The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1862-12-30 00:00:00

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.
•
THE HORSE,_ AND yAcrs AND FANCIES

ABOUT HINI.—No. 16,

The condition of • hunter Must proceed by slow
degrees t It Is the work of thee, and it is vain to expect
It on any other terms than as the result of • long course
of preparations, followed by severe work. Ina clear fort-
night 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 work, however, should be gradual; and for
the first month should consist of long protracted exercise,
rather than is really what we call work. He should be
kept outt of his stable for three or four hours in the
course of the day; and if ridden, ridden gently across
country, and (now and then with a pack of harriers—
it will greatly promote his condition by hardening his
flesh, increasing his strength, and improving his wind.
At this tune the use of alteratives is indispensable. By
their mild and gradual impression a healthy action of
the bowels is obtained, and thereby gastric debility is
got rid of, and the general appearance and condition of
the animal much improved. Indeed, withottt the use of
alterative medicinea, exclusively of physic, no hunter
can be got into first-rate condition; that is to say, to
baiTy a blooming skin, to dry directly after a sweat,
and not break out when dry ; in fact, to be in full vigour
of body. Of these medicines there are several sorts in
uee ; but the diuretic and diaphoretic are the best. It
is almost neediest; 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 Rafe or con-
venient for him to take when at work, and as it is
insensible perspiration that we wish to obtain, these
alteratives should be con:thine& fdr it is from their
gradual and impetceptible operation that we are to look
for the effect we wish to produce. Antimony forms
the principal diaphoretic, and from its weight a sufficient
ouantity—one ounce divided into four parts—may be
given him every day in his corn for eight days together;
but this should be given when the weather is warm, or
danger from catching cold may arise from the pores of
the skin being related. With proper precautions, how-
ever, none is to be apprehended, and the effect on the
general health and appearance of the horse is striking.
If the diaphoretic alterative, in the quantity above
stated, be not given before a horse begins to work, and
the weather becomes cold and wet, it is better to com-
bine it with the diuretic, by giving him a mild urine
bah twice a week, for three weeks in succession, with
half an ounce of antimony, finely levigated, in each
ball. These medicines combined will (Meek that excite-
ment of the general habit which always accompanies a
transition from rest to work; purif the blood, and
ne give to and vigour to the synterii. itre has, in days
we hope gone byz been filed as a cooling diuretic, but
It is • bad medicine ; it is a Rttong repellant, and of a
debilitating nature. With all this, without a good
stable, and good stable managemeot, you will never
keep your hunters in condition. Old oats, remember,
and fine, sweet, nut-like hay. " Sweet as a nut, Sir,"
—a beautif el character for either oats or hay. About
one-half the quantity of hay should be giireii to the
hunter that was formetly given. About eight pounds
a day fot a Minter that will enjoy his five feeds of old
oats, is quite enough. A larger quantity runs to belly,
injures the wind, and destroys the digestive powers.
Among the brute creation, we find extraordinary
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 in 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 regular time; end, if One
handful of hay, of rood hays be foiled in his rack, it
should be at once removed, and not another mite given
him Until next stable time—ten hours or go—when his
appetite will have recovered itself. In consequence of
the lateness of the hour of meeting with hoondi,
hunters do not require so Much food an they tenderly
did, and there ii no dotibt that at the pace hounds now
I go, an empty stomach is necessary, or why put the
marsh+ on the race-horse the night before he has his
work to do? Hunters are not always to be fed alike.
Allowance should be made for the distance to cover; for
when a horse has to go twelve or fourteen miles in a
morning, to meet hounds, he may be allowed more
solids over-night than if he had to go but two or three
miles, as he will empty his stomach on the road, and
there is reason too, to expect a long day. As to whether
a hunter should have any water on the morning of
hunting, that is a point not considered Mt it ought to be,
for we should be guided by his constitution. If he is
apt to scour, and throw off his substance on the road,
we should recommend his having none, unless oatmeal
and water, well blended, proved efficacious' but if on
the other hand he holds his substance well, and has
some dietariee to go, and is not called on till eleven or
twelve o'clock in the day, he should have a quarter of •
bucketfnl, and no more, of water, early in the looming,
and nht later than six o'clock. This quantity of water
La usually given to the race-horse on the day he rune his
race, as it makes him enjoy his food, and digest it
afterwards, and it is all absorbed by the thee he is
called upon to run. Nothing is an apt to make hotses
scour as change of food, and water, Or quartets, for
which reason it is adVitable that a hunter should go
from his own stable to meet bounds, if the distance
does not exceed twelve (or fifteen) miles evep, rather
than sleep out, and no subject to the Olean alluded to.
If, however, he does sleep oat, and is affeoted by the
change, he should be watered before he leaves home, and
have vety little *here he sleeps, which will, in aunts
filename, nounteract the evil. One would suppose that
this apparent derangement of the bowels would be most
injurious to • horse which has to follow hounds, but
we remember being in the company of a very heavy and
hard rider when this subject was diseittned, trict he
assured us, that were he called aprin to say on what day
he had been, accprding to his own judgment, "sad -
d— you, Sit, I know best, I presume, what I tnn
talking about," he cried (because we smiled; big hunt-
ing meu are large tongued, and apt to be a little per-
sonal in argument that is not altogether Catholic)—"l
was carried across a country in the best style, and with
the least distress—(he would say, he did say, who would
dare to question him)—that it was ; yea, by (1 it ails,
by • horse that scoured so violently ott his road to covert,
1 that he looked like a shotten herring when lie got on
his back." All, therefore, that can be said on this sub-
ject 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 and water the night prior to
Wanting. One thing is ecrtain, that it is scarcely pos-
sible to tire a sound man, when in strong exercise, with
an empty belly; but give him a good dinner, and A
bottle of wine, and he is easily defeated. thir friend of
the scouring anecdote and Vigour, was of after-dinner
talk, and if he had hilihorse's infirmity during the day
perhaps he would not have been so loud-mouthed. Our
experienoe is this, that a very good horse, a first-class
animal, will go better on an empty stomachrthan a full
one, or • half-full one ; but that the oross-bred, the half
cur, the animal that is not, nor ever will be, quite up
to the mark, had better be pretty well supplied within,
or we very soon find ourselves in the ditch, and "'the
article" lying contentedly very neat to us.
t It continued.)