump. If its wind is not normal, it not only becomes
an annoyance to its rider, but it is liable, under severe
exertion, to sudden collapse.

We refer to roaring, yet willingly admit that many
roarers are excellent hunters.

Temperament plays an equally important part, not
only for the safety of other horses, but also for that
of the hounds, likewise the rider, as more than one
man has been kicked to death by his own horse, after
a fall from it.

The moral is, avoid purchasing a vicious hunter.
Abilities to perform necessarily stand pre-eminent
— otherwise no hunter.

An elderly gentleman, or one of nervous tempera-
ment, ought to select what is known as a " seasoned "
hunter, say a gelding at seven or eight years, that
has been carefully used ; and much the same remarks
apply to the ladies' hunter ; but younger men
generally prefer a hunter of about five years, very
often schooling it themselves for, say, two years.

336 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

Cheap, old, and worn-out hunters, with httle or
no action, are practically valueless, and judges are
quite right in keeping such low down in the prize list
in jumping competitions, no matter how cleverly
they may perform their work. A hunter at six years,
if it has been judiciously used and derived from the
right stock, ought to be in its prime, and, if clever,
its price may be anything from eighty to several
hundred guineas ; but absurdly high prices are often
paid for horses not worth one-tenth their value, and
if Nimrod's remarks have been digested there will
be no difficulty in appreciating the truth of this state-
ment.

Before concluding this chapter, those in search of
a hunter, or stud of hunters, must try the animals
themselves, under all conditions, because some
hunters will jump very differently in cold blood to
what they do when following hounds.

Some hunters are tremendous pullers, in fact, defy
all attempts to hold them, and such are only fit for
dare-devil riders.

One cannot be too careful concerning the selection
of a ladies' hunter, as she is placed at tremendous
disadvantages.

There is a remarkable difference in temperament —
one hunter will probably rush at his fences in a reck-
less and headstrong manner, whilst another will even
walk to its jump and clear it in a businesslike manner,
as instanced in the case of a horse seen by the writer ^
at the Olympia Show in 1907.

' Frank T. Barton.

AGE 337

Such a horse as this is invaluable to an elderly
gentleman, or timid horseman.

One hor^e may be particularly good at timber, but
fail at water, where width and height are combined
as a jump.

There are multifarious sources for the purchase of
hunters, but by far the largest proportion are bought
and sold at Tattersall's, though of course care must
be exercised to note the conditions of sale, as all
horse repositories — no matter whether in London
or in the provinces — are filled with " all sorts and
conditions " of animals. It must also be borne in
mind that a steady and brilliant hunter is an extremely
scarce commodity, and will always command a ready
sale, either in or out of season.

THE END

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INDEX

Action of the hackney de-
scribed, 15

Action, importance of, 20

Advantages of cUpping, 223

Age, 333

Animals, the most timid, hardest
to tame, 5

Arabia, three classes of horses
in, 9

Bangs and blows, treatment of,

266
Barmaid, a favourite hunter,

care of, 184
Beans, proper allowance of, for

hunter, 58
Bleeding, importance of, in lung

congestion, 166
Blindness, general observations

on, 270
Blistering, observations on, 103

its uses, etc., 268

Bran mashes, use and abuse of,

94

Breeding, the principles of, well
understood by Virgil and
Pliny, 1 1

no branch of rural economy

more neglected than, 20S

Broken knees, remarks on, 267

Broken wind, caused by im-
proper use of hay, 96

considerations on, 264

Canter, the favourite pace of

road riders, 19
Capped hocks, notice of, 280
Catarrh or cold, treatment of,

281
Clipper, the, 14
Clipping hunters, considerations

on, 195
advantages of, 231

Clipping hunters, benefits result-
ing from, 229

disadvantages of, 243

Colt, treatment of, 211

Combe, Mr Harvey, a convert
to the indoor system of
summering hunters, 236

Condition, preliminary remarks
on, 22

Dr Johnson'sdefinitionof,25

importance of, 26

the effect of, 23

the work of time only, 55

the beneficial consequences

of good, 61

Conformation of the hunter, 331

Contracted feet of " Hermit,"
a hunter, 134

Corns, nature and treatment of,
279

Crib-biting, 280

Curbs, nature and treatment of,
277

Cutting, causes, etc., 285

Cyrus, devotedness of, to horses
and horsemanship, 10

Diet, essential point to be at-
tended to, 58
Disease, navicular, 140
Diuretics, use and abuse of, 286
Divine wisdom, infinity of, i
Docking, 285

Eleanor, performances and
produce of, 12

English horses, the breed of,
improved by William the
Conqueror, 1 1

Equestrian art, by whom first
cultivated, 8

Evacuation, periodical, neces-
sary to preserve health, 117

340 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

Exercise, instruction regarding,

122

advantages of walking, in

summer, 151
benefits resulting from, 210

Farmer, an opinion upon the

treatment of hunters, 1 1 1
Farmers, advice to, re breeding

horses, 208
Feet, contracted, effect of

disease, 128
Ferryman, a hunter, particulars

of, 65
Firing, remarks on, 288
Flannel bandages, utility of, 82
Foals, early treatment of, 209
Forrester, Mr, of Willy Hall,

anecdote of, 28
Foulness, distinctive features of,

163
treatment for, 167

Goodrich, Sir H., treatment
of hunters in summer, 255

Goosander, notice of, 74

Grafton, Duke of, turf winnings
during the year 1822, 12

Graham, Sir B., opinion of the
indoor system, 235

Green meat, advantage of stint-
ing hunters in, 239

Groom, necessary qualifications
of, 97

Grosvenor, Lord, a great
breeder of race-horses, 1 1

Hack, difficulty of procuring a

good one, 13
requisite qualifications of

a safe one, 1 3
mode of trying the paces

of, 16
Hard meat versus green meat, 107
Hay, daily allowance of, for a

hunter, 58

on the improper use of, 96

the best kind of, for

hunters, 189
Hay and water, the proper

allowance of, on the day be-
fore hunting, 80

Health, the three great points

to be attended to in the

preservation of, 164
Hermit, the celebrated hunter,

particulars of, 64
Hero, Jack Mytton's horse,

wonderful leap taken by, 4
Horses, held in high esteem by

the Ancients, 2

the best and fleetest of

animals, 5

description of, by a

Frenchman, 6

fabulous origin of, 7

high honours paid by

Ancients, 10

and men, analogy be-
tween, as to condition, 72

comparison of, to the

organ, 87

best method of treating,

when in stable, 193

skin, beauty of, when in

condition, 71

sensibly affected by

change of weather, 76

Hunter, practical information
on sweating in the middle of
August, 170

Hunters, elegance of form of
English, 4

danger of turning out,

during the summer months, 37

high condition of Lord

Sefton's, 136

objections to turning out,

for a summer's run at grass, 33

treatment of, during the

summer in order to obtain
" condition," 43

turning out, under certain

circumstances highly bene-
ficial, 46

remarks on the old system

of treating, 48

system proposed on taking

up from summering, 49

advice relating to feeding

and watering, 59

treatment of, after a hard

day, 17s

treatment of, during the

summer, 99

INDEX

341

Hunters, treatment of, in August
and September, 170

treatment of, after a " very

hard day," 75

Mr Weedon's method of

sweating, 186

small quantity of green

food during the summer
sufificient, 239

beneficia. effects of wash-
ing with warm water and
soap, 240

detailed treatment of six,

the property of the author, 245

Hunting, strong work indis-
pensable the day before, 84

Huntsman and a gentleman,
anecdote of, 20

Indoor system, proof of the

superiority of, 99
Interfering, 285
Introduction, i

Jersey, Lord, treatment of

hunters belonging to, 153
Job, sublime description of the

horse by, 2
Johnson, Dr Samuel, definition

of the word " condition," 25
Julius Cassar, British cavalry

famous in the time of, 7

Lampas, 290

Legs, big, 290

Lindo, Mr, an account of the

clipper, 14
Lockley, Mr, treatment of a

favourite hunter, 152

Mansfield, Lord, anecdote

concerning, 164
Mantidamun (Major Pigot's),

constitutional peculiarity of,

186
Mare, best sort to breed from,

208
Mares, preference given to, by

the Arabians, 13
prejudice against, to be

lamented, 12
Mashes, use and abuse of bran,

94

Maynard. Lord, anecdote of, 19
Meteora, performances of, 13
Moulting season, precautions to

be taken, 159
Muscles, spasmodic contraction

of the midriff or diaphragm

after severe exertion, 175
Mytton, Jack, high leap cleared

by " Hero," 4

Nature, the power of art over,

66
Nerving (neurectomy), 293
Nicks, a highwayman, per-
formance of, 54

Oats, old, the best for hunters,
190

Objections to the indoors
system answered, 205

October, reasons for not hunt-
ing in the month of, 206

Old lady and her carriage
horses, anecdote of, 47

Osprey (Lord Foley's), con-
stitutional peculiarity of, 185

Overmark, symptoms of, 81

Over-reach, 84

Paddocks, advantages of, 46
Pennant, Mr, on English horses,

6
Physic, dangers of too strong,

157

and its action, 294

Precautions to be taken during

the moulting season, 159

Race-horses, Lord Grosvenor
as a great breeder of, 12

formerly given to, 57

Rest, ill effects of too much, 90

misconceived idea that a

summer's run affords, to a
horse, 262
Ring-bone, 299
Roaring and whistling, 300

Salt, 304

Salt marshes, on the benefit
arising from allowing a
summer's run in such, 233

342 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS

Sand-crack, treatment and
nature of, 304

Sefton, Lord, superior condition
of the hunters belonging to, 36

Selection of hunters, 327

Shoeing a hunter against self-
inflicted injuries, 84

Skin, state of, as a criterion of
health, 172

Sore back, 314

Soundness of hunters, 333

Spavin bone, 309

Splint, 308

Sportsman, strong prejudice
against mares, 12

Sprained tendons, 312

Stable and stable management,

359

Stable, to be good, must be
warm and dry, 69

best method of treatment

of horse when in, 192

temperature of, 74

Stawell's, Lord, recipe for deli-
cate feeders, 180

String-halt, a few words re-
specting, 311

Strong work necessary on day
before hunting, 93

Summer, treatment of hunters
during, 99

_ of 1825 and the author's

six hunters, 245

Summering hunters in the field,
evils attending this system, 1 5 1

in the stable, and at

pasture, a comparison re cost
of keep, 247

Sweating, the benefits of gentle,
often refuted, 91

details of practical in-
formation regarding a hunter
in August, 170

Sweating hunters, Mr Weedon's
method, 186

Tartary, famous for its breed

of horses, 9
Teeth, age indicated by, 302
Thorns in legs, difficulty often

experienced in finding, 324
Thornton, Colonel, anecdote

concerning, 130
Thoroughpin, 326
Timid animals hardest to be

tamed, and why, 5
Training, remarks on, 89
Treatment in cases of overwork,

81

after a very hard day, 175

Trotting match, particulars of,

19

Vetches when in pod bad for
horses, 45

Victoria (Lord Oxford), con-
stitutional peculiarity of, 185

Water, importance of quantity,

80
change of, soon affects

horses in condition, 190
Weedon, Mr, notice of, 151
Wind-galls, nature, etc., of, 326
Winnnigs of the Duke of Grafton

on the turf in 1822, 12
Winter's run, advantages of,

regarding the legs and feet, 46
Wisdom, infinity of divine, i

York (Major Pigot's), con-
stitutional peculiarity of, 186

Young hound and a dying fox,
anecdote of, 183

Webster Famiiy Library of Veterinary Medicine

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at

Tufts University