The Stable Handbook

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907 edition. Excerpt: ...young and in hard condition. The poor man s hunter should work nearly all the year round. I would throw him up at the end of the season for a fortnight or three weeks, and then put him to steady work in saddle or harness. But the pace at which the work is done should be moderate, and the road work not excessive in point of distance or the weight drawn. The master should have his coming hunting season always before his mind. A horse so treated will condition himself; he should want no physic. All that will be needed will be a few weeks gentle work, which may be taken with the hounds when they go out cub-hunting in the early morning. A horse so treated will, if he is of the right sort, work on for years, improving steadily. I am bound to say, however, that I think the man with one horse will see more sport in a good provincial county than he would in the shires. I say a good provincial county, because there is one drawback to many counties, which certainly is against the one-horse man, and that is the time it takes to find a fox. When the draws are long, a horse has often done nearly, if not quite, his day s work before the run begins. Another point to bear in mind is that it is an economy of horseflesh to ride slowly at your fences. A number of flying fences, though in themselves insignificant, take more out of a horse striding over them at a gallop than larger fences taken at a slow pace. The late Colonel Anstruther Thomson, who was a big man, went slowly at his fences, even when he was Master of the Pytchley, and I could mention many masters of hounds, who are successful in being with their hounds, who do the same. It is obvious that if you drop in for a run of any note you must at some point in the chase gallop. To save your...