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A
PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRACTICAL |
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TREATISE ON HORSES,
AND ON THE
MORAL DUTIES OF MAN
TOWARDS
THE BRUTE CREATION:
COMPREHENDING
THE CHOICE, MANAGEMENT, PURCHASE, AND SALE
OF EVERY DESCRIPTION OF THE HORSE ; THE IMPROVED METHOD OF SHOEING :
MEDICAL PRESCRIPTIONS AND SURGICAL TREATMENT IN ALL KNOWN
DISEASES.
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BY JOHN LAWRENCE.
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For that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts ; even one
thing befalleth them : as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath ;---------- All go unto one place ; all are of the <lust, and all turn to dust again.
ECCLESIASTES,
Sunt enim animalia post hominem, ita ars veterinaria post medicinam
secunda est. Vegetius. Neque omnia, neque nihil.
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THIRD EDITION, WITH LARGE ADDITIONS,
ft which the Mature and Tendency qf Lord Erskine^s late Bill for tlw legal Protection qf
Beasts, are fully considered. |
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VOL. I.
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LONDON:
1'RINTED FOR SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND JONES,
No. 20, PATERNOSTER ROW;
AND B. CROSBY AND CO. STATIONERS' COURT.
1810.
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PREFACE
TO THE
FIRST EDITION.
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IN all matters of indifference, I esteem it a
due and laudable act of complacence in the individual, to follow established custom—I therefore write a Preface : and, as I have ge- nerally observed, that long-winded prefaces are slighted, I am resolved mine shall not be of that description, Eut I have a motive of greater weight. It
behoves me, not only out of that high respect which I owe the public—but also, in justice to myself, to apologize for the weak and de- fective, and, too probably, prolix and tedious execution of the ensuing work; which, in truth, is the offspring of a mind not the most brilliant by nature, enfeebled, and rendered confused and irritable from chronic bodily weakness, and of a memory, at intervals, scarce sufficiently retentive for the ordinary purposes of life. If it be demanded, why write, a2 |
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IV PREFACE.
then ?—My answer is, I have been impelled by
two of the most powerful incentives in nature. Thus much being premised, the Reader will not expect to find, in my book, that orna- mented and polished style, so much the delight and rage of the present period, a copious and entertaining range of imagination, or the cu- riosafelicitas of expression ; such are the pleas- ing attributes of happier writers : he will no doubt rest content, provided he meet with the true and the useful only; in which, I presume to natter myself, he will not be totally disap- pointed. However it may turn out, he may be assured, that what I have set before him, is the best, in all respects, in my power to provide, under the alleged circumstances. There will be found, in the course of the
work, certain allusions, and indeed open pro- fessions, which may, perhaps, be held by many of too free a nature, or extraneous to the sub- ject ; but let it be good-naturedly remembered, that minds of a certain cast are not at all times in their own government; that it is a little hard that truth should require an apology ; that an essential to the propagation of it, is to leave writers as free as possible of restraint; that human liberty requires a reciprocity of opinion in all things ; that Nature seldom ex- hibits perfect models; and that where the |
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PREFACE. V
fund of discretion is over large, the quantum
of honesty is not always proportionate. I cannot help thinking it a question, much
more consequential to the good morals and well-being of mankind, whether a writer have attempted to controvert or obscure a general truth, than whether he have made free with this system, or that opinion, however, or by whatsoever authority, it may have been sanc- tioned and established. After all, my mind is still sensible of an
anxiety, lest my offering should be unworthy the public acceptance: here I will comfort myself with the good old saw, which warrants, that something is to be learned, even from the most indifferent book ; and farther, that it is scarcely possible for a man tolerably acquaint- ed with his subject, to write seven or eight hundred pages, without furnishing hints ade- quate to [the value of fourteen shillings, to a reader interested therein. |
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ADVERTISEMENT
TO THE
SECOND AND THIRD EDITIONS.
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JN a late publication of Mr. Blaine, a very
respectable veterinary anatomist, the credit of this work, as far as regards medical treat- ment, is attacked in a very marked, and I conceive, not altogether candid manner. My answers to this gentleman, for whose opinions I should have considerable deference, did they rest on the ground of his own experience and practice; together with certain correlative observations, will be found in the following pages of the second volume : Pa : 67, 93, 110, 147, 152, 225, 247, 255, 283, 324, 350, 376, 384, 408, 424, 428. I had flattered myself, that I should have
had no farther occasion to recur to the un- pleasant task of defending the reputation and practice of our established veterinary writers ; at least, that some more able advocate would have arisen ere now, in so just and generous a cause. But I find the same plan, the com- |
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ADVERTISEMENT. VU
mencement of which appeared to me so illi-
beral and unjust, is incessantly pursued ; the works of our best writers are to be calum- niated, and consigned to oblivion, and the public deprived of the great benefits to be obtained from such an original and excellent source of instruction. By the numerous pub- lications, all of the same even tenor, issuing of late years from the leisure of veterinary surgeons, it would appear, that they desire to impress the world with an idea, that all vete- rinary knowledge originated at St. Pancras ; and that previously to the establishment of the College, we were unillumined, in this country, with a single ray of genuine science. We are not only pestered with the perpetual repetition of new discoveries, but, according to the professions of these writers, the Col- lege was instituted for the mere purpose of speculation and discovery ; of overturning all former practice, and of beginning, as one of them expresses it, ' intirely de novo.' Pretensions of this extravagant nature,
feebly too, as they have been supported, may, and in truth, already have been, of consider- able prejudice to the cause of the Veterinary College ; an excellent public institution, which reflects great honour on the liberality of the present times, and, from the influence and ex- |
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Vlll ADVERTISEMENT.
ample of which, the country has experienced
eminent advantages. It needs no argument to prove, nor any apology, that the ends of such an institution will be best answered by the promulgation of a rational and humane system of veterinary practice, whether derived from previous authority, or present expe- rience. If, in the warmth of my zeal for the defence
of former writers, to whom I have acknow- ledged so much obligation, I have been un- mindful of the merits of my cotemporaries, or have injuriously thrown into the shade any man's exertions or laudable attempts at new discovery, nothing will give me greater plea- sure, than to acknowledge and retract such error, on a fair representation of the fact. In certain directions concerning Shoes
(Vol. II. p. 10), to which, as they formerly stood, exceptions were made in the public papers, I freely confess some alteration was required; it will appear that I have made a material one, and that there is now little danger of error or misconstruction. In the medical department, I have retained
the use of cordials and warm aromatic seeds, professedly excluded from the new practice. This I have done from frequent experience of their good effects in certain cases ; at the |
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ADVERTISEMENT. IX
same time, pointing out the common abuse of
such articles. Considering the present fashion- able retrenchment of the veterinary materia medica, and that nothing farther is now held necessary, than to ring the changes upon Bar- badoes aloes, radix ipecac, tartar emetic, and vitriol in substance, it will appear that I have been very redundant: but reflecting on consti- tutional idiosyncrasy, and that from various occult causes, or in different circumstances, a medicine shall have anomalous effects in the same disease, I have thought proper to note most of those simples or compositions, which have been found, by experience, to operate efficaciously on the body of the horse. If I have retained some forms of rather an inju- dicious or equivocal description, I believe there are none liable to any very particular exceptions, into whatever hands they may fall. My acknowledgments to Doctor Downing
have been sufficiently liberal. The Doctor's book, I have, at last discovered, to be a to- lerably accurate copy of Topham on the Dis- eases of Cattle. The composition of this last is the strangest medley of good sense, and ineffable nonsense, that I have ever perused ; and it afforded me as hearty a laugh, as I have enjoyed from reading Rabelais or Cer- |
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X ADVERTISEMENT.
vantes, The manusciipt, I should conjec-
ture, of some person of the name of Topham, fell into the hands of the school-master, ex- ciseman, or clerk of the parish. It is Pipes's second edition of his master's love letter. After the late recommendation of Bull-
baiting from such high authority, it is dis- heartening to offer any thing on the subject of justice and kindness to beasts. It is almost equally discouraging, to reflect on the total want of discrimination, from mere passion and prejudice, in the professed advocates of humanity. In real probability, this last is the greater bar to reform. How are we to reconcile a classification of Bull-baiting, Box- ing, and Horse-racing, with the genuine logic of huirianity or common sense ? The principle of the first is totally inadmissible on the score of barbarity and injustice, and a pure defect of necessity. It is against the improper prac- tice solely, of the other, that a word can be urged. Are we to abolish the use of wine, because madmen and fools get drunk ? Is there no difference between staking the abhor- rent and fear-stricken animal to the torture, and voluntary combats—none between ex- treme and lingering torments, and euthanasia, or easy death. The original Preface has been retained, of
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ADVERTISEMENT. XI
which I can sorrowfully say, increasing years
have not diminished the point. In the present Edition, a new and more appropriate arrange- ment of the chapters has been made ; some parts have been omitted as rather appertain- ing to Agriculture, and to be found more at large, in my other works : such additions and emendations as were held convenient for the place, have been introduced into the body of the work, whilst the bulk of additions is given in a separate form at the end, under the respective titles'. |
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CONTENTS.
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VOLUME I.
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CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY Chapter—Design of the work—"
Critical account of Veterinary Writers—Impartial examination of Mr. Tapliiis plea of originality.... 1 CHAPTER II.
The Horse in general, with some account of the breeds
of different countries.......................... 83 CHAPTER III.
The Rights of Beasts.......................... 125
CHAPTER IV.
The Philosophy of Sports ...................... 176
CHAPTER V.
Running Horses and the Turf ....................214
CHAPTER VI.
The Apellatives, Qualities, Habits, and Defects of
Horses .................................... 267 CHAPTER VII.
The Paces and the Equestrian Art, or modern Method
ofridinrr on Horseback, as practised by both Sexes. .335 CHAPTER VIII.
Draught Cattle, and their Use and Management, both in
Town and Country, Political Economy, <5,c.......394 |
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
TAGS
The Menage ..................................447
chapter x.
The Economy of the Stable, Diet, Exercise, Condition,
Soiling, S;c................................. 453 CHAPTER XI.
The Art cf Shoeing.......................... . 547
CHAPTER XII.
Purchase and Sale.,.....,......................588
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INDEX.
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Baret, Michael, author of
the Hipponomie, or Vine- yard of Horsemanship, 18,20,23,330,358,368, 385. Bracken, Dr. account of his
works, 31, 299,307,318, 319, 332, 409, 498, Bartlet, veterinary writer,
34, 316, 329. Berenger, writer on horse-
manship, 37. Blank, the father of trotters,
343. Blackguards, 208.
Bishop's brown mare, 345.
Bel, Saiut, 45, 306, 331,
Anecdote of, 364, 554. Anecdote of one of his workmen, 557. Belgium, an original breed-
ing country, 92. Blemishes, 593.
Booth, anecdote of, 102.
Blood, use and abuse of, 104,
269. Quantity necessary, 171. Its pre-eminence in the field, 277. Its use in cart-horses, 272. Beasts, Rights of, 125. Spe-
cified, 128, 131. Butchers, Manchester, cruel
anecdote of, 132. Boy, anecdote of, 147.
Boarding-school house-keep-
er, anecdote of, 151. Bunbury, Henry, Esq. 358.
Backsides, sore, 375.
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Allkjs, farrier, page 30.
Authors, French, 42.
Arabia, an original breeding-
country, 92, 229. Animals, dissections of, a-
live, 138, 142. Admiral, anecdote of, 154.
Anecdote, repository, 285.
Running-stable do. —---------- of two fellows
with a managed horse,
280. -------------of a farmer, 450,
o69.
Animals, baiting of, 185.
Art, equestrian, 335, 358.
True seat on horse-back, 362, 365, 367, 374, 376, 379, 308. Archer, the famous trotter,
101. Foolishly killed, 345. Assassinations at Genoa and
Naples, 209. Authorities, medical,against
the received theory of ob- structed perspiration, 407- Asses, a few words upon, by
desire, 446. Balls cordial, 529.
Beckford, on Hunting, 194.
Breeding, not included in
this Treatise, 5. Blundville, Thomas, our
earliest writer upon horses, account of, 7. His pat- terns, and opinion of bits, 9, 358, 367, 508. |
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INDEX.
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XT
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Darwin, Dr. 393, 472.
Diet of Horses, 489, 512. Dealers in Horses, 602, 609. Democratic writers, 432.* Democrat, a red-hot one, 436.
Dundonald, Lord, 500. Embrocation, 545.
Erischen John, a writer ou horses, 174.
Eclipse, 101,239, 279. Evangelista of Milan, 378. Equitation,female, 389,391. Equality, 178. Exercise and feeding the hunter, 522, 525," 529,
531,217.
Faro, 20S.
Fosse La, an experiment
with his shoes, 41, 557.
Fluzard, M. on the Studs of Europe, 111.
Favourite horse, epitaph on, 175.
Furniture horse, 3;6, 487. Foot-founder, 3S5. Farmer, Norfolk, his Brazil breed, 414. Worthy Old,
his Saying, 623.
Fanners barns and ricks, the safest public depots, 437-
Feet, horses, worn off, 548. Figging and firing, 604,606. Frampton, 259. Fomentation, 544. Fiscaschi Casar, an Italian Equestrian writer, 549.
Foot of the horse described, S5J.
Fataliste, Jaques fe, 129. Games of Chance, 200,240.
Groom and horse-keeper, 467. |
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Ityfield, Adoniram,his ditty,
408.
Bakewell, of Dishley, 41 ; 414.
Button, 499. Buil-baitmg, 186. Carrots, 492,501,503.
Clarke. 483, 499-
---------- on shoeing, &c. 37,
573, 508.
Compilers characterized, 38.
Cockfighting, 181.
Ciub, the Jockev, 263.
Coyte Dr. 267- '
Cuiley on live stock, 40,
307,394,415, 417. Coachmen, grooms, and car-
ters, 160, ioi, 163, Calves, barbarous treatment
of, 170. Cows, stocking, 507.
Counties breeding, 272.
Curtails, or docking, the au-
thor's new method, 292. Cropping, 295.
Castrating, ibid.
Coach-horse, lame, account
of, 311. Colt-breaking, 355, 357,
378. Cart-colt, taught to back, 4 18. Feeding, 511. Chif'uey Samuel, jockey ,362.
Custom bad, of hostlers,
387. Of knowing blades, 3SS. Cattle, draught, 394.
"Wheel Carriages, 396. Light
horses driven, and of dif- ferent colours,-397-8. Ac- cidents, 399, 402. College Veterinary, its uti-
lity, 555. Daisy cutters, 336.
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INDEX.
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XVI
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Grey De, veterinary writer,
23.
Gibson William, account and character of, 27, 329.
Gelding, old flea-bitten grey, anecdote of, 158.
Gambado Geoffrey, 358. Gymnastica Medicina, 392. Hampden, Lord, 264.
Hope, Sir William, author
of the Complete Horse- man, 25,318. Huzard, French writer on
the Glanders in 1794, 45. Horse, the account of, 90.
Horses of the ancient Britons, 93. Regulations thereupon under Hen.VII and VIII. Their quality in the reign of Eliz. aaid the races then known, 95, 96. Horse-racing, 96. Free export of allowed, 97. Ar- rived at perfection, 101. Defects accounted for, 104 to 108. Foreign, 108 to 117- External conform- ation of, 118. Age of, by the mouth, 121. Colours, 124. Bred-horse, 172,269, Their temperaments, 278, Restiff ones, 282, 284. Biters and Kickers, 285. Shying, 288. Size, for all purposes, 288. Age for labour, 289. Paces, 297. Shape and qualifications for saddle, 298. Summa- ry of their defects, 300. Signs of health, of vice, 333.Glandered,304. Chief considerations in pur- chase, 334. Leaping, 335. Paces resumed, ibid. Car- rying heads high, 373. |
Post-horses, machmers,
&c. various reflections up- on, 399. 'Cart-horses, 409. Particular description of the cart-horse, 411. Dif- ferent breeds of them, 410. Preference decided, 413. Useful breed in Suf- folk and Norfolk, 414. Size and weight, reflec- tions on, 416, 421. La- bour of Norfolk and Suf- folk horses, 421. Proper trim of a cart-horse, 427- Stable care, 428. Exa- mination for purchase,597- Market at Smithfield, 610. Thorough-bred courser, 219. Arab, 223, 424. Barb, 225. Marks of ori- ginal genus, 226. Blood, 229. Slow horses the spee- diest, 232. Racers, choice of, 242. Favourite Blood, 245. Qualities, 232. Stray- ed or Stolen, 340. Hoofs, 487 Appellatives,&c.267. Hobby, Scotch, anecdote of,
100. Humanity mistaken, con-
cerning animals, 172. Horse in Billiter Square,
story of, 338. Hughes Charles, 358, 369,
389. Horseback exercise on, 392.
Husbandry, a profession be-
fitting gentlemen, and the learned, 441. Hue and Cry, the trotting
stallion, 571. Hunting, 188,
Jennings, Mr. 246.
Ireland, state of equestrian affairs therein, 1796, 115. |
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INDEX. xvii
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Indians^ed, 150.
Jockies butchering, 156
Anecdote of a young, and a Smith field sportsman,ib. Toe-jockies, 360. Clo- set, 216. Infusion, tobacco, 543.
King, a certain, anecdote of,
154. Lawson on Cattle Fodder,
506,511. London, certain citizens of,
the high condition of their cart-horses, 424. Laws grave, respecting fore-
stalling, farting, bull-bait- ing, and dealing with the devil, 432, 439- Leaping, 527-
Liniment, Sope,544,
Legs, swelled, ibid.
Machine for unruly horses,
521. Menage, its barbarity, 8,
9, 449. English horses unfit for it, 451. Markham Gervase, account
of, 10, 12. Mills on Cattle, 39.
Man in public office, anec-
dote of, 161. Marshall on husbandry, 535,
215, 107,273, 296. Mares spaved, 296.
MS.S. Shaksperian, 360.
Newcastle, D. of, on horse-
manship, 25. Neapolitan peasant, anec-
dote of, 149. Nicking, 294.
Vol. I. |
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Ointments, 544.
Osmer, veterinary and sport-
ing writer, 558, 573, 35, 313, 327, 330, 331, 409. Oxen, shoes for, 587.
Plato, anecdote of, 179
Pembroke, Earl of,on horse-
manship, 37, 451, 568, 576. Purges of farriers and
grooms, specimens of, 65, 66, 68. Purges indispen- sible, 236. Parrhasius, bloody anecdote
of, 141. . Parson of Pentlow, anecdote
of, 152. Pedigree defined, 221.
Pugilism, 205.
Purchase and Sale, 553.
Ploughman, inhumanity of,
161.
Postillions, weight of, 407. Dead pulls, and anecdote, 419.
Qualities innate, their ex-
istence, 282. Queensbury, Duke, anecdote
of, 257. Repositories, 60S, 618, 619
Rhubarb, Indian, 67-
Ramsay Chevalier, on souls,
89. Rotten Row, 367.
Riding journey, 382. Feed-
ing, 384. Racket, a convenient one
carried by every man, 434. Rulesand regulations for the
cavalry, 451. b |
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INDEX.
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XV M
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Ilussius Laurontius, an Ita-
lian veterinary writer, 582. Sharp's Letters on Italy, 208. Sports, book of, 182, Snape, tamer to Charles II. his character, 24. ■---------- Ed ward j farrier to
Geo. 111. 25, 5S5.
Science Veterinary, class of, at Paris, in 1795, 45.
Scouring in cows, ,".07. Sharpe on the operation of surgery, 77.
Scalding, remedy for fistula, 77.
Souls of beasts, 84, 87, 127- Shark, the race-horse, 114. SmithfMd drovers, cruelty of, 1.05. Market, proposed abolition of, 166. Tempo- rary regulations, 170. Speed utmost, of English horses in each pace, 101, 336, 340. Saddles, English, improve- ments therein, 370. Surgeons, veterinary, 400. Shafts ought, in no case, to b^ar on lhethill-horse,422 Sunday, good portion of it to be devoted (in London) to the care of cart-horses, 4 2d. Society, Comet, 430. Stable, Economy of, 452. Improvement, 458. Plan, 401. Dressing the horse, ■ &c. 473. Stud, Breeding, 513. Stallions, 510." 245. Soiling and turning to grass, 537.
Shins of racers, pains in, 545. Servants, cautions to, 242, 014. |
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Soundness defined, 591.
Shoeing,547- Ancient mode of,548. Of the Italians, 549. External surface of shoe, concave, ibid. Me- thod of the common far- riers, 554. Of the better kind of farriers, 555. Of the present detects of these last, 550, 558. Osmer's method practicable with nine-tenths of the saddle, and all the cart-horses, 558. How to shoe the re- maining tenth, ibid. Safe- ty and convenience of the English bar-shoe, for quarters and frogs incur- ably tender, 561, 585. Ac- cidents from the round- surfaced shoe, 502. Cart- horses, in London, the unprofitable and cruel me- thod in which they are shod, 503 to 508. Preli- minaries to be insisted upon, 570, 572. Abuses of smiths, 5 72. Feet of, reduced by bad shoeing, to be previously recover- ed at grass, 573. Weights of shoes for all descrip- tions, 570. Importance of shoeing properly at first, ibid. Various manoeu- vres, and forms of shoes, opinion of, 576. Drawing the sole, abominable, ibid. Exceptions relative topar- ing,577.Form and breadth of shoe, 577- Number of nails, 580. Toe short.581. Various forms, 585. In- terfering, 580. Hammer and pinchers, 587. |
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INDEX.
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xix
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Solleysel, French veterinary
writer, 25, 377, 384, 484. Taplin, William, 36. Ex-
amination of his work, 48, 83, 596. Topham on Cattle, 39.
Tally-ho, a Stallion, 114.
Titus, anecdote of, 149.
Tattersall, sen. 327.
Trotters, Continental, 337.
Celebrated English, 144, 339. Training of, 353. Thrushes Running, 484.
Trimming horses, 469-
Tail, drawing by the, in Ire-
land and Scotland, 555. Taylors, actual and virtual,
361. Turf, 198, 214. Trials of
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speed and continuance,
219. Performances, 231. Training, 235. Sweating; 237. Books, relative to, 420. Exercise, 251. Pri- vate matching, 246, 256. Stratagems, 258. Veterinary Writers, 10.
Venous, Lord Raymond, anecdote of, 152.
Vegetius, 457. Warranty, 590,594,696.
Witchcraft, anecdote of, 153. Young, Arthur, Esq. 420.
Yarke, or yerke, in the me- nage, 449- |
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A
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TREATISE
ON
HORSES.
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
CHOULD an apology be held necessary,
for a new Treatise on Horses, since we al- ready possess so many in our language, and several of them of universally acknowledged excellence, I beg leave to submit the follow- ing apologetical reflections to the judgment of the enlightened and impartial Reader. It is a common observation of which I feel
it necessary to assume my share, that the Horse, of all animals the most valuable, be- cause the most conducive to the use and erVJoyment of man, has been, from the ear- liest times, considered as an object deserving the most sedulous and benevolent attention vol. i. B
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2 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
in all civilized countries. That such obser-
vation will apply with peculiar force to our own country, is evinced by a race of Horses adapted to every possible purpose, far su- perior to the races of all other nations ; and it is obvious, that our national improvement in equestrian science, according to the inva- riable laws of nature, has been gradual and progressive, and that it can only arrive at its ultimate point of attainable perfection, through the unwearied labour and recorded experience of successive practical writers. Upon a subject, then, of such extent as that of the horse, taken in all his various points of view—such as the genus, and its different species; his natural rights, in other words, his claims as an animal endowed with fellow feeling, on the moral justice and humanity of man; the most advantageous selection and application of the various spe- cies, with their improvement; the proper management of all whilst in health, and em- ployed in pleasure or business ; their just proportional relation with the medical and healing art in a state of disease; their con- sequence as an article of commerce—it is scarcely possible but that something both new and useful may be offered. Allowing a just and ample portion of desert to former |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 3
writers, whether ancient or modern, they
must necessarily be supposed to have par- taken of the common imperfections of men, and cannot have intirely exhausted the sub- ject. Even the changes unavoidably effected by the mere lapse of time, and the various and constant improvements and additions to the stock of veterinary knowledge, must of themselves be considered as matter of novelty and interest. Such are the inducements, blended with the legitimate expectation of that reward conferred by the encouragement of his countrymen, which maybe supposed to call forth a new author in their service: as to his ability and fitness for the task he has undertaken, it becomes him to be silent, and patiently to submit his cause to the im- partial judgment of the public. But it is necessary, in compliance with
established usage, to say a few words on the precise nature and proposed conduct of the ensuing work. It is my ambition to write a general history of the horse, both in sick- ness and in health; to afford information in ai* points concerning him, as far as niv own observation and practice, which have ex- tended to most descriptions of this animal, and a diligent review of the works of other b 2
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4 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
authors, shall bear me out. An occasional
adduction of the sentiments of other men, will at once enable me to do justice to their merits, confer an additional value on my own book, and contribute to the satisfaction of such of my readers as may require other au- thority, but do not possess sufficient leisure or inclination for the trouble of farther re- course. On the medical and surgical parts of the
subject, not having the honor to belong to those professions, my pretensions stand not very high; but the acquaintance which a na- tural propeiision has incited me to cultivate with our best veterinary writers, and the ex- perience which I have had in the application of the medical art to the subject in question, will, I humbly hope, secure me from the danger of falling into errors of very consi- derable magnitude, either in the remedies, or the authorities which I shall recommend. My method in this department will be, to give a catalogue of all the known diseases of horses, and under each distinct head to de- scribe the nature and symptoms of the dis- ease, recommending in general, either such method of cure as I have myself experienced to be successful, or the authority which I |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 5
judge most intitled to respect. In difficult
or doubtful cases, I shall allow the reader a proper choice of authorities. There is, however, one branch of my sub-
ject, and that a very material one, which I must beg permission to pass, with little or no notice, I mean the stud or breeding sys- tem; not only, because to handle that mat- ter to any satisfactory purpose, would swell the present treatise to an inconvenient bulk, but because my experience therein has hitherto been limited. At some future and distaftt period, I flatter myself with hopes of being able to produce something on that head also, conducive to public utility; but which will materially depend upon the suc- cess of my present endeavours. In such work, granting it should be carried into ef- fect, I shall not confine myself to breeding of horses solely, but extend my attention to live stock in general, including pigs and do- mestic poultry, in the breeding and rearing of which, I have had as much and as exten- sive practice as most men, and have been as careful to register it. To those who may object, that in the course
of this work, I descend too much into minute ^tails, and apparently trifling circumstances, * must beg leave to observe, that although |
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6 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
themselves may be connoisseurs, there are
numbers among us so totally uninformed re- specting horses, that even the inferior species of intelligence may be to such both useful and acceptable. Besides, a relation of the parti- cular usages of our present equestrian system, may administer to the curiosity, at least, of posterity. I have not indeed the vain con- ceit of supposing myself capable of instruct- ing our great judges of horses, our men of the turf in particular—of these, I speak, as my masters in the science; and my only ex- pectation is, that they will find their own opinions and practice faithfully reflected in my books. But the most important part of my task,
and that which lies nearest my heart, is to endeavour to lessen the sum of animal mi- sery in the world—to implore a more gene- rous and humane treatment of those poor useful animals, which nature has placed un- der our dominion, and entrusted to our care— to remind mankind of the unprofitableness and meanness, as well as the beinousness of cruelty—in particular, to convince them, if possible, that to be compassionate and libe- ral to that most excellent and useful crea- ture the horse, is both their interest and their duty. |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 7
In fine, I shall endeavour to trespass as
little as possible upon the patience of my readers ; but I must beforehand make bold to solicit their indulgence, if I should be now and then tempted to digress awhile; en- gaging, at the same time, that it shall not be upon subjects either inutile or frivolous. I proceed to give some account of former
veterinary writers, chiefly of our own coun- try ; with the double view of directing the inquisitive reader's attention to the proper sources of information, and of rescuing the characters of our original writers of merit, from the hands of pilfering compilers, who are too often successful in running away with the applause due only to their masters, and in rearing a temporary reputation upon very slender pretensions The first of our original writers upon
horses, of any note, was Thomas Blundevill, of Newton Flotman, in Norfolk, by his own description, a poor gentleman; he lived in the reign of Elizabeth^ His works, which were published in three treatises, were all separately dedjcated to the famous Earl of ^Leicester. They comprize the whole of the subject, that is to say, breeding, manage- ment, diet, and physic. In his time and the preceding, his countrymen, however ad- |
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8 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER,
vantageously the case has been since reversed,
were in the constant habits of obligation to foreign countries, as well for the ameliora- tion of their breed of horses, as for instruc- tions on every point relative to their manage- ment. The military menage was the pre- vailing taste of the time, and the instruction of it in England, almost entirely in the hands of foreigners, either Italian or French; a considerable numberof whom were constantly entertained by the court, and encouraged by the nobility and gentry, either as riding-mas- ters, oxj'errers. Blundevill appears to have had a com-
petent share of learning, and to have been himself the translator of those foreign works, whence, as from the fountain head of know- ledge, he drew the chief of his rules. He gave the first English names to several im- plements of horsemanship, then introduced, as well as to a variety of diseases, until his time not described in the English language ; and many succeeding writers availed them- selves not only of his translation of the fo- reign veterinary writers, but of his own pro- per knowledge and experience of the subject. With respect to the merits of Blundevill, as a veterinary writer, he undoubtedly possessed a thorough practical knowledge of the ani- |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 9
mal on which he treated, as far as the lights
of the time, in which he lived, extended. Englishmen had not yet learned to reason for themselves, and the barbarous practice of the continental menage, by which the most ge- nerous and docile of all animals was driven to obedience by torturing bits, and cruel usage, instead of being gently reduced by soothing means, and by the help of imple- ments uninjurious to his tender flesh, was in full force among them. Thus we are pre- sented in Blundevill's book with plates of nearly fifty different bits ; with an account of spoons, gags, ring shoes, trammels for pacing, and a variety of instruments of tor- ture, altogether as useless to any good pur- pose, as they were senseless and cruel. But, however, generally a slave to authority in these matters, we sometimes find the English- man getting the better of this author, and prompting him to question the real utility of such rigorous measures to force obedience; a remarkable instance of which we have in his declaration, that notwithstanding the va- riety of patterns for bits which he had exhibit- ed, he really thought three of them only, and they are of the mildest, fully sufficient for all Purposes of horsemanship; which is reducing the matter pretty near to the standard of our |
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)0 INTRODUCTORY CHATTER.
present practice. One however cannot help
being disgusted at his repeated advice, to beat the horse about the head with a cudgel. There are no doubt many useful observations in his book; but from succeeding improve- ments in the veterinary art, Blundevill's work has long since ceased to possess any other recommendation, than that of curiosity. About the same period, and somewhat
later, arose divers other writers on horses ; as Morgan, Mascaj, Martin, Clifford, and others,"of whose books I at present know nothin" beyond the names of the authors; and it is highly probable1 their works contain little else than a transcription of the veterinary practice, of the ancients, and a repetition of the same system of management which we find in Blundevill; had they made any im- provements in the art, they would, in all probability/ have been handed down to us, and their works in consequence preserved from the fatal gulph of oblivion. But there is another writer of nearly the
same period, if not of greater merit, at least of more good fortune, than those I have just now mentioned. It is the redoubtable Ger- vase Markham, for more than a century, the oracle of sapient grooms, the fiddle of old wives, and the glory of booksellers. After |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. li
having painfully laboured through his works,
it remains with me a doubt, whether this fa- mous writer ever possessed any real knowledge of the horse, or of the art veterinary, from his own practice and experience. He was, in my opinion, nothing better than a mere vul- gar and illiterate compiler; and his works, some few things excepted, are stuffed with all the execrable trash that had ever been in- vented by any writer, or practised by any far- rier, ancient or .modern, on the subject of horses. It is necessary, however, that we do justice to the character of Gerv ase Mark ham; he certainly possessed a species of merit which has not descended to all his successors, the copyists and plagiaries: he very honestly gives the namesof those authors from whom he derives his knowledge. Markham's works were printed and re-
printed, to the twentieth, and for aught I know, to the fortieth edition. At least, the celebrated name of Gervase Mafkham was made use of by the booksellers to a vast num- ber of compilations, not only upon the sub- Ject of horses, but of husbandry, gardening, a»d housewifery. The mischiefs which have been occasioned
"y the extensive circulation of this man's books, are incalculable. They brought almost |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
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as many evils and cruel inflictions upon poor
helpless animals, as the opening of Pandora's box did upon the human race : and notwith- standing the author lived till after the restora-* lion, and published an edition of his works, in which he boasts of fifty years practice* we find no improvement resulting from his long experience, but that the work which re- ceived his last hand, is but a mere repeti- tion of the barbarous and unmeaning absurdi- ties of former times. From the works of Gervase Markham,
and his famous receipts, all the old grooms, and farriers, who, unfortunately for the ani- mals committed to their care, and the pro- prietors of them, were able to write and read, obtained all their veterinary knowledge, their skill in operations and their wonderful tricks; nor is the fame of this great writer altogether ttiakno\vn to some of out elder sa^es of the stable, even at this day: and I must beg leave to advise every owner of horses, who regards their welfare and his own interest, as soon as he shall be apprised that his groom or farrier is in possession of Markham's works, or in- deed any of that stamp, to purchase such dangerous commodities out of their hands; and to put them to more harmless and ne- eessarv purposes, than to those which igno- |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 13
rant people would most probably apply
them. As these books are now happily become
somewhat scarce, and few of my readers may perhaps have enjoyed an opportunity of pe- rusing them, it may not be amiss to skim a little of their cream, for the entertainment of the curious. Worms,from Markhams Maister-Peece, l&h
Edition, 1703. ' The violence of the red worms are won-
derful, for I have seen horses whose sto- mach has been eaten quite through with them ; so that the meat which they eat could not abide in their stomach, but fell upon the swallowing into the body, making the body swell like a tun, and so died with .huge tor- ment." This will be acknowledged on ai\ hands, to be a most wonderful and curious case. Now for a prescription intirely lit to he coupled with such a case: and it may be here bserved, that Markham was very libe- ral, and generally allowed his readers their choice of three methods of cure for all dis- eases, namely; the good, better, and best. -The following are two of his good cures for worms—cc Other ancient farriers use onlv to ■J
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14 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
give the horse for this disease the warm guts
of a new-slain hen or chicken, being thrust down the horse's throat; and sure it is pas- sing good, especially if a little salt be mixed with them, and this must be done three mornings fasting, keeping the horse from drinking three or fourjioiirs_after—others use to bind about the snaffle or bit, man's dung new made, and so ride him therewith." Of tired Horses, page 74.
After discoursing rationally enough upon
tired horses, old Gervase thus proceedeth. " Then for the cure of any of all these pro- ceeding from dulness, fearfulness, and unwil- lingness, you shall take ordinary windowJ^ass^ and beat it into fine powder ; then take up the skin of each side the spur-vein, between your finger and your thumb, and with a fine awl or bodkin, make divers small holes through his skin, then rub glass powder very hard into these holes ; which done, -do but mount his back, and do but offer to touch his side with your heels, and be sure if he have life in him, he will go forward. Now, if it be so that your horse tire in such a place, as the necessity of your occasions are to be preferred before the value of your horse, and that you must seek |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 15
unnatural means to control nature ; in this
case you shall take, where the powder of glass, &c. cannot be had, three or four round peb- ble stones, and put them into one of his ears, and then tie the ear that the stones shall not fall out, and the noise of those stones will make the horse go after he is utterly tired ; but if that fail, you shall with a knife make a hole in the flap of the horse's ear, and thrust a long rough stick, full of nicks, throuoh the same, and ever as the horse slacks his pace, so saw and fret the stick up and down in the hole ; and be sure whilst he hath any life he will not leave going. Many other torments there are," &c. &c. Of the falling of the Crest, p. 175.
" The falling of the horse's crest, is, when
the upper part of a horse's neck, which is called the crest, leaneth either to the one or the other side, and will not stand upright, as it ought to do. It proceedeth, most com- monly, from poverty, and very hard keeping," &c. Here follows one cure by firing ; then he proceeds—" Other farriers use for this in- firmity, first to cast the horse upon some s°ft dunghill, or other easy place, and with a knife to cut away the flesh on the hanging |
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16 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
or under side of the crest, even from the fore
end thereof to the hinder end six inches broad and two inches thick, or somewhat more in the middle thereof, where it is thickest; then groping the crest with your hands, to pare the thickest part thereof till it come all to one thinness ; then holding the horse still fast bound, to cover all the place with great handfuls of swines-dung, prepared for the purpose, and hold it to the sore place an hour together, until the blood be staunched ; then let the horse arise, and lead him into the sta- ble, tying him in such sort, that he may nei- ther rub his neck nor lie down; then the next morning take good store of burnt all urn, beaten to powder, and strew it all over the sore place, and so let him stand for two days after, without any stirring, lest the wound, should bleed again, &c. &c.—which done, j^ou shall to those plats with thongs of leather, fasten a cudgel of a foot and a half long: then to the midst of that cudgel you shall hang a piece of lead with a hole in it, of such weight as will poise the crest up even, and hold it in its right place. Then shall you draw his crest on that side the weight hangs, with a hot drawing iron, even from the top of the crest down to the point of the shoulder, making divers strokes one inch and an half |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER- '17
from another; then shall vou lay upon the
burnt places a plaister of pitch, tar, and rosin, melted together ; and so let the weight hang till all the sore places be healed, and there is no question but the crest will stand both up- right and strongly." I am sorry to say, that I have giveri but a
moderate specimen of the cruelties formerly inflicted upon this brave and unoffending ani- mal ; but instead of irritating our sensibility by exclamations against such measures of brutality and folly, let us congratulate our- selves upon the happiness and advantage of living in an age and country, when even the vulgar mind revolts at and despises them. The following curious direction, which is
to be found in the old editions of Markham, J address to many of my brethren of the bri- dle, who have repeatedly assured me, with an •expressive dash of corrective wisdom in their looks, " that it signifies nothing talking, we shall never get better than the old books, and the old customs/' Running Horses.
' For the ordering of your running Horse,
Iet hi n have no more meat than to sujgce vol. i. C |
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18 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
nature, drink once in twenty-four hours; and
dressing every day once at noon only." To make a white star in any part of a Horse,
page 307- -' Other farriers use, after they have shaved
it, to rub the place well with salt ; and then, twice every day for a fortnight, to wash it with the broth wherein a moldy zvarp and some swines grease hath been sodden." I presume, by this time, the reader has
had enough of Gervase Markham ! Early in the rei«;n of James I. came forth
An Hipponomie, or The Vineyard of Horse- manship, by Michael Baret, graced with a number of dedications, one of which was to " Charles I. when prince." The fate of this writer is somewhat singular, and truly unme- rited ; for not only has his work sunk into utter oblivion with the public, no uncommon case, but I know not of any author who has vouchsafed even to mention it; nevertheless, I will venture to pronounce, that upon an im- partial examination, it will be found by far the ablest work of the kind, whether we con- sider the learning of its author, his practical knowledge.of the horse, or the utility of hi- |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 19
rules, which our language could boast of, un-
til the present century. Michael Baret, of Holland, in Lincoln-
shire, like his predecessor Blundevill, a poor gentleman, possessed no common share of that species of erudition, so highly in vogue, and esteemed so essentially necessary to a polite education, in the reign of pedantry and James. His arguments, upon whatever subject, whe- ther the most abstruse and recondite, or the most common ; whether he attempts to dis- criminate and fix upon the precise point which divides speed from stoutness in horses, or to regulate the oeconomy bf bits, halters, and sad- dles ; are all drawn from Euclid, Aristotle, and the Schools, and present themselves in the regular logical array of ma. mi. and con. to confront, or rather to confound the presump- tuous sceptic. He had read Dee's prefaces before,
The Devil and Euclid, o'er and o'er. His book contains many more learned quo-
tations than pages, and the fluency of his style, and his powers of amplification, are upon a level with his learning. He was moreover well read in many branches of useful science, and whoever will be hardy and patient enough to wade through the tedious labyrinths of his c 2
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2,0 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
vineyard, and candid enough to make allow-
ance for the quaintness of his style, and the frequent unnatural strangeness of his concep- tions, the mere consequence of the then pre- vailing education ; shad find great store of important and useful observations, by no means inapplicable even to the present en- lightened period. But the name of Baret_ ought ever to be
mentioned with honour and respect, were it only on the consideration that he was the fust of our countrymen who directed his efforts to expose, and write down, the barbarous and disgusting foreign practice of breaking horses, which then generally prevailed ; and on such account surely his book must have been ac- ceptable to that truly excellent, humane, and ^good-iiatured prince, to whom it was ad- dressed. He reprobates, in a becoming and forcible manner, the use of lacerating and torturing bits, trammels for pacing, shoes of advantage, weights on the loins, and all such absurd and illegitimate methods of training the horse ; recommending from right reason, and his own experience, the adoption of mild bits, and none other than gentle and perr suasive methods, attempered with .firmness, iind occasionally necessaryse verity. This ra- tional and manly practice he confirms with |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 21
the philosophic observation, that whatever
conquest is .obtained by mere violence, is only exterior and temporary. The reader will I trust excuse me, if seduced by my na_ tural inclination, I am rather diffuse upon the merits of a writer who is the advocate of humanity. Baret treats of breeding, and of horseman-
ship m all its different branches, but not of veterinary medicine. He corrects Morgan in some peculiar notions, and condemns liis constant recourse to physic, winch, in his - MS? %?U be *Pa^ exhibited
in tlie stable, rhe most vajuabie t>ai* 0f his work, is that which treats upon Wjyr^, riding, and management. It is "somewhat remarkable, that the seat on horseback, rq„ commended by Baret in tfce rejgrj pf James I is precisely the same as thai practiseTbTo^ jockies and sorting men of the present Jay • -are also his rules foi^he mana^^f -bl-S2ft mares, and the early traimiW^T •
r„77? TV ' , *-- -XLJdlmng oi racing ^!e. He also describes and reconm^dsT
under the denomination of^a ]ld the wrjo._ ■^"-Sjaaotion of the bridle in a race/~as Ave
See it practised at present, by jockies. The ^tei:a&rjvater^so much decried by some anriS ?revai!ed 9 hls ilme, and had his
-PProbation. It appears, by his book, that |
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22 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
in those days it was a common custom to
majfrch their hunters to run after the hounds. He particularizes the bell-course, or regular race; the race to and again; the race back and again, with the wiid-goose chace; which last I apprehend to be the same, as has been since called steejJe-hujuting^
If we look farther into the opinions of this
author, we shall find him exhibiting striking- proofs of the imbecility and inconsistency of the human mind; for although he generally employs his pen, and that with sufficient warmth, in deience of such as, without risk, may be styled pure and demonstrable truths, and in condemning the mean slavery of au- thority and prejudice, yet we easily discover, that he too, has his reserves in favour of par- ticular opinions, which are not all beholding to reason for their support. He was so ena- moured with the menage, and the system of regulating the progressive motions of the horse by art, a practice in which he no doubt excelled, that he supposed all the defects of horses arose merely for want of proper train- ing ; which, in his ideas, would not only pre- vent restiveness, stumbling, going too wide before or behind, and the defect usually arising from a cock-throppled neck, but even jadishness and enterfering. Slighting those |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 23
divisions or modes of progressions, which na-
ture herself hath prescribed to the horse, and which, for that reason, with the leave of Michael Baret, and all other ridin^-masters must be the best, he esteemed no saddle-horse Perfec.Lw«icli..hadjaot been taught an arti- " ficial pace; without even excepting running" Worses, which he" supposed by "such means, might all be renderedstout and tough,, what- / soever nature might have previously decreed m their stamina or conformation. I wonder ! e6d lle di<1 not open an academy to teach human cattle to amble This author assures us, with a gravity be-
fitting the subject, that horses, as well Jmen |
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were originally created perfect; but that the
former have degenerated in consequence of the curse intailed upon mankind by original sin; which said curse, with all its lamentable results, necessarily extended to the brute creation. What a faultless race of coursers might, have scouredalong OUr pffiS^tfoT •^^^LC^aiiatal nonpareil; and what'a ^•pousjausmes^it was in the olden time, to IPJUm orchanL__ ~~~~" .. The authors, who next present themselves
m our veterinary catalogue, are De Grey and &nape; of the former, whose book I have n°t looked into these many years, all I re- |
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24: INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
collect is: that he was an advocate for breed-
ing horses upon the plan of having the foals dropped in the winter season, to which sin- gular opinion, I believe, he made few con- verts; and that he, in a certain disease, the name of which I have forgotten, prescribes pre- pared toads as an infallible remedy. He di- rects the old cruel method of baking the. toads, which I particularly advert to, that I may have an opportunity of commending the humanity of the editor of a late edition of Quincy's Dispensary, who recommends pre- viously to smother the animals with sulphur. Snape was farrier to King Charles II. and the little he has left, proves him to have been a Writer of a very different character from the last-mentioned. He published the Anatomy of the Horse, availing himself of the labours of Buini, and other Italian anatomists, in aid of his own practical observations. This system has since been the constant guide of all our veterinary writers ; and is, doubtless, a very Sufficient one for any person who has been bred to the profession of surgery, and desires to obtain a knowledge of hyppiatric anatomy. Snape intended, it seems, to have written a regular treatise on the diseases of horses, but from whatever cause of disappointment, he published only some short notes, on a few of |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 25
them. This is to be regretted, if we may
judge from his observations upon the glan- ders, and the foundered foot, which are in the highest degree judicious ; and prove him to have been far superior in rational know- ledge to his cotemporary veterinarians. The jateJLdward Snapt\ farrier to George III. has frequently assured me, that he was lineally descended from the famous farrier of that name. That loyal and illustrious cavalier, the no-
ble Duke of Newcastle, the one half, but whether the better, or not, let the pon- derous volumes of each decide, of " that stately pair/' in the same reign, favoured the world with a folio upon the subject of horses. There is but little in his Grace's work at all applicable to the present times, or indeed at all interesting ; uliless it be his descriptions of the horses of different countries, in which it may be presumed the Duke, being a great jamateur,,; had more experience than could be attainable by any private person. From that period, to the reign of George I.
we had no equestrian, or veterinary writer, of any note, until Sir William Hope pub- lished His Complete Horseman. This work consists of a translation of the French writer Solleyse]]^ to which is subjoined an original |
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26 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
treatise by Sir William, where some practi-
cal remarks are to be found worthy of remem- brance. It is not to be contemplated, without as-
tonishment, that, previous to the last-men- tioned period, no man of the medical profes- sion in England, had thought it worth his while to bestow a part of his attention upon the nature and diseases of Horses, notwith- standing the immense and growing conse- quence of the animal, to the higher ranks of society in particular ; and that the breed had, for nearly two centuries, been an object of greater concern in this, than in any other country. Indeed the breeding and manage- ment of horses had proceeded in the regular and natural train of improvement, and had kept equal pace with other arts ; but veteri- nary medicine had undergone little or no change, since the days of Blundevill and Markham, either in theory or practice. The wretched, ill-fated animal, after being maimed and crippled in the service of his unrelenting master, was consigned to additional and use- less torture under the hands of an ignorant and brutal farrier, who mangled his devoted limbs with senseless and inapplicable opera- tions, or drenched his body with nauseous and unmeaning slops ; of the merits of which, the |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 27
judgment of the doctor and his patient were
nearly upon a level. The broth of sodden whelps, dogs t--d and wine, chickens guts, human ordure fresh from the alembic, had not yet ceased to be numbered among the choicest veterinary specifics ! At length arose William jGibson, destined
to the honor of being the first of his coun- trymen, and I believe of any country in Eu- rope, during the present century, who ap- plied the science of medicine to the brute «-<"*'' creation, and who promulgated a regular system of veterinary practice, founded on the permanent basis of true medical principles. Gibson was bred a surgeon, and lived in
Duke-street, Grosvenor-square, as lately as the year 1750, where he had practised vete- rinary medicine for many years. He had served, if I am rightly informed, as surgeon to Colonel Churchill's regiment of horse, in Queen Anne's wars, when, it is to be presumed, he first obtained a knowledge of the diseases of horses ; and as his veterinary practice continued afterwards for upwards of forty years, and was at some periods very extensive, his expe- rience must have been greater, and more to be depended upon, than that of any other man either before or since his time. His works first came 'abroad between the years |
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28 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
1720 and 1730, and consisted of his Far-
rier's Guide, in one volume ; his treatise on dieting horses, and his Farrier's Dispensary. This last, I have never yet had an opportu- nity of seeing. An edition of his chief work, The Farrier's Guide, he published in the year 1750, revised by him for the last time, and enlarged to two volumes. His books are written in a piain, unaffected, perspicuous style, and evince him to have been a man of deep reflection, of candour, and of a most respectable share of medical knowledge. His mind being so thoroughly replenished with his subject, and affecting utility in preference to the graces of composition, he is frequently too diffuse, sometimes tediously prolix ; but such of his readers as aim at solid information, rather than trifling amusement, will on that head find little to regret. He very freely ac- knowledged the little he owed to preceding writers, which chiefly consisted in the names and catalogue of diseases. No author abounds so much in cautions against the ignorant and temerarious practice of farriers and grooms, more particularly in the article of violent purges; and his works are totally free from the barbarous absurdities of his veterinary predecessors, excepting one solitary instance, where his philosophy and good sense suffer- |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 29
kg a momentary suspension; he incautiously
recommends the stupid and cruel practice of attempting to dilate narrow bee's, an inch or two, by the insertion of a splint of iron in tne frusb, which was to be previously cut open with a fleam, in order to the reception of the iron ; as though it were equally practicable to force nature from her destined course, as, experience teaches ijsjt is, to assist, hir in it by gentle and^egitimate means. _ But it is indeed wonderful that they stopped where tbey did, and that Markham, or some other conjuror of the enlightened days of yore, did not recommend an attempt to increase the longitudinal aimensions of a horse's neck, by- virtue of an operation of the mechanic powers. Of this absurdity, however, as well as of se- veral others of minor consequence, the judi- cious Gibson has purged Ins writings in the last edition. Indeed he enjoyed, if] the inte- rim, the advantage of consulting the inva- luable work of Dr. Bracken, of whose remarks made, it is true, with here and there a spice of the usual petulance of that eccentric writer he has numericaHy taken the advantage, but wi hout acknowledging the obligation, which he surely m gh; have done without shame considering the great learnino . and medical |
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30 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
ability, as well as equestrian knowledge, of
his competitor. The chief merit of Gibson, is, as a writer
on veterinary medicine and surgery ; in those lights, his works are above all price, for they are the productions of a judicious and well- qualified professional man, who described his own extensive practice. As an equestrian or sportsman, he had no pretensions ; but had nevertheless formed, and apparently from his own observation, the justest ideas of the na- ture and true conformation of horses, as well as of their defects. In fine, this author must ever be esteemed as the father of veterinary science, to whom all succeeding authors, as well as all true lovers of the horse, are under infinite obligation ; and when some wealthy and generous sportsman shall hereafter have erected a stately and comfortable mansion, for the accommodation of the noblest and best of all brute animals, let him also rear a monument of his own good sense, taste, and gratitude, by adorning the edifice with a sta- tue of William Gibson. Between the first publication of Gibson's,
and the appearance of Bracken's books, came out a Treatise on Farriery, dedicated to Sir Bobert Walpole, by M. Allen ; who appears |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 31
to have been one of the better kind of fame s,
and to have seen much practice ; but whose book I mention, merely because the perns -1 of it confirmed me in an old opinion, namely, of the incompetency of lliterate men, '■» hat- ever may have been the extent of their prac- tice, to judge in cases of philosophy or physics. Science resides in the records of the practice and experience of many men, during many ages, and can only be obtained by reading and study. The justly celebrated Dr. Bracken, whose
name is familiar to the ear of every sports- man, Stands next in order of time. As a writer, he.is perhaps as singular a character as ever appealed to the judgment of the pub- lic. Highly respectable for has erudition, of a judgment most profound on all subjects which he undertakes to discuss, possessing a most penetrating power of mind to detect so- phistry and discover truth, the characteristic of sterling ability, he yet failed in decorum of character as an author, and in the art of delivering himself with propriety in compo- sition ; although ever perspicuous, his style is generally mean, and his arrangement and manner loose, desultory, and incoherent; occasionally, his vulgarity, and even insipi- dity-, exceejd all bounds. Who would sup- |
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32 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER-
pose, after this, that he could possibly have
had a relish for the beauties of composition ? and yet that indubitably appears to have been the case, from the obvious warmth of his mind, when he quotes that sublime and ini- mitable description of the horse from the book of Job, and from the partiality which he so frequently expresses for some of the most po- lished writers. Bracken was a pupil of that.great medical
luminary, Professor. Boerhaave, and after* wards went through regular courses of an my and midwifery at Paris. On return to his own country, he acted in the double capacity of physician and practitioner in ^midwifery. His principal works were—Notes on Captain Bui-don's Pocket Farrier, published in 1735. —The Midwife's Companion, 1737.—ATrea- tise on Farriery, 2 vol. 1731.—Lithiasis An- glicana, a pamphlet; and a translation from the French of Maitre-jan, on the eye. This author lived at a period of time when
the true principles of physic had already been discovered, and the modus operandi of medi- cines was well known ; and he seems to have, obtained a very ample share of such know- ledge, both from theory and experience. It is agreed, I understand, that, since that time no new discoveries have been made in funda- |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 33
mentals at least; unless we are to reckon as
such the chymical principles of M. Lavoisier; •the medicinal use of factitious airs, being by no means as yet fully established. This is said without the smallest intention of de- tracting from the merits of real modern im- provements. Bracken was very severe upon pretenders of all kinds; and his judgment respecting the efficacy of certain pretended specifics, in particular Mrs. Stephens' solvent^ for the stone, and the Ormskirk remedy for canine madness, has been fully confirmed by subsequent experience. The Doctor was himself a sportsman, well
known upon the turf, and in the habit of
—.____I,,,, .id- training several horses annually. His two
volumes of farriery comprehend the whole of the subject of the horse, excepting the military menage, which he professes not to under- stand ; indeed upon the art of shoeing he says little, but that little serves to convince us that he entertained the justest ideas upon the matter, and such as are, at this instant, pre- valent with our practitioners of best repute. His books are generally, in all matters of im- portance, as applicable to the occasions of the present time, as if written but yesterday ; and the errors in them so few and insignificant, that they are unworthy, the trouble of. enu- yol. i. D |
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34 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
me ration. Considering his great judgment
in horses, as well as medical knowledge, I shall not scruple to place Dr. Bracken at the head of all veterinary writers, ancient or mo- "d*ern; an opiuion in which I am supported by the judgment of the public, his Treatise on Farriery having passed through a greater number of real editions, than that of any wri- ter on horses, since; notwithstanding the vulgarity of his style, and the total want of atti action in his manner. A number of edi- tions of the works of a new writer, hastily puffed off, form no satisfactory proof of his merit; but the ultimate judgment of the pub- is ever infallible. To Gibson and Bracken, succeeded Bartlet
and Osmer, both regular bred surgeons. Bartlet may be looked upon as the commen- tator of Gibson and Bracken, whose redun- dancies he judiciously pruned, and whose systems he reduced to a compas more conve- nient to the generality of readers. He also contributed considerably to public informa- tion, from his own genuine stock of veteri- nary knowledge; but in no respect was his book of greater service to the country, than by the communication of the celebrated M, la Fosse's Theory of Shoeing, and ma- nagement of the feet; from which, although |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 35
by no means perfect, or indeed often practi-
cable, the hint was first taken of improving our wretched and unnatural system of shoeing, or ratter of cramping and clogging the feet of our horses. Bartlet's Preface to the Gen- tleman's Farriery is particularly excellent, and to the purpose; and I have no doubt? has acted as a stimulus to many gentlemen of the faculty to undertake veterinary practice. I have some obscure recollection of " A Com- pendium of Farriery," written by Bartlet, but am uncertain as to the fact, and have at the instant no means of enquiry. Osmer bequeathed to his country a Trea-
tise on the Lameness and Diseases of Horses, which, notwithstanding certain errors and eccentricities, and his attempt to support the vain and unphilosophic notion of the inelasti- city of the tendons, whilst he allows elasti- city to the fibres of which those tendons are composed, is generally excellent, replete with practical utility, and the apparent result of much experience. His observations on epi- demics in cattle, commonly called distem- per, are well worth the attention of the ve- terinary surgeon; but bis system of horse- shoeing, and treatment of the feet, forms the most valuable part of his work; on that branch of the veterinar art he may indeed d 2
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36 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
be esteemed our original writer, from whose
ideas our present improved practice has ori- ginated. This facetious and good-natured writer, such Osmer seems to have been, also published a whimsical pamphlet, under the title of, " A Dissertation on Horses," in which he affects to be dissatisfied at our dis- tinguishing that particular species of the horse, destined to the course by the usual denomination of blood; contending, that we „ought_rather^ to stile them Jrne^ or forei^u horses. In this species he had great skill, accompanied by no small prejudice in their favour. His pamphlet affords good informa- tion on the origin of the racing breed in this country; and had some of his remarks been attended to, many a thousand, which has been groumllesaly lavished away in the studs, might have been spared. He has written with considerable skill on the mechanic pow- ers of motion in those living engines called horses ; and, on all the above-recited topics, if lie has not absolutely hit the exact medium of truth, he has at least made a very near ap- proach, and has said enough at once to ani- mate and assist succeeding enquirers. To this short, but meritorious list of wri-
ters on horses, during the present century; which, by general consent, are esteemed our |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 37
English veterinary classics; I think in jus-
tice ought-to be added the respectable names of Berenger, and Lord Pembroke. The work of the former is a Treatise on the Military Menage, ancient and modern; a subject on which I possess no information from expe- rience. My Lord Pembroke's book ought to be consulted by every gentleman who keeps a horse, and who wishes to have that most important part of him, the foot; in a state of preservation. Mr. Clarke fills the respectable office of
his majesty's farrier for Scotland. He has published two treatises; on shoeing, and on the prevention of diseases in horses; and has acquitted himself with that ability, which we had a right to expect from a master of his profession, and, at the same time, a man of sound understanding, and good judgment. ]f my memory- serve me faithfully, he was the first of our writers who taught—that unctuous &nd greasy applications, by closing up the poreSj and preventing the necessary emission of the perspirable fluid, really im- peded, in j>lace_of promoting, the growth, of lunguar and horny substances; and who recom-* V-J I 'I !■■ I in in "tl ill ill I — ■-"--—■ n . ......... -i n
mended, in lieu thereof, that horses hoofs
should be stopped with day^and washed with water._ Without being intirely convinced of |
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33 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
the truth of the proposition, respecting
unctuous applications, on which I shall ex- plain myself in proper place, I can very safety _recommend the water in all cases, and in mo^^J^ejclay^ from my own experience. Over and above the writers already adverted
to, a number of gentlemen of the profession of surgery, since the days of Gibson and Bracken, whose names I cannot immediately recollect, have published treatises on farriery ; with very laudable intentions, no doubt, for the promotion of veterinary knowledge; but although their several works contain now and then a useful remark of their own, yet their obligations to the original Avriters are so ex- tensive, as to render farther observation un- necessary. That justice, however, which we owe to departed merit, to the reputation of defunct, as well as of living authors, requires that the merits of Mr. Taplin's pretended original work should be fail iy and candidly discussed; the reader will find, bye and by, that I have indispensible business with the Gentleman's Stable-Directory. Of the mere compilers, authors of Sports-
men' and Farriers' Dictionaries and Dispen- saries, retailers of infallible nostrums, hereT ditary receipts, and so forth ; we have had many more than quant, stiff, in the course p |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 39
the present century. These worthy labourers
in the vineyard may be characterised as fol- lows ; some of them had perhaps, a super- ficial knowledge of Horses, but none at all, either of physic or surgery; others, had a smattering of medicine, without any know- ledge of horses, but the greater part of them, seem to have known nothing at ail, of either the one or the other. The irrevocable sen- tence of public opinion has long since passed upon these books; their very titles have been long forgotten. There are yet one or two compilations,
which I by no means intend to include in this general censure. Mr. Topham's book, I have not yet had an opportunity to peruse. Mr. Mills1 Treatise on Cattle is, in some respects, a useful compilation; particularly as a book of reference to those authors of different coun- tries, who have treated on veterinary subjects. It also sketches out a good general outline of practice for the veterinary surgeon: but how much to be regretted it is, that this gen- tleman, who, although a man of learning, of good understanding, and good sense, was ut- terly devoid of practical knowledge of horses, or of any of those animals on which he under- took to treat, had not submitted his manu- script to the correction of some friend of ex- |
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40 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
perience in those matters. Such a discreet
proceeding might have saved the reputation of his book, by purging it of many errors, some of which are of so extraordinary a com- plexion, that it is scarcely possible for a man who has any knowledge of the matter to pe- ruse them with a grave face. What pig- breeder but must smile at the directions of Mr. Mills, to cut pigs at six months old; and to put stores up to fat upon wheat, al- lowing them scarcely any thing to drink ? Whilst Mr. Mills is quoting our late wri-
ters on farriery, or Sharpe on the operations of surgery, he is always rational and instruc- tive; but why attempt to revive the exploded and irrational whimsies of Vegeiius and the ancient writers ? Even the authority of the Maison Rustique will, at this time of day, and in this country, fail to induce the enlight- ened sportsman to give his horse a dose of sub- limate, fresh butter, and red wine, on taking him up from grass. Nearly all that is said on the subject of breeding in Mills' book, will be ridiculed as obsolete and inapplicable, as well as irrational, by the English breeders of the present time. After having introduced a treatise on live
stock in general, it is impossible not to re- |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 41
+ J$lC collect a jate excellent work of that kind,
written by Mr. George Culley_, a Northumber- land farmer, and which ought to be in the hands of every farmer in Britain. It is the only original work of the kind in
our language, and contains, in a small com- pass, a most valuable fund of information, chiefly from the I author's own experience, concerning the different breeds of animals in use among us at the present time, with their comparative merits. Mr. Culley's chief at- tention seems to have been paid to horned cattle and sheep; but what he says relative to horses is truly interesting. He is an ad- vocate for the late Mr. Bakewell's system for breeding cattle, in and in, that is to say, from the nearest affinities ; provided they be of the best breed which is to be procured, and of the truest symmetry; a system ill direct op- position to %_ old one, of crossing breeds, which still" maintains its ground in our studs of horses. There is no doubt but this new method has produced the most valuable, and the most beautiful cattle, ever seen in Eng- land. This author also recommends the bar- rel shape in cattle, with small bone, as the —Spfckest feeders, in preference to deptli and large bone. Enquirers after truth, although |
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42 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER*
they may not, any more than myself, be pre-
cisely of the same opinion with this author, in all points, will yet find their ideas ex- panded, and the sphere of their information enlarged, by a persual of his work; which, con- sidering the universal attention paid of iate years to agricultural topics among us, I won- der much has not passed through a greater number of editions: as to its merits in re- spect of style, if plain, unaffected good sense, conciseness and perspicuity, are }^et to be numbered among the merits of a composi- tion, Mr. Culley's book has a great deal to boast. Having spoken so fully of the authors of
our own country, it may be expected that I should not be entirely silent, in regard to those of our neighbours the French; a short discussion, with a recurrence to facts generally known and admitted, may perhaps enable me to determine on which side rests the superi- ority in veterinary knowledge. The ardent, inquisitive, penetrating genius of the French, is ever pushing them forward in scientific pur- suits. France has always abounded much beyond this country in public institutions. The French have long had the advantage of a public veterinary school, which has pro-. |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 43
duced several very eminent writers. In the
last century we had no writer on farriery to put in competition with Soleysell, unless Ave except Snape, who wrote hut little. Whence then has it happened, that notwithstanding all these advantages, with that of a milder climate superadded, the balance of improve- ment has all along gone with this country ? Let the French themselves, and the world at large, judge of the fact, who have invariably given a preference to English horses. Whence has it happened, that notwithstanding their numerous iearned treatises, and their veteri- pary hospitals and schools, their stable eco- nomy should in general have been so- bad, even at the mansions^of their princes, that thousands of fine English horses have actually fallen a sacrifice to it ? I catTsoTve "this difficulty in no other way,
than by attnbu^in^_^H^u^riority to that almost universal passion for horses, not only as objects of utility, but_of pleasure and sport, which has so long prevailed in tliis country ; it has served to diffuse a practical knowledge, of the proper treatment of these animals., throughout all ranks and degrees of the peo- ,, pie. The French are more confined in the use of the horse than the English; and the |
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44 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
stately menage excepted, are by no means
such expert horsemen. For the same reason, that is to say, because the horse has never been£o practically understood in France as in England; at te&st within, the present century, tlieir writers of this period have been, I con- ceive, inferior to ours in essentials. La Fosse, Bourgelat, and St. Bel, had a great deal of science ; they described, accurately and well, the theory of motion in horses, and their geo- metrical proportions, ; they had abundance of veterinary practice at tReir infirmaries; but which, I have been given to understand, was not unfrequently governed by a rage for experiment, rather than steadily conducted upon the true principles of medical philoso- phy. I must own they appear to me good writers, but too, much theorists. I may be a partial, or what I think more probable, an incapable judge ; but in my opinion there is more solid and useful knowledge to be drawn, from the English, than the French veterinary writers. In rural ceconomies, this country has also preserved a similar superiority ; and yet France has enjoyed the advantage of nume- rous institutions, favourable to that science, and .of an infinity of writers and speculators thereupon. In whatever they have failed, |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 45
thejdefec^may be fairly attributed to their
late despotic ...system of governments which devoured the finest country, and . jstifled the energies_of the most emulous and enierprizing people on earth. A country and a people, which, under the cheering auspices of liberty, must infallibly excel in all things. The Re- public has already begun to cultivate the arts and sciences in the most effectual manner, by the establishment of a new academy upon a grand and extensive national plan, Vete- _ rinary science occupies a place in the first class. The following citizens, namely, Thouin, Gilbert, Tessier, Cels, Parmentier, Huzard, are appointed residentiary members. Ha- zard published, last year, a useful little tract on the prevention of the glanders. Charles Vial de Saint Bel, died in the year
1793, in the professorship at the London Ve- terinary. College, to which he was introduced by the favour of two noble Earls \ and which office he filled, much to his own reputation, and to the satisfaction of his noble patrons, and all concerned in that truly useful and pa- triotic institution. Mr. St. Bel's works have been collected, and published in an English dress, for the benefit of his widow. They contain much to interest every proprietor of. horses; but the chief novelty in the collec- |
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46 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
tion, is, thejej^ayjonj^^^
tions of the famous racer Eclipse. The reader may, if he please, smile, and quote the father of burlesque poesy— |
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-Aswhipp'd tops, and bandied balls,
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The learned hold, are animals ;
So horses they affirm to be, Mere engines made by geometry. But he will still find that the animal structure,
its proportions and progressive powers, are the proper subjects of geometrical and mathe- matical calculation ; and that St. Bel and the French writers have treated on this branch of equestrian science in a very comprehensive, perspicuous, and satisfactory manner. In this particular they excel, and I know of none of our English writers who has attempted it, except Osmer ; he appears indeed to have understood the mechanical principles of pro- gression in horses ; but was obviously unpre- pared to elucidate them in a precise and sci- entific way. I would wish to recommend warmly this part of St. Bel's works, with the valuable plates annexed, to the attention of the sporting reader ; he will find great help in those rational and well-grounded theories, towards forming just ideas of the most per- fect shape, and most advantageous mode of |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 47
progression in those horses destined to the
course. I shall have occasion to examine St. Bel's system of shoeing, in its proper place; as a!so most of those subjects which are handled in his writings. As to the numerous attempts hitherto made in the French schools to cure the glanders, I must own, 1 see nothing to wonder at in their ill success. It appears evident to me, I say this after good advice, that many of those hectic patients died of the doctor. I have now arrived at a very disagreeable
part of my task, which were the omission at all consistent with my proposed plan, with fair historic truth, or common justice, I would gladly have avoided. It is to examine the pretended originality of a living author, who has endeavoured to buiid a name on the ruins of posthumous reputation ; who has attacked the defenceless dead, and with an arrogant rudeness torn the laurel from the brows of universally acknowledged merit. The reader to whom these studies are familiar, will immediately recognise in my description, the author of the The Gentleman's Stable Directory. Before I proceed, I may with the utmost
truth,, disclaim all motives of personal inte- rest or resentment. I have not the honor |
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48 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
of an acquaintance with Mr. Taplin, either
directly, or through the medium of any con- nection whatever. Virgilium tantum vidi. The sum of ray information respecting him per- sonally, is, that he is a good practical vete- rinary surgeon, and that he has erected, at a considerable expence, and upon a large scale, a suite of stables, with all convenient and necessary offices, by him denominated, <£ The Equestrian Receptacle." It is against his books solely, that I have any objections to urge ; and in supporting these, I shall endeavour to treat the author himself with as much respect and consideration, as the na- ture of the case, and a candid investigation of the truth, will possibly admit. Some eight or ten years past, the sporting
world, including those who 4md pretensions to veterinary science, were a good deal sur- prised by the advertisement of a book, under the title of The Gentleman's Stable Di- rectory, which professed to teach : an entire improved mode of practice," and to exhibit " occasional remarks upon the dan- gerous, and almost obsolete practice of Gib- son, Bracken, Bartlet, Osmer, and others." As those authors were then, as well as now, in the highest'repute, and as it was generally understood that they owed their great repu- |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 49
tation to their steady adherence to the prin-
ciples of truth and common sense, and to their intimate knowledge of that philosophical and rational medical practice, which had fully ob- tained in their time; anew author, whose mag- nificent promises extended beyond all this, was taken up with avidity; but to be laid down again, by those who were qualified to judge, with derision, mingled with astonishment. To imitate, for once, the laudable example of Mr. Taplin, who speaks of other men, be it bad or good, with the most unrestrained freedom —it appeared that the so highly vaunted Stable Directory, instead of being a variation from, or an improvement of the pretended obsolete and dangerous practice of Gibson, Bracken, Bartlet, and Osmer, was merely a compilation from it; the matter varied indeed with considerable art in some places, in others copied in the most barefaced manner; and the whole system of plagiarism attempted to be concealed under the cloak, sometimes of downright ribaldry, at others of pretended experience, or affected invective. So far was this work from exhibiting any thing new to public attention, a regard for truth obliges me to declare, that after a number of diligent perusals, I have scarcely discovered a single idea, on the subjects of either medicine or vol. i- E |
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50 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
management, which is not to be found in the
original authors above cited. I must be un- derstood here to mean, rational and valuable ideas; because there are some others of a dif- ferent character in the Stable Directory, it is true they are thinly sown, which are most certainly not to be found in Gibson or Bracken. As to the style of Mr. Taplin's books, none will question its originality, few perhaps will envy it. For examples of one species of the sublime, of pompous phrase- ology, not always encumbered with meaning, and stately circumlocution, they may un- doubtedly vie with any compositions in our language. It had however been better, had this author consulted. Lowth's Gramnlar, as well as the veterinary writers, previous to adventuring abroad; since he has invited his leader, to sink a tedious hour in the serious task of criticism! I have heard the new lines of plagiarism
struck out by this ingenious veterinarian, spoken of with admiration, as a wonderful and successful stroke of refined policy. Amongst the generality of copyists who wish to borrow a reputation, mum is the order of the day, as to the names of their god-fathers, the original writers Mr. Taplin, on the contrary, with a confidence that would do honor to a courtier, or even to a patriot, |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 51
boldly brings forward the names of those
writers from whom he has compiled his book; and after loading their memory with obloquy, accusing them of sheer ignorance, and at- tempting to expose their characters with what he imagines to be ridicule; very coolly and deliberately, transcribes their opinions and their practice; and complacently viewing himself arrayed in his borrowed plumage, with a most becoming modesty, congratulates the world, upon the immense benefits it is about to derive from his entirely new and original system. He rightly judged from the natural indolence and ignorance of the far greater number of readers, that, they would much rather take his word, than be at the pains of poring over musty authors ; that literary men seldom bestowed their attention upon such subjects; and even if detected by the discerning few, he trusted to the noA^elty of his phrases, to the charms of his diction, and the thunders of his eloquence, for the suffrages of the unthinking many. Provided he could incite folly to clap her hands, and draw her purse-strings, he cared not a fig, how much, or how long poor wisdom stared. Another source of security he was sensible he had drawn his draughts from the fountain head; and provided a shopkeeper sells a good fl 2
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52 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
marketable commodity, the buyer is little
solicitous to enquire how, or from whence, he obtained it. I have been detailing the opinions of my veterinary and sporting friends; for my own part, I who am naturally credu- lous, and apt to believe the professions of all men, am more inclined to suppose Mr. Taplin really in earnest and that he was deceived by an over-weaning opinion of himself, rather than actuated by unfair intentions. We read, that the disciples of a certain philosopher, having eaten cummin seeds, until they were as pale, really fancied themselves as wise as their master; so Taplin, having pored over the lessons of his masters, Gibson and Bracken, until they were thoroughly grounded in a con- venient memory, at length actually supposed them to have been the original offspring of his own brain, Whenever he puts it in my power, I shall be happy to pay him a bet- ter compliment. But to our proofs—without which words
are vain, and may be defamatory and unjust. To prove all that I have asserted, it will
be by no means necessary to go through the Stable Directory step by step; such would be a drv and tedious business -. a few leading quotations, from the most prominent pas- sages, will effectually establish my position ; any curious reader who may require still |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 53
farther satisfaction, need but compare the
Stable Directory with the original writers referred to, and he cannot fail of obtaining it to the utmost. By way of a general compendious analysis
of "The Gentleman's Stable Directory," vol. the first, take the following. Thfe ori- ginal author has made no addition, of the smallest consequence, to the list of medicines, or change in the mode of administration pre- scribed by those writers, so often cited, but invariably prescribes the same, either lite- rally, or in effect; usually indeed ringing the changes with synonimous medicines, but these still selected from one or other of the authors; and making occasional inconse- quential alterations in quantities. The whole system of management he recommends, is to be found, as hath been already observed, in those authors. He adopts their very ideas, upon almost all occasions; nay, even the greater part of his witticisms are derived from the same source, without even except- ing the sugar sops, which he has chewed after Gibson. Horsemanship he leaves to Hughes and Angela; the shape and make of horses to sportsmen ; and the art of shoeing to the operative farrier. Respecting the original information con^-
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54 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
tained in Mr. Taplin's second volume, he is
perfectly welcome to all the reputation he may be able to obtain from that source: such knowledge is undoubtedly his own, since he chooses to claim it; and has long been the common property of every body else. On hunting, his forte, he has made a number of useful remarks, hut so trite, that they are at the finger's ends of every gentleman's groom, who has attended his master in the field a couple of seasons ;—on breeding horses, he has not given us a tittle of information, good or bad, Avhich might not have been purchased cheaper of any farmer's carter ; and on racing and the turf, he has said enough to excite the mirth of every sportsman, and to con- vince him, that, there, Mr. Taplin was really not at home. Mr. Taplin's general method is, to make
huge complaints of " empyrical practice, dangerous experiment/' and the lamentable ignorance of farriers and grooms, and the gross defects of the old system; at the same time obliquely hinting, or even roundly as- serting, that such dangerous errors, and un- skilful practice, are derived from the works of those writers, with whose names he has adorned his title-page ; but the enquirer, af- ter the true state of the case, may find the self same complaints of the dangerous errors of |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER, 55
ancient practice, delivered as much at large,
and in language much more rational and to the purpose, in the works of Gibson, Bracken, and Bartlet, particularly in the preface to Gib- son's first publication, and in that of Bartlet; the attentive perusal of which I would warmly recommend to all persons desirous of the ac- quisition of veterinary knowledge : and where they will find the very essence of the Stable Directory. He thus attempts to turn the proper arms of those writers against them- selves. I have Mr. Taplin's eighth edition before
me, and shall pass over those models of the brilliant, the eloquent, and the intelligible, his dedication, and his address to the reader, in order to make a quotation from page xiii of his preface, where he courageously and modestly proceeds as follows : " Well aware of the arduous task of attempting to eradi- cate vulgar and habitual prejudices, in favour of ancient practice, or the improbability of reconciling attachments of lono- standing to the rational system of modern composition ; and the little chance of exploding intirely the heterogenous and inconsistent farrago so long in use, universal satisfaction is not to be ex- pected ; or approbation obtained. But when a clear, open, and candid comparison is drawn by the more enlightened, between the accu- |
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5(5 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
mulation of contrarieties, in the laboured
prescriptions of Gibson and Bracken, with the indigested observations of the more intelligent, though less prolix and digressive Bartlet; the least doubt is not entertained, but every de- gree of favour will be shewn to a system of practice founded on reason, supported by ex- perience, and justified by a general knowledge of medicines, their principles, properties, pre- parations, and effects." Again, and to this quotation I must desire the reader's particu- lar attention, in the chapter of observations, page 5, he farther proceeds, " To produce a case exactly similar in the world of farriery, let us take a survey of the medical abilities of Gibson, who certainly wrote much better on the subject than Bracken ; where we shall find ordered, in a single prescription for a purging ball, two ounces of aloes, with the addition of the other usual purging articles ; though modern practice and experience fixes the established proportion at exactly half, or at most five eighths, to the strongest horses, with the cathartic aids before mentioned. He also most courageously recommends half an ounce of calomel, or sublimed mercury in a single ball ; and speaks of the internal admi- nistration of the most powerful poisons, cor- rosive sublimate or red precipitate, as a mat- ter of course : the proportion for a dose be- |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. Sj
log curiously ascertained by the sublime men-
suration of a silver two-pence ; as if a pre- mium had been absolutely provided by an act ' of parliament, for the general extirpation of -—" the breed of horses," &c. &c. ! } '* My purpose in making the above quotation
is, to exhibit a flagrant instance, wherein Mr. Taplin has most grossly deceived himself, or attempted to deceive his readers. To avoid all temptation to harshness of language, I shall simply state the matter of fact; leaving the decision and consequent observations to the justice and candor, or resentment of the discerning reader: In the first place, it has been already ob-
served, that, after the publication of Dr. Bracken's books, Gibson had the discretion to correct those errors in his later editions, which Bracken had pointed out in his first These will be found by a collation of his first edition of farriery, in one vol. and his edition of 1750, in two vols, with Bracken's Far- riery. The chief of these corrections are as follows—a strong purge in loss of appetite__
ditto in moon eyes—ditto farcy—quantity of
rhubarb in lax or scouring—astringent injec_ tion for prevention of glanders—use of dock- root in broken wind—error relative to a pro- perty of air—cruel method of extending nar- row heels. But the medical reputation of |
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58 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
Gibson had been perfectly safe, granting that
he had admitted the form of purge, of which Mr. Taplin complains, into his corrected edi- tion. It must not be forgotten that Gibson re-
commends the purge in question expressly for the strongest and most robust horses ; — and such he had no doubt been in the habit of attending, if we consider of what kind - troop horses were in those days. Mr. Tap- lin' s experience, I suppose, had not extended to draught cattle, or he would have known, that there are thousands of that description, upon which, even two ounces of aloes, with the addition of the other usual purging articles, would have no immoderate or dangerous effect. Half an ounce of calomel is often given at this day in a single dose, both here and in the French schools, as appears in St. Bel's works. But let us call up Father Gibson himself, to defend his own reputation, in the article of strong purges, and violent remedies of all kinds. " Most farriers, for cheapness, make use of allum, black soap, burnt vitriol, and such things ; some exhibit corrosive SUBLIMATE OR RED PRECIPITATE, AS MUCH
AS WILL LAY UPON A SILVER PENNY ; but as these last medicines, viz. the sublimate and
precipitate, cannot be used internally, with- out great danger, especially to brute creatures |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 59
who can never be brought to take such things
as are proper to carry off their ill effects, they OUGHT THEREFORE NOT TO BE GIVEN IN
any case?' Gibson's Farrier's New Guide,
5th edition, 1J%J, page 146'.—" I need not acquaint any one, who knows what belongs to horse-keeping, how much mischief has been done by purging horses, either when the ingredients have been bad, or when the purges have been made too strong, or when they have been ill timed." Gibson's New Treatise on the Diseases of Horses, 2d edi- tion, 1754, page 221, vol. 1.—"_Thosejmr- JS8& are J*£JS°2Lieffis&sjsiis, and the mast safe, tfeat_W©rk off with Jthe.Jeast sickness. ,4*~*~/
The first purge should always be mild, unless" where a horse's constitution is well known to be hardy and strong; for some horses are in- deed so" stubborn in their constitutions, that scarce any thing will move them. Neverthe- less mistakes .of this kind may bring on a su- perpurgation, which is always dangerous," &c page 226—" If a horse be of a robust constitution, and a good feeder, he may be purged with the common aloes, though I have generally myself used the succotrine, and always advised it to others." page 231.— " That which usually goes by the name of Barbadoes aloes is of a dark colour, and very rank smell, and so rough in its operation, that |
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60 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
manyjiorses have been killed by it." p. 232.
—" One of these purges, mild ones, may be given every week, and continued for a month or six^weeks ; which method will bring down the swelling of his legs more effectually than by giving strong pjarges, which often, by their violence and harsh operation, break down the constitutions of the strongest horses, and ren- der them liable to many infirmities and dis- orders. I have always found, by experience, mild purges the most efficacious, in most of the maladies where purging is necessary ; and I have often met with great success in admi- nistering those that are no more than alter- atives, where the purgative ingredient has seldom exceeded half an ounce, or six drachms of the finest aloes ; which only opens their bellies, and makes their dung soft and loose, but by entering more into the blood, are more permanent in their effects," &c. page 19], vol. 2.—" In regard of laxative and purging glysters, &c.—I would advise the practitioner never to be over liberal of his purging ingre- dients, even in those cases Avhere purging is intended, especially with solutions of coarse aloes, which I have observed to work and gripe horses to a very great degree, even so as to excite feverish, and sometimes convulsive symptoms; and by that means have added |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 61
strength to the distemper, which they were
intended to abate ; and I have often remarked the quantity of the purgatives given in horses, glysters should not be so large in proportion as those given to men, because of the hori- zontal position," &c. page 248, vol. i, vide also page 29, vol. 2. The strongest purge I have been able to
find in Gibson's two volumes, which now lay before me, is as follows, page 258, vol. 1. Take finest succotrine aloes, an ounce and
a quarter, fresh jalap two drachms, salt of tartar three drachms. native cinnabar half an ounce,
With which let the reader, who is in the
smallest degree conversant in forms of purges intended for horses, compare the following out of Mr. Taplin's Stable Directory, page 141, vol. 1. Take succotrine aloes ten drachms.
calomel and jalap in powder, each two
drachms and a half,
rhubarb and ginger, of each a drachm and a half. e. syrup of buckthorn or roses. |
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62 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER,
Again, page 263.
Take of Barbadoes aloes ten drachms.
iEthiop's mineral six drachms, cream of tartar and India rhubarb, of each two drachms,
ginger in powder, syrup of buck- thorn, &c. &c. jalap two drachms. In Gibson's prescription the purging ingre-
dients, to exclude the cinnabar, amount to an ounce and half, or tAvelve drachms. In Taplin's first, the cathartic articles, one of which is mercury, make sixteen drachms and half. In Taplin's second, the said articles amount to fourteen drachms, exclusive of the aethiops ; and the aloes is of the coarse, or violent sort. To return to the cautious and rational ad-
monitions of Gibson, of which alone enough might be extracted from his works to fill a good Stable Directory, a few more of them shall suffice. Speaking of the farcy, he says, page 222, vol. 2. " Many of our common farriers use arsenic or corrosive sublimate, af- ter opening the buds, putting a small quantity into each, &c. &c.—but many horses have been poisoned by those things, especially with the arsenic and sublimate, when they have |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 63
fallen into the hands of ignorant persons.
Now as to internals, they ought to be both efficacious and safe, yet when once the farcy is advanced to this degree, nothing is more common than to exhibit the most harsh and rugged things that can be devised, agreeable to the common maxim, that a desperate dis- ease must have a desperate remedy: and, with this view, some give inwardly from four to eight ounces of lapis caliminaris, and some have further added two ounces of tutty, in fine powder," &c. &c. page 223.—" Others go yet further, as with an intention to kill or cure, by administering drinks made with green vitriol, or copperas, rock allum, Roman vitriol, and oil of vitriol boiled in chamber- lye; with hemp-seed, hen's dung, hemlock, and common salt. This medley has often been tried in many desperate cases, though I cannot say I ever heard its success much boasted of," &c. page 224. I have already engaged to state simply the
matter of fact, in the above quotations; in- deed any comments of mine would be totally unnecessary, they must infallibly have been anticipated by the least discerning reader. As we are on the subject of purges, this
may be as proper a place as any, to introduce a few cursory observations on those prescribed |
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04 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
by Mr. Taplin. I have before observed,
that, in Mr. Taplin's compilation, the pre- scriptions are generally selected from the original writers. The reader will find this to be the case in a most i*emarkable manner with respect to the forms of purges ; on which Mr. Taplin has wrung the changes, to no sort of improvement, either in respect of de- licacy, elegance, or effect. One variation he has introduced, which is laughable enough; he has ordered a solitary drachm of cremor tar, in purge, No. 1. which quantity, to be sure, must have a powerful effect in the body of a horse. That innocent flourish merited nothing farther than a smile ; but it is very reprehensible in him, who is the perpetual advocate of gentle remedies, and who affects to despise the idea of expence in drugs; in open defiance of the many cautions of his preceptors, to encourage not only the use of Barbadoes aloes, but even of diagridium in horse-physic. All our best writers notice the mischiefs occasionally done by the use of plantation aloes in ignorant hands, and my- self have seen several horses fall a sacrifice to it. I once incautiously, and contrary to my usual custom, entrusted an ignorant smith or farrier to purge a hackney mare ; and as those doctors always make use of cheap or |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 65
,n aloes, the business was performed
so effectually, that the mare purged in tor-_ rents, three or four days; at the end of which period, I found her an excellent living anato- mical subject. To my complaints, the doc- tor answered, by poking in the dung, and exultingly shewing me the immense load of grease and humours, from the danger of which he had relieved my fortunate hackney_. I found silence became me, seeing the fault was my own; but I the a made avow, which I have religiously kept for eighteen years, and find myself still less disposed than ever to break. When in due time I essayed to ' mount this mare, she bent under me like a twig, although I could then have ridclen con- siderably less than nine stone. I was under the necessity of giving herjsix months ruii^ abroad, but am not certain that her constitu- tion ever recovered the shock. Bracken has entered a very proper caveat
against the use of diagridium, in particular, in his 2d vol. p. 143, where he relates the death of the best racer he ever possessed, from a purge, in which that drug was one of the in- gredients. I knew an instance perfectly simi- lar myself. A poor fellow, with a very large family, who was unfortunately a good judge of race horses, after many unsuccessful trials, vot. i F
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66 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
at length either bred or purchased a well-
shaped colt, of good size, that manifested in- dubitable probfe of running. The colt's flesh did not come off so well in training as the simple owner supposed hfecessary ; and as the usual quantum of aioetic physic had been ad- -ministered, it was sagely determined that an additional dose was indicated, with the aid oi some article of greater power and efficacy. A
proper dose was given in the morning, and about twelve at night, the poor man was called up to attend the agonized victim of his igno- rance and folly ; which he did with too late and unavailing tenderness, and an aching heart.; for, in a few hours, all attendance was unnecessary, the nag was dead. I questioned the man, and have reason to believe he killed his horse with a dose of common jdoes, as- sisted by a drachm or two of diagridium, or gamboge. ft appears evident to me, that all drastic
or dangerous cathartic articles ought to be omitted in those formulas which are intended indiscriminately for the use of all persons, who, without any knowledge of medicine, are in the habit of purging horses, were it only on the following considerations : many such are not very accurate in regard to weight ; and, besides, probably think, that if so very small |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER- G'7
a (quantity of a drug can work beneficial effects,
an addition to it must be attended with pro- portional benefit. Grooms m general are dis- satisfied after they have administered a purge, unless it rattle away in a hurricane ; and on a mortifying disappointment of that kind, al- ways make up their minds not to be fuiled a second time. I have now and then chanced to enquire of one of these sages, what be- came of such and such a horse, which I had known to have been in training ; more than once I have been answered with the most perfect nonchalance, " Oh, he died in physic ;'; if I wondered, it was because I heard, such news so seldom. To return to the purging receipts in Mr.
Taplin's book, many of them are liable to considerable objection ; some are very inju- dicious and incongruous compositions. Those intended against worms arc very needlessly composed of Earbadoes aloes, and other rough and dangerous articles, too probable to annoy the horse as well as the vermin. He has or- dered an addition of two drachms and a half of calomel to purge, No. 3. which already rcontained common aloes and diagridium; and yet he had, in his observations, page 5, made a violent outcry because Gibson presen half an ounce of calomel in a single Ball.. v 9
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68 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER,
JEHiiop's mineral and sulphur, also jalap and
India rhubarb, we find frequently jumbled together, I suppose for the sake of variety and shew* Such mode of prescription is no doubt original; at any- rate it was neither purloined from Gibson, Bracken, or Bartlet. The India rhubarb appears to me to contain (I caution the reader that I am speaking with- out authority) a good deal of resin, similar in quality and effects to that of jalap. I have frequently witnessed a considerable degree. of nausea and disorder, both in human and brute patients, from taking this inferior kind of rhubarb; and cannot help apprehending that those gentlemen, who purchase cu- rious rhubarb physic for race-horses, are very likely to be disappointed in their views, un- less they are certain that the best Turkey rhubarb is made use of; for which the India sort is, according to my observation, a very poor and improper succedaneum. In cases where rhubarb seems to be indicated, I have reason to think that the finest succotrine aloes, is much to be preferred to India rhu- barb. If, in a purge, an additional stimulus be required in aid of the aloes, nothing was formerly held more safe and efficacious than a small quantity of jalap. From purges I shall skip over much multir
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 69
farious, to borrow a very elegant and correct
Tapliuian phrase, as well as laughable and inconsistent matter, and make a halt at the commencement of the classification; for chap- ters, it seems, are too old and unfashionable a term for that entire new work, " the Sta- ble Directory," which is for ever to support itself upon the " basis of its oxon origin." In the first class, then, splents are handled: on this head our author, first of all, according to laudable custom, either affects to ridicule, or censures at large, the opinions and practice of those who preceded him; then, adopting both in part, concludes by recommending a very imperfect and unsafe copy of an effectual mode of extirpation to be found in Gibson. He forgot to tell us also, where he learned to ridicule the idea of removing corns and warts, by a course of purgatives and diuretics. Bracken also laughed at it. I own that I here entirely agree with Mr. Taplin, in his " verification of an observation,"—that it is a paltry practice in authors, to swell their writings at the expence of a reader's under- standing, as well as his purse. A very few lines would have contained all he apparently knew-, or could have said with propriety, on the subject of splents and spavins. On the head of wind-galls, Mr. Taplin is evidently |
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70 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
reasoning, perhaps plausibly enough, on the
expedience of others; to be satisfied of this, let tire reader refer to Gibson and Bartiet. I had passed the two chapters on lameness
and strains, unnoticed, on which the ideas in general are rational, and judiciously enough selected from the best authorities, but for the desire of remarking a very singular position of the author. On the opinion of Osmer, that tendons are inelastic bodies, Mr. Taphn sagely observes, " How this writer or his readers could reconcile such paipabie ab- surdity and contradiction, I am at a loss to conceive; or how a tendon can be elongated, that has no elasticity, I am yet to learn." However fond of hard words, and wonder- fully correct in their application, Mr. Taplin may in general be, he has, I fear, stumbled as to the signification of elasticity. If he recol- lect, lie will find there are a number of things, beside a roll of pilgrim's salve, and a wetted catgut, which are inelastic, and stili capable of elongation. On the author's wonderful, modest, and
entertaining lucubrations, under the head, farcy, it is impossible to be silent. The re- marker here, who is able to preserve mild am, temperate language, may surely pretend to «t decent portion of philosophy. For my |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 71
part, I shall, as before, confine myself, as
much as possible, within the compass of mere fact; making few comments, but shifting the load to the shoulders of the gentle reader, leave him to smile with pity am! contempt, or frown with indigration, as may happen to suic his idiocracy of mind. Our great original writer quotes Bartlet as
follows: " the true farcy is properly a dis- temper of the blood-vessels, which generally follows the track of the veins ;" and then can- tei-s on at the following extraordinary rate—• (e What infinite satisfaction must it afford every reader, to be informed from the foun- tain-head of instruction, that the blood-ves- sels generally follow the track of the veins! Anxious foi information, and open to con- viction, I receive the intelligence with gra- . titude; and although my retentive faculties are deceptive and imperfect, I shall exert their utmost influence to preserve, in high esteem, so excellent a monitor; making no doubt but it will prove highly satisfactory to the curious, to be informed they need not look for a distemper of the blood-vessels in the track of the intestines." Is it possible that Mr. Taplin, who has made books, and blurred such a considerable quantity of paper, could be so ignorant of the most simple and obvious |
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72 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
rules of grammatical concord, as not to know,
that vessels in the plural, could not govern the verbfollozos, Avhich is in the singular number? Of course, that Bartlet, both intended, and correctly expressed, that the farcy not the blood-vessels, generally followed the track o£ the veins. Taplin proceeds—" Previous to the pre-
sent improved and rational system of cure, it may be applicable to introduce one of the promised observations, upon the dangerous and almost obsolete practice of others, or ra- ther the most cruel experiments and infernal persecutions that were ever invented, or could be supposed to enter into the mind of man, for the prevention, or cure, of disease. In the last article treated on, we produced a tolerable system of cruelty; but in the farcy, as a more perplexing disease, and greater excitement to judgment or madness, we have fire upon fire, or effectual cauteri- zation treble refined. As they advanced in danger, they increased in courage, and, adher- ing invariably to the general intention of " kill or cure, &c. &c. began with oil of vitriol, and oil of turpentine, &c. &c. on opening the buds put in a small quantity of corrosive mer- cury, arsenic," &c. ' But,' says the writer, (here he means Gibson,) ' let it be remembered, |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. *J3
that many a horse has been poisoned by these
medicines ignorantly used, and in too large quantities.'—" This very acknowledgement, continues Taplin, for which I confess I am under infinite obligations, wili serve to corro- borate my former assertion, that some system has long been necessary to rescue this most useful and suffering animal.—From stabu- LARIAN IGNORANCE AND EMPIRICAL CONFI-
DENCE 1" After all this, what man, relying upon the
integrity and common sense, or sanity of in- tellect, in Taplin, but would naturally sup- pose that Gibson, the author just quoted, had recommended the above irrational, cruel, and vulgar practice ? Nevertheless, on a bare refe- rence to Gibson, he will be astonished, if he be a stranger to the tactics of the Stable Di- rectory, to find, that from the said author, Taplin learned both his complaints against the old and vulgar practice he so vehemently decries, and also, in great measure, his me- thod of curing the farcy. I must beg leave to refer the reader to my
23d page, in which the quotations materially interest the present business ; another refer- ence to Gibson will place the whole in the clearest light, w Those who use nothing but a decotion or juices of herbs, such as worm- |
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74 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
wood, rue, alder, ragwort, horehound, and
many other such like simples, with a mixture of wood-soot, brandy, or aqua vitas, have a much better chance to cure the farcy, if they begin in time, and take care to make proper applications outwardly, as there is nothing in such ingredients but what is friendly to the animal constitution ; and the soot is certainly of great use in many cases, &c. &c—But, in an inveterate kind, or when the farcy has grown so, by its continuance, or by ill management, nothing can come in competition with mer- curial and antimonial preparations, as I have often found from experience."—Gibson, vol. . ii. p. 225. Mr. Taplin now commences his " new,
improved, and rational system of cure," with some of the cautions of Dr. Bracken, and the aloetic purge and antimonial alterative (very little altered) by him recommended; proceed- ing to patch up different forms of prescription from Gibson and Bartlet, which any other man, with a very small share of pharmaceutical skill, might have performed just as fortunate- ly as himself. Much dependence, however, must not.be placed in the Stable Directory, for information relative to the nature or cure of the farcy; more particularly if confirmed and inveterate. |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 75
But it is on the pol'-evil, that Professor
Taplin outdoes all his former outdoings. An extract or two from thence cannot fail to amuse the reader. " We are told," he says, 'i the poll-evil is," &c. &c.—You are then in- structed to scald, with a compound of oil of turpentine, corrosive mercury, verdigrease, Roman vitriol, green copperas, and train oil : these are to be poured scalding hot into the wound, &c. " What are we to think of the professional knowledge or abi'ities of an author (of Bartlet, to wit, whom he had be- fore stiled an author of merit and repute) who could sanction, with his name, the recommen- dation of a practice so infamous and detesta- ble, that no one rational or consistent idea, can be produced or pleaded, to prove its pro- priety r"—" Sorry I am to acknowledge this genuine and unadulterated specimen of tllQ immaculate perfection of the practical treatise, has been repeatedly put in prac- tice by fools or knaves, whom ignorance has misled, or confidence betrayed ; to the evi- dent destruction of numbers that have died in the most excruciating agonies, sinking under the load of accumulated misery and persecu- tion, devoted victims to a system replete with the most unparalleled cruelty that the heart could dictate, or the hand direct."—-And in |
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76 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
pity to a species, &c let us hope that this
damnable doctrine may be universally ex- ploded, and buried in eternal oblivion." I know not how the generality of my read-
ers may feel, or how they may relish and di- gest these choice morceaux ; but such as have some knowledge of the subject, or whose minds may chance to be in unison with mine, will believe me, when I assure them, that the first taste of this cream of the Stable Directory, instantly conjured up into the glass of my imagination, a certain old picturesque stanza, which most of us, saving your pissence most reverend critics, have, I dare say, repeated at school, beginning, There was a man---------, &c. &c.
To be serious, nothing can be more illibe-
ral, uncandid, and unjust, than Mr. Tapiin's method of quoting Bartlet in this case. Gib- son first, and Bartlet after him, recommend mild and gentle remedies for the poll-evil, in its early stages, and while it may be supposed possible to subdue it by such treatment; the scalding method is expressly reserved by them both, for inveterate cases, which will not sub- mit to measures of inferior force and efficacy. No one can feel with more poignancy of re- gret, with more acute and painful sensations |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 77
than myself, the numerous unavoidable oc-
casions of animal misery ; no one would go farther to extinguish all such as are possibly- avoidable ; but are we to suffer a useful ani- mal, afflicted with disease, to languish under it, or are we to knock him on the head, ra- ther than force him to undergo the momen- tary pain of a probable and effectual cure ? I hope the scalding method is not so frequent as formerly ; I hope there is less occasion for it: but I have known it practised with suc- cess, and in one instance by a farrier of the highest repute It has never come within my knowledge, that any horses were killed, or even at all injured by it. Nor is the pain of the operation so excessive as, from the nature of the thing, one might be at first led to ima- gine ; the usual large quantity of glewy, ole- ous matter, sheathing and defending the parts, and the coldness and deadness of the ulcer rendering them very little susceptible of feel- ing. It is remarkable, that Mr. Sharpe, in his operations of surgery, gives an account of an ulcer in the body ot a human patient, treated with success in this manner ; and the pain was found to be inconsideraoie. The last instance I knew of the scalding remedy, was in the year 1?88. It was applied to a fistula in the withers of a gross, foul-bodied cart |
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/8 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
gelding, in which the discharge of thick, fe-
tid, oi y matter was so abundant, as to drown all mild applications. It was brought to, dis- charge good matter by one scalding, on which a perfect cure ensued. Mr. Tapliir's method of cure, which will
doubtless succeed in slight cases, is, after all, extracted, almost verbatim, from the decried Gibson and Bartlet. Page 187, Mr. Tapiin says, " A Practical Treatise may be compiled from Gibson, Burdon, Bracken, and others, Without COINING A NEW THOUGHT.'' He
has proceeded a step farther than asserting
he has proved it. Stable Director u, vol. 1, page 202, Colds, $(;.
'■• In respect to these disorders, their de-
scriptions, or rather the different conjectures, have been so extended, turned, twisted, and mutilated, in their transmissions from one au- thor to another, that it is natural to suppose- no true state of either could be ascertained, or any thing satisfactory advanced upon the subject. We have the authority of a century past to prove they are caused (meaning colds, broken wind, consumptions, &c.) by < the impetuosity of the blood rushing into the lungs—or in the air vessels-—or in the blood? |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 79
vessels—or in tubercles—or in ulcers—or in
too full feeding,' &c—Bartlet quotes from Gibson, who refers you to Markham, or Su- leysell; and Bracken to Burdpn, and so on ad infinitum. We are likewise told the three last distempers are generally incur- able. You are then instructed to pro- ceed with mercurial physic, giving in the intermediate days, the cinnabar balls; if they fail, try alterative purges; to these follow cordial balls, with balsams of Peru and sul- phur, squilis, tar, &c. one to be continued a week or ten days; another a fortnight; and a third for two months, or longer, &c. &c— " I shall avoid this beaten track of duplicity* and not amuse my readers in every page, with Gibson directs this, or Bartlet the other ; but communicate some instructions from the dictates of nature and reason, who have been hitherto most infamously treated, and most shamefully abandoned, through every system of equestrian medical practice." After this ostentatious prelude, these profes- sorial strictures, and pompous pretensions, does not the reader expect something new from the pen of Mr. Taplin, either as to.the cause of the disease, the symptoms, m-thod of treatment, or intentions of cure ? Does not he look for some choice and valuable specific. |
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80 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
recommended on the strength of the profes-
sor's ttventy years experience? At leasts he will find the practice of those authors so vitupera- tively cited, fairly and specifically brought forward, and proved to be erroneous, old- fashioned and obsolete—faith, no such thing— never was a more consistent writer than the author of the Stable Directoiy—and his uni- formity of eharacter^and practice, is preserved to a tittle, in the chapter on colds. The theory of obstructed perspiration is taken from Bracken; the immediate causes of colds, with remarks and cautions from that author, and Gibson, as it chanced to suit the obvious purpose of the selector. As to the cure, he begins with aniseed, liquorice-powder, and honey, to be administered in a marsh; the very same things which Gibson first orders; with this difference, that Gibson has joined Avith them some more powerful auxiliaries, and ordered the whole in a liquid form, Avhich. I conceive, in this particular case, to be pre- ferable. His next recourse is to detergent and pectoral balls, insignificantly varied from Bracken and Bartlet, although I cannot help agreeing with him, in his rejection of the brimstone from the old cordial ball; which, considering the nature of the other ingre- clients, I conceive, renders the whole, in the |
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 81
true farrier's phrase, H a kind of a heater,
and a kind of a cooler." Nitre comes next, the favourite specific of Bartlet; nor are the mercurial physic, or the tar, turpentines, balsams, &c. which he affects to ridicule in the beginning of his chapter, as the prescrip- tion of other men, forgotten in the latter end, to be recommended as a part of his own intire new practice. With what consequence, at the same time,
with what sterling humour, Mr. Taphn de- scants on the weighty subjects of drinks, glys- ters, and glyster-pipes! Unfortunately, all the thoughts, as usual, are second hand, and may be found in the authors who preceded him, not forgetting that very useful one, of the just preference of a pipe and bag, before a syringe ! Who would besides expect to find in Mr. Taplin's book, as many glysters and drinks ordered, as in that of any other au-> thor, after he has, in so consequential a style, assumed to himself the merit of abolishing such slovenly methods. I have already far exceeded my proposed,
limits, in the examination of the Stable Di- rectory, which my respect for the public alone, who have purchased a considerable number of that extraordinary work, could have induced me to extend beyond the space vol. i. G
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82 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER,
of half a dozen lines. If my intelligent reader
should chuse for his amusement to proceed, he will find the same pompous and illiterate impertinence, the same inconsistence, blunder and contradiction ; the accustomed plagiarism and unfair quotation, to the end of the piece. I say my intelligent reader; for there are others of a different description, who will en- joy their broad grin, with this delightsome author. Far from envying, I felicitate them upon such an, acquisition ; his nonsense will exactly suit their own, as great wits jump. In the purchase of a book, as well as of any other commodity, a man surely ought to have money's-worth for his money, and himself alone ought to be the proper judge of what is so. I have stated, and most truly, that my
mind is perfectly free of the smallest tincture of prejudice against Mr. Taplin. What I have said, was extorted from me by the mere sense of justice, and an unhappy constitutional attachment to truth. Something may be urged, perhaps byway of apology for him, At the time he first published his work, every sufficient judge must be convinced, that he had not reaped the benefit of much experience in his subject, either as an equestrian or veterinarian. Seven or eight years practice, |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 83
which he has since had, must have amended
that defect. He may have obtained some ballast, to steady the flowing sail of his quick conceptions. He has, I am informed, fa- voured the public with the result of his late practice, in a new treatise, intituled, a Com- pendium of Farriery. When an opportunity of perusal shall offer, I flatter myself I shall thence be able to obtain some new and im- portant information; and it will afford me infinite pleasure, to find an occasion of be- my share of applause upon the me- ritorious labours of Mr. Taplin. |
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CHAP. II.
THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
THE Horse, to the eye of science* is the
most beautiful of all four-footed animals ; superior to all in symmetry of body, in speed, and in general utility to mankind. He possesses in common with the human race, the reasoning faculty, the difference consist- ing only in degree, or quantity. Human pride, prejudice, and cruelty alone, have questioned g2
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84 THE HORSE IN GENERAL
this truth ; those passions suspended, it be-
comes instantly obvious to common sense. The body then of the horse, as well as that of every living creature, is vivified and in- formed by a soul, or portion of intellectual element superadded. This portion differs in degree, in different animals, according to the wise dispensation of nature. I hope I may be allowed to make use of the term soul, without any offence, either to the materialist or the atheist; and withal to add, that I conceive the dispute between them, and their antagonists, like many other learned disputes, to be rather concerning the terms, than the substance of the argument. All parties evi-, dently see and feel a something to exist, which it is not in the power of reason to get rid of, either in this world, or the next. These free opinions may possibly run
counter to certain established systems, reli- gious or prophane, but it does not thence fol- low, that they are contrary to truth ; the only probable mode to attain which, that.I am apprized of, is to give reason unbounded scope, to judge impartially of the evidence before her. In pursuance of this philosophy, we will then say, that as the anatomical art evinces the strict analogy between the brute and human body, so the constant experience |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 85
Of the senses confirms the same, in respect to
the mind and its qualities, The horse is en- dowed Avith such as we are compelled to de- nominate qualities of mind ; namely, percep- tion, consciousness, memory, free-will; in these originate love, hatred, fear, fortitude, patience, generosity, obedience, a limited sense ofjustice. He reasons ; he therefore pos- sesses an immortal and imperishable soul. To sceptics (pretended or otherwise) I say,
if an animal reasons in degree, it is to possess the reasoning faculty. Is it not reasoning, and from experience too, to distinguish a mea- sure of corn from a bag of nails ? And is it not by the help, of precisely the same faculty, that they themselves discover the difference between a plum-pudding and a bulrush ? Because I am infinitely inferior in the power of reasoning to Socrates, or Hume ; does it follow, that the portion which I possess, is not reason, but instinct ? If so, to be quit •with you, I shall take the liberty to assert, that the mighty powers of those men were nothing more than a superior degree of in- stinct. The reasoning faculties of brutes do not
seem capable of taking a very extensive ranee; but' experience evinces, that tjiey_arejiighlv improveable. They reason correctly enough |
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8t> THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
from simple ideas, but are incapable of much
combination, and seem to derive little or no benefit from analogies. Their memories, those of horses, in particular, are occasionally very strong and retentive, and I have wit- nessed facts, which have been faithfully recorded therein for more than ten years. That they are conscious, Ave every day witness. I have many times seen a favourite hack-
nejMvalking, from her paddock to the stable, through droves of young chicks and duck- lings, jibing up her feet, laying her ears^ and putting her nose almost to the ground, lest she should tread upon them. The same mare, trotting at full speed, once flew a rod out of her way, that she jxvight not tread upon a child, who was accidentally crossing the road. This was not the effect of starting or shying, to which she was at no rate addicted, excepting sometimes from affectation, and when she was in a gay humour, and sought to entertain her rider. This mare also saved herself and her mas-
ter, at the Easter hunt, upon Epping forest, whither he had once the curiosity to go j He was riding slowly and very heedlessly up the hill, abreast a waggon. The mare pricked her ears at a man and horse coming full speed |
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T^HE HORSE IN GENERAL. 87
down the hill, exactly in her line of direction;
and at their approach hung back, and in an instant, with the dexterity of harlequin, bobbed under the tail of the waggon. A horseman behind, going very fast, received the mighty shock, which made the earth tremble. One horse was killed out-right, and the shoulder of the other shattered to pieces. These knights, it may be presumed, were not of the order of " the sons of care." I have a thorough conviction, this animal acted in the above-cited instances, purely from the influence of rational motives. I have already.trespassed in the length of
this digression, or I should present my reader with an anecdote of an Italian buffalo, which for some years acted as a volunteer, in car- rying the Calabrian courier and his mail across a river; demonstrating a very extraor- dinary portion of sagacity. But as the work, in which I read this, abounds in curious in- formation, and of a country and people little known to us, I refer the reader to it; namely, Aufrere's Tour to Naples. The ancients, either unable to discover the
whole truth, or unwilling to acknowledge it, could not yet help conceding to the brute crea- tion, what was styled a sensitive soul. Thus the Epicureans broached the notion of the exist- ence of two souls, the rational, and the merely |
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88 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
ariimal, which they distinguished by the terms
animus and anima; the former confined to a local habitation in the breast, the latter diffused throughout the whole body. The rational, of course, they supposed must belong exclusively to themselves: Sensum e ceelesti demissum traximus arce,-
Cujus egent prona & terram spectantia. Mundi Principio indulsit communis conditor illis Tantum animas, nobis animum quoque. Juv.
Amongst the moderns, DesCartes,FatherMal-
lebranche, and others, have inconsiderately, or superscitiously, pronounced brutes only to be animated automata. Another French writer, (the Chevalier Ramsay, I believe) is willing, indeed, to allow them souls ; but with the ab- surd and cruel condition, that these souls were placed in brute bodies, by way of abase- ment and punishment, for crimes committed in a pre-existent state. Again, many both of the ancients and moderns, have readily acknowledged the rationality of beasts, but have found themselves under great anxiety how to dispose of their souls after death j whether they were to be admitted indiscri- minately into those ethereal regions, already so accurately and geographically chalked out., or whether it were necessary* by an additional |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 89
stretch of the human imagination, to provide
them with quarters more suitable to the ap- parent inferiority of their condition. For my own part, I do not hold good with these fanciful speculations in terra incognita futurd ; which, I conceive, have ever had the worst possible effect upon the morals and happiness of mankind. Provided we take a just and generous care of the bodies of our horses in the present world, our duty, I apprehend, is performed ; we may very safely confide their souls in the next, to the good keeping of all- sufficient nature. If by the term instinct, we mean to convey any other idea than that of an inferior degree of reason, we have only contrived a veil to obscure the face of truth. The law of Nature has placed the whole
animal creation in a state of slavery to the human race ; or rather, superior intelligence possesses a natural and inherent right to domination. This is not the language of pious fraud, or the apology for an abuse; reason evidently discovers the necessity of such a dispensation in the constitution of the mundane system. The slightest inspec- tion into the existing order of things will convince us; that the present was intended for a life of labour, industry, and pain; and that inferior animals could by no other means |
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90 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
perform their given part, and contribute their
share to the mass of labour and suffering, than in a state of subjection to their superior-- Man. Thus the reason of things, and a lawful necessity, have constituted all brute creatures slaves; but they nevertheless possess certain natural and unalienable rights, a de- monstration of which, will form the subject of the ensuing chapter. The Horse, from the earliest accounts,
seems to have been a native of nearly all the climates of the old world; why this excellent animal was deoied to, the new continent, al- most all regions of which, are so well adapted to his production and maintenance, is a diffi- culty not easily solved. Whether they were, ab origine, indigenous to one particular coun- try, whence all parts else were supplied; or whether common to many, and of different, races, befitting the nature and circumstances of each country, is a theme fit only to display the powers of imagination, in such an inge- nious and fanciful writer as Buffon. Thus much, constant observation and experience have determined upon the matter, that the genus varies with soil and climate ; that the horses of warm climes and dry soils, are of the truest proportion, the finest skin, and the most generous spirit, of course the |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 91
fleetest, and fittest for the saddle ; that as we
approach the north, we find them more ro- bust, and formed with very little symmetry of shape ; coarse-haired, hardy, and slow, fitted for draught, and the more laborious purposes of life ; that the species will thrive, with proper care, in all habitable countries ; but succeed best under the temperate zones, and upon fruitful and grameniferous soils. It frequently happens, that of two hypo-
theses, although one only can be simply true, yet both may lead, by different trains of ar- gumentation, to the same conclusion. The easiest method, and perhaps that liable to fewest objections, is to divide the genus of horses into two original and distinct species, or creations ; the fine and speedy, and the coarse and slow. To these original sources, all varieties whatever may be traced; and the various intermediate degrees may also be in- fluenced in some measure, by soil and climate; but it does not appear probable, either in theory, or by analogies which might be ad- duced, that any length of time, or change of soil, could convert the delicate, silk-haired, flat-boned courser of the southern countries, into the coarse, clumsy, round-made cart- horse of the north of Europe. The original countries of the two opposite
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92 TilE IIOttSE IN GENERAL.
races, (whether they were first and exclusively
created there, matters not to us) are the .g?QJjatajnpus part of Arabia, and the low lands of Belgium in Europe. Arabia is the oldest breeding country, to usenTTfamiliar phrase, in the world ; it has been known to „. possess a pure and unmixed race of horses, j<^ho_uslm7Ts oT^elir77~and the experience, both of ancient and modern times, has proved them to be of superior form and qualification
to all other horses upon earth. In the very ^.<- early ages, the breed of Arabian horses was sought and dispersed over almost all Asia and Africa, and from thence to the southern parts of Europe ; in more modern times, they have been introduced farther north, particularly into this country ; and from that source has originated our best racing blood, to which we owe those advantages and improvements, and that superiority in horses, we so evidently possess over all other nations. At what period of time, or by what nation,*
or individual, the horse was first reduced to human use and obedience, is a piece of in- telligence which must for ever lie hid in the impenetrable recesses of the most remote an- tiquity. But it is sufficient we know from . their works, that the ancients, in general, were well acquainted with the various uses to |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 93
which the animal may be applied ; and that
many of the eastern nations, as well as the Greeks and Romans, were well skilled in equestrian knowledge and management. If we were not well aware of the necessity of be- ing upon our guard against the exaggerated relations of ancient writers, we should be in- deed surprised at the number of horses said to have been kept for the purposes of luxury and parade, in those early ages. Herodotus __^. says, the King of Babylon maintained a stud of sixte^njjlKmsand mares, and eight hundred
stallions. "~* fn our own country the breed of horses is
of much higher antiquity than any extant history, since we are informed by Julius Cae- sar, that on his first invasion of the island, the Britons had already great numbers of them, well-trained to warlike exercises. The species we may fairly presume, to have been such, of all sizes, as we are likely to see in any fruitful northern region,-where it has not been improved by a mixture of the blood of the south country horses; that is to say, rough-coated, round-made, and with but lit- tle symmetry, sturdy, with bones compara- tively soft and spongy, and sinews unendowed with any high degree of elasticity. The Ro- mans, it is probable, contributed very little |
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94 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
to the improvement of the British breed of
horses, since no traces of amendment are to be found during so many ages. The same may be said of the Crusaders, who certainly had it in their power to have sent home to their own country, some of the choicest horses in the world, their destination being so near the fountain head ; but they had, unhappily, objects in view, far other than those of either common utility, or common sense. There is but little evidence, during the early periods of our history, to guide our researches, ex- cepting a law of one of our Saxon monarchs, to prevent the exportation of horses; which seems no indication of their plenty at that time, but that, perhaps, those of England were in some request in the neighbouring countries. The first period, of any particular or
marked attention, to the amendment of our breed of horses, may be dated from the reigns of Henry VII. and VIII.; but the regula- tions then made, and the means employed, agreeable to the genius of those unenlightened times, consisted of arbitrary directions and impolitic restraints, by no means calculated to advance the intended purpose. Magistrates were empowered to scour, at Michaelmas- tide, the heaths and commons, and to put to |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 9^
death all mares they should judge of insuffi-
cient size to bear good foals ; the ancient prohibition to export horses was continued, in particular stallions; which last, I am in- formed by an officer in the customs, it is ille- gal to export at this day; and that it is usual to do it at the out-ports, and by stealth. The laudable custom, however, began about that time, of importing stock proper to breed nags, from the southern climes, and such as was fit to enlarge the breed of draught cattle, from the opposite continent. We learn from Blundeville, that in the
reign of Elizabeth, the generality of English horses were either weak, or consisted of sturdy jades, better adapted to draught than to any other purpose; but, with some exceptions, which exhibited strong proofs of initient im- provement, one of which is, an instance of a horse travelling fourscore miles within the day for a wager ; a feat which would puzzle a great number of those fine cock-tail nags, sold by the dealers of the present day, at three or fourscore pounds each. The desire of improvement was so generally diffused, according to the above-named author, that even the carters had become very nice in their choice of horses. The following races were well known to the gentlemen breeders of the |
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96 THE HOUSE IN GENERAL.
country; namely, " the Turk, the Barba-
_ rian, the Sardinian, the Neapolitan, the
^ Jennet of Spain, the Hungarian, the high
Almaine, or German, the, Friezeland, the -~
J~ Flanders, and the Irish Hobby." Still,
horses were so deficient in number, that on
the Spanish Invasion, the Queen found the
utmost difficulty in mounting two or three
thousand cavalry.
In the reign of James, horse-racing be-
came fashionable, throughout all parts of England ; a favourite diversion of most of the Princes of the Royal House of Stuart, and particularly encouraged by them. Even the grave and hypocritical Cromwell, in his apery of the pomps and vanities of royalty, did not forget that necessary appendage—a stud of race horses. It is well known that Richard Place was the Lord Protector's stucl groom. The famous white Turk has im- mortalized himself and his keeper; the con- joined names of the man and the horse, Place's white 'Turk, are sure to be delivered down to the latest posterity. The merry asra of the Restoration relieved*
the good people of this country from the ill, effects of the most insane and useless, of all the numerous fbllies which have turned the brains of mortal men. I mean that of moix |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 97
tifying and degrading both soul and body,
and stifling the lawful desires of nature in their birth, under the stupid pretence of securing a luxurious reversion in some future woi-Id. A single couplet of the witty and profligate earl of Rochester, which in truth contains the justest sentiments, when joined with morality and virtue, had now as univer- sal an effect, as the long winded puiitamcal sermons in the past times. Englishmen had now discovered, that man's proper aim was " life's', happiness," and according'y, set about promoting all its conveniencies, all its comforts and enjoyments, with a commend- able alacrity. As of the most distinguished among these, horses were by no means for- gotten. In order to promote emulation among the breeders, and with the judicious view of perfecting and extending a race of horses, fit for the road, the chace, and the war, an additional encouragement was given to horse-coursing, by the institution of royal plates; and by an enlightened policy, free exportation was allowed, the readiest method of assuring plenty of any commo- dity. From that period, to the middle of the present century, the system of renovation from the different original foreign stocks, has been occasionally adopted ; the happy-conse- vol. i. H |
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98 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
quences have been, a decided superiority over
the parent stock, from whatever country ; and an original breed of our own, of all denomi- nations, of superior proportion, speed, power, and utility. This superiority having been for a long time
established, it should seem, with some little exceptions perhaps, that we have no longer any necessity for recourse to foreign stock of any description, with the view of improve- ment ; that being in our power, even to the highest point of perfection, by judicious se- lections from our own native races. Indeed, our importations of foreign horses of late years, have been made chiefly with the view of obtaining serviceable draught cattle, for •**, immediate use^ at more reasonable rates than
Ihey could be bred at home, rather than for the purpose jofbreeding ; and this has been almost intirely confined to JFiaraders and «- F^[ezejanck No importation of saddle-horses
lias ever taken place within the present cen- tury, that I know of; as to the Arabians, Barbs, and other foreign stallions, formerly so essential in our studs, they have for some years ceased to be much in request, and there are now but few of them in the country. The marks of their foreign origin are now distin- guishable but in very few of our English horses, being lost in the proper characteristic |
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THE BfofcS* IN GENERAL. 99
form of the country, which time, the influ-
feice of climate, good provender, and good care, have established. Thus our racing stock, although they have lost somewhat in delicacy — of skin, and warmth of temperament, have gained more size, fuller and better propor- tion, more speed and continuance, than the — real Arabians ; and our cart-horses, together with a peculiar characteristic rotundity of form, have acquired more beauty and greater, activity, than the species upon the contment from which they have descended. The sad- dle-horses of England are in request in fo- reign countries, on account of their uniting superior action, with strength, proportion, and beauty. No people in the world have ever been so fond of speedy travelling as the English ; of course, the attention of breeders has been no where else so much directed to the attainment of that particular shape which is most conducive to action. The Spaniards of the old school, who valued a horse in pro- portion to his susceptibility of the manoeuvres of the riding-house, were accustomed to style those which excelled in such exercises, haze- doves, or doers. We of this country, empha- tically distinguish those horses by the appel- lation of goers, which are particularly en- h2
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100 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
dowed with our favourite qualification—
speed. The original breed of English horses has
been long since entirely extinguished by that general improvement which has pervaded every quarter of the country ; a curious ob- server may nevertheless form a very good es- timate of its figure and merits, by examining our common road hacks, which shew little or no mixture of foreign blood, and the lower kind of farmer's-horses, to the breed of which, little or no attention has been paid. We are to except the Shetland ponies, and a few remaining Scotch and Welch mountain hobbies, which are probably the same race, in all respects, as when they were either first created upon, or imported into the Island. Every body knows the Northern ponies are very small, very hardy and durable, and „ amazingly strong in proportion to their bulk. The torrid zones, also, produce a very dimi- nutive species of the horse; some of them in Guinea, and the East Indies, are scarcely su- perior in size to large dogs ; but, unlike their peers of the hardy regions of the north, they are weak, delicate, mulish, and almost with- out use. The following anecdote of a post- man, and his little horse, is extracted from |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 101
that elaborate, and curious work, Sir John
Sinclair's statistical account of Scotland. " 4- countryman, about five feet ten inches high, who died last year, was employed by the Lah-d of Coll, as post to Glasgow or Edin- burgh. His ordinary burden thence to Coll was sixteen stone. Being once stopped at a toll, near Dumbarton, he humorously asked, whether he should pay for a burden ; and on being answered in the negative, carried his horse in his arms past the toll." The horses of this country had, no doubt,
arrived at the highest point of perfection, in the admired qualities of speed and strength, individually, long before the present time. For instance, we have no reason to expect that the speed, strength, and continuance of Childers and Eclipse, as gallopers; of Archer, and one or two others, as trotters ; or the powrers of certain cart-horses, which have drawn such immense weights, and repeated so many dead pulls, will ever be excelled. It seems not to be within the compass of those powers of action which nature has bestowed upon the horse, to gallop a mile in less time than a minute ; or to trot the same distance in less than three minutes, bating a few se- conds. But animals, capable of such extra- ordinary feats, to be found nowhere else upon |
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102 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
the face of the habitable globe, have ever been
rant aves even in England. To speak a truth, although we have maintained a superiority over other countries, for nearly a century, yet we have at no period been overstocked with good horses ; nor are we at this instant, al- though we have continued progressively to amend. The reason of our defect I shall by and by endeavour to explain. The authors who best understood this branch of the sub- ject, particularly Bracken and Osmer, have made heavy complaints of the scarcity of good horses in their days, and assigned their reasons for it. Since their time our improve- ments have been wonderfully great, chiefly owing to the care of particular gentlemen breeders, and to the more general diffusion of racing blood, amongst our hunters, hacks, and coach-horses. We certainly travel the roads now with as much expedition, as the nature of the poor animals who draw and carry us, will ever admit. What would Booth, the ce- lebrated comedian say, could he peep out of his grave, and see the rapid whirling of our post-chaises, and mail-coaches, who boasted that he was accustomed to whip from Windsor to London in three hours, with a set of horses. We have discarded the old heavy, black, long-tailed, and no-tailed coach-horse, |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 103
which used to trudge on so steadily and pain-
fully at the rate of five miles per hour, all day long, and replaced him with an elegant blood-like, full, and well-proportioned nag, equally adapted to real service and parade. I am speaking chiefly of our highest form of coach-horses, which I conceive approach very near to the standard of perfection, from the judicious use made of the racing blood, by some of our present breeders. We have, ne- vertheless, but too many of the coach kind, with scarcely any other merit than a silken coat, and a shew of blood ; tall, leggy, splat- ter-footed, of insufficient substance, and lit- tle use. Our first class of cart-horses have, I ap-
prehend, been bred up to too large a size ; ac- tive, muscular strength, has been improvi- dently sacrificed to the momentum of mere bulk and weight. We besides, see every day, many of these much too high upon the leg ; a fault pretty general among.all descriptions of English cart-horses. I do not say that is ab- solutely necessary, but I conceive it possible, that in some countries, our breed of cart-horses might be farther amended by a fresh recourse to Belgium, the parent country. The best Flanders cattle, which I have seen, are deeper- bodied, with shorter, flatter, and more clean |
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104 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
and sinewy legs, than our own of the same
kmd. It may be very safely pronounced, that
we have had more good horses, of every description, in the country, within the last ten years, than in any preceding time, but the number of such beats not, as yet, any fair proportion with that of an inferior sort. We are constantly hearing those, who are the best judges of horses, complaining of the great number they are under the necessity of looking over, before they can find one for the saddle, of any considerable degree of excel- lence, in any point of view. Our national propensity to speedy riding, no doubt, enhances the difficulty ; but there are certainly too many of our saddle-horses, miserably ill-, --"* shaped and weak, or over-laden with sub- stance ill-placed; in short, calculated to be rather a burden than any real benefit to their owner. The long and discouraging catalogue of the defects, of horses, which every connoiseur among us, is obliged to have at his finger^ ends, obviously serves but too well to es- tablish what I have advanced as fact. If we are indebted to blood for ail our advantages, it is equally certain, that an injudicious use is too frequently made of it. We observe too much delicacy and pliability of sinew, |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 105
with too little bone and substance, in great
numbers ot' those horses destined to quick draught. The legs of such will scarcely ever accompany the carcase in a proportional share of labour over turnpike roads. As to the refuse of our studs of race-horses, it con- sists usually of a parcel of half-gotten, delicate, weak, spider-legged creatures, which it is a misery to see applied to any labour whatever. Our grand desideratum now is, substance well placed, which ensures both power and ac- tion; a deep and well-proportioned frame; to support these through the piece, bone under the knee, and tough feet. It will be no difficult matter, to assign
sufficient reasons, why horses of the above valuable description are not more plentiful among us; or rather one reason alone will' suffice. We owe our defects to a total ab- sence of all regular principles in our general breeding system. The leader will perceive, that I leave out of the question the few ju- dicious and intelligent breeders, from whose laudable exertions, at different periods, we owe all that is valuable in our various races of horses. The business of stock-breeding, which is properly scientific, and therefore requires the aid of philosophy and reflection, is from necessity, as it should seem, the far |
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106 THE HOUSE IN GENERAL.
greater part of it, in the hands of the most
ignorant and untutored, perhaps the most prejudiced, and obstinate of mankind. It is a mere chance-medley affair. Does a coun- tryman wish to breed a horse ? His solicitude and attention seldom extend farther than to the size of the animals he chooses for that purpose; provided they be high enough, large enough, and at hand, the business is done; the species, and conformation of the mare in particular, and her aptitude for the intended purpose, are considerations which seldom occur; or if they do, are usually thrown aside, as if they really bore no rela- tion whatever to the question. Now this happens to be the most important point of all others, without recurring to the general idea of the superior consequence of the female in the affair of procreation, for granting the stallion to be thorough-shaped and proper, and it is much likelier for a common breeder to find a good stallion, than to possess a good brood mare, yet if the mare be de- fective and faulty, there can be no just reason to expect the produce will be perfect. Not a few of our horses clearly evince, by their appearance, the probability of inheriting their numerous defects, both from sire and dam. |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 107
I am sorry to remark, that these strictures,
not only apply to our general run of casual breeders throughout the country, but in a o-reat measure also, to the considerable ones of the northern, usually styled the breeding counties; and the reader will find these sen- timents confirmed in the Yorkshire Tour ot the elegant and enlightened Mr. Marshall. It results from these premises, that our
intelligent breeders have brought the horses of this country to a sufficient or rather per- haps to the highest degree of perfection. The finest models of all denominations, both for beauty and use, are to be found in Eng- land All that is now wanted, is a transfer of the bulk of the business of the stud, from ignorant to intelligent hands; the certain consequence of winch fortunate change would b~ as great a plenty, as there is now a scarcity, of good horses. There are, it, is true a formidable host of d.scouragmg cir- cumstances in the train of the best concerted breeding plan, even where there is an ample ran-e of proper land. The capital required to go into it, to any extent, is considerable; the"requisite attention great and constant; for it is a business which often fails from be- ing trusted intirely to ignorant grooms; to reflect upon the distant period to which a |
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108 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
man must attend the reward of his labour
and expence, and that after all, he may pur- chase horses at much less cost than he can breed them, is disheartening. It is indeed true, that the breeders of a great part of our horses are not reimbursed the cost; of which they would be convinced, were they in the habits of calculation. But that objection is of no validity against capital stock, which must inevitably, for a series of years to come, com-
mand an adequate price; and if we take into the question the universal destruction of horses throughout the whole continent, oc- casioned by the present most cruel and disas- trous war, and that they must be, in part at least, recruited from hence; I think it may be very safely pronounced, that at no former period, was the prospect of breeding so in- viting as at the present moment. Various complaints have been made against
the too great number of horses bred in Eng- land, which I believe to be totally ground- less, on any account, as far as relates to horses intended for the saddle, and quick draught; for which no other animals can be placed in substitution; as to cartrhorses (the least useful of the species) such complaints are certainly just. Of the Horses of foreign countries,
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 109
I have a right to say but little from my own
experience; and the relations of travellers, and of those who have improved upon them, are intituled to little depentlance, since none of them, that I can discover, were good jockies. The celebrated Mr. Bruce, who plumes himself upon his ignorance of the turf, tells us of an excellent race of horses, which he found at Sennaar, sixteen hands high, at four years old ; if they continue to grow in that country, as long as with us, they must be no doubt, stately animals at six; only somewhat difficult to mount. It is pretty generally agreed, however, of that traveller, that he was given to make use of the common privilege; to which, if we add his acknowledged want of skill in horses, we shall be justified in subtracting somewhat from his account of the height of those at Sennaar. Dr. Russel, in his natural history of
Aleppo, gives us as particular, and satisfactory an account of the horses of the circumjacent countries, as could be expected; and no doubt a just one, as far as it goes.. He describes the Turkish horses of a large make, and martial appearance; the Arabs more slender, and less shewy, but beautifully |
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11.0 THE HORSE IN GENEKAi.
turned, more swift, and more hardy. The
Syrians he commends for their beauty and goodness ; and also for that remarkable gen- tleness of nature, familiarity with man, and docility, for which the Arabians are so dis- tinguished ; the consequence, • in some mea- sure, no doubt, of that humanity and kind- ness, with which they are treated by their masters. The eastern countries are seldom the the-
atre of change or improvement; and their horses, it may be fairly presumed, are much ^,.- the same, in all respects, as in ancient times. Arabia, Persia, Syria, Egypt, Barbary, still continue the chief breeding countries, whence India, Turkey, and various other parts, are - supplied. I have seen but one Spanish horse ; he was
a chesnut, sixteen hands high, very much resembling our Yorkshire half-bred horses, which are applied to the purpose of getting coach cattle, and strong nags. This horse was represented to me as of the best race in Spain, but evidently shewed to be of a mixed breed, his head being ill set on., and his shape, in general, irregular ; his shoulder was tolerably well placed, his legs flat, and feet very good. As to the famed Andalusian horses, and the **** jennets of Spain, I can find no account of |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. ill
them, but in old books, or late writers who
appear to have copied from them. Although there always have been, and I
suppose are at present, considerable breeding studs in Germany, and in different parts of Europe,it does not appear that any great im- provements have been effected ; on the con- trary, in some European countries the horses have degenerated, or they are eclipsed by the superior fame of those of England. A Trea- tise on the different studs of Europe, was pub- lished by M. Fluzard, in 1788 : I have not seen the book, but I must own my expecta- tions from it are not very sanguine; all thai I have read upon the subject, either in French. or from the Italian, being chiefly a repetition of the exploded notions and practices of former times, with some few additional particulars, which, if new, are not a whit more to the purpose. On the present state of the coursers, war-
horses, and coach-horses of Naples, formerly so celebrated, _I know no^hillg- The Germans and Swiss, are represented
to me as a~/eavy, mishappen race, not re- markably well fitted for any purpose. The Hungarians, and those bordering on the east- ern countries, no doubt partake, in a degree, of the .-symmetry,' speed, and goodness of the |
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112 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
horses of Asia; but I have often remarked a
singular deviation of nature from her general rule, in horses bred in Germany, and in dif- ferent parts of the continent of Europe ; they have appeared well proportioned, with the undoubted marks of Oriental origin, or what we term blood ; and yet, on trial, have ex- hibited no proofs of the characteristic pro- perty—speed. The horses of France, although generally
inferior hitherto, will, I conceive, one day, equal our own in all respects. There is every thing in the soil and climate of that great and glorious country to warrant such a supposi- tion. The attempts made by their sporting nobility a few years past, to breed racers, ill- judged and ill-directed as they generally were, yet evidently proved their ability to rival us upon the turf; and the readiest mode their government can now adopt, to raise a supe- rior breed of horses, for all purposes, an ob- ject which they have much at heart, is to give encouragement to the noble and rational diversion of horse-racing. The horses of Nor- mandy^ are, at present, as I am informed by a military friend, who served in France until the execution of the king, upon an equality with the general run of our own. He de- scribes them as bearing a resemblance to the |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 113
/ stock of Eclipse, chesnut, with a blaze in
the face, and white legs behind ; good trot- ters, active, hardy, and well fitted for the troop. They travelled, it seems, sometimes on their marches, seventy and eighty miles per day. The countries upon the Baltic produce
active, hardy, clean-limbed saddle horses, perhaps an original race, without any mix^ ture of Asiatic blood. Such as I have seen from Norway were dun-coloured, small, but thick-set, and very well shaped. I have known good stock raised from Norway mares, and our bred horses. I have heard of capital trotters, and of good size, in Sweden and Russia. In the vast plains of South America, where
European industry and tyranny have not yet penetrated, it is well known there are nume- rous herds of wild horses in the original state of nature. These have increased to their pre- sent numbers, from a few put on shore by the Spaniards, more than two centuries ago. Al- though the produce of Spanish stock, for- merly held in such high estimation, they are represented, by those who have seen them of late years, as small, thick-headed, and ill- shaped. I have my doubts of the existence vol. i. I
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114 THE HOUSE IN GENERAL.
of wild horses in any other part of the
world. Our brethren of the United States of North
America, well aware of the consequence of this excellent animal to the interests and the comforts of human society, have been, for a number of years, taking the proper steps to replenish their extensive and fertile regions with a race of horses worthy of them. They have occasionally imported some of the best bred stallions and mares from this country. The famous_Shark? which was, perhaps, after Childers and Eclipse, the best horse that ever ran over English ground ; which beat all the horses of his time, both speedy and stout, each at their own game, and won his owner twenty thousand guineas, has for some years continued to stock the plains of Virginia with high racing blood. I am credibly informed, that a noble lord, of great celebrity in the annals of the turf, offered ten thousand gui- neas for this famous horse, the day on which he was finally withdrawn from his labours, covered with the honours of the course. In the Jersies, Tallyho, a son of Highflyer, and several well-bred horses, cover with great success, and to the considerable emolument of their owners. iV sporting friend of mine, |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 115
who was in America during the late unfor-
tunate war described their saddle-horses as a light, spider-legged, sickle-hammed race, with much more activity than lasting good- ness, resembling the worst of our half-breds. Brissot, who travelled those countries after- wards, and mentions the great exertions of their stages upon the road, extending some- times to ninety-six miles in a day, seems to think their horses inadequate in strength, and that the care bestowed upon them, and the keep, are by no means sufficient. But there can be no doubt, that the late great emigrations from Yorkshire, with some of the best cattle, will also import into America the just and generous stable-ceconomy of old England. The few hacks and hunters of Ireland,
which have come under my observation, ap- peared to me to vary no otherwise from English-bred horses, than that they were somewhat more slim, and sharper built; per- haps they have naturally a little more fire. The following account of the present state of equestrian affairs in Ireland, I received in April 1796, from a man who has had more than forty years experience in horses; and who had returned the preceding week from Dublin, where he had resided a considerable 1 2
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116 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
time as an assistant at one of the horse re-
positories. " They have few or none of those large cart-horses so common in this country; those they have, for the most part, ill- shaped, loose, and leggy. Their saddle-horses natu rally as good as ours; but, in general, poorly kept, worse groomed, and still worse shod. In the latter respect, they are thirty years behind us ; the feet of their hacks, even in Dublin, being torn to pieces by weight of iron, and nails like skewers. Their hunters are the highest leapers in the world, being trained to it from their being first bitted. Prices considerably under ours; good coaching-like nags, and chapmens' horses^ being sold at the repositories for ten or twelve pounds each. They excel even the good people of England, in anticipating the strength of their horses, and wearing them out early; and deem them aged at the sixth year. Their hay ill-made, spoiled by standing too long before the grass is cut, and afterwards by not being stacked. It is carried loose to market. General want of industry among the Irish, and the rage of setting up for Jontlemen, so universal and con- tagious, that no sooner has a man acquired a few hundred pounds, by the exertion of an unfashionable industry, than he scorns to turn his attention to any thing farther than |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 117
the readiest means of spending it. Freight
of horses to Park-gate, two guineas each." I intreat the good citizens of Ireland to
excuse my detailing the above unfavourable particulars, and to observe, that I speak merely from the report of another. If the picture be false or overcharged, which my partiality for the gallant character of the Irish makes me anxiously wish, they will pass it over with a forbearing smile ; if in any respect true, their serious reflections upon it will prove the first step towards amendment. 1 shad now, after a few preliminary re-
marks, present the reader with a general description of the external conformation of the horse, grounded, I conceive, upon just principles of theory, and confirmed by ex- perience. By a general description, I would be understood to intend such an one, as is equally applicable to the racer and the cart- horse ; the particulars wherein they differ will be explained in the course of the work, under the distinct heads. In laying down certain rules, as the standard of beauty and proportion m horses, human judgment has, no doubt, been guided by the observation of the best natural models; these have been originally furnished by the coursers of Arabia,- according to all history and tradition, the |
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118 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
oldest breed in the world, and proved, from
all experience, to be the best shaped. I have already observed upon the ingenuity of those geometrical rules and calculations, adopted in the French veterinary schools, for the pur- pose of fixing a standard of just proportions for the horse; and had I room to spare, I should borrow them of Saintbel, who has freely borrowed of other authors, both French and English; but it does not come within ray plan to be so mathematically exact. The head of a Horse should be void of
flesh, and for length and size appear to hold fair proportion with the size of his body; his eye full, and somewhat prominent; eye-lids thin and dry ;. ears thin, narrow, erect, of middling length, and not distant from each other ; forehead flat, not too large or square, and running nearly in a straight line to the muzzle, which should be small aud fine ; nos- trils capacious ; lips thin ; mouth of suffi- cient depth, and the tongue not too large ; the jaw-bones wide at top, where they join the neck ; the head not abruptly affixed to the extremity of the neck, but with a mode- rate curve and tapering of the latter. The neck must be/of moderate, not too
great length, nor too thick and gross on the upper part, nor too large and deep, but rising |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 119
from the withers or forehand, and afterwards
declining and tapering at the extremity, it will form somewhat of an arch ; underneath, the neck should be straight from the chest, and by no means convex or bellying out. The shoulders capacious, and of large
extent, so as to appear the most conspicuous part of the body, but without being loaded v^ith flesh ; they should reach fairly to the top of the withers, which must he well raised ; the chest should be sufficiently full, not nar- row or pinched. The body deep and substantial ; back, a
plane of good width, but handsomely round- ed ; back-bone straight, or with a trifling in- clination, and not too short; loins wide, and the muscles of the reins, or fillets, hill, and swelling on each side the back-bone ; the space sufficient between the ribs and hip- bones, the bones themselves round, and the buttocks deep and oval; the rump level with, or not too much elevated above, the Height of the withers ; the croup must have reason- able space, and not sink too suddeniy, in which case, the tail would be set on too lew, which ought to be nearly on a level with the back. The hinder quarters should spread to
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120 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
liind-feet stand farther asunder than those be-
fore ; the thighs should be straight, large, muscular, and of considerable length ; the hock wide and clean ; the shank not too long, but flat, and of sufficient substance, its sinew- large and distinct, the fetlocks long; the hocks should form an angle of such extent as to place the feet immediately under the flanks. The fore-arms, like the thighs, should be large, muscular, and of good length, the el- bows not turning outwards ; the knees large and lean ; the shank or cannon-bone, flat, strong, and not too long ; the tendon large ; the fore-arm and shank must form nearly a straight line ; fetlock-joints large and clean ; pasterns inclining to a certain degree, not too Jong, but large in proportion to their length ; the coronary rings not thick or swelled, but clean, dry, and hairy ; the feet neither too high nor too flat, and of size apparently a sufficient base for the weight they have to sustain ; hoofs, of colour dark and shining, without seams or wrinkles, tough and strong, .«~ not hard like oak ; foot internally concave, soal hard, but not shrunk, heels wide, and of middling height; frog not too large or fleshy, but tough and sound ; the feet of equal size, should stand exactly parallel, so that the front or toe incline neither inward |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 121
nor outward ; the fore-feet should stand per-
pendicular to the chest, not too much under it, and they should be less wide apart than the foie-arms ; the less should not be loaaecl with hair. The age of a horse, it is sufficiently
well-known, is only determinable with preci- sion by his teeth ; and that rule fails after a certain period, and is sometimes equivocal atid uncertain, even within that period. A horse has forty teeth ; namely, twenty-four double teeth or grinders, four tudies, or single teeth,' and twelve front teeth, or gatherers. Mares have no tushes in general. The mark, which discovers the age, is to be found in the front teeth, next the tushes. In a few weeks, with some, the foal's twelve fore teeth begin to shoot ; these are short, round, white, and easily distinguishable from the adult or horse's teeth, with which they come afterwards to be mixed. At some period, between two and three years old, the colt changes his teeth ; that is to say, he sheds the four middle fore teeth, two above and two below, which are sometime after replaced with horse's teeth. After three years old, two others are changed, one on each side the former ; he has then eight colt's and four horse's teeth.* After four years old, he cuts four new teeth, one |
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122 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
on each side those last replaced, and has at
that age, eight horse's and four foal's teeth. These last new teeth are slow growers, com- pared with the preceding; they are the corner teeth, next the tushes, are called pincers, and are those which bear the mark: this mark consists in the tooth being hollow, and in the cavity bearing a black spot, resembling the eye of a bean. The tushes may then be felt. At four years and a half old, these mark teeth are just visible above the gum, and the cavity is very conspicuous. At five years old, the horse has shed his remaining four colt's teeth, and his tushes appear. At six, his tushes are up, and appear white, small, and sharp, near about which is observable a small circle of young growing flesh ; the horse's mouth is now complete, and the black mark has ar- rived at, or very near the upper extremity of the corner teeth. At seven, the two middle teeth fill up. Between the seventh and eighth year, all the teeth are filled up, the black mark hath vanished, and the horse is then said to be aged, and his mouth full. From that time forward, the age of the
horse can only be guessed at from certain indications ; but these guesses are usually made with considerable accuracy by experi- enced people. If his teeth shut close, and |
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THE HORSE IN GENERAL. 123
meet even, are tolerabl) white, not over long,
and his gums appear plump, you may con- clude he is not yet nine years old. At that age, and as he advances, his teeth become yeiiow and foul, and appear to lengthen, from the shrinking and receding of the gums. The tushes are biunt at nine ; but at ten years old, the cavity or channel in the upper tushes, until that period to be felt by the finger, are intireiy felted up. At eleven, the teeth will be very long, biack, and foul, but will ge- nerally meet even; at twelve, his upper-jaw teeth witl over-hang the nether; at thirteen and upwards, his tushes will be either worn to the stumps, or long, black, and foul, like those of an old boar. Beside those exhibited by the mouth, nature ever furnishes variety oi signals, denoting the approach of old age and decay, throughout the bodies of all ani- mals. After a horse has past his prime, a hollowness of his temples will be perceived ; his muscles will be continually losing some- thing of their plumpness; and his hair, that gloss and burnish, which is the characteristic of youth and prime, will look dead, faded, or entirely lose its colour in various parts. In proportion to the excess of these appear- ances, will be the horse's age. The following are among the devices prac-
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124 THE HORSE IN GENERAL.
tised by a set of unfeeling rascals, who have no
other rule of conduct than their supposed interest, to counterfeit the marks of age in horses. At four years old they will fre- quently knock out the remaining colt's teeth, in order to make the horse appear five ; but you will be convinced of the fraud, by the non-appearance of the tushes; and if it be a inare, by the shortness and smallness of the corner teeth, and indeed of the teeth in ge-
neral. To give an old horse the mark, is termed, to bishop him; of the derivation of this term I have no knowledge. They burn a hole in each of the corner teeth, and make the shell fine and thin, with some iron instru- ment, scraping all the teeth to make them white ; sometimes they even file them all down short and even. To this they add another operation ; they pierce the skin over the hol- lows of the ej^e, and blow it up with a quill: but such manoeuvres can deceive only the in- experienced, and in case of dispute would be detected in an instant. Of the colours of horses., nothing, in my
opinion, can be said more to the purpose than to repeat an adage of old Bracken,—" A good horse is never of a bad colour." Modern light and experience have been happily em- ployed in detecting and exploding the theo- |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 125
retic whimseys of antiquity upon almost all
subjects ; among the rest, upon that of attri- buting this or that, good or evil quality, or temperament, to the colour of a horse. All that I am warranted in saying, from my own observation, is, that I have seen move bad horses, of all kinds, among^the light bays, with light-coloured legs and muzzle, than amongst any other colours ; and the most good saddle and coach-horses, among the common bays, with black legs and manes, and the chojcolate browns. This, in all pro- bability, has been accidental. |
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CHAP. III.
THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
E'en the poor beetle, that we tread upon,
In corporal suff'rance feels a pang as great, As when a giant dies.— Notwithstanding the constant and
professed aversion of a considerable part
of.mankind to the discussion of abstract |
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126 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
principles, it appears to me an axiom, that
truth, be whatever the subject, is to be dis- covered by no other mean; and that they, who form a judgment upon a less laboured process, will obtain only a superficial know- ledge, which may urge them to determina- tions, in opposition to the laws ofjustice and humanity, and to the general interests of so- ciety, with which their own must be neces- sarily involved. This observation applies materially to the subject before us. The barbarous, unfeeling, and capricious conduct of man to the brute creation has been the reproach of every age and nation. Whence does it originate ? How happens it, that so large a portion of cruelty remains to tarnish the glory of the present enlightened times, and even to sully the English character, so universally renowned for the softer feelings of humanity ? We are to search for the cause of this odious vice rather in custom, which flatters the indolence of man, by saving him the trouble of investigation and in the de- fect of early tuition, than in a natural want of sensibility in the human heart or in the demands of human interest. It has ever been, and still is, the invariable
custom of the bulk of mankind, not even ex- cepting legislators, both religious and civil, |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 127
to look upon brutes as mere machines; ani-
mated yet without souls; endowed with feelings, but utterly devoid of rights; and placed without the pale of justice. From these supposed defects, and from the idea, ill understood, of their being created merely for the use and purposes of man, have the feelings of beasts, their lawful, that is, na- tural interests and welfare, been sacrificed to his convenience, his cruelty, or his caprice. It is but too easy to demonstrate, by a
series of melancholy facts, that brute crea- tures are not yet in the contemplation of any people, reckoned within the scheme of general justice: that they reap only the benefit of a partial and inefficacious kind of compas- sion. Yet it is easy to prove, by analogies drawn from our own, that they also have souls; and perfectly consistent with reason, to infer a gradation of intellect, from the spark which animates the most minute mortal exiguity, up to the sum of infinite intelligence, or the general soul of the universe. By a recurrence to principles, it will appear, that life, intelligence, and feeling, necessarily imply rights. Justice, in which is included mercy, or compassion, obviously refer to sense and feeling. Now, is the essence of justice divi- sible? Can there be one kind of justice.for |
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128 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
men, and another for brutes ? Or is feeling
in them a different thing to what it is in our- selves ? Is not a beast produced by the same ruie, and in the same order of generation with ourselves? Is not his body nourished by the same food, hurt by the same injuries; his mind actuated by the same passions and af- fections which animate the human breast; and does not he also, at last, mingle his dust with ours, and in like manner surrender up
the vital spark to the aggregate, or fountain of intelligence? Is this spark, or soul, to perish because it chanced to belong to a beast? Is it to become annihilate? Tell me, learned philosophers, how that may possibly happen. If you deny unto beasts their rights, and
abandon them to the simple discretion of man, in all cases, without remedy, you defraud them of those benefits and advantages ac- ceded to them by nature herself, and commit a heinous trespass against her positive ordi- nances, as founded on natural justice. You deprive them, in a great measure, even of compassion. But previously to an attempt to vindicate the rights of animals, it is no doubt necessary to determine, specifically, in what they consist. They arise, then, spontaneously from the conscience, or sense of moral obli- |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 129
gation in man, who is indispensably bound
to bestow upon animals, in return" for the benefit he derives from their services, " good and sufficient nourishment, comfortable shel- ter, and merciful treatment; to commit no wanton outrage upon their feelings, whilst alive, and to put them to the speediest and least painful death, when it shall be necessary to deprive them of life." It is a lamentable truth, that the breach of these obligations has ever been attended with impunity here ; but if we suppose that such will be the case hereafter, the very foundation of the doctrine of future rewards and punishments is at once swept away. La morte est sommeil etemel. We may as well, at once, adopt the imperfect, principle of Diderot, who, in his Jaques h Fataliste, instructs us, that, " could We take a view of the chain of causes and effects which constitutes the life of au individual, from the first instant of his birth to his last breath, we should be convinced that he has done no one thing, but what he was necessarily compelled to do." I am aware of a small sect of Bramins anion o-
us, who are disposed to proceed a step be- yond me, and to deny that nature has con- ferred any such right on man, as that of taking the lives of animals, or of eatino- their VOL. I. K
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130
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THE BIGHTS OF BEASTS.
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flesh. These, I suppose, are the legitimate
descendants of the saints of Butler's days, who were for ---------abolishing black pudding,
And eating nothing with the blood in.
Certain philosophers there are also, in Para-
guay, if travellers may be depended upon, who Avill not eat sheep, lest they should get children covered with wool; a very rational apprehension, a priori, no doubt. Noxious and dangerous animals, I suppose, are in- cluded in this system of extreme sensibility ; and in order to carry it to full perfection, it would become necessary to build hospitals for lice and fleas. It is true, every custom, however ancient or universaliy established, ought to be subject to the tribunal of reason ; and this, of killing and feeding upon the flesli of animals will, I apprehend, abide the se- verest scrutiny. Nature herself, by render- ing it necessary, has established the legality of putting a period to harmful or useless ex- istence; she has also established the carni- vorous system upon the same foundation; and the pretended superior salubrity to man, of feeding entirely upon the fruits of the earth, is warranted by neither reason nor experience. By the scheme of universal providence, the |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 131
services between man and beast are intended
to be reciprocal; and the greater part of the latter can by no other means requite human labour and care, than by the forfeiture of life. Were it not permitted to man to destroy animals, it is evident they would overstock the earth; and in numberless cases, it is an act of mercy to take their lives. Thus much for theory of right, in animals;
which, I trust, will not be controverted by those of sound minds and feeling hearts, to whom this chapter is more particularly ad- dressed. But the bare acknowledgment of the right, will be but of small avail to the unfortunate objects of our solicitude, unless some mode of practical remedy can also be devised. On that head I shall venture to de- liver my sentiments. The grand source of the unmerited and su-
perfluous misery of beasts, exists, in my opinion, in a defect in the constitution of all communities. No human government, I be- lieve, has ever recognized the jus animalium, which surely ought to form a part of the ju- risprudence of every system, founded on the principles of justice and humanity. The sim- ple right of these four-legged, and mute ci- tizens, hath already been discussed. Expe- rience plainly demonstates the inefficiency of k 2
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132 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
mere morality to prevent aggression, and the
necessity of coercive laws for the security of rights, I therefore propose, that the Rights of Beasts be formally acknowledged by the state, and that a law be framed upon that principle, to guard and protect them from acts of flagrant and wanton cruelty, whether committed by their owners or others. As the law stands at present, no man is punishable for an act of the most extreme cruelty to a brute animal, but upon the principle of an injury done to the property of another ; of course the owner of a beast has the tacit al- lowance of the law to inflict upon it, if he shall so please, the most horrid barbarities. If such enormities had never been, or were not now too frequently perpetrated, these speculations had never seen the light. In the trial of William Parker (July ses-
sions, 1794) for tearing out the tongue of a mare, Mr. Justice Heath said, " In order to convict a man for barbarous treatment of a beast, it was necessary, it should appear, that he had malice towards the prosecutor." Thus we see, had the mare been the property of this fiend, he had escaped punishment. In November, 1793, two Manchester butchers were convicted in the penalty of twenty shil- lings each, for cutting off the feet of living |
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THK RIGHTS OF BEASTS. i^-5
sheep, and driving them through the streets.
Had she sheep been their own property, they might, with impunity, either have dissected them alive, or burned them alive; particu- larly if, in imitation of certain examples, they could have made any allegation of profit. A butcher, in **** street, has been more than once seen to hang a poor calf up alive, with the gam brill stuck through its sinews, and the iope thrust through its nostrils, until the bleating of the tortured animal has disturbed the neighbourhood. But who shall prevent this man, seeing he does but torture his own property, for his own amusement and satis- faction ? Whilst I am writing this, I have received information of a poor horse's tongue having been cut out, and of several cattle hav- ing been hamstrung, and otherwise treated with the most diabolical cruelty. It results from such premises, that unless
you make legal and formal recognition of the Rights of Beasts, you cannot punish cruehy and aggression, without trespassing upon right of property. Divest property of the usurped and fictitious addition to its right, and you have the means of protecting animals, and securing the dearest interests of morality. A law of this nature would effectually sweep
away all those hellish nuisances, miscalled |
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Io4 THE KIGHTS OF BEASTS.
sports ; such as the baiting and torturing
animals to death, throwing at cocks, hunting tame ducks, sometimes with a wretched owl fastened to their backs, eating live cats, and the like; in which savage exercitations the unnatural and preposterous idea is fostered and encouraged, that one animal may derive sportive and pleasing sensations from wit- nessing the lingering tortures and excruciated sensibility of another. An idea in which hu- nian reason is total'y overset by barbarous custom ; and a signal one, among innumera- ble proofs, of the necessity of a perpetual re- course to first principles. No true and lawful, that is to say, rational,
useful, and delightful sports, would be inter- rupted by this regulation, but rather con- firmed, illustrated, and improved. No right of property would be infringed in the smallest degree. The manners of a people are generally
formed by the government under which they live ; and an injunction proceeding fiom such high authority, in support of natural justice, and in favour of the helpless and unoffending part of the creation, would, in process of time, have the happiest influence upon the feelings and moral conduct of men. It would be the first step towards those auxiliary measures |
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THE RIGHTSOF BEASTS. 135
necessary to render the system of humanity
effectual and complete ; which are, to make the rights of beasts a material branch of edu- cation, and to afford a sanction to those who are emulous to stand forward volunteers in the noble cause of justice and mercy. It is now necessary to attend to the prac-
tical part of the subject, to adduce such ex- amples as experience and recollection may suggest, and to afford such hints, as I hope, I may flatter myself will produce some small tendency towards the desired reformation. I have been by no means unmindful, from the beginning of this chapter, of the censure and ridicule to which I am exposing myself from the indolent, the prejudiced, and the natu* rally hard-hai ted; and it is pleasant to reflect, that without doubt, such have already in their ideas, provided me Avith a snug corner in the feoly temple of Methodism. But I assure my- self, that the humane and philosophic will support, with their countenance, the man who is engaged in defending the cause of the innocent, the helpless, and the oppressed: and even if otherwise, placing my foot upon the everlasting pillar of truth, still open to conviction, I will look down with the calmest indifference, upon all such animadversions as are the result of precipitant thinking, or in- |
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136 THE RIGHTS OF fiEASTS.
terested sophistry. Besides, the time is ar-
rived, when we all ought to challenge the right of speaking our minds freely, and without re- serve, be whatever the subject. There is no other road to truth and reformation. Let us pledge ourselves, one and all, to follow it. Of all things in the world, however, let me
not be suspected of desiring to abridge the pleasures and enjoyments of liie ; on the con- trary, I shall be found, in the course of this work, a willing, although perhaps a weak, advocate for all those sports which inspire mirth and hilarity, and promote health, by steeling the constitution with pleasing laoour. It requires only a just turn of thinking, and a due contempt for blind and stolid custom, to feel convinced that pleasurable sensations and cruelty are incompatible. Nature seems to have divided human, and
even brute minds, into two classes ; such as are indifferent to, or a have a hearty contempt for, helplessness and distress; and such, whose hearts are ever attracted by suffering mis- fortune, and who, from a natural impulse, range themselves by its side. These last have hitherto been invariably in the minority. The majority, or men of the concrete, who detest abstract principles, and who wish to keep things as they find them, will insist upon |
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THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS. 137
the impossibility 0f ameliorating the condi-
tion or brutes, and therefore th y will not attempt it. They will allege, that all ani- mals are naturally in a state of warfare, and prey upon each other; that compassion seems excluded from the system of nature, and therefore they infer no necessity for it. They may say with Hume, " they know not by what principle brutes claim justice at our hands." Because a certain portion of evil is necessary aud unavoidable, thej' are too indolent to be at the pains of discrimination, to determine how much the mass may pos- sibly be reduced ; the obvious impossibility of attaining perfection disheartens them, and prevents all effort. But there is a duty at- tached to the very nature of man, and al- though the most important of all others, per- petually overlooked; it behoves us in all things, to make the nearest possible approach to perfection. We cannot prevent the mis- fortunes of beasts; they must have their share of suffering; but let in permit no un- necessary or wanton additions to that load, sufficiently heavy, which nature has imposed. Material nature is brute and iiidiftc'fiminatiho' until its blind and headlong energies are illu- mined and regulated by the reasoning faculiy, which is destined to expand and improve by |
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138 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
use and culture; and the first sentiments of
a good heart will be those of pride and exulta- tion, at the sense of its superiority over the mere animal system. Whilst the idea is suffered to prevail, that
pleasure, or profit, may be lawfully derived from the most barbarous outrages on the feelings of brutes, it is vain to expect re- formation. For instance, if a surgeon may lawfully dissect a wretched animal alive, or by studiously wounding its. most sensible parts, keep it in a continued state of the most exquisite and agonizing torture, even for whole days and nights, under the pretext of making an experiment for the profit of science ; it is certain that the feelings of animals will never be permitted to stand in the way, when profit of any kind is the object; not only that the general principle (which is in its nature universal and unalterable) will then fully authorize the practice, but that the bulk of mankind, the mere creatures of cus- tom, will be but too ready, in all collaterals, to follow the example. There is a certain dangerous species of so-
phistry, of which the men of all ages have been the dupes and the victims; it is that of judging, in the most important of all points, by an erroneous analogy: because they per- |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 139
ceive it to be a duly to moderate their own
appetites, and that nature has left'all indif- ferent matters to be regulated by thai- dis- cretion, they suppose they may make equally free with elements or principles, as with their accessories. Hence the absurdity of that sagacious practice, so highly vaunted by sophists, of moderating and fitting principles for human use', instead of fitting the human mmd for the reception of true principles. The danger of this practice is usually distant, and seldom descried; it supervenes, by de- grees, but never fails in the end, to fall upon mankind with accumulated force. Are men, for example, to assume the liberty of mode- rating (that is to say, using at discretion) barbarity, or common honesty? Are we to teach, that in certain cases of interest, bar- barity is allowable; and in others, that it is dangerous to be honest over much ? He who calls for a definition of barbarity, of common honesty, or of truth, is either a weak man, or very desirous of becoming a sophist. The principle of truth is indivisible ; if you de- tract one single atom from the golden circle, the whole essence is destroyed, and the error- universal Iy, although perhaps gradually, per- vades the moral world. As an analogy ready at hand, the permission given to the trade |
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140 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
in human slaves, makes an obvious breach
in the principle of justice, and positively authorizes universal rapine. To plead either law or custom, in such cases, is futile; neither of them being obligatory, when in opposition to the principle of justice. The perpetrators of injustice and cruelty against men, are no longer safe, than they can hold the sword fast in their own hands; the instant it falls, and they hold it by a most precarious tenure, the
point turns towards themselves, and they meet their reward—but are we base enough to heap acts of cruelty upon brutes, because we know they are helpless, and cannot re- taliate ? It will be easily perceived, that J am de-
crying a voluntary departure from principles; a legitimate necessity, and such can never be mistaken, forming no part of the question. If crueltj? be allowable in any case towards bruses, it also involves human creatures ; the gradation is much easier than may be ima- gined, and the example contagious. We know that Hierophilus dissected men alive. What heart so hard, as not to melt at the re- cital of that tremendous act of cruelty, per- petrated by the merciless fiend Parrhasius ?•— " When Philip of Maeedon had taken Olyn- thus, and had consigned the inhabitants to |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 141
slavery, Parrhasius, the Athenian painter,
who had recided in the Macedonian camp, walking among the ruins of the place, was struck with the exquisite expression of sor- row which agonized the features of an old captive, a man of some rank, whose children had just been torn.from him, and exposed to public sale ; Parrhasius purchased him im- mediately, carried him to Athens, and whilst he made the wretched Olynthian perish under every torment which art could inflict, he drew from the writhings of his tortured frame, a Prometheus under the beak and talons of the vulture. This piece was given by the ar- tist to the Temple of Minerva, at Athens, and received by the city without scruple or question, What is still more wonderful, the moral Seneca reasons with great coolness upon the propriety of their conduct on that lament- able occasion." Several writers are disposed to controvert
the authenticity of the above dreadful story, no other authority for it having reached the present times, than the single one of Seneca, the tragedian. For the credit of human na- ture, I have ever wished to withold my assent, which certain modern analogies, where trad- ing or professional interest and profit are con- cerned, have rendered, I must confess, too |
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142 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
difficult. Besides, the reasoning of Seneca is
one species of confirmation of the fact. It convinces us, at least, of the posse of a human heart being sufficiently cool, callous, and dia- bolical, to reason upon the propriety of such a " nameless deed." The experimental tortures which are in-
flicted upon poor, guiltless animals, are said to be for the furtherance and improvement of science. Granted. Yet it is an advantage not honestly obtained, but by fraud and cruelty. There are also other short cuts to interest in the world, about the honesty or justice of which it becomes us to be silent. It has been said that the world could not have either gold, sugar, or coals, but at the ex- pence of human blood, and human liberty. The world, in that case, ought not to have either gold, sugar, or coals. The principle admits of no qualification. But the assertion was fallacious and unfounded ; those com- forts are all attainable by honest means, by voluntary and fairly remunerated industry. By the same rule, I firmly believe the wit of man to be fully competent to the attainment of all the necessary or possible anatomical knowledge, from the examination of dead subjects, although perhaps it may not be thence so quickly attainable ; and I could as |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. , 143
easily suppose human sagacity unable to cal-
culate the motions, and measure the distances of the heavenly bodies, without the aid of a ladder, reaching up to the skies ; as that it could be incompetent to make all the neces- sary discoveries, touching the animal cecono- my, without having recourse to the unnatural, cruel, and infamous means of dissecting liv- ing bodies. It will be urged, that the admission of
brutes to those rights of which they are ca- pable under the social contract, might in- trench upon private property, and be pro- ductive of trifling, ludicrous, or vexatious litigations. I answer, and I think I am as much in earnest as General Dumouriez, Fais ce que dois
Avienne que pourra. That I think also to be the proper answer,
to an infinite number of ifs and ands, which it has ever been the fashion to start in pre- vention of right. A man may say, I bought the beast with my money, it is my property ; who shall hinder me from doim* unto it ac- cording to my pleasure ? You bought him with your money, it is true, and he is your properly; but whether you are apprised .of it or not, you bought him with a condition ne- |
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144 THE HIGHS OF BEASTS.
cessarily annexed to the bargain. You could
not purchase the light to u*>e him wiih cruelty and injustice. Of whom could you purchase such right ? Who could make such con- veyance?—Not even God himself, whose ener- gies are circumscribed within the limits of eternal justice ; or who, to speak more phi- losophically, is Eternal Justice itself. As to the danger of litigation, from a law-
made for the protection of beasts, none I think need be apprehended; few would choose to risk any trouble or expence on such an account; its-Utility would consist in the recognition of the principle, it would stand forth as an eminent precept and memento of humanity. There is much more force in the argument
drawn from the superior humanity of the present, over any former period, and of its probably or rather certain increase, with increasing light. I coincide intirely in opinion with those, who esteem the present superior to all former times, in the knowledge of truth, in the practice of every virtue, and in the enjoyment of every good. I hold it admits of mathematical demonstration. Even the lowest class of the people of this country have become much more mild and rational in their manners, and more humane in their |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 145
treatment of brute animals, however defective
still, than in former times. The savage sports have long been on the decline. 1 am sorry5 however, that truth and fact oblige me to make an exception, which, strange to tell, relates to the higher orders of society. But, for the records of Parliament itself, posterity would scarcely credit, that men of the first dis- tinction for rank, learning, and talents, have, in the nineteenth century, stood forth as the avcwed defenders and advocates of infliction of the most excruciating tortures upon brute animals, on the wretched pretence of affording sport and diversion to the people! The ho- norable endeavours of humane and virtuous men, to rid our iaws and our country of a foul disgrace, have thus far been unhappily frustrated; but the perseverance of these sons of humanity, until they shall have ob- tained their righteous end, can never be doubted. A!as! I am so unhappy, as to have a right to vouch for the truth of the far greater part of those horrid barbarities lately recited as the too frequent practice of bull- baiting ; in fact, without which, it is scarcely ever practised, in case of the animal bein<? of a mild and gentle disposition ; an abomi- nable exaggeration of a thing in itself suffi- ciently infamous. The levity with which the vol. i. L |
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146 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
staking down a harmless animal to torture was
treated in the debate, must give pain to the feeling mind ; and as to the arguments in fa- vour of bull-baiting, they most conveniently loosen the bands of moral obligation, whenever interest or prejudice may be pleaded. Let us next review the auxiliary means re-
quisite to bring about that consummation, which every humane man must devoutly wish ; and first, of the education of our youth. Our defect here, must be obvious to the least dis- cerning. What can a few general precepts, loosely given, and never observed even by those who give them, avail against the con- stant examples of cruelty placed in the obser- vation of children. Can the practical lessons which they learn, have any other influence on their infant minds, than to teach them that brutes, like stocks and stones, were made for all sorts of uses and purposes ; and that it was no part of the scheme of a partial and defective providence, that the feelings of such should come into question ? The child to whom a miserable annual is delivered over to be starved to death, or pulled into quarters for his amusement, too probably learns a lesson which the subsequent conduct of the adult will not disgrace. Children must be in action ; there is a principle of enterprise |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 147
in them, a continual desire to exercise their
young and growing energies ; hence we see them constantly whipping and beating poor dumb animals. This apparent cruelty arises merely from our neglect to teach them the proper use of animals, the obligations im- posed upon us by a common nature respect- ing them, and in our inattention to furnish children with harmless or useful objects of playful pursuit. A little timely and well- adapted punishment also, may have the ef- fect of preventing the growth of indifferent or callous dispositions in children. A friend of mine had a boy about four years of a<*e, who was observed frequently to amuse himself by pulling the legs from the bodies of flies; the father watched an opportunity, and having witnessed the fact, immediately, with a sud- den jerk, tore hairs enough from the boy's head to cause the tears to start from both his eyes. The boy suddenly asked, " what that was for ?" By way of answer, he was instantly shewed the writhing and tortured body of the poor victim of his wantonness ; at the same time it was explained to him, that feeling was common to all the animal creation, and that the divine doctrine of doino- as you would be done unto, extended even to pies.- The reader may style this the argument l2
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148 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
turn sympatheticum, if he please; and, on
trial, he will be convinced of its good effects. The nearest road to perfect humanity, is strongly to impress its necessity, beauty, and excellence, upon the hearts and minds of the rising generation. Another most important step towards
amending the condition of beasts, is for all people of property (such, I mean, who are of the illustrious order of benevolence) to take at least their own animals under their own es- pecial protection, to suffer no abuse, but to punish the brutal tyranny of profligate ser- vants in the most exemplary manner. Was such a rational conduct to become general, the morals of servants would in time be amended, and our feelings would not be so frequently harrowed up with those disgusting spectacles which are now so common. Pro- perty must always give the ton ; it is in the power of the rich among us, whenever they shall so please, to make it la mode Anglaise, to treat beasts with kindness and consideration ; in short, to make general humanity the or- der of the day. Such is the deadly and stupifying influence
of custom, of so poisonous and brutalizing a quality is prejudice,'that men perhaps no wise inclined from nature to acts of barbarity, |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 149
may yet Jive insensibly in the constant com-
mission of deeds the most flagrant. In the history of the Council of Constance, it is re- corded, that a certain Neapolitan peasant, who lived near a place infamous for robberies and murders, Avent once to confession ; and having told the priest, that on a certain fast day he had swallowed a draught of milk, he assured the father he could recollect no other sin he had committed.—" How," said the confessor, " do you never assist your neighbours in robbing and murdering the pas- sengers in such a hollow road ?"—" O yes," said the peasant, " but that is so common with us, that we don't make it a point of con- science." The humane Titus, the delight of human kind, who, if he suffered a day to pass without the performance of some act of beneficence, is recorded to have said, " my friends, I have lost a day," never seems once to have reflected upon the horrid barbarities he was inflicting at the instant, upon the wretched inhabitants of Judea; or to have repented him of the slaughter of the tens of thousands of innocent Jews, whom he sacri- ficed on the altars of vanity at Rome. This paragon of humanity is said to have destroyed thirty, out of forty thousand Jew captives, in finishing the Coliseum at Rome. History |
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150 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
hath not been so just as to inform us, how
many wretched labourers were destroyed in building Solomon's Temple, at Jerusalem ; but as these last died in the service of Jeho- vah, I suppose they could not have been dis- posed of better. But with respect to the cap- tives destroyed at Rome, they were Jews, and thence, by the wise suggestions of pre- judice, blotted out from the scheme of com- passion. It is but too true, that the Empe- ror had a fair plea of retaliation, since the Jews, although with the pretence of living constantly under a theocracy, exercised against all foreign nations, hostile odium, a hostile and revengeful hatred. The humane Titus was not a philosopher. Even Englishmen, at this .day, as Cailwiight.informs_,usJ shoot the poorjed Indians of Newfoundland ^e^beasts^ I suppose, because they are not Christians ! How has the abuse of these distinctions nar- rowed the human heart, and torn up the very foundations of morality. I once attempted to reason with a fellow, and he was of the ri.c.b„Xyl©J' wno was HE?llZ beating an in-
nocent horse, till the ^^j^SgimJ^mifeAOB- trils ; the reply I obtained was, larded with a huge oath, '■ you are talking as though the horse was a Christian." The general blind and stupid adherence to
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 151
custom, renders it absolutely necessary for
a writer on this subject, who desires to render effectual service to the cause of humanity, to enter into particular and disgusting details, to point out individual and specific acts of cruel- ty, such as are, or have been, in his time most prevalent. It is too true, that the imagi- nation of a man of much sensibility is per- petually haunted with horrid ideas. Forty- seven years have now past, since I saw an im- *ernal hag the housekeeper of a boarding- scnool, gause_a miserable rat to be_ roasted £live over a slow fire, in the presence'o? all ^J^3 ' and this> I was then informed by his son, was the constantjDractice of a cer- ^am^2^t£i2tstSIm the neighbourhood. The
doleful cries of the tortured animal are, at this instant, as fresh in my ears, as at the very moment I heard them ; and the im- pression then made upon my young mind was so forcible, that no time will ever be able to eradicate it, or heal the wound inflicted upon my feelings. A few years afterwards I heard the following anecdote of a Parson, (the fact had happened perhaps twenty years before) who, no doubt, for the sake of the faith, would have stretched a fellow creature upon the rack, and even have drawn the cords Iiimself, should the executioner be too fine |
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152 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
mouthed, as the chancellor did in the case
of poor Ann Askew, in king Harry's days. The worthy priest had lost a chicken, and soon after taking a poor hawk, the supposed of- fender, he put the animal to the toiture of a slow and lingering death, for doing his duly, by following the instinct of nature. The poor bird was turned adrift, with a labd affixed to his neck, containing these quaint and in- human lines: The Parson of Pentlow, he did this,
For killing of one poor chicken of his ; He put out his eyes, and sew'd up his hum, And so let him fly—till the day of his doom. One would suppose, that wretches, like these,
sought to level their impotent revenge against the God of nature himself! We a,e happily become too enlightened to
perpetrate such wholesale acts of bai banty, as that recorded of the infamous Lord Rj^yjn°£d _Venous, who burnec, aiive thirty of his finest Jiorses by way of a frolic ; but there have been too many similar instances among us, upon a smaller scale, from motives of reli- gious superstitions. It is well known, that the brutish idea of the possibility of witch- craft, still exists amongst thousands in this country; with the detestable concomitant, |
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THE RIGHTS OF BBASTS. lo3
that burning the animal aliv >, which is the
supposed subject of it, is the only mode of defecting the witch. Numerous instances of this cruel and miraculous folly are upon record, many are within my own knowledge; but the most remarkable, and indeed as- tonishing, is that related by Dr. Priestley, because the man who perpetrated the horrid deed, was it seems somewhat above the com- mon level, and a man, in other respects, of humane character. I have discoursed with many persons of late, whose prejudices on this head were unconqueiable, and should by no means be surprised to hear of a repe- tition of similar tragedies. Surely, on such an occurrence, the civil magistrate ought to interfere; and I must beg leave to pro- pose this, and iudeed the subject in general of humanity to the brute creation,- as a pro- per standing topic for our clergy. They can never be more nobly or more usefully em- ployed, than in cleansing the vulgar mind from those barbarous prejudices, and in laying there, a sure foundation for universal bene- volence. The example of the great is ever conta-
gious ; it would be a generous pride in them to consider what immense benefits they have it in their power to confer on human society, |
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154 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
by exhibiting such as are worthy of imitation.
But what must the subjects of a certain king have thought, when they saw him amu- sing himself, by causing a poor bullock to lie repeatedly precipitated down a cataract, until its bones were broken ; and then paying the worth of the besat for his princely amuse- ment ? Could there be any hope, that a man with such a heart, or such a head, would respect the feelings, or the lives of his fellow men ? It must not be concealed, that we have ill examples of this kind, among our people of rank and consequence, the far greater part of which, I am convinced, proceed merely from want of due consideration, and from a sudden intemperate flow of the animal spirits. I have been informed (but I declined making any enquiry to ascertain the fact, and an} willing to hope it may have been groundless) that a certain gallant_Aclmiraj, in bringing up the news of a celebrated victory, left several poor post-horses on the road, linger- ing in the agonies of death, the victims of his too eager haste. A late noble author tells us, with the most perfect sang froid, or rather as a matter of bravery and exultation, of the horses which his father killed in carrying the news of a monarch's death to, his successor. Alas! whether in circum- |
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the rights of beasts. 155
stances of good or evil fortune, these poor
animals seem destined alike the victims of our wantonness, or our necessity. The same absurd and unprofitable cruelties prevail at elections, and upon almost all public occa- sions. They may be with the utmost truth, styled unprofitable ; and that to all parties, putting humanity out of question; for the traveller whose giddy and irrational aim is more haste than nature will allow, labours to defeat his own purpose; and he who tix-es or kills his horses, assuredly loses time, gain- ing nothing by way of recompence, but the unenviable reputation of having, in a mean, base, and cowardly manner, tortured out the life of a generous animal, which had struggled to the last sob of expiring nature to serve him. I should also apprehend, that if our owners of post-horses would take the trouble to calculate, they would discover that the total loss, or crippling and rendering nearly unserviceable of three or four horses, must detract rather too much from the profits even of the most busy season. Fair calcula- tion, on another score, would be much to their advantage; it would prove to them, that to buy poor, worn-out, low-priced horses, under the horrid idea of " whipping them sound/' setting aside the iniquity and |
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156 THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS.
disgrace of the practice, is by no means the
most profitable method of doing their busi- ness. It is true, that when poverty may be alledged, the plea must be admitted as legiti- mate. It must then be inscribed in the me- lancholy catalogue of unavoidable evils. I will run as quickly, and as brielly as pos-
sible, through the most material of the va- rious abuses, of horses in particular, which I have noticed. I declare it with the sin- cerest pleasure, I have not of late heard of that detestable practice, which formerly dis- graced the conduct of many of our unthink- ing young men, who paid for driving tired horses for the purpose of enjoying the unna- tural pleasure of inflicting upon them the utmost tortures of the whip, in proportion as their strength and ability were exhausted. When cruelty, or unnecessary severity, is practised in horse-racing, it is usually among ignorant and black-guard pretenders; the true gentleman-sportsman, from his knowledge and experience, is able to judge with sufficient accuracy, of the extent of his horse's powers, and to discriminate between the correction necessary to excite their exertion, and bootless cruelty. Such a character would ever rather choose to err on the side of humanity, if, in |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 157
any sense, that could be called an error. Some
jockies are in the odious habit of butchering and cutting up their horses unnecessarily, or merely to make an ostentatious display of their powers in the use of the whip and spur ; to speak the truth, they lie under a disagree- able predicament in the case ; their bread being at stake, they must not incur suspi- cion ; but I have known men of that class, of feeling hearts as well as keen heads, and who possessed the justest ideas of compassion. The following anecdote will serve the purpose of farther illustration. Some years since, a young jockey, who was in no particular ser- vice, but rode for various employers, de- scribed to me, very feelingly, the painful situ- ation in which he then found himself: he had lately ridden the horse of a certain man, who kept several in training, and of whom he earned a good deal of money ; but notwith- standing the utmost exertion of his strength and skill, with a particular horse, he found it impossible to win. He was engaged to ride the same horse again, at a place where he was sure to meet the same, or, in all probability, horses of yet superior form. He represented to his employer the impossibility of winning, for although his horse was both stout and honest, his antagonists went so much too last |
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158 THii RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
for him, that he could make no impression
upon tbein, even by" running distrest every yard of the course. Such reasoning was not calculated to make any impression upon the solid sconce, or marble heart, of this Smith- field sportsman. lie eluded the lad for Ilis too great tenderness to the horse in the last race; and for the succeeding one his orders were, " Make him win, or cut his bloody en- trails out—Mark—if you don't give him his belly-full of whip, you never ride again for me—I'll find horse, if you'll find whip and spur !"—The generous little horse ran three four-mile heats without flinching, or hanging for a single stroke, with that excess of exer- tion, that his very eye-balls seemed ready to start from their sockets, but unsuccessfully : and, with an aching heart, I saw him literally cut up alive, from his shoulder to his flank, his sheath in ribbands, and his testicles laid , bare. To my great mortification, no one took it in hand to rebuke the thick-headed miscreant, who was the author of this useless piece of cruelty, except his jockey; who swore he would perish for want, sooner than repeat such an act of blasted infamy. Few sporting people, in or near the me-
tropolis, but have heard of the hard fate of the poor old flea-bitten grey gelding. This |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 159
excellent creature, though not a full-bred
horse, thrice ran twenty-two miles within the hour, over the hard road. By way of reward for such uncommon excellence, he was afterwards, when his powers had declined, killed in an unsuccessful match, with circum- ♦ stances of the most horrid barbarity. I have been informed, he was whipped to that ex- cess, that his entrails were visible, and even hung trailing on the ground : I speak from information only, and heartily wish the owner, if he be still alive, may have it in his power to contradict a story so much to his discredit. The ill-judged and unskilful attempts of ig- norant people, at matching and racing upon the hard road, which they prefer, are almost ever attended with disgusting circumstances of cruelty. But the most fruitful source of misery to
horses, is, that they are committed, through necessity, in a great measure, perhaps, to the absolute discretion, in all respects, of their drivers: a majority of whom, are the least enlightened, the most hardened and profligate of all the lower people. Here the generality of proprietors commit a great error against their own and the interests of. humanity. A man with a well-informed mind, however ignorant he -may* chance to be of horses, or |
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160 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
of the established routine of stable discipline,
may be superior, in one respect, to the most skilful groom or driver. I mean in that science, which teaches the government of the temper both of man and horse; and there is a perfect analogy. The ignorant and brutal mind is too prone to tyranny, and measures of barbarous and savage coercion. You'll see a man of this sort, to whom the manage- ment of horses is committed, everlastingly
intent upon glutting his vindictive disposi- tion, for every fault, real or supposed, which the poor animals may chance to commit: whereas it is a truth, grounded upon the ex- perience of ages, and confirmed by the best judges of the present time, that the obedience of horses is best inculcated and secured by mild methods, and by overlooking trifling faults ; and that from such treatment we shall reap the greatest possible benefit from their labours. I here foresee a difficulty arising in the minds of gentlemen, and owners of horses, and I will do my endeavour to help them out of the dilemma. It would surely be no great trouble, nor productive of any inconvenience, for a gentleman or lady to say to a newly-hired coachman, carter, or groom, " Take notice, beasts have both sense and feeling, and I am told by experienced people, |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. l6l
that horses are best governed by gentle usage,
I am determined, to permit no other to mine. I will have no foul blows given, nor suffer my cattle to be wealed and marked with the whip. If any of them will not do without such usage, prove it to me, and I will change them. I shail look and enquire strictly into your conduct, and the instant you disobey me in this respect, you are no longer my ser- vant." Much mischief and cruelty ensues from
indulging the petty vanity, and knowing con- ceits, of country carters. I knew a villain of that class, who, being offended at the figure and condition of a horse, which hi$ master had purchased for the plough, con- tinued to drive him by the whip, to sustain more than his share of the labour, at feeding times inhumanly tying his head up to the rack, to prevent his reaching the corn, until in a short time the poor animal dropped down dead in the stable, from excessive la- bour, and want of sustenance. Great bar- barity is too often exercised, to ny manner of purpose, upon those horses, the nature of which will not permit them to draw, such as are called, dead pulls. In town, the absurd method of shoeing
cart and coach-li&rses, in particular, is pro- vol. i. M
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162 THE BIGHTS OF BEASTS.
ductive of a thousand cruelties and dangers.
The dispositions of horses vary in the same manner and degrees, as we observe those of the human race. Some of them will dash for- ward, through thick and thin, or over what- ever ways, without the smallest solicitude, whether they stand or fall; others, on the contrary, have ever an anxious care upon them, to keep themselves up, and in a diffi- cult, or slippery way, take every step with the utmost precaution; these last suffer most cruelly upon London stones, when slippery with sun or frost, from the brutality of their drivers. You will frequently see a gentleman's
coachman whipping one of his horses, with the most brutal fury, the whole length of a street. This practice is so very common, that it doubtless leads people to suppose it to be perfectly right, and in order. Now I have, for many years, paid particular attention to it, and can scarcely recollect an instance where such correction was on just grounds, or likely to be attended with good effects. On examination, I have generally found it has been used, because the horse unavoidably trod in a,hole, or slipped from bad shoeing; that it was a misfortune, not a fault in the horse, or that, in all probability, he was |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 163
totally ignorant for what reason he was cor-
rected. This last consideration (overlooked by the ignorant) is surely of the utmost im- portance. Even in the case of a fault, it may be relied on, that nine parts iti ten, at least, of the correction used must be super- fluous ; as is most of that brutal whipping, which we see practised on an embarrass, at the door of the playhouse, or other public place. The humane reader, who has been accus-
tomed to perambulate the streets of the me- tropolis, will recollect that he has often ob- served a carman, with his whip hoisted aloft, upon his arm, and his countenance marked with all the insolence of petty tyranny, strutting along the foot-path, and calling his fore-horse towards hirn. This necessary manoeuvre, of " Come hither who-o," the little tyrant of the whip is determined to in- culcate by dint of the utmost rigour, and by absolutely breaking the spirit of the beast, whence ensue carelessness, stubbornness, uncertainty, and desperation ; instead of using mild and persuasive methods, attempered with occasional slight correction, in virtue of which lie might, almost to a certainty, en- sure the willing and steady obedience of his horse. At one instant, the horse is whipped m2
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J04 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
for holding too close to his driver, at the next
for bearing off too much ; now, for going too fast, then again, for going too slow ; bye and by, for stopping, afterwards, because he did not stop; that the faculties of the poor beast are totally confounded, and caused to degenerate into an inert and stagnant state of insensibility, instead of making a progress in that ratio of improvement, of which they are so highly capable. Hence the source of many of those accidents, which daily occur. Does a stage coachman commit an error, with his eye or his finger, from which a horse's mouth, receives a wrong direction, and an accident occurs ? thinking the horse ought to have understood him, although it is probable he did not understand himself, or ashamed that his skill should be questioned, Mr. Hell- driver proceeds to whipping, with all his new and home cuts, perhaps for a whole street's length, distressing all his other horses, and running- the utmost risk of a new accident. In short the examples I could give, and the proofs, of the inutility, as well as barbarity of the far greater part of that correction, •which we daily see given to horses, would be endless. The standing orders of masters ou«ht to be parce puer stimulis—" I will not suffer my horses to be Avhipped, for the more |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 165
whip, the greater necessity; and you may
proceed from a whip to a cat-o-nine tails." The J^L cruelty of the^Smithfield
drowjs has been an immemorial "disgrace upon the character of the people of this country ; and I should not obtain credit, were I to state the number of lives, which appear from old magazines and newspapers, to have been lost, from accidents by over- driven cattle, within the last fifty years. The late exertions of the City Magistracy to check these infernal practices, have done them immortal honour ; the regulations they have caused to be put up m SaritMeW, are excel- lent, and have no doubt been attended with considerable good effect. But it is impossi- ble, in the beginning, to do more than barely check so inveterate a disease, even with the best remedies. To declare the fact, the fault by no means lies with the drovers exclusively, but is to be attributed to those relics of 1 barity which are still latent in the minds rf the people. How indeed are they to discri- minate ? Since the most exquisite pleasure is supposed by their betters to be derived from hunting, worrying, and tearing the living members of the most harmless and timid animals, why not hunt bullocks as well as hares and deer ? I have heard of a fellow be-* |
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166 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS,
longing to one of the public offices, who is so
enamoured with this humane, innocent, and delectable sport of bullock-hunting, over the plains of London, that he has not missed any eminent opportunity for years ; and who, upon the first intehigence, will leave the most important business of his life, his wife in the pains of child-birth, his books unmade up, or his prayers unfinished, to follow the bul- lock, and the jolly cry of, " D—n my eves ! why don't you hox him >■" from the Change to Hyde Park Corner, from that to Lime- house Hole, and from thence, were it upon the cards, to the gates of hell. It is a fact, that needs no labour of mine to prove, that nearly all those beasts, styled mad,. that is, vicious and untraceable, are rendered so by the strange change of place, and by harsh and* cruel usage; and that an amendment is to bo sought only in the improved morals of tho people. Respecting additional remedies to those al-
ready devised, I am for radical ones. I am wearied with perpetual temporizing, tamper- ing, and bungling. I detest half measures and palliatives, in all concerns whatever, as much as I do the patching up of disease, for there is a strict analogy between principles physical and moral ; and mere palliation, in |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 16?
either case, does but lead the more surely
to the acme or thorough completion of the evil. But to the question—I cannot conceive any regulations, however prudently devised, and punctually observed, likely to be tho- roughly efficacious, so long as the cattle market is held in its present situation ; and one would be tempted to suppose, that it could he none other, than such wise-acres, as framed the sapient laws against forestalling, ana regratiiig, to think of introducing such a dangerous nuisance, as a market for live cattle, into tiie heart of a populous.city. Common sense, and the general weal, have long de- manded the abolition of Smithfield Market, and tiie establishment of two in lieu thereof, one on the North, and one on the South side, of the Metropolis ; as well as the total dis- continuance of slaughtering cattle within the. town. But the common sense, or justice aione of a measure, are seldom any recom- mendation. Even were the whole Court of Aldermen to be tossed by horned cattle, their united influence would not be able to carry such a measure as the removal of Smithfield Market. A man might as well have the mo- desty to ask for universal suffrage, and the abolition of the slave trade. The advantages of this proposed change are
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168 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
so many, and obvious, and the rational ob-
it cf ions so few, or lather null, that I am cer- tainly performing a work of superrogation to expatiate. Ah the thousand horrors and risks of driving loose and untamed cattle through every part of a populous city, and the hourly defilement or it, with loathsome scenes of blood and carnage, would be avoided. The saving to the public, and to the butchers themselves, in the superior condition of the meat, would be immense; for it is well known, that from the old mode of beating, bruising', and harassing the cattle a^out town, and con- fining them m heaps, in close p'aces, and a noi ome atmosphere, they too frequently die in such a state, that their flesh is seaieely whole- some even for present spending1, but totally Unfit for preservation by salt. This must ma- terially affect our sea-stores. The saving in the ai tide of manure (a most important con- sidera'ion) would also be great, from the convenience with which the farmer's carts might take if, from slaughtering houses situ- ated without the town. Instead of only two markets, north and south of the town, more might be established, if held necessary ; and the slaughtering houses might be made to surround the market. The conveyance of carcases to town could be no great object of |
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THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS. 169
inconvenience, since, on the present plan,
they are occasionally obliged to be conveyed to a considerable distance, and every butcher already possesses some kind of vehicle. I am convinced I shall be joined by thou-
sands, when I assert, that any member of the Legislature, who will take this public matter up earnestly, will deserve well of the coun- try. I am aware, however, in this case, of the appearance of acting in direct opposition to my pubiicly professed principles, by de- siring to instigate the civil government to an interference with the private concerns of the people, the grand source of all mischief in every country; but where apparent natural rights aggress upon others of equal validity, they become of themselves void, and their exercise may lawfully be suspended, for the general good. In the present state of things, I think the
following additional regulations might have the use of strengthening those old ones, al- ready in force. A steady man, at a respect- able salary, ought to be employed in Smith- field, as inspector of the market, whose busi- ness it should be to prevent, or report, all acts of cruelty and danger. Drovers ought to be men of steady and good character, and well paid, and the strictest scrutiny occa- |
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170 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
sionally made into their conduct; their re-
sponsibility in a service of fair and adequate emolument, would insure their good beha- viour. General orders should be issued by the magistracy, to the officers of all the dif- ferent parishes, strictly enjoining them to ap- prehend bullock-hunters, and it must be made the drover's duty point them out : and lastly, as the most effectual of all remedies, mild methods of driving should be insisted on, upon pain of discharge, and incapacity of service ever after. Many acts of cruelty to poor animals, des-
tined to the slaughter, are overlooked, Which it is damnable infamy to tolerate. As a preg- nant instance, how often have I seen with an aching heart, the wretched calves, their poor tender limbs stiffened, and rendered al- most useless, by the length and jolting of their'journey, precipitated head, sides, or heels first, as it might happen, from a high waggon, down upon Smithfield stor.es; and the barbarous, unthinking, tw<-legged brutes, powdered or cropped, sans-culotte or in pan- taloons, who generally surround the waggon, to see so charming a spectacle, shouting loud in proportion to the violence of the distest animal's fall. Did these good christians |
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THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS. 171
never in their lives, g, t a severe and stunning
fall upon the stones ? Dozens such to them with all my soul! it might perhaps put them in remembrance of the propriety, of the hu- manity, of throwing a truss of straw, or of placing some slide, or convenience, to break the fall, for the poor harmless calves. Constant habits of business amongst cattle,
renders even mild men insensible of their miseries. There is a great deal of need- less cruelty practised among butchers. Would it not be practicable to put blinds upon a bullock, previously to giving him the fatal stroke ? Would it not tend to use and expedition? This occurred to me, from having seen several oxen escape after having received a blow, when they have been with much difficulty and danger recovered, and tied up again ; and have not fallen at last, under per- haps a dozen strokes, which they strove to avoid with the strongest appearance of agi- tation, and conscious terror. I shall quit these disagreeable details, with
remarking upon the mistaken humanity of those tender-hearted persons, who turn adrift a poor dog or cat, which they choose not to keep, instead of fairly putting them out of the reach of want and misery. Who do they expect ■will entertain a poor forlorn stranger, |
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172 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
when they are sensible themselves would
drive back such an one from their door? In general, these poor outcasts are seen starving about town, and dying by inches; or are torn to pieces hy dogs, for the strange amusement of men, whose minds, in their present state, are .scarcely superior to those of brutes. What a perversion also of such as one would sup- pose the common feelings of humanity, and the obvious dictates of reason, that we can behold an unfortunate and forsaken animal, exiled perhaps from the hospitable board, and comfortable hearth, of its late owner, exposed to all the horrors of famine, wet and cold, and to the constant apprehension of insult and torture, pining for the loss of its happy home, and looking pitifully up into the face of every passenger, for mercy and assistance—I say that we can behold all this, and instead of affording the poor sufferer at least a look of compassion, can make sport of its sufferings, and even heap additional miseries upon its devoted head, by endea- vouring, with an industry we refuse to the better occasion, to wound, maim, and worry; and by all possible means to embitter the miserable remnant of its existence: and yet this is the lesson which our youth are taught! Let" us not regret a small additional trouble |
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THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS. 173
which we may incur, by doing justice to beasts,
through which we reap such immense bene- fits, were it only, because it is natural for us to expect justice ourselves, both here and hereafter. Virtus in actione consist it; and when we give up ourselves to the sugges* tions of mean and sordid indolence, life be- comes a stagnant pool, and we defeat its first and grandest purposes. Nor let any one suppose this subject to be trifling, and of no importance; it has exercised the abili- ties of some of the greatest men, botli of an- cient and modem times: nor yet let us despair of inculcating into the susceptible minds of Englishmen, the inferior duties of humanity, since we know they have long since found admission into the hearts of some of those nations whom we style barbarous and savage. The_Asiatjcs,_jn general, but particularly the Arabians, have been lonf S renowned for their kind and, merciful treat- ment of beasts \ these last seldom or never correct their horses, either with whip or spur, but caress and reason witj^jthein, as^animals which they perceive to be endowedt with a large portion of the reasoning faculty Hence, in a great measure, as has been al- ready observed, the superior 'iocilivj gene- rosity, and affection for_man, in the Arabian |
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I74 THE RIGHTS OF BEASTS.
courser. Amongs-t our northern neighbours,
of_ Tartarian descent, the brute creation has found learned and powerful advocates; of the most eminent of whom, was John JErj»«^ chen, an Icelandic _ gentleman, who, about forty years since, published at Copenhagen his Treatise " De Philippia Veterum ;" or, oi the Affection_of _tlie_Ancients for Horses% I regret never to have enjoyed an opportunity of perusing this book, which, I am informed, is written in pure and elegant Latin. Humanity and benevolence to helpless
beasts, is, in general, a certain indication of generosity of soul, and of a natural love of justice. If it be real, not occasional or as- sumed, depend, such a soul harbours no seeds of lurking treachery. But I do not mean that partial kind of charity which em- braces only black cats and robins, because, forsooth, the one wears a coat of a fortunate colour, and the other is a sacred bird. A pretty conceit truly, that the old gentleman's colour should be the harbinger of good luck ; and that robins, the .most spiteful and quar- relsome of all birds, two of whom are never seen upon one bush, should be entitled to an exclusive and privileged compassion : in one sense, perhaps, it may be perfectly right, to style robin-redbreasts, God Almighty's chosen |
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THE RIGHTS OP BEASTS. 175
dicky-birds, since they look upon all the
rest of the feathered tribe as Philistines, and entertain an antipathy towards them, per- fectly Hebrew. To be genuine, and of ca- tholic use, all principles must be permitted to have their universal effect. The following verses which I cut, I know
not when, and out of I know not what news- paper, I insert to have the pleasure of telling the author, Avhoever he be, if chance should direct this book into his hands, that I read the goodness of his heart in the humanity of his muse. EPITAPH ON A FAOURITE HORSE.
Though long untrodden, on poetic ground,
On me no Pegasean dust is found ;
Your kind assistance, gentle Muses, lend.
To pay this tribute to a parted friend :
Let no rough trotting lines my theme disgrace,
But smoothly canter in harmonious pace.
Sorrel deceas'd, demands my grateful lay,
The willing Sorrel to his latest day.
Upright hejoggd through life's mysterious round,
In Temper gentle, Constitution sound.
Stranger to Vice, no guilty Start he knew,
Excel I'd by none, and equall'd but by few-.
Whether the full portmanteau to sustain,
Or proudly gallop o'er th' extended plain .-
To smn :e the foremost in th' eager chace,
Or hine unrivall'd in the unequal race ;
Sorrei, in each, two grateful Lords obey'd,
Who loY'd him living, and lament him dead-
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176
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPOUTS
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CHAP. IV.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
The occupations of animal life are, of ne-
cessity, sportive as well as serious. By the term, sport, we understand an action or pas- sion, which agitates the mind and body, im- parting to them exhilarating and delightful sensations. The desire of pleasure, and the love of variety, exist spontaneously in the mind, as antidotes to the corroding poison of serious cares. Man having performed his imposed and indispensible duties, becomes sensible of the involuntary inclination towards passive or active pleasure; and every other animal, the more pressing calls of life being satisfied, obeys the sportive impulse, in what- ever peculiar mode his nature may have pre- scribed. Thus we see pleasure is the birth-right of
men and animals, and the just measure of it is determined by the due performance of their serious duties. Amongst men, this measure must, of course, be regulated by the quantum |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 177
of property, and of leisure. The rich man,
or he who from his superior industry, or good fortune, has less obligation of painful duties, may lawfully command the largest share of pleasurable gratification; nor can any, on this account, in justice, repine at the ("dis- pensations of nature and fortune, since their impartiality will be manifest to all who are capable of reflection. It flows from natural consequences, and is therefore perfectly right, that there should be rich and poor. The only just cause of complaint lies against the usur- pations of the rich and powerful, when they enslave and oppress, in other words, defraud their brethren of the inferior classes, by com- pelling them to accept so small a recompence for their labour, that far from having either leisure, or the means of tasting a moderate share of those pleasures which sweeten the bitter draught of life, they are worn out with incessant toils, to obtain wherewith to satisfy the mere cravings of hunger: whereas pro- perty ought to be sacred, and the term of force extends to the labourer as well as to his lord ; the former having an equal right to such wages as the times demand, and will admit, as the latter has to the labourer's ser- vices, or to the enjoyment of his own posses- sions. This is what I understand by the mo- VOL. I, N
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178 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
dern doctrine of equality. But even under
the heaviest pressures, no just charge can He against nature, the common mother, since she has impartially committed the vindication of their own rights to the arms of all her chil- dren in common. There is a certain proportion of the enjoy-
ments of life due, not only to the labouring classes of mankind, but even to the beasts themselves, which are engaged in the service of man ; and whoever unfeelingly wears out these last, as he does the soles he treads upon, with unmerciful and incessant toils, withhold- ing from them that degree of repose necessary to their comfort, and the cheerful perform- ance of their labour, commits great and cry- ing injustice* whatever brute and savage cus- tom may urge in his behoof. To the rich, the pursuit of pleasure be-
comes, in a certain degree, an important oc- cupation, and the dissipation of a part of their accumulated wealth a public duty. Their leisure must be necessarily employed to pre- vent a stagnation in the current of life, or the activity of their minds indulged in those oc- cupations which produce delight. Happy for themselves and their country, when their plea- sures are rational, and free from oppression and crime ; when they conduce to the ad- |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 179
vancement of the fine arts, and when they
have for their object the furtherance of those discoveries which improve and benefit human society. In such case the inferior classes be- come sharers in the wealth and pleasures of the opulent, industry and pleasure go hand in hand, and the general mass of enjoyment and of profit, is infinitely augmented. Brain-sick fanatics, a remnant of which still
exists even in the present enlightened times, and wretched curmudgeons, whom nature has curst with the sordid letch of accumulation, are in the habit of condemning either all luxury and pleasure in the lump, or certain particular species of them at which their mor- bid fancies have chanced to take unmeaning exceptions. According to the slavish notion of these wrong-heads, stage-plays, dancing, horse-coursing, hunting, and games of chance, are unlawful; not considering that universal liberty is the favourite child of nature ; that all possible acts which do not involve absolute crime, are, and ought to be, left to the dis- cretion of man ; that in things indifferent criminality exists only in the abuse, in which also lies the punishment. The divine Plato himself, as we are informed by Diogenes Laeitius, was accustomed to frequent the pub- lic spectacles, and even to wrestle on the pub- n 2
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180 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
lie theatre, and that he was moreover occa»
sionally a dealer in oil; leaving his illustrious example upon record, for a proof that neither the manly exercises, nor the gainful pursuits of commerce, are unbecoming the most ex- alted characters. National sports and pleasures are generally
rational and humane, in proportion to the degree of civilization., and of liberty, which obtains among the people. The recreations of barbarians or slaves, taking a tincture from their savage, or abject manners, will ever be ferocious and bloody. Civil liberty disposes the minds of men to reflection and sympathy, and to content and hilarity, by restoring to them tluir natural lights, together with due leisure to enjoy them. During the common- wealths of ancient Greece, and under those which were afterwards established in modern Italy, the innocent and manly diversions held a rank in the public estimation, next to lite- rature and the arts. Under the degrading ty- ranny of the Caesars, the sports of the Ro- man people consisted in the exhibition of the most savage acts of barbarity. By a strange depravity of taste, in rational creatures, en- gendered from a spurious and unnatural cu- riosity, a view of the infliction of the keenest misery upon fellow men and animals, was |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 181
found to convey delightful sensations to the
souls, and convulsive agonies and dying groans, to feast the eyes of the beholders. Even women of the most exalted rank, and finished education, such is the benumbing and lamentable effect of vicious habit, beheld with unconcern, or with raptures, the gushing wounds and death-struck countenance of the expiring gladiator, or the mangled carcase of the wretch condemned to sacrifice his life in a dreadful combat with beasts ! But our more material business is with the
sports in vogue at the present day, and in our own country, particularly as they relate to the brute creation : and the intent of this dis- ' quisition is, to determine how far such diver- sions are legitimate and allowable, how far consentaneous with reason and humanity, or conducive to general and individual use. Spe- culations like these will, I fear, be little re- lished or attended to by the majority of man- kind. I shall on the one hand be accused of attempting to split hairs, and of vainly la- bouring to introduce impracticable refme- ments ; on the other, of endeavouring to .es- tablish principles of licence totally incompa- tible with certain received ideas of morality On this head, all I have to say is, that I hope |
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182 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPOHTS.
it may be possible to speak, what I suppose
to be the truth, without giving offence. In the first place, I must be bold to disal-
low the necessity of all breaches of justice, either in the serious business, or the pleasures of life, on the score of expediency, or of the indulgence of human weakness. It is the plea of robbers and thieves ; at best, that of a vicious and treacherous indolence. The usual pretence of impracticability I deny; and
were no other profit to ensue from doing right, the sense of having done so is a remu- neration amply sufficient to a well informed and generous mind. It must be allowed that the foundations of truth have been obscured, sometimes totally concealed by those useless superstructures which human weakness and human sophistry have so painfully erected. Adequate knowledge of the moral fitness of things must depend on discrimination, and a just conception of the philosophy of dilemma. Still, doctrines of tins tendency need not, ought not, to be looked upon as merely eso- teric ; were we honest, did we wish to be un- derstood ; they might, in no great lapse of time, be rendered familiar even to the vulgar comprehension. It has been observed, that the manly ex-
ercises have declined among the lower classes |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OP SPORTS. 183
of Englishmen, since the suppression of the
Book of Sports, by the Presbyterian Parlia- ment. Those fanatical reformers, whose love of liberty far exceeded their comprehension of its real nature, metamorphosed the con- ciliating cheerfulness of our Church-of-E;":g-. land Sunday, into the horrid gloom of a Jewish Sabbath: it was a tender mercy, or an act of forgetmlness, in such zealots, that they did not also procure an ordonnance to circumcise, as well as excise, the nation, or to impose upon free-born men the preposte- rous and unnatural burden of the whole Hebrew ritual; to do which, indeed, as what they really did, their right was precise .y equal. I do not recollect that any attempt was made to revive the Book of Sports after the Resto- ration ; but I sincerely think, that the com- plexion of the present time demands a relaxa- tion in this point, infinite y rather than those additional restraints, so warmly recommended by, perhaps well-meaning, although as I humbly conceive, mi guided men. It is much better to concede at first with a good grace, that which in probability will after- wards be taken without leave: a lesson ge- nerally learned too late by the auvocates of coercion. The gymnastic exercises, wrestling, spar~
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184 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
ring, foot-ball, cricket, and all those games
which may be enjoyed without crime, and without any material dissipation of the time, or the earnings of labour, should never be checked or impeded in the laborious classes ; but rather encouraged by the countenance, piesence, and even pejhaps paiticipation of the rich. Such were the favourite amuse- ments of the hardy English peasantry in 1588— When our rough youth wrestled, and threw the weight.
And to such rational indulgencies, together
with the constant moderate price of all the necessaries of life, it was no doubt owing, that their minds were retained in a state of clteetfujne s and content, notwithstanding the dt.gi;ading de-.pofism under which they ex-is ed ; hence a most tyrannic constitution enjoyed the en viable reputation of being deeded a system of liberty . Exclusive of the positive right of theiower
ranks to all such enjoyments as are fairly within the leach of their means, other argu- ments of great force in favour of their allow- ance and encouragement are to be adduced. The manly and athletic sports invigorate and harden the constitution; they supersede in |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPOUTS. 185
the mind the itch for sedentary and destrue* ive
games of chance; they serve as an anlicote to the insalubrious effects of confinement in the manufacturer; above all, they conduce materially to the procreation of a vigorous and healthy offspring ; they are an excellent preparation for the military exerci es, and render men fit to become defenders of their country. It is necessary to furnish examples of due
discrimination in the case of brute animals. Their riglits have been already defined. Man necessarily possesses the right of taking their lives at discretion; but natural justice, which the laws of society ought ever to enforce, forbids him under any pretence, either of pleasure or profit, to commit cruel outrage upon their feelings, I might here, could authority be possibly demanded for a down- right axiom, quote that of Moses ; who in the Levhical law directs, amongst many humane injunctions respecting beasts, that the knife with which the victim is shin, may be as sharp as possible, and its edge free of torturing roughness : an article in the Jewish Code highly honourable to the personal cha- racter and to the memory of the legislator. The baiting of animals, as it is called, that
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186 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
is, chaining and staking down wretched cap-
tives, to be worried and torn to pieces by other animals, purposely trained for such useless barbarity, is absolutely unlawful, con- trary to the light of reason, and the dictates of humanity, the foul disgrace of common sense, and never ought to be tolerated for a moment, in a government which claims to be instituted for the protection of rights, and the advancement of morality. J
The origin of the infamous practice of bait-
ing bulls, which had afterwards the sanction of an ignorant and barbarous legislature is said to have been as follows. By custom of the Manor of Tutbury, in Staffordshire, a bull was given by the prior to the minstrels. After undergoing the torture of having his horns cut, his ears and tail cropped to the very stumps, and his nostrils filled with pepper, his body was besmeared with soap, and he was turned out in that pitiable state, in order to be hunted. This was called bull- running ; and if the bull was taken, or held long enough to pull off some of his hair, he was then tied to the stake and baited. In this unfeeling manner, was the most innocuous and useful of the animal creation treated by savage man: by priests and legislators, at |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 187
too many periods, notwithstanding their high
pretensions, equally unenlightened in essen- tials, with the lowest of mankind! The voluntary combats of animals form a
case widely different. Nature herself has sown the seeds of contention m the constitu- tions of men and beasts, and to witness the equal combats of eiiber, is at least an act of legitimate curiosity, if it be no proof of the softer feelings of the soul. I may truly say, that I had never any great penchant for these bloody and contentious spectacles, at least since reason began to dawn ; but at the same time will freely own, that they never strike me with that horror and detestation, mounting up almost to phrenzy, with which I am ever seized, at witnessing those of the former description. Thus the crowing and feathered combatants, armed with deadly steel, attract very little of my pity, knowing, as I do, that their acts of hostility are, and always must be, purely voluntary ; and that the instruments with which they are armed, are in some sort the harbingers of pity and kindness to them, by accelerating the period of their sufferings. I never spent an hour in a cockpit in my life, nor have I ever taken much pains to consider how far a man of re- flection can, or ought to be diverted by such |
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188 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPOBTS.
an exhibition ; I only wish ardently, that all
our sports in the view of humanity, were equally innocent, and as little liable to objec- tion as that of cock-fighting. This game is said to. be very ancient, and
of Greek, or even Indian origin ; and there are it seems at this day, in India, game-cocks of. a large size, which equal, m desperate valour, those of our own country. The following anecdote of an English game-cock,
so well pour trays the nature of that hold and martial species of animal, that I think it wort I y of being recorded. In the justly celebrated and decisive naval engagement, of Lord Howe's fleet with that of Fiance, on the first of June, 1794, a game-cock on board one of our ships, chanced to have his house beat to pieces by a shot, or some fallen rig- ging, which accident set him at liberty; the feathered hero now perclied on the stump of the main-mast, which had been carried away, continued crowing and clapping his wings during the remainder of the engagement, enjoying to all appearance, the thundering horrors of the scene, To speak impartially of hunting, is to
touch a dangerous string, and one which may produce discord : convinced I am performing a duty, I shall nevertheless proceed, without |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 189
the smallest hesitation. The proper line of
discrimination lies (ita videtur) between the chace of fierce and predaceous animals, and that of such as are of a timid and harmless, or domestic nature; the former is a natural * and rational pursuit, a legitimate sport, and worthy of kings and heroes ; the latter a mean and contemptible exercise of cruelty, which a blind and unreflecting obedience to custom alone, can cause to be productive of pleasure to generous minds. Custom which oft-times reason over rules,
And is instead of reason to the fools : Custom, which all the world to slavery brings, The dull excuse for doing foolish things. ROCHESTER.
Alas ! what crime hath the timid hare com-
mitted, or the deer which weeps, that they are made to undergo the horrid punishment of being havrassed by mortal affrights, and tortured, torn, and mangled to death by piecemeal ? I know, from the analogy of in- stinct in the hound, itwillheie be said, we are following nature ; but it is brute nature, uninformed and unillumined by reason, which is the soul, and ought to be the director of \ nature. It is sure'y enough that these inno- cent* forfeit their lives to pamper our appe- tites, and nourish our bodies ; the gun and |
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190 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
the knife afford them a speedy and unexpected
exit, and they are entitled to the privilege of an undisturbed life, and an easy death, by every law of reason and humanity. I never hear an epicure praising the superior goM of a hunted hare, without having my appetite spoiled by reflecting upon the tortures the poor animal may have suffered; and this re- flection always brings to my mind, not in- deed a comparative, but a much more horrid cruelty of the bullock-hunters in South Ame- rica, who, when they have noosed a beast, leave him fast bound, to expire in agonies, that his convulsive throes may so disengage the skin, as to occasion them less trouble in the flaying ! Hunting the Fox, which is a beast of
prey, greedy of blood, a robber prowling about, seeking what creature he may devour, is not liable to a single one of the preceding objections ; nor indeed to anyone, in a moral view, with which I am acquainted. He is a fair object of sport, who sports with the feel- ings of all other creatures subjected to his powers ; and a fierce and pugnaceous animal can be liable to none of those horrors, either in his pursuit or capture, which must inevi- tably agonize the feelings of the timid. I could never agree with the fastidious disciples of the |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OP SPORTS. 191
Chesterfield school, who condemn this noble __
sport in toto, merely because a number of
„ - blockheads may chance to be attached to it: I hold it an exercise by no means unbecoming the student or philosopher, who may seek and find health in the pleasing fatigues of the chace ; who will feel the sympathetic and mu- sical chords of the soul, vibrating to the har- mony of the deep-toned pack ; who will find ample cause of admiration at the wonderful and various instinctive gifts of nature, in the sagacity and perseverance of the high-bred hound ; whilst, borne as it were on the wings of the wind, across the «« country wide," scarcely conscious of obstacle, by their fleet and staid coursers, they acquire hardihood, a love of enterprize, and contempt of danger. The labours of the day .ended, the genial ban- quet awaits Xhe elated and keen-set sports- men; the pui pie and the golden nectar cir- "" dilates briskly amongst these terrestrial o-0ds —Not one of them, but in his mind, echoes simi ar sentiments with the jovial Archdeacon of Oxford, in ancient days, old Walter de Mapes. Mihi sit propositum in tabema mori,
Vinum sitappositum morientis ori, Ut dicant, cum venerint angelorum cliori, Deus sit propitius huic potatori. |
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192 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
ISTow goes round the song of triumph in
full chorus, " the traitor is seized on and dies" —until the hospitable, and almost responsive walls resound. The happy domestics, those humble friends of generous opulence, reco- vered from their fatigues, become inspired by the general joy, and instinctively join in the chorus. The song is relieved by pleasing re- lations of hair-breadth scapes ; of the staunch- ness and speed of the hounds, and the blood and game of the horses; nor is love and .--* beauty, the delight and reward of true sports- men, ever forgotten—old friendships are ce- mented, new ones cordially formed. Happy, if no acts of unmanly cruelty have passed, to cloud the sunshine of mirth in the bosom of sensibility. Happy again, if heedless excess, the parent of_goj.it, stone, premature debility, and inaptitude^for every enjoyment of life, do not lay in a store of repentance for the mor- row. Here is a field of reflection for the phi- losophic epicure.! Say, is there no mean in voluptuousness ? Is there no striking upon that precise line which divides pleasure from repentance ? Is there no possibility of at-, taining the height of convivial felicity, with- out the risk of staggering down headlong into the muddy regions of excess? It were a lesson worth the learning. If it must be |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 193
determined negatively, I have done ser-
monizing—I commit the task to the hands of professional men. May all sportsmen en- joy the pleasure as they list, and bravely en- counter the consequence. Vivent les Docteurs. I shall pretend to much impartiality on
this head ; for I declare I never rode a hunt- ing; in my life, although I have possessed, sent into the field, and sold many ■ a good hunter. But a proposition has in general two sides,
and he who cannot, or will not, take the pains to examine both, had perhaps better not have considered either. I do not wish to be understood as writing an unreserved panegyric even on fox-hunting, as at present practised. It is attended, I fear, in every hunt, with a number of gross and useless acts of cruelty, which cannot fail of the effect of hardening and debasing the hearts, particularly of the vulgar and ill-informed; hence, as I have before observed, the erroneous, but prevalent principle of hunting, is the occasion of most of the cruelties practised upon helpless beasts. But the gradually opening light of reason has already dispelled the far greater number of these errors of nature in all the various concerns of life, and humanity sighs for the glorious completion. VOL. I. O
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194 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
Mr. Beckford's book on hunting, which
has opportunely fallen into my hands since I began the present chapter, I think fully confirms the sentiments immediately pre- ceding. Far from agreeing with the author in his ethics, I fully concur in the truth of those criticisms on his work, which he has adduced, from the Monthly Review ; and which I esteem well worthy of those principles of general humanity adopted by that celebrated journal. To turn out that harmless, useful and affectionate do- mestic the cat, which perhaps but a few minutes before, relying on your protection, -was caressing your infants, its eyes beaming fondness, and its feet kneading in unison with the grateful thrum, to be hunted, torn to pieces alive, and devoured by a pack of greedy hounds, is a blasted and unmanly act of barbarity. I know, from long observation, the ill effects which this cat hunting has upon the morals of stable boys, and servants in general, and have more than once witnessed such cruel scenes of worrying and tearing these animals, when heavy in young, with farriers, as would contaminate my paper to relate. I must own I_am as fond of playing with my, cat, as ever was Montagne, or even Crebillion, who kept so large a stud of them ; and see no reason to join in sentiment with |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 195
Button, who supposes the feline tribe more
^actuated^by self-interest than an^Mrther spe- m cies oJ^auiiTmls^ As little am I convinced of the justice, or
even necessity, of torturing the feelings of the _^ poor hare, or timid deer, by keeping them —
bound in the kennel, in sight of their dreaded enemies, the hounds; whilst these last are - - punished with the severe and continued dis-
cipline of the whip, for a crime which they —— may possibly commit at some future period ; a discipline, which it is a thousand to one whe- ther five dogs in a score understand the mean- ing of, and which would be utterly unallow- able, granting they did, such punishment be- ing founded upon an unjust and unwarrant- able principle. I should conceive that imme- diate and severe chastisement upon the actual attempt to commit the crime, would be much more effectual* as well as much more conso- nant with equity, which neither ought,' or need, be excluded even from our sports ; nor ever will be, by the naturally just, after the season of reflection. Mr. Beckford seems to think this flogging process an act of preven- tive humanity. He appears to me to be arm- ing himself against the wrong horn of the di- lemma, a very common case. Discipline and correction, upon a similar
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196 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
principle, have been supposed to beat into —
the heads of horses, the various manoeuvres of the grand menage, which I am convinced, might be inculcated with infinitely less assist- ance from the whip. The last, and perhaps the greatest abuse in
hunting which I shall notice, is that horrid one of riding horses to death in long chaces. _ Alas ! what can be said with effect on the behalf of poor humanity, in opposition to the imperious dictates of pleasure, supported by ancient and inveterate usage ? Nothing, but that in proportion as men become patient under the task of reflection, and willing to admit the obtruding light into their minds, they will be more humane, that is, more just; they will then (the generous of heart) expe- rience the utter impossibility of reaping plea- sure from the tortured feelings of other crea- tures. Were I as much an enthusiast in the chace, as I am in some other respects (and my reader must have perceived that I naturally belong to the unfortunate class of superfluous sensibility) I well know that I could not taste one moment's pleasure in the pursuit, how- ever gloriously it might promise, after the conviction of my horse's inability to support me ; far less could I be base and cruel enough to urge beyond his powers, by the force of goading tortures, the most generous of all |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 197
animals, whose peculiar characteristic is wil-
lingness even unto death ; who never stops to expostulate, and who ought, in this case, pe- culiarly, jo be a sharer in our joys, rather than the tortured victim of our barbarous madness. No one need suppose me writing like a novice, who have been so long, and often, accustomed to drive these animals to the utmost pitch of their exertion, by the necessary force of whip and spur. I am speak- ing of the abuses of ignorance, wantonness, and insensibility. Unexpected and unavoid- able accidents may happen in the heat of the chace ; such have no connection with the present question. The Puritan, who allows of no other recreation than the pious one of psalm-singing; who even in the chill of the morning, the heat of the day, and during the unwholesome damps and fogs of the ni<*ht, is to be found in the gospel-shop, wearying out patient heaven with everlasting imperti- nence, would argue against the use of all sports, from their abuse ; an argument never legitimate but when the use itself can be proved unfounded in just principles. As the only means of obviating, in every
possible degree, those heart-breaking acci- dents, gentlemen must be convinced how ne- cessary it is to provide themselves with hun- ters fully equal to their weight, sufficiently |
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198 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPOUTS,
well-bred, speedy, and in the highest condi-
tion ; nor is it at all less requisite for the interests both of pleasure and humanity, that they acquire the true sportsmanlike habit of riding across the country with temper and judgment. Objections have been laid against hunting,
as producing an annual damage to the agri- culture of the country ; in a country, barren and unproductive of bread-corn, and where the inhabitants are generally poor, such ob- jections might be valid ; but, for my part, I think them ti ivial in this, at least in our pre- sent state of population, and capability of produce. The right, however, of individu- als to preserve their own inclosures sacred from intrusion or trespass, it must be acknow- ledged, is incontrovertible, I rejoice that my subject lays me under no necessity to speak of our game laws, otherwise I might be tempted to give vent to that bitterness and severity, which I am sorry to say is too natu- ral to me, and which I endeavour on every Occasion to repress. From hunting to,the turf, the gradation is
natural, and in course. Of all the various sports in which the brute creation is in any shape concerned, none is so pure in principle, or susceptible of practice, with so little tres- pass upon the claims of justice and humanity. |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 199
as that of English horse-racing. Its ground
or intent is to essay and determine the good- ness of individuals of a noble species of ani- mal, in that peculiar way, in which nature herself has chosen to establish their utility ; and although even the legitimate and fair la- bour of the race-horse be great, and his ex- citements to action sometimes severe and bloody, his share in the duties and sufferings of life, is in no respect disproportionate or excessive. Bat it is the peculiar recommend- ation of this princely sport, that, as well as di- version, it has utility for its object; and ma- terially advances an important purpose in the serious business of life, that of raising the most beautiful and useful race of horses. The course has from very early times been
the proper theatre of amusement to the most exalted ranks of society, and there need no laws to restrain the middling and lower classes from engagements thereon, since their ex- pensiveness will, in general, confine such to their proper place of spectators. The plea- sure of seeing two of the most elegant, swift, and docile of all the four-footed creation, con- tending on equal terms the palm of speed and of courage, is a sight worthy of a king, or even a philosopher ; nor is the usual conco- mitant of wagering, abstractedly speaking, either an irrational or an unprofitable diver- |
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200 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
sion to the mind. I speak here merely from
observation, never yet having had possession of either the right, or the opportunity, to engage in the speculations of the turf; but I have ever looked upon that whole system as most ingenious, and fit to exercise human wit. Their hedging of betts, that is to say, em- bracing the opportunity of a favourable va- riation in the market rate of betting, which admits a balance by taking the contrary side, and insures a premium : their proportional adjustment of weight to the size, or presumed goodness of the horses ; their trials ; all seem a-kin to those sciences which afford demon- stration, and have a tendency to form correct habits of judging. It is an old observation, that there is a degree of shrewdness, sagacity, and foresight, even in the boys engaged in this profession, far superior to that to be found in their peers of other occupations. Ought it to be questioned, that similar advantages as- cend to the higher classes ? The turf, it must nevertheless be allowed, is not the least dan- gerous school of philosophy; or rather, a man ought to have a good share of that qualification, previously to any engagements thereon. It is to travel somewhat out of the record,
to notice mere games of chance; but I have a desire to say a few words in that relation, |
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THE RKlLOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 201
because if I have not formed an erroneous
judgment at last, after much pains taken, our legal restraining system is not only to- tally inefficient in practice, but must ever prove so, from being equally defective in principle. I apprehend, all games being perfectly harmless, simply considered, and void of crime or aggression, neither ought; or indeed can be to any effectual purpose, the objects ot* restrictive legislation. I cannot find that such kind of interference, in any country, has ever had a better effect than to arm the law courts with an arbitrary power, corrupt the inferior magistracy, maintain a banditti of spies and informers, and to increase the number of other vermin, still more flagi- tious and abandoned. I know we have men among us, so excessively fond of restraining the extravagancies of human liberty with • parchment shackles, that they would, if pos- sible, regulate even the duties of the bed- chamber, and the economy of our physical occasions, by act of parliament. But it ought to be considered, that to frame laws, concerning the observance or breach of which, in a moral view, the citizens are perfectly indifferent, is to destry that venera- tion which should ever attach to the public institutes ; in fact to bring the very principle |
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202 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
of legislation into contempt. Laws, which
from their nature can only have a partial eifect, are worse than useless. The attempt is vain and deceptious, in a free state, either to controul liberty of opinion in any respect, or of action, in those things which nature herself has evidently ordained should be committed without reserve to individual discretion. Unfortunately singular again! I can no
more agree with the one party, who seek by
legal shackles to restrain, than with the other, who pretend to assert liberty, Avhiist they intend it for themselves, or for the rich ex- clusively. The rich can have no just right to risk their property in games of chance, which is not common to the poor. Such is the theory ; in the application, I deem our apologists equally wide of the mark. The evil consequences of gambling are a thousand times greater in a rich man, commonly called a gentleman, than they can possibly be in the poor: the example of the rich is much more widely contagious, he is less liable to controul, he can obtain more credit, and can do infinitely greater mischiefs, both to his own, the families of other men, and the public in general. The present fuss about the game of Faro
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THE PHILOSOPHY OP SPORTS. 203
chiefly, supremely ridiculous in my opinion,
has given rise to the foregoing reflections. Why not quadruple all the penalties, or even send the delinquents on the favourite excur- sion to Botany Bay, or at least to the peni- tentiary cells ? It would be but an experi- ment ; and I think we have been engaged, some four or five years, in trying experi- ments. With respect to those legal steps, so frequently taken of late, I should conceive that they can have no other effect, either upon high or low gambling, than merely to change its theatre from one quarter of the town or from one house to another. Whilst the gambling mania continues to prevail, either among rich or poor, its appetite will be satiated in your despite, and even perhaps increase in the ratio of your pre- ventive exertions. But it seems manv a worthy gentleman, after having lost his all at the gaming-table, has taken it into his head to proceed as far as the Finish: and would you, unreasonable, seek to deprive free-born man of such glorious privileges? How different is your conduct from that of those legislators of old, who furnished poison at the public expence, for such of the citizens as imagined themselves in need of it; the best, possible satire upon suicide. Do you |
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204 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
really fancy that laws, either against gaming
or duelling, can possibly have a coercive effect upon the mind of a man desperate, abandoned, or foolish enough to risk life and , property upon the winking of an.eye, or the cutting of a card ? Unlimited toleration has ever been the
most successful prescription for the cure of i-eligious phrenzies, and I am firmly per- suaded, all that is curable, or ought to be cured, in the present case, will submit to no other method of treatment. In my opinion (and I claim the privilege of giving it freely, because far from desiring to restrain any, I most cordially wish to every man the same freedom) all our laws to restrain gaming, either at the Stock Exchange, or elsewhere, ought to be repealed in the gross; not only as superfluous and useless, but of a dange- rous tendency. The consequence might be an immediate inundation of gambling ; which would also, most probably, superinduce an almost immediate contrary and good effect. Satiety would pall the appetite. Competi- tion would ruin the numerous tables. Re- sponsibility wotild be shifted from the go- vernment to the individual, where it natu- rally ought to lodge. Fathers of families, masters, husbands, wives, finding the morals |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 205
of their relatives, or inferiors, committed
intirely to their own care, would, because they necessarily must, be more vigilant. The difficulty of concealing the character of a gambler would be enhanced, by the allowed publicity of the practice. A virtuous and patriotic government would perhaps allow an annual sum to the police of the Me- tropolis, for the purpose of printing and circulating in various quarters, small pamphlets upon the dangers of play, and the pulls of the different games, upon the same principle, and a genuine and excellent one it is on which the worthy magistracy of the city have stationed men at certain doors, with boards bearing the inscription in capi- tals, Beware of Mock Auctions. I have consulted intelligent persons largely con- cerned in the pharo-banking business, and they have candidly acknowledged, that an unlimited public allowance would totally ruin their commerce, by increasing the risks, and reducing the profits to a trifle. The noble old English custom of fighting
with those natural weapons the fists, now fashionably styled pugilism, stands with me in the same predicament as the last sub- ject, namely, it has no immediate relation to our treatment of brute animals; but the |
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20(5 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
reader will find, by what follows, that boxing
is a theme which I should very reluctantly have passed unnoticed. On its principle not a word need be said, that being perfectly unexceptionable, at least on this side the millennium, when the saints will, in troth, have infinitely more agreeable recreation, and when the chaunting three or four staves of a spiritual song will be held a far superior gra- tification to the receiving as many sound do wees on the chops in a sparring match. The practice of English boxing is equally unex- ceptionable with the principle, being so strictly consonant with the rules of justice and mo- rality, as to form one of the greatest glories of the country. I know not whether it be committing myself to say, that an English blackguard learns more humanity and good morals, in seeing a regular boxing match, than it is probable he would in hearing five dozen of sermons. The appointment of umpires and seconds, the shaking of hands previous to the set-to, as much as to say, we mean to con- tend fairly and like men ; the general solici- tude and caution in the spectators, that per- fect equity take place between the contending parties, that no foul blow be struck, and that the fallen and the vanquished be protected ; and lastly, the parting salute, when thev con- |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OP SPORTS. 207
queror seems generously to have divested
himself of the haughtiness of triumph, the conquered to have resigned, with a natural and manly submission, and both to have dis- burthened their hearts of all malice or ap- petite of revenge—is, upon the whole, and in all its parts, so excellent a practical system of ethics, as no other country can boast, and has chiefly contributed to form the characteristic humanity of the English nation. It is a common remark, that English horses
and dogs degenerate in foreign countries : without troubling myself to examine that particular, I shall readily assent to the posi- tion, as it regards Englishmen ; how else are we to account for the unnatural lust of the American and West Indian English for enslav- ing their fellow-men ? Or how, for the sa- vage and unmanly method of boxing practised by the Virginians, who are said to allow no man to be a good bit of mutton, unless he can gouge, bellucise and bite f In plain English, their combatants are permitted to thrust at their antagonist's eves with the thumbs ; and some are so expert at that bestial manoeuvre, as to turn an eye clean out of the socket, and even to lacerate and wound those sacred parts, against which their prototypes, the Hebrew |
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208 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
women of antiquity, in their rage, had such
mortal spite. If I recollect aright, I first gathered the well-
known idea that the tender-heartedness and aversion from assassination and blood of the English populace, was to be attributed, in great measure, to the practice of boxing, from the letters on Italy, of the sensible and judicious Sharpe. Does a true English blackguard take it into his wise head, that you have put an unpardonable affront upon, the utmost that you have to dread from his resentment, be you native or foreigner, is a pair of handsome black eyes, a bloody nose, and half a score lovely contusions, which may bring you into great credit with your surgeon as a good pa- tient : but should the fellow, in the hurry of the fray, tip you the semblance of a quietus, a thousand to one but the sensibilities of his soul, excited by your fallen state, drown all ideas of vengeance, and that he himself shall be the first to lift you up, and carry you to a place of safety. The naval officers espe- cially, have all the reason in the world to join with me in commendation of the illus- trious humanity of our poor countrymen ; and if the names of certain of them had ap- peared in a petition for mercy on a late me- |
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THE frtfilLOSOPHY OP SPORTS. £09
lancholy occasion, it had redounded more to
their honour than the taking or sinking a hostile fleet. The lower people of England want nothing
but instruction, to make them the most va- luable and peaceable citizens in the world. What a sad reverse to look to the continent. Should you offend a Dutchman, you will have —- reason to bless your good luck and your agi- lity, if you do not feel the whole length of his enormous bread and cheese knife in —- your entrails. In Spain and Italy the case is still more dreadful ; there you may have the spado, or the stiletto, whipped through your loins, and yet be utterly unconscious of the offence you have given, or whom you have offended. At Genoa, says Mr. Gray, one hundred and fifty assassinations are committed yearly, and chiefly among the lower classes ; an assassin being sure to escape, who can make interest with a noble, or raise a hundred and fifty livres. . At Naples, Dr. Owen in- forms us, five thousand persons perished, in one year, by the bloody hand of assassina- tion. " A conference is said to have been lately held with his Neapolitan Majesty, upon *— the subject, and the necessity of punishing the assassin with death, strongly contended for. His Majesty begged leave to differ from his VOL. It P
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210 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS,
learned advisers on the propriety of this step ;
for at present, said the monarch, I lose five thousand of my subjects by assassination, if therefore, I were to put to death every as- sassin, I should lose double the number." But I have been speaking of past times.
Let us hope that ere long, the sun of reason will arise to illumine and humanize the minds of men, and to fit them for the real and un- sophisticated duties of society. On the happy return of peace, for which every feeling, every honest heart must sigh, may the conti- nent present us with a new and regenerate race of men, gloriously different in principle and conduct, from the abject, treacherous, and revengeful vassals of despotism. Amidst in- creasing light, I cannot despair of an amelio- ration of the condition of man. Perhaps no change in the national character of the French people is more remarkable, than that which has produced the almost total disuse of duel- ling, a practice formerly carried to an insane and tremendous excess in that country : but from the well-known warmth and impetuosity of spirit in the French, it is to be appre- hended that the contentions and quarrels of the lower orders at least, among them, will ever have an immediate tendency to deeds of blood. Would it not be a desirable thing, a |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 211
point gained on the side of morality, to stop
the fatal career of the knife and the dagger, by the introduction of a custom, in the exer- cise of which, the passions might be assuaged in a more just and allowable way ? The al- mighty power of custom needs no proof or comment; and were the English custom of boxing, with all its deliberate and punc- tilious equity of circumstance and regula- tion, introduced and fixed among the people of France, I have no doubt but it would have the salutary effect of restraining their natural fire, and propension to the last irrevocable deed; and in consequence, of contributing largely to their ultimate individual peace of mind, and general social happiness. I beg leave thus to recommend our English system of pugilism to the generous and high-spirited citizens of France, soon I hope to become, and ever to remain, our hearty friends. In return for their having taught us « grace- fully to trip along with the light fantastic toe," beside certain other lessons of infinitely greater importance, let us instruct them in the offensive and defensive use of their natural weapons. There can be no doubt but that upon a prospect of due encouragement, jUeudoza would be- ready, on the return of p 2
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212 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS.
peace, to open a school in the splendid Me-
tropolis of France. The magistrates of our own country will,
I hope, be wary in their attempts to restrain the privileges of Englishmen, even in their contentions. Granting it true that boxing has such an important moral effect upon the vulgar mind, it were surely an impolitic step to discourage it in compliment to fanati- cism, hypocrisy, or mistaken ideas of hu- manity. Public encouragement it needs none, being as it were bound up in the very nature of the English people, amongst whom there are to be found, at every period, in- dividuals enow, emulous of patronizing the pugilistic art; yet to keep alive an art, schools and practice are required. In countries where commerce and manufacture universally prevail, habits of delicacy, the love of ease, and an inaptitude for defence, will invariably be induced with length of time; amongst the inhabitants of such countries, it must be madness to check the principle of a mar- tial spirit under any legitimate form. I shall decline the enquiry how far the
practice of pugilism would be consistent with our established ideas of gentility, but hold myself warranted by reason (all the warrant |
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPORTS. 213
which ought to be required in any possible
case) strongly to recommend the manly ex- ercise of the pugilistic school to all ranks. Nothing contributes more to brace the si- news, open the chest, and to impart a firm and vigorous tone to the whole body, at the same time affording a very agreeable exercise of the mental faculties. It forms an erect and graceful carriage, and produces that ease and adroitness in the use of the limbs, in which many people are naturally so deficient. In fine, the art of manual defence supplies the want of bodily strength, and may often- times prove an excellent shield to a weak man, against casual and vulgar aggression. I have attempted, and I hope have suc- ceeded in the proof, that neither pleasure nor profit in anywise require us to dispense with the laws of justice and humanity, since those laws, taken even in the strictest sense, of necessity impede neither \ and that it is a wretched mistake, to dignify with the name of pleasure, those phrenzical emotions which arise in the mind, at witnessing the distresses and tortures of other creatures. Those who are so ready to condemn a man for uttering truths, seem unconscious, and ought to be reminded, that they are casting reflections upon nature herself. The small prospect |
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214 RUNNING HOUSES
of immediate concurrence and success, ought
not to deter the moralist, whose gratification and reward properly subsist in the simple performance of the duty. The prejudices and errors of the human mind must be worn away gradually, and by the constant attrition of just moral argumentation, Like marble statues n.ibb'd in pieces
With gallantry of pilgrim's kisses. |
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CHAP. V.
RUNNING HORSES AND THE TURF.
The morality of the turf, or of horse-
racing, has been adverted to in a preceding Chapter, and its public or national use defined to consist in the improvement of the breed of horses ; it is so generally well known that we owe our present superiority to the introduc- tion of the southern horse, that arguments might rather serve to obscure, than elucidate the truth. There are, however, who assent to this po.r
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AND THE TUItF. 215
sition, and yet contend that there no longer
exists any necessity for the encouragement of horse-coursing, winch, in their opinion, from certain alleged abuses, ought rather to be restrained by law. They assert that our breed of horses has already received all the advan- tages which can possibly be derived from racing blood, and that any farther attention to pedigree, or the maintenance of a distinct species, is become totally unnecessary. Mr. Marshall, whose writings I highly respect, and with whom it is not possible I can differ in many cases, seems to favour these opi- nions. I nevertheless contend for the necessity, at
least, the utility, of a reserve of thorough- bred horses in this country, on the ground, that were the species neglected, and suffered to be indiscriminately blended amongst the whole genus, the English saddle-horse would, in all probability, become retrograde in qua- lity, and in the course of time would degene- rate into the round buttock, gummy carcase, and coarse head of former days. In fact, ex- amples enough of ffiis degeneracy are always to be seen in the studs of the different breed- ers, which Mr. Marshall himself allows; and the necessity of an occasional recourse to tho-> rough blood is fully apparent. Nor is the |
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number of well-shaped half-bred stallion* ever
very considerable, or sufficient for the demand of the country. The idea with which some people amuse
themselves, of putting an end to horse-racing by law, I think silly enough. I should be sorry to see the day, when the nobility and gentry of England, attached to that sport, could be sufficiently depressed in spirit to as- sent to such a law, or rather trespass upon their free agency. On the course only, can the worth of this peculiar species be essayed, and independently of that object, it is scarcely probable that the breed would be kept dis- tinct, or that any very minute attention would be bestowed upon pedigree. It is well known, that not only have varieties of a genus of animals been often blended and lost by neglect, but even arts and different branches of knowledge have perished in the same way. From the discontinuance of horse-racing, the English thorough-bred horse, the source of almost all that is excellent in the species, might become extinct. Thus the turf is a grand national object, and its votaries are administering, through the medium of their pleasures, to the interest and prosperity of their country. The sage lucubrations of our closet-jockeys,
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AND THE TURF. 217
which occasionally make their appearance in
the daily prints, for the edification of the pub- lic, are in the following strain, " When the " turf has sunk into that contempt it merits, " we shall again have that race of strong " boney horses to which our forefathers were " accustomed ; the old English hunter will " again rear his crest." Precisely so, in part, it would be no doubt; and we should again jog on after the sober rate of half-a-dozen miles per hour, upon that marble breasted sort, which old Bracken dignified with the name of " pioneer horses," and again might we make a long day of travelling fifty miles in a stage coach. So much for the strong boney horses of our grand-sires. Respecting the old English hunter, so highly in favour with these reforming jockies, he was always a half-bred horse, and how would they con- trive to make such an one without the help of racing blood ?—With paragraphs of the above tendency, may be classed those congenial ones, which, at least during every unfortu- nate period of war and distress, announce the decline of the turf, and forebode, with exultation, its approaching ruin. It was nothing uncommon, even in regular and authentic prophesying times, for two prophets, equally well-bred, to predict clean contrary |
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218 RUNNING HORSES
things; and I will be bold to foretel the
increase, instead of the decline of horse- racing. Never were so many bred stallions kept in England as at present, never was Newmarket better attended than at the late meetings. Horse racing is of considerable antiquity in
this island, and may be traced as far back as the eleventh century, but did not begin to put on any regulated form until the ac- cession of the House of Stuart, most of the princes of which, entertained great partiality for the sport, as has been already remarked. Newmarket began to be frequented previously to the Civil War; but in the reign of Chas. II. encouraged by the presence of the monarch and his favourites, it shone forth in full glory : every body knows it now, by common fame, as the head-quarters of the turf. Frequent meetings, at stated periods, are there held, and the sport generally continues throughout the week ; there are about fourscore places besides, in England, where races are annually held; in some twice in the year. At New- market, neatly all races are determined at one heat, as a measure of necessity, from their usual number and variety. The speed and continuance of the race-
horse must necessarily be affected and go- |
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AND THE TURF. 219
verned, in certain degrees, by the weight
which they have to carry; and reasoning upon that position, it will be easily conceived, that if two horses be equally matched in point of speed and strength, and put to their utmost exertion for a considerable distance, the horse which carries the least weight, by even only a single pound, must infallibly have the advantage to a certain degree (how- ever small) in the ability of going more swift and lasting longer, than his antagonist. The swifter the race, and the longer it is continued, the more in proportion will the horse be affected by the weight he carries. It is said, that in running four miles, seven pounds-make the difference of a distance, or two hundred and forty yards, between horses of equal goodness. This affair of weight is regulated with scientific precision upon the turf, and forms a prime consideration in all sporting transactions. The weights carried by race-horses vary from the maximum twelve stone, fourteen pounds to the stone, to a feather, which means a boy of the lightest weight to be found. The thorough-bred courser is, in a ge-
neral point of view, the most useful species of the horse, as being applicable to every purpose from innate qualities, which can |
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220 RUNNING HORSES
be predicated of no other species of the
animal. Sampson, Babram, and Eclipse, from selected large and short-legged bred mares, would have produced very___useful stock for thejihafts of a dray: but I do not warrant that such would be superior to our real cart-stock. Two descriptions of persons appear to me to judge erroneously, those who suppose all racers to be a Spider-legged and useless breed, and those who contend, that our whole attention ought to be directed to breeding them of a large size. The chief object in breeding a race-horse ought to be truth and symmetry in the cardinal points; it is always easy enough to produce bulk, particularly in the cross, for other purposes. I have in a former chapter, defined a tho-
rough-bred horse or racer, to be originally the produce of certain parts of Asia or Africa, or of the South of Europe. In the infancy of racing in this country, any southern horse, or the get of such from English mares, if tolerably shaped, was trained for the course. Shape and activity were the chief points attended to, and pedigree was not required with that punctilious degree of exactness which has of late years obtained. At what period pedigree became so much an object of consequence, I have been unable to dis- |
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AND THE TURF. 221
cover, and I believe there exist no docu-
ments on that head earlier than the reign of Anne; when sportsmen were by no means so particular in the relation as in the present day. Although flying Childers was doubt- less a high-bred horse, and the integrity of his blood the more to be depended upon, from the circumstance of his having been bred partly in und in, we may easily detect - the bastard blood in the irregular shapes -r exhibited in portraits of the running horses of those days; and your Bay Boltons, Lampreys, and Bonny Blacks, would make but a poor figure over the course, against the " terrible, terrible, high-bred cattle," of the present time. These ideas however, I will allow, are to be received with some caution, and on which I refer the reader to my History of the Horse with plates, lately published. A true racing pedigree, according to the
rule of the present time, ought to prove un- der the hand of the breeder, that the horse has descended from ancestors of genuine racing blood, without the intervention of a single bastard cross. If the pedigree be long, it is common to take it for granted that there is blood sufficient, although there be no mare mentioned in it, which has proved her blood |
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222 RUNNING HOttSES
by her having actually raced ; but usually all
the horses are reputed runners or brothers of such. The greater number of mares which have raced, contained in a pedigree, the surer and more valuable, no doubt it must be, particularly if the last-mentioned be speci- fied as a reputed racer, or a natural Arabian or Barb. A pedigree of one single descent is held sufficient, when the sire and dam are named as reputed and tried runners; other- wise a short pedigree of three or four descents would not constitute a horse thorough-bred ; it might serve for a hunter. It is yet easy to conceive how liable the pe-
digree of a horse must be both to error and imposition, and that the best proof of true blood must ever consist in performance. Va- rious accidental bastard crosses have occurred in our racing breed, at different periods, chiefly distant ones ; and they are frequently easy enough distinguishable in the figure of the stock, by a critical eye. The two most remarkable instances within my recollection, are those of Bay Bolton and Sampson. The former, foaled in Queen Anne's reign, was got by a large horse without pedigree, called +- Hautboy, bred by a farmer ; the latter by Blaze, out of a hunting mare. It had been pretended that Sampson was out of a tho- |
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AND THE TURF. £23
rough-bred daughter of Hartley's Hip ; but
I .well knew the man, who more than half a century ago led Sampson's dam to Blaze, and who afterwards bitted and broke the colt; he has repeatedly assured me, that the pedigree of the mare was unknown, and that she ap- peared about three parts bred. There is ano- ther speculation of some consequence in this business, which is, if we concede that the ^Mountain Arab is the only true ragerj and reflect upon the numerous certain and proba- ble bastard crosses here, v/e can have no such thing, strictly speaking, as a thorough bred runner in this country. It is highly probable, that we have had few real Mountain Arabians —-— in England, excepting the Darley and Gor dolphin Arabians, which have been generally supposed such,. The superior excellence of their stock seemed to countenance, or rather confirm, the opinion of the primary and un- mixed breed of those stallions, and in my judgment nothing can come rearer to the idea of a wild mountain horse, than the portrait of the Godolphin Arabian. The far greater part of those horses brought
over to this country, under the general appel- lation of Arabians, have, I believe, never seen Arabia, or have been of its inferior breed. They are usually purchased in the Levant, |
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224 RUNNING HORSES
Barbarjj or the East Indies, by persons to-
tally unacquainted with horses,, or at any rate with the peculiar purpose for which such horses are designed; hence a number of in-^ ferior and half-bred Arabians have been brought over at a useless expence, to deterio- rate instead of amending our Arabian breed, and to bring Arabian blood into disrepute. I may have seen about a score southern horses, called Arabians, at different times, not one among which appeared to me to be a true mountain horse. Those which were lately at the Veterinary College, and which I believe were imported from India, were evidently of a mixed breed; and the Arabian at Hamp- stead, appears upon the slightest survey, to be no more than a three-part bred horse, well adapted to get saddle and coach-horses. These remarks may serve to account for the defects of the new blood, as it has been styled upon the turf; and as sufficient rea- , sons why the produce of Arabian^ so seldom -
run their course through. We are chiefly - * indebted to thejwoJamous Arabians above-
named, for our most valuable racing stock, and to those of the latter description, for our numerous disappointments. This too, must be received, with considerable allow- ance, for we had many Arabians in the course |
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AND THE TURF. 225
of the last century, which j*ot _gpod_and _
true runners. The horse next in quality to the Arab, is
the Mountain Barb; this approximation arises from similarity of climate probably, and from an attention to pedigree paid by » the great men, and other inhabitants of Bar-
bary. The Barb is less than the Arabian, ^-" very deep breasted, but rather of an asinine or nmlish appearance ; if genuine, he gets true and stout runners. A material question arises here, have we
any farther occasion for Arabian blood, and will our English courser degenerate, in process of time, without an occasional re- currence to the parent stock ? I will take upon me to answer this question in part, or rather I have already done it; Ave can have no sort of need of such foreign horses as are usually imported, for the plainest reason in the world, we possess much better of our own native stock. But this makes nothino- against the propriety of endeavouring to obtain j|enuine_ Arabian coursers. We ought neve?
to remain stationary and satisfied while there exists a possibility of improvement; the vast advantages resulting from the accidental importation of a very few real good horses, ---J- has been amply proved, and in my opinion VOL- I. Q
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l2'26 RUNNING HORSES
the prosecution of a concerted plan for ob-
taining a farther supply would be an object not unworthy the attention of a gentleman oi the turf, either in the view of curiosity or profit: the plan best adapted to that end is matter of enquiry. I have never heard, that any properly qua-
lified person has been sent to Arabia for the purpose of purchasing horses, nevertheless I believe such to be the only probable method — of obtaining the genuine stock in request. The tenaciousness of the Arabians of their highest bred horses, has been long known, and very few, or none of such, ever find their way to the great fairs in the Eastern countries, where the common Arabian, and other Eastern horses are usually purchased. The following is the best account of the
Arabian horses which I have been able to obtain, either from reading or enquiry. They have in that country, three distinct breeds, or rather two varieties from the original genus ; from analogy of qualification the three classes may be properly enough compared with our racers, hunters, and common bred horses. The distinctive ap- pellations of the Arab horses are, Kehiiani or Kocblani, Kehidischi or Guideski, and Atticki. The first or Kochlani, are the |
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AND THE TURF. 227
original genus, bred in the middle or moun-
tainous country, where it is said a few are yet to be found in the wild, or natural state. The Arabs pretend to have ped^i^j_ces_of this illustrious race, upwards of two thousand years old ; but whether their private records accord with truth exactly or not, is of little moment, since the antiquity and character of the Mountain Arabian horse has the fullest sanction of both ancient histo y and modern experience. The Atticki, or inferior breed,may probably have been tie original produce of the low country, and the midcie variety may have resulted rroui a mixture of mountain and low countiy stock. The Arabians are seldom willing to part with their best mares, at any price ; and the value of a true bred one, whether horse or mare, is said to amount to several hundred pounds in the country. The Arabian horses are fed with dafes,
milk, and corn; it is not to be supposed, that in such a countiy, they have the ample allowance of corn, usual in this; nevertheless it is confidently asserted, that the superior breed of them will travel eighty or a hundred miles in a day, for several successive days, over the sand and stones of that sultry cli- mate. Sir John Chardin says, that the Q 2
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228 RUNNING HORSES
^ Arabian method of trying a maiden horse,
is to ride him ninety miles without stopping, and at the end of that moderate stage, to ^ plunge him up,to the chest in water; if He
would immediately eat his corn, that proot of the vigour of his appetite also proved the genuineness of his blood. But Sir John understood precious stones better than horses, and might, like other travellers, easily listen to any wonderful story concerning them. Dr. Elumenbach, who has within these few years written a celebrated treatise on the native varieties of the human species, says, " that all animals destitute of the dark " pigment of the eye, are a mere altered "T>reed." How far that observation is en- titled to dependence, I have never had the opportunity to consider or examine, but the purchase of a particular breed of animals would surely be least liable to deception in the original country where they were bred. The external characteristic of original genu?* is uniformity, or universal symmetry; and the true-bred Arab is distinguished by his ,- sicken hair, and soft flexible skin, deer-like
hoofs and pasterns, small muzzle, full eye, small wtli-turned head, joined to the neck ^ with a cvirve, capacious shoulders, extensive
angle of the hock, Length and extent of thigh, |
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AND THE TUttF. 229
"large sinews, and flat bones. I have often
observed that convulsive snatching up, and turning out the fore feet, in the gait of horses said to be Arabians, and have ever looked upon it as the indication of a spurious breed ; the best Arabs, which I have seen, having been good goers, many of them true dajsey cutters. The pawing method of going cannot always be the consequence of menage, since I have remarked it to descend froih a reputed Arabian, through several generations. To assist the reader in forming adequate
ideas of the phenomenon of blood in horses, I will arrange before him certain data, which rest upon the ground of constant and invaria- ble experience, namely—Fine and delicate horses, the natives of warm climes, excel in swiftness : the most perfect of these were originally found in Arabia, but they are im- proveable in their descendants by a more fruitful country ; the Arabians tried in Eng- land have never proved themselves in any re- spect, equal upon the course to the English racers, the descendants of their blood. Al- though the general characteristic of thorough- blood is speed, yet the final test is not speed, but continuance, since many common or half- fered horses have been known to possess racing |
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230 RUNNING HORSES
speed, but no instance has ever occurred of
its continuance in those, beyond perhaps half a mile ; the powers of continuance increase in proportion to the quantity of blood: thus, tu.ee-pait bred horses will persevere longer than half-bred, and those got by bred horses out of three-part bred mares, will sometimes equa; the real racers. Although among horses equally well-bred, superior external conform- a ion will generally prevail in the race, yet racing can in no sort be said absolutely to depend on good shape ; it depends entirely on blood: for example, take the worst- shaped true-bred horse you can find, and the best shaped common horse; let the latter have a fine coat, loose thropple, high and de- clined shoulder, length, speed, in fine, all the admired points of the racer (and such com- mon horses are occasionally to be found) let them run four miles, and the bred-horse, al- though out-footed at first, shall always Avin the race. 'This principle is so universal, that perhaps it would be altogether impracticable to find a thorough-bred horse in England, sufficiently bad, to be beaten four miles by the speediest and best common bred hack. AH bred horses cannot race, many of the highest blood having neither the gift of speed nor |
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AND THE TURF. 231
continuance ; many are defective in the ma-
terial points of conformation, as it happens in common horses. The usual trial of speed in English racing,
is the distance of a single mile ; of continu- *S£e' ^^ojjitness, or bottom, four miles. It has been asserted with confidence, butjiotj)rovecl, that Flying Childers ran a mile over New- - market in the space of a minute ; a velocity so immense, that it turns ones ideas to speed in the abstract, or ubiquity. It has however been really performed, in a few seconds over ^LBiliHi6' ai1 instance of which, within my present recollection, is that of Firetail and - pumpkin, The distance of four miles was ran by Chi!-
ders, in 1721, carrying nine stone two pounds, in the space of six minutes forty-eight se- conds. This wonderful animal leaped ten — yards with his rider, upon level ground ; and is supposed to have covered, at every stride, a space of twenty-five feet, which is more than forty-nine feet in a second. Bay Malton ran four miles over York, in 1763, in seven mi- nutes forty-three seconds and a half. ^Eclipse ran the same distance over York, in eight minutes, with twelve stone. In generaT,~aT horse which will run four miles in eight mi- nutes, with eight stone seven pounds, will win |
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232 SUNNING HonSEJS
plates. Respecting the number of miles which
an English racer would run in an hour, I have often been surprized, upon enquiry, to find there is absolutely no opinion ; and that no sportsman hitherto has had the curiosity to make the essay. I remember indeed, that Hull's Quibbler ran twenty-two or twenty- three miles in one hour ; but little is to be inferred from thence, since the performance has been equalled upon the hard road, by a three-part bred hack, and since Quibbler was but a middling racer. If I may be allowed to judge, a priori, I should suppose a good racer would carry eight stone more than twenty-six miles in one hour. I have heard many people pretend they
were unable to comprehend the usual discri- mination between speed and stoutness in horses ; asserting, that as every race must finally be won by speed, the winner must needs be the speediest horse. But I can see no difficulty in conceiving, that from the pe- culiar structure and form of the parts, or quality of the fibres, the speed of one horse may be momentary and uncertain, but ready ; that of another, durable, but gradual. What more can be desii'ed in the case than positive proof, that the beaten horse could run a cer- tain short distance, in less time, than the wish |
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AND THE TURF, 233
ner could perform the same, at any early pe-
riod of the race. It is thus impartial nature acts in the distribution of her gifts and quali- fications amongst her children. The horse, to. which has been imparted extraordinary promptness and facility of exertion, is seldom endowed with proportional, powers of conti- nuance ; and to borrow an analogy from Mi- m^n nature, where we find rapid conception, a profusion of images, and a dazzling-eloquence, we are seldom to expect a profound and solid judgment ; such rnen are destined rather to,, delight than instruct. When there exists an Union of very high degrees of these, seemingly opposite qualities, the possessor, whether horse or man, is truly a phenomenon. Thus it ap- pears, that hot, eager, and speedy horses, are fittest for a short race, and that such are usually beaten by horses with less speed, but stouter, at the distance of four miles, or, as it is called, over the course: unless the dif- ference of speed be too considerable, which in the language of the turf, speaking of the stout horses, is styled, " g*>ing too fast for them." Baret, with the assistance of Euclid, has drawn out an elaborate and curious arith- metical scheme, which proves, no doubt very clearly to those who understand it, (in which number I do not profess to be), that |
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234 RUNNING HORSES
the slow horse, when he wins, is really the
speediest; in other words, his aggregate, or total sum of speed, is the greatest. After all, what is the^cause or basis of that
superior _speed, endurance, and gfa-engtb, winch distinguish the southern horse? Doubt- less a peculiar innate quality of. body which some attribute to the dry and elastic air of those countries where he is bred, but which appears £Qt_>to_jQie altogether satisfactory. ^ The game, or wild animals of northern climes,
possess the pecujw^gjjalities of the race- horse, which Jtliey lose in a few generations, on being dquicsticajed ; their bones becoming ' ^^-^BiljJH.ySy' hhe^tlpse^f_J.ame animals
in general. The race-horse is much stronger than the cart or common horse, weight for weight, his substance being of a much liner, closer, and more solid contexture. The bones of the two species have been very aptly com- pared to steel and iron ; the sinews of the racer are stronger and more capable of exten- sion than those of the other, in proportion as a rope of silk is endowed with more strength and elasticity, than a hempen one of the same bulk or weight. Since it hath been shewn that a horse does not race from the excel- lence of his external form merely, the grand principle of blood may be said rather to sub- |
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AND THE TURF. 235
sist in the flexibility of his sinews, and we
may compare the skin of the racer to silk, his bone to steel, and his fibrous .system to the solid but ductile sold. I have enlarged on this particular, for the use of those gentlemen chiefly, who may be ambitious of s'ill farther improving our racing breed, by an import of real and thorough-shaped Arabian stock ; and must farther add, that to make the experi- ment complete, it would be absolutely neces- sary to provide Arabian maies, as weli as stal- lions ; the produce of these nourished, en- larged, and invigorated by the fruitful soil of England, must indubitably, at one or other period, attain the highest degree of excel- lence. Curious comparative experiments might also be made, by crossing ihe new with the English blood. The emoluments derived from the stock of those celebrated Arabians above-mentioned, might be far exceeded in these times, from the possession of horse, of equal goodness. The training of race-horses is, at present,
a much more simple and rational process than in former days, and is indeed making a «ra- dual approach to perfection. It was the fashion of old, to stuff horses under prepa- ration for the course, with I know not how many different kinds of baked bread, to load |
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236 RUNNING HOUSES
them with an immense and debilitating burden
of clothes, to force them to breathe a suffo- cating and tropical heat within doors, and greatly to overdo tliem with severe and long continued exercise. Breads have long since been banished the running stables, where the heaviest oats, and the hardiest and sweetest — hay, are found to answer in the fullest man- ner every purpose of nutrition. Race-horses J, are no longer stifled with heat, like variolous pa-
tients under the ancient regimen; and, not hav- ing been in the running stables for some years, . I was agreeably surprized this spring, (1796) -"* at Epsom, to find the doors wide open at sta- ble-time, and to observe that the horses ge- nerally enjoyed a reasonable portion of air. I saw none with more than the bare suit of cloths ; and their work, I was given to under- stand, was much milder than formerly. The . usual length of the exercise gallop is from a „....-■ mile to a mile and a quarter ; of the sweat,
from four to five miles. A concise account of the exercise and diet
of sporting horses, will be given in a suc- ceeding Chapter; the training of the race- horse must of necessity be the most regular and efficacious, on account of the superior sudden exertions required of him ; hence the custom of sweating, either once in ten days, |
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AND THE TURF- 237
weekly, or still oftner, according to the hardness
of carcase, and propension to obesity in the .horse. The adipose or fatty substance of the body, being inert, and weight to be carried, rather than contributory to action, must ne- cessarily, in this case, be dissipated, and kept under by work. The method of sweating a race-horse, is to load him with a double or triple quantity of clothes, and to run himjour ,or five miles upon the turf, keeping him in general to a long steady gallop, or his rate, but making occasional bursts of speed, which have the effect of accelerating the discharge of perspirable matter. After this operation, the horse is taken within doors, and gradually un- covered, whilst the sweat is scraped from all parts of his body with an edged wooden in- strument; when, being rubbed perfectly dry, his accustomed clothing is replaced. Sweat- ing is performed in the morning, earlier or later, according to the judgment of the groom. Now for the familiar day, or rather year, of the race-horse. His winter is usually spent in the paddock and loose stable, enjoying him- self at his ease, until the period of physic ar- rive, which must be so fixed, that there be at least an interval of jbwo_rnonths between the lastjko^jmjljyheju^^ this interval is of course spent in exercise. I assume here, with
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238 RUNNING HORSES
^he intention of proving it anon, that no race-
horse can perform, to the full extent of his natural powers, without the aid of purgatives. The spring and summer are passed in exercise and racing, the horse perhaps travelling to a number of different courses in the country : a racer travels, I suppose, from twenty to twenty-four miles per day, and much travel upon thejiard^jroacl, must in course abate his speed, whence the advantage in the race of those which have been constantly upon the spot. I have been assured by grooms, that a horse in the midst of the racing season, when a sufficient interval can be spared, is frequently much benefitted by a dose of physic ; which I can easily credit, provided the purge be mild and cooling: from the violent nature of his labour, and the excess of his feeding, the blood of the animal may be in too inflammatory, or too dense and sluggish a state, and his general habit too much constrained. It has been the advice of many theoretical
■writers, to keep a horse untUjfiye years old before he is suffered to race, and then, say these gentlemen, the joints are^become per- fectly knit, and the animal fibre has acquired its highest degree of elasticity. All this reads perfectly well, and is even true in fact, but |
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AND THE TURF. 239
what if after keeping the nag during all that
long period, at a vast expence, he should at last, on trial, prove to have no running in him? Why, that you had better have known it two years sooner. True, it has been said, that Eclipse owed great part of his superlative powers to being exempt from labour in his colthood. I have my doubts on that head. I recollect an old woman's story concerning the trial of that terrible racer. Certain per- sons who desired to get knowledge without coming honestly by it, having received a hint of the morning on which it was intended to try Eclipse, resolved to watch the trial. They were some little time too late, but had the good fortune to light on an old wo- man, who gave them all the information they wanted. On enquiry whether she had seen a race, the woman said, " she could not tell " whether it were a race or not, but that she " had just seen a horse with white le«\s " running away at a monstrous, size, and " another horse a great way behind, trying " to run after him ; but she was sure he would " never catch the white-lego-e(] horse, if " they run to the world's end," Yearlings are frequently trained, and even
raced at that early period ; but at three years old, it is full time to ascertain the pro- |
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240 RUNHJNG HORSES
bable worth of the racer. Of course, physic
and exercise, proportionally mild, and light weights, are indicated for this young and tender stock. The charge for training a race horse, formerly a guinea, is now, I under- stand, twenty-five shillings per week. A full account of all public races, past and to come, of stallions to cover, of horses for sale, and
of the general concerns of the turf, it is well known, is to be found in Weatherby's Sport- ing Calendar. The oldest account of racing transactions, with which I am acquainted, is to be found in a collection published about the year 1758 ; the retrospect extends as far as the middle of Anne's reign. There is also a bo6k extant, published a few years since by Mr. Stubbs, shewing the pedigrees of all racers of note for the last fifty years. It is notorious that a number of gentlemen,
at different periods, have greatly injured their fortunes by their transactions upon the ■ turf; and indeed the commerce of gambling hath this unfavourable difference from com- merce properly so called, that whereas in the latter, all parties are benefitted ; in the former, some must inevitably lose, and the speculators in consequence prey one upon the other. Gambling then, of all kinds, had much better be looked upon and practised. |
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AND THE TURF. 241
rather as mere recreation, than an object of
serious gain ; and the expence of it appor- tioned, as a sunk charge, to the income of the practiser. A strict and punctual account of consequent expence, loss, or gain, in pur- suits of this nature, or indeed any other; and a resolute and immoveable determination not to exceed a certain annual sum, are the only means of insuring safety, or a timely retreat; and in these respects, a faithful and intelligent secretary or steward must be one of the most valuable possessions of a young man of fortune, just commencing his sporting career ; but one principal reason of the scarcity of such, is the indifference and neglect with which they are treated, who are bold enough to administer wholesome advice, too generally a kind of nauseous physic to the human mind ; hence many men find the apology of dishonesty in self-defence. C'est pour quoi, that most stewards seem to make a text-book of Gil Bias. There is a common observation of the grooms, that it is not horse-racing of itself, or betting, which cripples the fortunes of their masters, but that usual concomitant of the turf, the hazard table ; and it seems to be founded : but certainly distinct accounts ought to be had of these. A very necessary preliminary also towards success, and as I VOL. I. R
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242 RUNNING HORSES
should conceive any sort of satisfaction in the
stud or the turf, must be a proper knowledge of the nature and management of sporting horses, instead of that superficial and second- hand kind, which is acquired by rote from the crude opinions and mere habitual practice of unreflecting grooms ; a true sportsman ought to be able to see with his own eyes, and not to require the magic lantern of his servant's opinions, which, ten to one, but he finds at last to be nothing more than a Will-o'-the- Whisp, or ignis futuv.s. I have often made myself merry at the ridiculous distress of mas- ters, when these fuc totum servants, well know- ing their consequence, have turned insolent, and threatened to abandon their places. In the choice of bred cattle, if tried ones
be the object, and that perhaps is the safest course where the price is not exorbitant, the chief consideration is, that they be not injured by labour ; if young and untried, shape and size ought to be the only rule to determine a purchaser ; the same rule ought to be our invariable guide, in the choice of the stallion and mare. Nothing surely can^be more ab- surd than to chusc a race-hor.-,e with indiffe- rent or improper shape for action, merely on the consideration of favourite blood, since opinions on that head are so variable, and |
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AND THE TURF. 243
even determinable by fashion ; and since we
have so many examples befoie our eyes, of full brothers, one of which shall be a capital racer, from his superior shape and size, the other, from his inferiority in those respects only, barely able to beat a good leather- plater. Exceptions to the general rule we know must occasionally occur, in this as well as other cases, but the average advantage will ever be found on the side of symmetry. Were shapes equal, or the disproportion not over great, every sportsman would surely prefer a pedigree of the old blood, in which were as lew deviations as possible from those grand and genuine fountains, the Darley and Go- dolphin Arabians ; but for capital shape, I would always overlook either a Sampson cross, or a large sprinkling of new or unfashionable blood. There is a difficulty in the case of covering
stallions, not easy of solution, or perhaps only an exception to the general rule : some of our thorough-shaped and best bred racers have totally failed in breeding their like. Such was the case with Gimcrack, and in a consi- derable degree with jShark ; perhaps this lat- ter horse had few or no thorough-shaped mares, and his sire, .Marsk, afterwards so ta- li% |
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244 RUNNING HORSES
mom, was in no repute as a stallion at first,
and there were many of his get running upon the forest. Shark hung in hand at Tatter- sal's, and was sold at last for about one hun- dred and twenty pounds, to go to Virginia. I liked that horse and his pedigree, and was prevented by accident from purchasing him for a friend, on the speculation of training him again. He was then, although fourteen years old, much fresher upon his legs than at any period, for tv/o or three years previous to his going out of training, and allowing the sin- gularity of the opinion, I cannot help thinking still, that under judicious management, he would have again raced, near enough to his original form, to have beat many good plate horses. True, this plan has been tried with- out success ; but Babram, the brother of an ancestor of Shark, in 1747 and 8, won many plates, and yet covered mares in the same season. I have no idea of any possible harm it could do a horse in training, of four years old, to cover one mare in a week during the se&son, by which measure his merits as a covering stallion would be determinable by the usual period of his quitting the turf; a species of information of some consequence to the owner. Since writing the above, I |
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AND THE TURF. 245
have heard of one or two stallions being
trained and racing, after having covered, but am uninformed of their success. Such usage might probably render a vi-
cious horse troublesome, in which case lie ought to be kept and exercised as much alone as possible. Some racers have been remark- able for their fierce and savage disposition ; one horse has been known to fly at and seize another whilst running their course, and if I misremember not, O'Kelly's Venus received a bite upon the thigh in that way : but the most remarkable instance of this kind hap- pened at Loughrea, in Ireland, in August 1753, in a race rode by gentlemen ; when at starting for the second heat, Mr. Quin's horse seized another gentleman's mare by the leg, and both riders were obliged to dismount, in order to force the horse to quit his hold, whilst their competitors weie running • t{iey ^^ difficulty saved their distance. Much loss has often accrued from a ground-
less and whimsical attachment to favourite blood, and favourite stallions • also to conti- nuing a slow horse in training year after year, when every race is but a new proof that no- thing, save a miracle, or at least an extraor- dinary accident, can possibly bring him in first and first. The old Northern grooms |
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246 RUNNING HORSES.
would insist, that any produce of Blaze must
race, although out of a cart-mare. The late Lord Marquis of Rockingham was said to have been a considerable loser by training so many of the Sampsons, although, upon a re- ference to the Calendar, he certainly appears to have had a considerable number of winners, and one or two capital horses of that blood. Poor Mr. Jennings was strangely attached to that worthless Barbary Crab, Chillaby ; and I have often heard the grooms ridicule his anxious solicitude, in timing over the course, stop-watch in hand, his favourite Rabicano, which a good post hack would have beaten ; at the same time he possessed a real racer, Count, by wrhich he sat no store: but the best of it was, if I am truly informed, a sta- ble-keeper in Moorfields, was engaged to fur- nish Jennings with large half-bred mares, at a hundred a piece, in order to breed substan- tial and good sized racers from Chillaby ! It is not my purpose to enter very diffusely
into the practical minutiae of this subject, such are more easily acquired in the stable, and upon the theatre of actioil; I wish rather to confine myself to certain topics of conse- quence, which are not always attended to in practice. The purging system of the running stables is
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AND THE TURF. 247
still liable to solid objections. Grooms always
fancy that the body of a horse abounds with noxious humours, which require specific purgation. In their ideas, racing and aloetic, or mercurial physic, are connected by an indissoluble chain; and these nostrums are supposed to operate by a peculiar innate virtue or charm. All this is of much the same weight with any other nonsense which prescription may have sjanctioned. The ex- hibition of physic in this case, bears no more relation to the expulsion of evil humours from the body of a horse, than to the extir- pation of corns in his feet: the sole intent is the detrusion of accumulated alvine faeces, in better English, unloading the stuffed bowels, attenuating the blood, and refri- gerating or cooling the geneial habit. Against the best aloes no general objection can pos- sibly lie; it is a cathartic, equally mild, safe and efficacious: but I know of no possible business a groom can have with mercurials, in the case of physicing merely f0r condition. In some instances, the neutral salts might be substituted even for aloes, with great ad- vantage ; I mean with Avashy, hot, and irritable horses, which soon part with their flesh. A gentleman accustomed to the stable forms, would not be satisfied that his horse could |
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248 RUNNING HORSES
race, having been purged with Glauber's
salts only ; let him make the essay with one which he does not intend should run to win. It appears to me, that race-horses are
invariably over-purged, either by an excels in the number or strength of the doses, or by the use of Barbadoes aloes, or mercury. Such cause can never fail of the effect of de- tracting from a horse's speed, and of debili- tating him, however, it may possibly elon- gate his stride. The cords and pullies of the machine are deprived of too much of their spring, in which consists both the edge of speed, and the grasp of continuance. The exercise also is, I am convinced, even yet too severe and indiscriminate, and our horses too often brought to the post in a condition much below their work. The external signs of this error are, want of cheerfulness, deli- cate feeding, refusal of water, or greediness of it, loose testicles, and backwardness in re- covery of flesh after training. Many a colt, „ I believe, is tried and rejected, at the same time, seven or ten pounds the worse over the course, for his exercise and physic. It is a common observation, " that a horse
" jcjannot run fat," audit is most true; but a very erroneous use is too generally made of the maxim. Should a horse be very hardy, |
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AND THE TURF. 249
and retain his flesh in exercise, measures of
violence, both in respect to purgation and sweats, are instantly resorted to, which in a few words is simply to ehuse the greater evil, a dearly beloved error of mankind in all possible cases. Nature bears the motto, nemo trie impune lacessit; she will suffer no violence with impunity; in conformity to that principle, the superfluous quantum of flesh, which a hardy nag may bring to the starting-post, notwithstanding fair and regular exercise, will detract less either from his speed or bottom, than that certain portion of debility which must assuredly superinduce, by the extraordinary measures necessary to counteract his constitutional tendency. If he has additional weight of flesh to cany, the advantage is still on the side of additional strength, and elasticity of fibre. The ma- terial question no doubt is, what is the due proportion of physic and exercise for such horses? It must be left to the discretion of men of experience and common sense. It is a case in which the master ought to possess judgment sufficient to determine. Should a horse, alter three doses of physic*
regular gallops, and a sweat a week, still cany a shew of superfluous substance, carry it he might for any thing I should care, and |
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250 RUNNING HORSES
I would even start him flesh and all, rather
than attempt to break down the texture of it with mercurial purges, or to work the horse off his legs, and his speed, with extra sweats and rattling gallops. We have here the reason why the tendons of hardy horses are so often injured; in fact, four of the horses out of six, which break down upon the turf receive that injury from errors in — training. How often have I heard of horses, which were before ready to devour the man- ger, sweated out of their appetite, and then, if time could possibly be allowed, to mend the matter, purged Avith strong mercurial physic. The universal panacea of purgation, is resorted to on all occasions. I remember, some years ago, the horse of a noble Lord being on his way southward, towards New- market, chanced to go a little lame, from travelling probably ; he stopped at a seat of his lordship, where the head groom saga- ciously ascribing his tenderness to humours —- flying about the shoulders, gave the horse, worth then at least five hundred pounuTf a dose which purged him four successive days and nights, and reduced him to the condition of a dotf-horse. I saw the horse afterwards at Newmarket in the finest order in the world, and if I was not convinced of the skid of the |
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AND THE TURF. 251
groom, I had no doubt about the sound con-
stitution and good fortune of the horse. The error is still more gross, to over-train
horses of naturally weak stamina and irritable habits ; such would always have a due portion of fleshy substance left to support the tremu- lous and flagging fibres. I suspect the usual routine of exercise is always too severe for these, but from its being general and common to them all, its ill effects are less apparent. There are horses which become bone lean in two or three weeks exercise ; I would ask, why continue to sweat such, since they appear to have no fatty substance left to sweat away ? It would be answered, these horses carry their fat within them, as Quakers and dark lanterns do their light, and that the sweats are farther intended to improve their wind. Washy horses particularly, I believe, get rid of their internal fat first, and for the sake of their wind, would it not be better to sweat or rather give them a four-mile moderate gallop, in only their ordinary clothes, without any additional weight; which, surely, to the amount generally laid on, must help to relax and debilitate in a very considerable decree. I have seen some of your hot fly-a-way racers, so excessively influenced by nervous affection, that their lives seemed to be one continued |
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25% RUNNING HORSES
state of anxiety and inquietude. These are
always found awake to dreadful expectation ; the groom touching their body-girth, sets their hearts palpitating, the act of taking down the saddle operates as a cathartic to the ima- gination, which, from sympathy, is instan- taneously folloAved by visible effects ; they well know the sweating day, and the sight of the sweating clothes gives them a fit of the horrors. The secret of training these horses is, I should think, to give them as little work as possible, and that by themselves ; to en- deavour to render their exercise rather a plea- sure, than a fatigue and a terror to them, and not to be alarmed at the little extra flesh they may bear, which will surely rather help to carry them through, than retard their course. I must here remark upon an established doctrine of the stables, " that half-breds won't stand training :" there is no doubt, that full-bred cattle are naturally best adapted to such purpose, but the inability of the others to endure this discipline, arises chiefly from its severity, and the want of its proper adapta- tion to their natural powers. There is a com- parative speed and stoutness in every variety of the horse ; and Bracken has said, that by proper training, he could enable even a cart- horse to run up to his foot. |
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AND THE TURF. 253
A remarkable quality in the race-horse is,
that which is styled in the language of the turf, running to the whip ; it means answer- ing every stroke of the whip with an addi- tional exertion, as long as nature lasts. Horses of this generous kind are termed " honest/' and " stout;" but the terms are usually con- founded, for many a horse is honest, without being endowed with those constitutional pow- ers necessary to produce stoutness or conti- nuance ; and many which possess these in the amplest measure, which they occasionally evince, are yet never to be depended upon. It is dangerous to offend these last with the immoderate use of the whip or spur, and I have known a winning horse stopped instantly -"* by a foul cut under his flanks : I have also known, and indeed ridden horses, honest and stout as the course was long, yet with such indignant stomachs, and such critical skill in their own powers, that being convinced in a race, of the impossibility of success, if abused with the whip, they would instantly shorten their stroke ; but if nursed, and encouraged with a pull, the use of which every jockey knows, would, although beaten, strain every nerve to the last extremity. It is a strange quality in the true whipped horse, that he "» seems really to have a penchant for the whip |
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254 RUNNING HORSES
and spur, since he absolutely will not keep to
his stroke without the one or other of them, and never takes offence at either. I hope my brother jockies will pardon my
want of orthodoxy, if I should presume to hint a doubt of the utility of that tumultuous whipping, and spurring, and loosing of bri- dles, which usually takes place at the ending post; I fear the advantage exists only in their own agitated imaginations. According to my constant observation, a horse ail- abroad, if whipped and loosed at the same time, mechanically flies upwards with his fore feet, by which lie loses ground; if he be already running distrest, and at the very ultimate point of his speed, what is the in- tent of excessive whipping and spurring—is it to keep him there ? I should rather sup- pose it flurries nine horses in ten out of a certain portion of their speed. The attempt to whip a horse beyond the ultimate point of his -powers, would be very proper in a race over Moorfields, St. Luke's mile. Thus much on the rationale of whipping, in behalf of truth and humanity. But it is with the utmost pleasure I remark,
that the general treatment of race-horses is mild and considerate, and well befitting that superiority which racing grooms challenge |
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AND THE TURF. 255
over all others. This professional humanity
has even pervaded the circle of the repository, where in the stall, and in the shew, a bred horse is treated with distinguished mildness ; unless unfortunately he be worn down and low-priced, in which case, according to uni- versal analogy, being poor, he can possess no rights. The tendons of running cattle, particularly
colts, being so liable to injury, I would re- commend as a preventive, the frequent use of the embrocation prescribed in the Sta- ble Chapter, on the application of which, enough has already been said. It has some- times appeared to me, that the leathern muz- zles in use in the stables, are too heavy and h'eating ; I believe I caught the notion, ri»ht or wrong, from Gervase Markham, who tells his sporting readers, that leather beino- dressed with alium and coarse oil, is by rea- son of its sharp disagreeable scent and salt- —* ness, very hurtful to horses, and productive of sickness, head-ache, and costiveness ; for —~ this reason he recommends muzzles of pack- thread, or whip-cord in summer, and others of strong canvas, in winter; both which kinds, it seems, had become fashionable in his time, although they have been long since laid aside. |
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256 RUNNING HORSES
I hope I have now said enough upon the
subject of running horses and training, to be a guide to the inexperienced, which is all I proposed; and to enable a gentleman, who may have made a private match for his amusement, to train his horse with propriety at home, if he shall so chuse. A little physic, a week's interval from the setting of it, and two or three sweats, will fit a horse (pre- viously at hard meat) for this entertaining, but less important business of the course. The advantage in this private way, of pos- sessing a racer which shews little or no blood to common observers, must be obvious to everyone; such an one for example, as the gelding Bauble, by Lord Chedworth's Snap, which was master of twenty stone, and ap- peared like a little pack-horse, or a Suffolk horse adapted to carry hampers, and yet won many times at Newmarket, and a number of country plates. On the subject of betting I shall be silent,
from total inexperience ; never, to the best of my recollection, having made a dozen bets in my life, and the few I really made, being of the most trifling amount. I shall there- fore refer the reader to Gard's Guide to the Turf, sold by Weatherby; and to the Aca- demies at Newmarket and Tattersal's, where, |
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AND THE TURF. 25J
if his pockets be well lined, he will not fail
to meet with able tutors. Instead of a te- dious, and probably insufficient lecture on betting, I will present a betting anecdote, which may perhaps never before have been in print, or have been long forgotten. About forty years since, according to my authority. the Lord March being at York Meeting, made a bet with a farmer, who was a stran- ger to his Lordship, of course the man's name was particularly required. The farmer answered, " my name is Dick Hutton, I " thought every body had known me,, for I .*•' come here every meeting, and generally " bring two or three hundred pounds in my "pocket, either to win or lose; and pray *.' now, what may be your name ?" The peer replied, his name was March, he was Lord March.—" O ho ! said Dick, if that " be the case, come, stump! stump4- for as " your name is March, you may perhaps " take it into your head to march off." His Lordship was highly diverted with the honest bluntness of the man, and, it seems, every meeting afterwards, enquired particularly for his old acquaintance Dick Hutton. I tell this little tale of his Grace of Queensbury with the more boldness, since, if it want authenticity, it contains no matter of offence ; vol. i. S |
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25& RtrNtftN& HOftSES
the idea of having wantonly or unjustly
wounded the mind of either noble or plebeian, would inflict the severer wound upon my own breast. Much lias ever been said, and more ima-
gined, of the stratagems and maneuVres of the course ;—and is it not very natural, that, such should be practised in a system, the very essence of which is the production of pleasure and profit, from the exercise of tire keener faculties of the mind ? A just discrimination here, as well as elsewhere, must be our moral guide.. Stratagems are surely lawful in hoile- racing, as well as in love and war. I shall not dilate, or philosophize much on this head, but touch immediately on a material point, and that lightly. Is it inconsistent with the honour of a sporting gentleman, to start his horse with the intention of losing ? In my opinion, by no means ; I hold it to be a ma- neuvre, in which is involved much of the ge- neral interest of sporting, and which ought to be esteemed legitimate, with the proviso, that no cruel or unfair methods arc used to com- pass it. A sportsman may Avanta good trial for his horse, the state of his betting account may require the measure, or he may have some fu- Ptftfe heovy engagement, for the sake of which. |
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A3?D THE T-UKF. 259
it might not be safe previously to di-tress his
horse, although an easy race might conduce to his own pleasure and profit. The matter being universally thus understood, vould make tlie point of honour clear, which is per- haps at present rather dubious. What a cu- rious and entertaining race would tha; be, between two eager candidates for losing !— which indeed I have witnessed, in two very eminent instances. I have heard of barba- rous and rascally methods being pnt in prac- tice to incapacitate a horse, such as giving drugs, or filling his body with water near the time of starting, but not amongst gentlemen ; yet till'h obliges me to record one instance, in which I hope I was misinformed. It was said that ****** received three parts of a pail full of water, to enable him to be beaten de- cently over the course, by ******** Every sportsman, I hope, holds in equal detesta- tion with myself, the memory of the brutal and callous-hearted Frainpton, who dead to the soft feelings of compassionAand urged by sordid motives of gain, cut his favourite horse, Dragon, and ran him instantly to death in his streaming blood ! Was there not oi;e single atom of the sweet, but furious and vindicthe enthusiasm of humanity, in the hearts of the spectators ? Was there no instrument of ven- s2
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260 RUNNING HORSES
seance at hand to **** *** ********** **#***>
I never view the portrait of that savage sports- man, without discovering in the hard lines of his face, and the knowing leer of his eye, all the treachery, cunning, and inhuman profli- gacy, of the lowest blackguard retainer of the stable. A labouring smith of Yorkshire as- sured me last year (but I will not warrant the goodness of his authority) that certain irons, which had the appearance of being iastru- ments of torture, were found in the house of old Frampton after his decease. But common justice will not suffer me to
refuse insertion to the following extract from a letter which I have lately received from Mr. Sandiver, of Newmarket, a gentleman to whose kindness I also stand obliged for va- rious points of interesting information.— '■The abominable story which is told of Mr. Frampton having castrated Dragon, that he might, immediately after, run him as a gel- ding, and of the poor horse having instantly expired after the race, is intirely without foundation ; for I had an uncle who was well acquainted with Mr. Frampton, and Avho fre- quently assured me, that no such circum- stance ever happened ; and therefore, Sir, 1 think you would do-an act of justice to con- tradict it in your publication, as cruelty was |
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AND THE TURF. 261
no part of the old gentleman's character."
Thus far my respectable correspondent, whose opinion simply, situated and connected as he is, must have considerable weight. Sir Charles jBunbury also assured me, that he was-inclined to suspect the old anecdote of Mr. Frampton as a fabrication. There is at present no other authority for it, public or private, of which I am aware, than No. 37 of the Adventurer, and Dr. Hawksworth in all probability re- ceived it, as we do at this day, merely on public tradition. With respect to my own sentiments or prejudices excited by a view of the liniments of Frampton's face, let me say impartially, fronti nulla fides ; and in the same view let me add, that the observations or opi- nions of an ignorant smith do not so well go to the proof of a naturally cruel disposi- tion in Frampton, as to that of a lit of en- thusiastic weakness in myself, which alone could urge me to the repetition of such a tale. Farther, it may be very fair to suspect the cruel anecdote of the father of the turf and his horse Dragon, as a rnous.fraud, invented by those who might think it a great merit in a religious way, to cast a slander that would stick well, upon the unholy exercise of horse- racing. We can at no rate boast of pious frauds and holy lying, as a late discovery, |
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262 ru-Uning horses
even should it be avened, that we excel o*S
forefathers in the practice. . On the per contra side, for I love to reason
in all eases arithmetically, and whenever I suspect the omission of a fraction on either side, I am never satisfied with the truth of my account; thus much may, and ought to he said. The anecdote, however barbarous and inhuman, is strictly probable, and may be matched in too great a multitude of melan- choly instances. The object in view was a very large sum of money, and perhaps the moral dialectics of that day differed not very greatly from those of a later period, in which present profit is supposed to constitute the essence of justice—to ourselves, and that our- selves are our nearest relatives. I really can- not conceive but that some such fact perpe- trated, must have been the ground of that universal tradition, whether or not, the emi- nent person named were the perpetrator. Supposing the affirmative, the circumstance might have occurred in the thoughtless season of youth and dissipation, and the manners of Mr. Framptou's latter life might have pre- sented far different and far softer aspects. Tregonwell Frampton, Esq. keeper of the running horses at Newmarket to William III. Queen Anne, George I. and II. died in |
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AND THE TURF. 2(?3
the year 1/27, aged 86 years ; he might
therefore have been a proprietor of racers in the reign of Charles II. and the famous Dra- gon who precedes our oldest racing annals, and of whom we know nothing but by oral tradition, may have flourished about that-J'7$# •time. It is yet possible that the origin of ^^^T ■" this story may be" traced in some of the old /w„r t**i£**. periodical publications, and with that remark I must leave it to those who have leisure for such researches. It is universally knowrn, that by the custom
of JLngland, all disputes relative to the affairs of the turf, may be referred to the opinion of the Jockey Club ; a society composed of men of exalted rank, and high character, whose decisions have ever been honourably distin- guished for their equity, and whose scrupulous regard to their reputation, as a public body, has never been questioned, I shall conclude d~ Id mode with a copy of
verses in character, no longer for the exclusive benefit of my Latin readers: I would my- self have presented my English ones with a metrical version, but— Certes I have these many days'
Sent mine poetic head to graze, and not prematurely neither, for to speak the
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264 RUNNING HORSES
honest truth of myself they were, ignavum
pecus, a miserable and dronish herd, as some of my satirical and laughing friends can bear me witness. The following poetical descrip- tion of a race over Newmarket, I have bor- rowed from the Britannia, in the splendid folio of Lord Hampden, printed and pub- lished in Italy. In this piece his lordship has "attempted, in imitation of the best poets, to render his language expressive of, or an echo to the sense ; and if my partiality for the sub- ject do not mislead me, with considerable success. I have however by no means any predilection for the crabbed, unmusical, and uncouth latinity of the moderns in general. ,f Hine & a.uutur equi, supeiant qui cursibus auras.
" I, pete planitiem, quam Ditis nomine dicta
" Fossa secat: curtoque viret qua cespite campus.
•' Ecce da to signo Sonipes, jam carcere missus,
" Cui nitide tunicatus eques, leve pondus, inhaeret;
"' Devoret & campum, neque summas atterat herbas,
" Ocyoraccipitris, vel hirundinis ocyor ala:
" Ut stadio extremo, cum jam rivalibus instat,
" Praecipitet sese, viresque acquiret eundo !
" Turn neque pulmoni, neque nervo parcitur ulli!
" Ventre putes mo3o raciere humum, modo labere aura.
" Permistus sudore cruor fluit undique costis,
" Labra madent spumis, & gutture captat hiante
" Flamina; singultim dum naribus exit anhelis
" Fumus, & inflatae turgent per corpora venae.
" Tmxi magis aique magis, ferit ungula crebrior herbam;
" Emicat accensus palmre propioris amore ;
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AND THE TURF. 265
k Exultansque animi, nunc hunc, nunc preterit ilium:
" Ingeminat clamorque virum, clangorque plagorum; " Metaque victorem tota cervice fatetur : " Nee mora, latus herus munus regale reportat." Will neither Southey, Coleridge, nor George
Dyer, befriend a brother philanthropist, unblessed by the muse, on this occasion? But will they allow him to be a thorough philan- thropist, who is so strenuous an advocate for the sacred and indefeasible right of pro- perty, as even to write in favour of forestalled, and who entertains no sort of prejudice against rank and title in a state ? The reader will find, that I have not called
upon my brethren in vain. The following version was kind'y presented to me, by the celebrated poet and patriot, George Dyer, and but for an accident, would have appeared in the last edition. Hence we raise horses, that in speed outstrip
The winds : go seek the plain, which the Devil's ditch
Divides; a field with slender verdure green.
Behold the signal given ! Forth from the goal, I
Starts the resounding horse, and on his back
Firm sits, light load, the jockey, jerkin'd neat,
See, he devours the plain, the verdure's top
Scarce touches, swift as hawk or swallow flies ;
That, when approaching nearer to the end
Of the long course, then headlong he may seem
To rush, and gain new vigour as he goes!
Then, neither iungs, nor any nerve, he sparer,'
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266 RUNNING HORSES
His belly now appears to touch the ground,
And now lie seems fleet as the wind to glide.' Blood mixed with sweat, flows quick adown his sides ; His lips are wet with foam ; with open throat, He drinks the wind : and from his nostrils wide Issue, with sobs and pantings, curling smoke, While through his body, every vein distends. Quicker and quicker now his light hoof strikes The glebe—and now with love of nearer palm Of victory, he glows, whiie passing by His several rivals, how his heart exults ! Resound the shouts of men, the smack of whips • The goal the conqueror wins, but by a neck, Arid quick he bears away the Royal Plate. Now that I am upon the subject, let me
be permitted to adduce an example or two from antiquity, of that precious gift, or art, in poetical composition, just spoken of. Whenever I stand musing upon the shore, to view the undulating surges, agitated and impelled onwards by the boisterous influence of the nubilus auster, the sight produces an instant glow of the imagination, as if from sympathy between the swelling tide in my heart, and the foaming billows at my feet; and that majestic and beautifully expressive line of Virgil, never fails to join in the pleasing association, by spontaneously pre- senting itself to my memory, Et vastos volvunt ad littora fluctus.
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AND THE TURF. 267
The following celebrated verse
Vade, age, nate, voca Zephyros, & labere pennis,
was Englished by the late Dr. Coytc, of
facetious memory, tvith more humour than correctness, CcHne here you must, you dog, take your a— in your
hand, and. be off in a cauter. |
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CHAP. VI.
ON THE APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, HABITS,
AND DEFECTS OF HORSES. I SHALL begin with generals, proceeding
to particulars, as they present themselves to my recollection ; but rather studying com- prehension and use, than the graces of me- thod and arrangement. Time, which is continually changing all
things, has, in course, induced various altera- tions in the nomenclature of the stable. Horses, for the different purposes of the saddle, were in former days, termed nags, |
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268 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
AMBLERS, J^CERS, STIRRERS, TROTTING-
HORSES, HOBBIES, GREAT-HORSES, Or hoi'Ses for the buff-saddle (for war) hunting-
horses, COURSERS, RACE-HORSES. The appellatives, whether sj^nunqus^or.
distinctive, in present equestrian use among us, are road-horses, riding-horses, sad- dle-horses, NAGS, CHAPMENS HORSES, HACKS, HACKNEYS, LADIES HORSES, OR PADS, HUNTERS, RUNNING HORSES, RACERS, RACE-HORSES, GALLOPERS, WELTER-HORSES, MANAGED HORSES, CHARGERS, TROOP- HORSES, POST-HACKS, Or POST-HORSES, TROTTERS, CANTERING HACKS, Or CAN- terers, horses which carry double, cobs,
galloways, ponies, and mountain-mer- lins. Chapmens_ Horses, or common road-
hacks, are of the strong and serviceable kind, having little_or no racing-blood, and calcu- lated for those services, in which much^speed is not required. Hack or Hackney, is the general term for a road-horse, and by no means conveys any sense of inferiority, or re- fers exclusively to horses let out for hire. By trotters, we dp .not understand now, as formerly, horses which have been merely ac- customed to that pace, but such_as excel at it, in respect of speed; a similar observation |
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'V
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. £69
holds, respecting canterers, but it usually
refers to their powers of continuance. Gal- lopers mean race-horses. Welter horses, are gallopers qualified by their strength for the Welter stakes, weight ttiirt&fo. stone. The terms galloway and poney, refer solely to height. All under thirteen hands, are denominated ponies; from that height to thirteen three, they are called galloways ; at fourteen hands they are deemed sized horses. Of foals, the male is called a colt-foal, the female a filly-foal, yearlings, two-year-old, &c. Cobs, cloddy, round-buttocked, fixed horses about, or not much above the galloway size. Of the Mountain Merlin, I have not heard of late years, nor could ever obtain any definition. In the techinal phraseology appropriated
to this subject, a bred horse is understood to be one of the pure racing, or Oriental blood; the degrees of its commixture with the common blood, or breed, of this country, are signified by the terms, three-parts bred, half-bred, blood-horses, or having a shew of blood. The characteristic signs of blood, are
fineness of skin and hair, symmetry, and regularity of proportions; length; flatness, and depth, particularly in the shoulder and girting-place: swell of the muscles, and shew |
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270 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C
of substance in the fore-arms and thighs;
leanness and symmetry of the head ; large and bright eyes ; pasterns somewhat longer, and more inclining than common, and deer-like hoofs. Of these a horse will geneially par- take, in proportion to his degree of biood. .Since we acquire symmetry, ease of mo-
tion, speed and continuance, in proportion to the racing blood our hacknies and hunters possess, it may be elemanded, why not make use exclusively of full-bred horses? Osmer has spoken decidedly in their favour. I have heard it affirmed by a sportsman, that there is the same difference of motion between a racer and a common bred horse, as between a coach and a cart. It is moreover a fact, although it does not lie upon the surface,, that no other horses are capable of carrying, with expedition, such heavy weights; and were a thirty stone plate to be given, and the distance made fifty miles, it would be ever- lastingly won by a thorough-bred horse. There is only one way in which a bred horse would be beat at high weights. It would be (to use a queer phrase) by making it a stand- still race; in that case, I would Lack a cart- horse ; I think he would heat a racer by hours. Thorough-bred hacks are the most docile ancf quiet, and the least liable to shy |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. Tfi
of all others; they also sweat less on a
journey. He who possesses a thorough bred hack
or hunter, sufficiently short-legged, lively, and active ; which bends its knees, and goes well above the ground, and has sound tough feet; has perhaps obtained every qualifica- tion he can wish, for the road, except trotting; which he must never expect, in any extraor- dinary degree, in a bred horse. But horses of such a description are not common, be- cause unfit for the turf; and nobody, as yet, has bred racers expressly for other purposes. The disadvantage of bred cattle, for the road or field, are too great delicacy, render- ing them susceptible of harm, from wet and cold; tenderness of legs and feet; too great length of leg and thigh, and pliability of Sinew, which gives a more extensive compass to their strokes, than is convenient to the common business of riding, or even of hunt- ing ; their stride also, natural sluggishness, and tender feet, occasion them to be unsafe goers. Which then is the most proper species
for the road? or rather (since it is agreed that "bloody is absolutely necessary) Jiow much oughtyajiacjviiejrto have ? I believe he oughT either to be three parts bred, as much as to- |
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272 APPELLATIVES QUALITIES, &C.
say, on got by a taper, out of a half bred
mare, or vice versa, or one winch is produced frog* 'good sh ip< d hackney stock on both sides, both sire and dam having some blood. I incline to the latter. In these mediums you may secure sufficient delicacy, sym- metry, speed, and continuance, without any of the disadvantages attendant upon full blood. The produce of three-parts bred mares and race-horses, which might be called seven-eighths bred, if we wanted a new term, have too generally all the disadvantages of the latter, without the benefit of their pecu- liar qualifications. The ancient prejudice of the superior fit-
ness of the land of one English county above another, for the production of saddle-horses, and the supposed pre-eminence of Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Durham, has been of late years fully and completely exposed. The Isle of Ely, Norfolk, and Suffolk, have for some years past, bred theJ^tjiacks, and the^fastest trotters__in England. It follows not however, from thence, that equally good stock may not be bred in any of the other counties, provided they have as good stallions and mares, and pursue the business with as much industry. I was laughed at on all sides, some years ago, for referring the whole |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 273
matter to custom, plenty of land, and con-
venience; and for asserting, that horse- breeding might be carried on elsewhere, with equal or even superior advantages to those ex- perienced in Yorkshire. The influence of custom over the human mind is truly won- derful, and beyond all doubt the real cause of the tardy progress of improvement. An old farmer, was making bitter complaints of the high price of cart-horses, and the heavy tax it laid upon husbandry. I asked him. why he did not breed his own horses, since they paid so well. » Aye, aye/* satf. he» , " but you know this is not a breeding county." The good man rented fifteen hundred acres of land, full half of which was fit for little else but pasturing of cattle. Even Mr. Marshall, before quoted, al-
though he has made many very judicious observations, relative to horses, has not been, or rather was not, at the time of writing his Rural Oeconomy of Yorkshire, able to steer clear of the contagious influence of established' prejudice; doubtless because it related to a subject, upon which he had not bestowed a thorough examination. He observes; "In - Norfolk, the breeding of saddle-horses has been repeatedly attempted without success. - Yorkshire stallions have been, and still are, vol. i. T |
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274 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C
~- sent Jnto__Norfolk, in the covering season.
The foak may be handsome, but they lose their form as they grow up_. On the con- trary, in Yorkshire, let the foal which is dropped be ever so unpromising, it will, if any true blood circulate in its veins, acquire ^ fashion, strength, and activity, with its growth." He seems to refer these advantages to " the influence of climature on the con- stitution;" and adds, that no nianjia_s__yet_ land; ^^ghjh_h6jrees in France, or Germany ;
nor Yorkshire^ Worses in any other district w SJ jfo-g-"^-- ®nty the general principle of this reasoning appears to be just; the ap- plication is totally erroneous. There can exist no doubt of the favourable influence of genial climature, and rich pasturage. But it remains to be proved, that Yorkshire has ever excelled all other parts of England, either in those respects, or in the superior quality of their horses; the reverse, however, at this time, needs no proof. In the rttimbfer of — horj.es Jbred, there can be no doubt of the ,,- superiority of Yorkshire, but it appears to me, that the proportion of bad ones, has been full as large in that as in any other county. The Yorkshine_bred_horses have long and often been remarked, for their |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 275
heavy heads, round, gummy legs, and general
want of symmetry. These defects were ever visible enough, in many of the Jong, heavy., Jumtering, half-bred stallions of that county. It is highly probable, that the ill success, with which, according to Mr. Marshall's account, the early attempts of the Norfolk breeders was attended, may have been occa- sioned, among other disadvantages to which new undertakings are ever liable, byjthe very # circumstance ojJ^b^in^chjcjnj£ Yorkshire stock. Their own native stock was in all respects preferable; from which, assisted by —- the racing breed, they with their neighbour county Suffolk, have supplied the metropolis of late years with saddje^horses of superior form and estimation to those of Yorkshire.. The reasonings of this excellent author,
owing merely to the cause already hinted, are not a whit more conclusive, on the subject of race-horses; of whicli more in its place.
St. Bel, also, asks veiy gravely for a solu-
tion of the difficulty, why Suffolk has a pe- culiar breed of horses, and why they cannot * be bred elsewhere ? Experience teaches there is no difnulty at all in the case. Any other county having made choice of, and set off originally with that peculiar species (there T 2
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276 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
lies the jet of the business, I believe) would
have all along produced much such another breed, varying in a trifling degree, from local circumstances. I know of no county in En»~ land, in which I would not pledge myself to produce a race of Suffolk horses, so original in all respects, as to defy the penetration of the best jockies of that county. But it must be effected by a more perfect method, than k that which I have known practised by per- sons resident in some of those, which are said not to be breeding counties. They have been desirous of breeding the large black cart horses, but after repeated trials, have relin- quished i(, from an alleged impossibility of bringing them up to the required size ; and yet their grass land has been equal, or supe- rior in goodness, to that of the native soil of these famous cattle. On enquiry, I al- ways found, that they indeed sent their mare to a thorough-bred horse of the species in ■ request, but that she herself was sure to be one of the common stock of their own county. I have known more than one per- son attempt to breed racers upon the same plan, and with equal success. Major Jardine, in his entertaining and
instructive letters from Barbary, Spain, &c. observes, very justly, that the world seems |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 277
to be divided, for men, as well as cattle, into
breeding and feeding countries ; the determi- nations however, to either, I think usually depend upon accidental circumstances. The natural superiority of one English
county over another, as to the point in ques- tion, has always been over-rated. Some local distinctions, no doubt, must exist; for instance, the hardy mountaineers of Wales and Scotland excel in strength of constitu- tion, ability to carry weight, and toughness of feet; but are deficient in size, figure, and speed, I have observed, upon the little attention,
merited by the colour of horses, with refe- rence to their good or bad qualities. In some respects, it may interest nice and curious people, who are more solicitous about ex- terhal appearance, than great and useful qualifications. Thus, greys and browns, spot and stain very much, with the dirt and sweat, and are made dry and clean with great difficulty; the stains remaining longer upon them, than on other colours. Light greys, nutmeg-colom-ed_horses, and red roans, if well-bred, perhaps exhibit that symmetry to the best advantage, which is the concomi- tant of high-racing blood. The latter never fail to remind sportsmen of the old school, |
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278 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
of the famous Sedbury, said to have been
the justest proportioned horse ever bred in England; on this head an exception must be made, in respect to the legs and hoofs of horses, which constant experience has shewn ^ to be best, when of a dark colour. --■ For their temperaments, both mental and
corporeal, the strictest analogy may be found in the human species. We observe among horses, the hot, irritable, and weak; the cold, phlegmatic, slow, and durable; with all the various intermediate gradations. It can be only by way of refreshing the memory of his readers, when an author presumes to counsel them, to make choice of a medium. Hot horses are generally speedy and safe
goers, pleasant to ride, the best flying leapers, and their legs stand clean and dry, in the stable; but short and easy tasks, of all kinds, suit them best; they are unfit to carry heavy weights, and if they feed well when they play, they are sure to lose their appetite in work. It must be noted, nevertheless, that there is a species of this genus, which jnay be styled, resolute horses; these, not- withstanding their heat and choler, will en- dure to the very last, and in the hands of those who have skill and ability sufficient to manage them, will beat all other horses. |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 279
Of this species, precisely, was the celebrated _—
^ JEcH£se_,- It is only ringing the changes, to particu-
larize the incidental qualities of the cold, phleg- matic, and dull ; they are, among a variety of disorders, particularly liable to swelled legs, — grease, and diseases of the eyes, besides being slow, and liable to fall. There is still a va- riety, partaking of the phlegm, and, in some degree, of the inconveniences of the last-men- tioned, which have strong constitutions, feed well, and are lit for a long day, and constant work, whose want of speed is compensated by their powers of duration; in a word, stout horses. Of the extremes; the slow, and stout horse, is certainly of more value than the hot, uncertain, and speedy one^ in all situations, but upon the turf. The tempers of horses, like those of their ^*
. masters, are vaiaous, endowed with a greater or less proportion of intelligence, sagacity, and feeling; and it is but too often, the beast evinces the greater degree of rationality. Their dispositions admit, conveniently enough, of the following classification ; the docile and generous, the stupid and unnoticing, and the perverse and rebellious. I*1 au< these, the more they are treated with reason, temper, |
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280 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
and compassion, the more they conduce to
the ease, the profit, and contentment of man ; and this, I am convinced by experience, "vvill be acknowledged by none more readily than by those, who, having been accustomed to the contrary, will vouchsafe to make fair trial of such methods. As to the first, or the docile and generous, it is inconceivable to those who have not made the pleasing essay, to what a degree of perfection their faculties may be brought, by rational and conciliating usage. In a very short time, correction becomes per- fectly useless, and the whip and spur, the mere harmless instruments of your direction. The sound of his master's voice is at once loved, feared, and obeyed, by a generous, and well-managed horse. Instead of a reluctant and treacherous slave, you have obtained an —^ humble, and faithful friend, a willing sharer
in your toils, and in your pleasures ; even an ^ agreeable companion, who al hough he can- not converse, understands you well; who takes _. every hint, every indication, from your hand *» o)' voice, in an instant; and p'ainly shews a
atfri pleasure in obedience, whether it on t.ain himself for your ease, or to ul the whole of his powers, even unto "tin, foi your service. While such advan- tages are practicable, through the easy and |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C 281
pleasing means of humanity, who would take
the pains to be a tyrant ? It is well known that some horses, although
rather ill-natured to their own species, for — which it is difficult to assign a reason, are ex- ceedingly attached to the human, and will — play with their keepers, with as much appa- rent delight, as spaniels ; but horse-play is proverbially dangerous, and I have thence witnessed several fatal accidents. The second class, or the stupid and unno-
ticino, it is obvious, can never be mended by harsh and cruel usage. It can only serve to increase the natural torpor of their disposition, and render their bodies insensible and callous; in fact, to lessen their use, and increase their owner's trouble. A post-boy would say to - me, " Ah, master, your fine reasons would never brim; mV horses through their stage." These practical sages are, however, not always right. It seems to me, at least plausible, that if they did not deaden their horses feelings, by a premature, and too free use of the whip and_s£nr, they would save their arms and legs - much labour, and their masters a great deal of horse-flesh. The perverse and rebellious, or vicious
horses, are of two kinds, those which are so from natural predisposition, and such as are |
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282 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
rendered restiff, or vicious, from insufficient
breaking, or acquired habits. The first is ever a lost case, whatever the most skilful domitor equorum may pretend to the contrary ; and in the second, the cure is but uncertain at best, which will be allowed by all those who have considered the mighty power of habit, even among us two-legged animals, who vaunt so highly of the strength of our reasoning faculties. The disciples of Locke will deny the existence of innate qualities, such as I have supposed. They should, I think, furnish some new hypothesis, on which to account for the following facts, the truth of which will be allowed by all who have had much experience in horses. Two colts, of like age, shall be broke at the same time, by persons of equal skill, or by the same per- son. They shall be treated precisely in the same manner, in all respects ; and yet the one shall be tamed to obedience, with only the common difficulties, and remain perfectly quiet; whilst the other, even if rendered somewhat tame at first, shall always obey with reluctance, and continue self-willed and re- stiff all his life. Restivencss, and various other qualities, bad or good, are also known to be sometimes hereditary, and to run through many generations. Do not these natural ten- |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C 283
dencies, (granting their existence) either in
man, or beast, arise from the accidental varia- tion of specific quantity in the elements which compose the animal mass, or compound ; from its peculiar structure, and organization ? It is impossible, by any mode of calcula- tion, which includes the probable risks, to attach the value of a single penny to the living carcase of a determined restiff, or vicious horse; and it is the interest of every unfor- tunate proprietor of such an one, to knock him on the head, iri preference to being obliged to keep, and use him. The conquest gained over his will, is always temporary and uncertain ; in a single moment, more than the worth of his whole life of service is kicked down, and perhaps some melancholy accident induced. Many dashing young blades, I know, are fond of exhibiting their prowess, and their skill, upon these intractable animals; but I really think it a pity, that such as have any brains to lose, should risk a fracture, in so uninteresting and contemptible a business. In these cases, chance often throws them into situations, in which neither their strength, nor courage, can be of much use to them. The last accident of this sort, I particularly noticed, happened to a man, who had both his thighs broken, by his horse taking it |
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284 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C
into his head, to go down with him into the
area of a house, near Leicester Fields. It is laughable to see ajnan patting and
cheruping a restiff horse, and the subtle ani- mal sucking up his wind, turning his eyes, and leering, as if to shew the contempt he entertains for his rider. In a confirmed case, mild methods rather do harm, even if they have a temporary success ; it is only putting oif the evil occasion, which the enemy will
watch, in order to obtain an advantage. An absolute conquest, on every contention, must be obtained over his will, if possible; to which nothing will be so conducive, as the repeated and forcible strokes of a good pair of spurs, and the vigorous application of the best end of your shelala to his mouth, legs, and the muscular part of his thighs. When the defect of obedience has arisen merely from improper treatment, common sense will naturally prescribe mildness and patience, mixed with proper degrees of se- verity. But there are certain kinds of vicious
horses (rendered so by tricks, originally taught them, and subsequent cruel usage) of which it is necessary that I speak particularly, for humanity sake, as they are most truly de- serving of commiseration. These are, biters |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &Cf 285
and kickers, which no stranger can approach
with safety, and of which every man oughfe to be aware, who attends a repository, or fair. Nothing can more forcibly exemplify the wonderful power of habit, than the actions of these wretched and irritable creatures; for it is clearly evident, they are acted upon by an involuntary impulse, which no desire of their own, or dread of the most severe punishment, can enable them to counteract, when seized with the fit. It is, perhaps, a -* „ species of madness. I have known one of
each kind, kept more than a twelvemonth,, merely by way of making the experiment, whether it were possible to cure them. The greatest severity, instead of breaking their spirits, served only to enrage, and render them worse ; nor had kind usage any material effect towards their cure. They were both mares, and most excellent workers. What is very singular, in the biter, although she was so savage in the stable, that besides a number of inferior accidents, she tore put ~—- - the entrails of a boy, she yet never discovered
the least inclination to bite out of doors, in any situation whatever. The wanton cruelty which is exercised
upon these creatures, renders them infinitely more dangerous; for, being'accustomed to |
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286 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C
look upon all mankind as their enemies and
torturers, they always stand prepared for offence; and men who transgress in that way, would do well to consider what accident they may be preparing for some innocent person. I speak from the recollection of having seen a kicker, at a certain repository, which one of the attendants took a great pleasure in exhibiting to a groupe of idle fellows. It was a mare, and these barbarians amused themselves by thrusting sticks into her burden and fundament, and whipping her in a most cruel manner. The foolish practice of the boys in the running stables, of teaching their horses to kick, is also well known; I cannot tell whether it prevails at present, in the degree it formerly did; but I have often wondered it did not attract the attention of the proprietors of those horses, probable, as it was, to be attended with such serious mischiefs. Many years ago, I had occasion to accompany a friend to see a horse, called King Priam. It appeared, the horse had learned his lesson perfectly, for the instant we stood behind him, he saluted us with yboth his heels, which very fortunately brushed my friend's hat off—one half-inch farther, and he had never wanted another hunter. There are many, no doubt, who will ridicule these ob- |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 287
servations ; but how patiently would I bear
their mirth, could I be certain that only one person were benefited by my cautions, or one single animal more humanely treated. If there be any safe method of approaching
vicious animals, it is to warn them with a somewhat loud and severe voice, but to avoid all appearance of offence. Since habits are retained with such invinci-
ble obstinacy by horses, it is surely of the utmost importance to inculcate good ones very early, and to stifle evil ones in the birth, I have known some horses take it into their heads, that they never ought to pass pigs led in strings, tilted waggons, or windmills, and which they never could be prevailed upon to do, by fair means, t6 the end of their lives ; except, indeed, when they were sick, in which case, horses seldom or never shy. It is a mistaken notion to suppose, that horses always -* shy from fear j it is frequently the mere con- sequence of a species of affectation, of a brisk ~ flow of spirits, and a sense of being above - their work ; and it is a good joke, to see what — a wonderful deal of trouble some of our eques- trians give themselves, to urge their horse, either by force or soothing, to approach the dreadful object, which, in good truth, the frolic being nearly over, he fears or regards, |
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288 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
just as little as themselves. Thus certain gal-
lants have a line opportunity of shewing their courage, when their fastidious and delicate ladies affect to be frightened. Correction must be used, with a very sparing hand, to shy and skittish horses, and passion ought ever, in such cases, to be suppressed. The rider should be prepared, without suffering his horse to perceive either preparation, or solicitude, and ought rather to slacken the reins. If correc-
tion, and urging forward, be absolutely ne- cessary, it ought to be administered with the spur solely, aided by the calf of the leg, knee, and bridle ; if you whip a horse for shying, you incur the risk of driving him to the ever- lasting habit of flying out of the road ; a charming practice, in dark nights, and dan- gerous ways. As for the size of horses, perhaps sixteen
hands ought to be the extreme, for whatever purpose, either of saddle or draught. I be- lieve, on the strength of my own experience, and what I more respect, the opinions of men who have had the longest and greatest prac- tice, that all possible advantages may be con- centred within that compass, and number- less disadvantages resulting from over-size, avoided. It has been said, that " a great, good horse, will beat a little one ;" and there |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 289
is no doubt, but where the goodness, in all
points, is equal, the largest must be the best; but we generally find, in all animals, that as they advance beyond the usual standard, they lose in symmetry and proportion as they gain in bulk. It is rare to see a man, of six feet high, well shaped. Among horses, perhaps, the smallest size, or ponies, are, upon the ave- rage, of the truest make. The Latins say, Inest sua gratia parvis—what is little, is pretty. A hunter, or charger, should be between
fifteen hands, and fifteen three. It is obvious, that in the field, low horses can never clear their leaps so well, or carry a man so gallantly over the country, as those of a commanding size. The most advantageous height of a - hack, is between fourteen and fifteen hands one inch. A lady's horse, either for road or ^ field, should never exceed fifteen. The con- venience of ponies and galloways, for the summer season, and their inconvenience, p. deep roads and dirty weather, are in the way of every body's observation. It is a truth, like numberless others, much
better known than practised, that horses should never be put to severe labour whilst young. Our doing so much violence to their strength, in this country, whilst their vol. i. U |
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290 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
sinews are yet too flexible and tender, and
have not acquired due substance and tensity, is the occasion of their growing old so soon, and becoming at such a premature period of their lives, totally unfit for any, but the lowest drudgery. We have had some in- stances of horses reaching forty years of age, but thirty seems to be, in general their latest period; and it may be compared to the human date of three-score and ten. As man is in the flower of his strength, from thirty- five: to forty years of age ; by a parity of rea- soning, our horses would be in their highest state of perfection, for strength, toughness, vigour, and expertness at their business, from ten to fifteen, were we honest and humane enough, to allow them the lair chances of existence. That such theory will not treacherously abandon us in practice, as is too often the case, I have reason to be convinced, from some pleasing experiments of my own, and from the observation of those of other people. What a happy plan, where we can make humanity and interest coincide —but they do not always coincide! What a saving to individuals, and the country at large, to double almost the period of service in that vast number of our horses, which are now prematurely torn to pieces, and de- |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 291
stroyed. I shall embrace every opportunity
which presents, in the course of this work, to point out the means most conducive to this desirable end. Horses for slow-draft (the least injurious
of all their labour) may be put to gentle work, in careful hands, even at two years old, with- out sustaining any injury; and it is the custom of the country : but great care ought to be taken, never to put them upon long and heavy jobs, or subject them to heats and colds, and piercing winds ; and, in particular, not to strain them at dead pulls; for amongst an infinity of accidents, to which, in that green age, they are liable, hurts in the loins are to be apprehended, from which they never after recover. Every body will tell you that road-horses and hunters should not be worked until live years old; and it is most true: the latter, indeed, ought not to endure many severe runs, the first season. But it is not enough, that young horses are not worked hard ; that is to say, ridden fast, or long journeys; for whatever bone they may have, no high weight ought to come upon their backs, until they have at- tained, at least, five years' growth. From/ the improvident custom of over-weigh: ino- them too early, even if they are ridden slow, u 2
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292 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
arise windgalls, splents, spavins, weakness
of the joints, and that common tribe of de- fects, which are the consequence of over- stretched ligaments. The English have been ridiculed by foreign-
ers, for " making curtails," both upon their kings and their horses. As to those made upon the latter, I think there can be no doubt of the utility. Long tails, for which some people are such warm advocates, setting aside the incommodity to the rider, of being fanned by them, dirty or clean, do not in their appearance convey that idea of expedi- tion upon which our affections are so bent in this country; buckled up, they to be sure have the air militaire, but do not look sports- man-like, v/hich is our mark. A horse will carry even a better full tail (a long one I mean) for having been docked ; and it is an old opi- nion, which carries a shew of reason with it, that by abridging the tails, you strengthen the loins of horses. As what I have to say upon the tails of horses, is of a general nature, I may as well say it in this place, and have done with it. It has ever been my favourite study, when leisure was permitted me, to endea- vour by all feasible means, to lessen the miseries of animals, and it is true, this prin- ciple has often forced me to turn executioner. |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 293
I had heard of many accidents, some of them
fatal, from horses being docked at too late a period, and by bunglin<* blacksmiths; and indeed I had seen several operations of the kind, which made me sick. It occurred to me, that colts ought to be docked early? whilst the tail is tender and grisley; which operation I ever afterwards performed, upon my own, myself, with a good sharp kitchen knife, with all possible success, and which I wish to recommend as a general custom. The two last I docked, were, one about three months, the other about three weeks old; the one got by a cart, the other by a bred horse. These colts were perfectly tame and handy, a state in which I always chuse to have them, and whilst eating a few carrots, they suffered me to tie their hair up secundum artem, and to make the stroke, which curtailed them in an instant; and with so little pain, that they scarcely left their carrots. The usual quantity taken off agrees in length with the width of a man's hand; but perhaps it ought to be rather more from the consideration of its being done so early. The bred colt was so indifferent about the matter, that he suffered me, about half an hour afterwards, to lay hold of his tail again, and make a ligature to stop the |
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294 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C
blood. If a flux of blood be not desired, a
ligature may be made, previously to the ope- ration ; but m case of plethora, dullness, or heaviness about the head and eyes, it may be presumed that bleeding will benefit the colt, and the wound may be intirely neglected. If any application be thought necessary, nothing is so proper as French brandy. No twitching, trammelling, searing with hot irons, nor any of the barbarous Vulcani'm apparatus, is here required; and what will w: igh more than all the rest, with certain of my readers—no farrier's bill. Of nicking, I shall say but little; in truth
if nobody were more attached to it than I am, the art would soon be lost, from disuse. At present, I must allow, we set horses' tails in a more natural form, than some years back, when it was the custom to cock them bolt upright, in a most burlesque and preposte- rous manner ; and a young horse, with his blazing meteor displayed a posteriori, looked just as naturally and in character, as a young fellow with his head enveloped in the curls of an enormous perriwig. JVIy prejudice in favour of every thing appertaining to the ttirf, may perhaps warp my judgment; but I am all for broom or racing tails, such as are "cut square by the Russian standard:" |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C, 295
these, I think, are becoming and natural to
all sorts and sizes of horses, but more par- ticularly at this time, now the shew of blood is so universal. As to the art of nicking, every dealer or farrier can perform it. Bartlet's supposed improvement, I under- stand did not succeed. I speak not from my own knowledge. I have also cropped yearlings. It is ap-
parent, in that time, or at any rate, at two years old, whether from the over-size, ill- shape, or position of the ears, it will be ever necessary to crop the nag; and if so, there is an obvious convenience in having it done early, and before he comes into work; and I have never found that the after-growth of the ear, spoiled the crop. There is one disadvantage in this business, which however some people will think an advantage. It furnishes an opportunity of deception. One of the colts mentioned above, I sold to a dealer at two years old; being cropped and docked, and neither his ears nor tail bearing the least mark of recent operation, he in one single day more reached lour years of age; and was actually sold at Winchester fair, as a four year old. The practice of castrating horses, so uni-
versal in this country, is no doubt founded |
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296 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
upon the most rational experience of its use
and propriety; viewing it even in the light of humanity, it is preferable. We do not find that inferiority in geldings for any ser-r vices, which theoretical reasoning upon the matter might lead us to suppose. The dif- ference between the sexes, I judge to be, that mares are neither able to carry or draw such heavy weights as horses or geldings; and that horses have the superiority in those two respects. The chief disadvantage of mares, is their
faintness, and loss of appetite, during then- horsing time; continuing, perhaps two or three days, at several intervals in the spring ; but this is in truth, of so small import, that thousands of people who work mares, per- ceive nothing at ail of the matter ; and this trifling inconvenience is infinitely overbalanced by the consideration, that if an accident should happen to render your mare totally unfit for labour, she may still produce you a substitute. Mr. Marshall has recom- ^ mended spaying mares very strongly, which he supposes"~a new idea, but such does not appear to be the case, as I have seen an ad- vertisement, sixty or seventy years old, of grass for spayed mares. There can be no doubt but mares might be cut with equal |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 297
safety as heifers; but, I conceive, by no
means with equal, Qr indeed any probable advantage. We have all the reason in the world to be satisfied with the labour of our mares unspayed; now should an accident happen to a spayed mare, we could not eat her, as we could a heifer. For many years past, the people of this
country, have wisely adhered to the natuial paces of the horse, which are walk, trot, canter, and gallop. The canter is a natural pace, although many horses require to be taught, as is obvious, from colts of a few weeks old performing it in a handsome manner. In former days, when factitious principles of all kinds were in vogue, and were held so indispensible; and when the studies of men seemed to be directed to an inversion of the order of nature, in so many respects; they did not forget to supplant her in the motions of their horses, by forcing them into artificial paces. Thus Markham, and the old writers, describe pacing and rack- ing, which they took the pains to teach their horses by cruel and dangerous methods. 1 These motions were a kind of mixture, or confusion of the natural paces, as may be conceived from the mode in which they were taught, namely, by forcing the horses to go |
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298 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C
with their legs tied. Racking, it seems,
was that irregular run, between a trot and a gallop, which we often, at this time, observe a horse to fall into, when badly ridden, and of which many horses acquire the habit. Pacing was not entirely out of vogue in Bracken's days, and I have known one pacing-horse, within my own memory; they called him a natural padder, but his padding seemed to me to proceed either from some defect, or from badriding. In Normandy, Mr. Green informed us, a
few years since, there are natural padders, which pace six miles per hour, so easily, that a man may ride seventy miles in a day without fatigue. It ought not I think, be St. Thomas's day. To excel, he adds, they must be true bred padders, both from the horse and mare. I shall defer awhile speaking farther of
the paces, and proceed to the proper shape and qualifications of saddle-horses. And first, with respect to beauty in horses ; strictly speaking, it is the necessary result of sym- metry, and exact proportions; but never- theless, many thorough-shaped horses are not accounted handsome; and more, which have a beautiful and gallant appearance, are far enough from being thoroughly well made. |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, 8zC. 299
This' requires-rib explanation. In this coun-
try, where speed is the first object, provided a horse be well made in the cardinal points, if I may be permitted that expression, or those parts most immediately contributory to action, beauty is taken for granted, by the knowing ones. Has he a large head? Well, he carries it himself; the question is, does he carry it fast, and in a good place? Is he a ragged hipped one ? Never mind, he is well filletted.—Goose-rumped ? What o'that, he rises well before, and is deep in the girt— There is, however, a very erroneous notion, which has been long current, but, most as- suredly, is not sterling. It is said, that "horses of all shapes and makes may be goers." This verisimilitude has taken its rise, from horses of rough and unpleasing appearances, but in reality, possessing con- siderable extent in the most material parts, being often endowed with great powers of action. I have heard it was the saying of old Frampton, or old Bracken, or some other great judge, that " horses always go wjth their shoulders." In truth, no horse with a small, fleet, Upright shoulder, was ever a goer. Goodness depends so far upon shape, that whenever you have obtained hack, hunter, or racer, right in the material points, |
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300 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
you are sure of some qualification above the
common run; you have got either extra- ordinary speed, or great powers of conti- nuance ; which will, again, materially depend upon animal temperament. The material points are, a deep and oblique shoulder, length, width in the quarters, and free course for the wind. Flatness, and depth, are the basis, or prin-
ciple of speed ; but to produce strength, good- ness, and beauty, substance is necessary. So to speak, rotundity, swelling over a deep and flat ground, forms the true shape of a nag ; this is most apparent in the counter shoulder, and deep oval quarter. A hack, or hunter, ought to be shaped, in
all points, exactly like a race-horse, bating somewhat of his length ; the abatement for the hunter, it is obvious, need not he so con- siderable. As to the defects of horses, and parts
most liable to defect, here follows a ca- talogue of the principal; which a man ought to have in his mind's eye, whilst about to make a purchase, more particularly, if unat- tended with warranty : viz. Head ill set on, or too long, eves,
age, wolves teeth, bladders in the mouth, gigs, glanders, jogged under |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 301
tHe JAW, HIDE-BOUND, BROKEN WIND,
CRIB-BITER OR TICKER, RUN-A-WAY, RES- TIFF, VICIOUS, NECK-REVERSED, OR COCK- THROPPELLED, EWE OR DEER-NECKED, SHOULDER STRAIGHT AND HEAVY, CHEST NARROW OR WIDE, HIGH ON THE LEG, BROKEN KNEES, ROUND LEGS, GREASE,WIND- GALLS, SINEWS DOWN, SPLENT, OSLET,SPEEDY CUT, NOCK, MALLENDERS, HURT IN THE JOINTS, TOES TURNED OUT OR IN, FEET SOFT OR HARD, LARGE, SMALL, OR DEEP, QUITTER, FALSE QUARTER, RINGBONE, SAND- CRACK, GROGGY, FOUNDER, THRUSHES, CORNS, HIGH-GOER, DAISEY-CUTTER, FORE- LOW, SHALLOW GIRTH, HOLLOW-BACKED, BREAM-BACKED, LONG-BACKED, BROKEN- BACKED OR MEGRIM, LIGHT CARCASE, BURS- TEN, RAGGED-HIPPED, DROOP-ARSED, DUTCH OR ROUND BUTTOCKS, HIPSHOT, STIFFLED, LAME IN WHIRLBONE, SPAVINS BONE AND BOG, CURB, THOROUGHPIN, CAPPED HOCKS OR HOUGHBONEY, SALLENDERS, SICKLE-HAM- MED, CUT BEHIND, HAMMER AND PINCHERS OR OVER-REACH,WRONG-END FIRST,STRING- HALT. A horse may be good with a large head,
provided it shew symmetry, is joined to the neck with a curve, or is wide enough in the upper part of the jaw-bones, to admit |
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302 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C
of being pulled in, without impeding respira-
tion; otherwise, a heavy, fat head, forebodes dulness and distemper, particularly of the eyes. A long head occasions the horse to bear heavy upon the hand, however good his mouth may be, as soon as his flow of spirits is over. A head too short, as St. Bel observes, detracts from the equipoise of the body ; it certainly detracts from the idea of proportion, as well as a too long one; and without alleging any particular inconve- niences belonging to it, I think we seldom see a capital horse with a very short head. The eye should be viewed in a good light,
or rather in the sun-shine, the examiner standing in the shade. It ought to be bright and transparent, as it were, to the bottom, and free from haze, dulness, or cloud. The dull, or coal-black eye, or that encircled with a blue cloud are precarious. As to external conformation, the eye should be somewhat prominent, without being too full and large; the large glassy eye is always suspicious; as is also the small pig^eye. Thick, moist eye-lids denote a flux of hu- mours. It is easy to distinguish external accidents, of the probable danger of which, it appertains to experience to determine. It is said, Roman-nosed horses are gene- |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 303
rally stoat and hardy. The term stout, in
equestrian language, applies invariably to the courage, not the substance of the horse. *"" #*■ £l
The mouth, to be perfect, ought to con-
tain the bit handsomely, and well; and to be of such just temper, as to be able to bear con- siderable pressure with the snaffle, and yet be sensible of the least directing motion of the rider's hand: also, to be free of wolves teeth, namely, irregular ones, which may cut the tongue, gums, or inside of the lips, in mastication; of gigs and bladders, which get between the teeth; and the teeth them- selves, untouched by art. I once purchased a 'mare, in very low condition, which did not amend, although she did, or indeed was able to do, scarcely any work. She ate little, particularly of hay, which she was observed to take into her mouth, and drop out again, without being able to chew it. On a nearer inspection, it appeared, all her teeth had been filed down; and there is no doubt, but the miserable creature soon sunk under her work, for want of due sustenance. It was with regret, but I was obliged to part with her. A discharge from the nostrils, even if it
be somewhat thick, may be nothing more than a cold; but if it be attended with a |
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304 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C
swelling of the glands, under the throat, it ■
indicates a disease of some standing, of which the consequence may be both trouble and danger. As to the Glanders, granting the discharge to have been suppressed by art, the disease is indicated by an over quantity of foam in the mouth, by swelling of the glands, and by the deadness of the hair, which will come off with the slightest pull of the fingers. Broken Wind is discovered by the quick and irregular heaving of the flanks, and a more than ordinary dilatation of the nostrils ; sometimes also, by a consumptive appearance of the body. But the usual method of trying the soundness of a horse's wind, is, to cough, him; which is performed _by_pressing the up-. per part of the wind-pipe, with the finger and thumb. The strong, clear, and full tone of the cough, prove his wind to be sound; if. on the contrary, the note be short, whistling, and husky, the horse is asthmatic, and un- sound. Horses labouring under the worst stage of this disease, are styled, in the lan- guage of the repository, Roarers, from the noise they make in work, of very little of which they are capable. Broken-winded mares are generally barren, although I have heard of one, which bred a whole team of horses, after she became asthmatic. Some pursive |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 305
and thick-winded horses are, of all others,
^ the strongest, and most thorough-winded. They catch their wind with difficulty at first; ^> but it comes more free and clear, as their action increases. ^, Ewe, or deer-necked horses, have fre- quently fine shoulders, and are fast jgoers ; and when the neck does not belly out too much, and the head is well set on, and the jaw-bones wide, they may be made to ride light in hand, and handsomely; but if they are much cock-throppied, and the head is at the same time set on abruptly, they must always bear heavy on the hand. In this case, art affords no remedy; and it is only tormenting the horse fruitlessly, to attempt it: when you bear, with great force, upon the mar- tingale, you choke him. Let it be observed, that the need of a martingale detracts consi- derably from the worth of a horse. I should conceive, at least, five pounds in twenty. There is a defective form, which I have often seen, but cannot well describe, called by the French, a false, or hatchet neck ; it is thin, and straight along the throat, having a cavity between the top of the shoulder and the; withers. Thin, loose, and swivel- necked horses, carry their heads up in the air, particularly if short-headed, or tender- ■ VOL. I- X
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306 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
mouthed. When a martingale is used to
palliate a natural defect, the bits, and curb, ought ever to be of the mildest. Lon<?, rain- bow necks are more for* beauty and orna- ment, than real service. They seldom be- long to capital goers. It is easy to conceive, that a long and bulky neck must encumber, and retard progression, by destroying the equipoise of the machine ; also, that with a shorter neck, the horse has a less distance to fetch his wind. The form and size of the shoulder is
obviously a point of the first importance. St. Bel, speaking of the mechanical causes, of the power of progressive motion, in every animated machine, says, " The bones and muscles are simply an apparatus of columns, le- vers, pullies, cords, wedges, &c. the combined operations of which occasion greater or less speed ;"—and, " on the good or bad con- struction of the shoulder, progression ma- terially depends, as its motion determines that of the inferior parts. A long and ob- lique shoulder is the indication of speed, because, in proportion to the length and ob- liquity of that part, the farther the arms of the lever will be extended, and the- greater will be the portion of the circle which it v describe." In order to capital action, and |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 307
that the horse may extend his legs very far
forward, the shoulder must fall backward from a deep breast in an oblique direction (the sternum, or keel, somewhat projecting) and, lessening by degrees, go fairly up to the top of the withers. Mr. Galley, whose ob- servations have always weight, is partial to horses wide a-top, upon the withers; and supposing the shoulders to be, at the same time, very obliquely placed, there can be no doubt but such horses will carry greater weight, m proportion, and with equal speed. They are also, i» general, easy goers. The famous Mother Neesom, "according to Bracken's account, was so shaped; and I have known some such, with capital action: but this is rare, such forms being, in general, straight shouldered, and wide-chested, and by no means distinguished for speed. The extreme obliquity, or slant of the
shoulder, it must be. observed, is requisite oniy for the running-horse, and even amono-st them, it is rare; extent of shoulder, providing it be flatanddcep,orconsiderable, (alwaysconfer- ring proportional powers of progression. The straight heavy-shouldered horse is, evidently, unfit for any purpose, but slow draft; both _..-' the weight, simply considered, and its mal- """ position, impeding progression. This ao x 2"
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308 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
counts for well-shaped horses being more
capable of high weights, than others with much greater shew of substance. A high and well-placed shoulder is accom-
panied with all sorts of advantages, of which it is a very eminent one, that a proper place is thereby secured for the saddle, without the use of a crupper, the need of which, as well as of a martingale, decreases the value of a horse. I have said that the shoulder-blades ought to reach up to the top of the withers, diminish- ing gradually, that the withers be not too thick and wide. But this indeed is a rare per- fection. Many, which are esteemed good shoulders, have a cayity between their upper extremity and the withers, admitting the saddle too forward, and bringing the weight too far before the centre. The least experienced eye will readily de-
termine, whether a horse be leggy, or too high upon the leg. It is very apparent, when the legs form the most conspicuous part, and appear too long for the carcase. The horse is weak in proportion, but it detracts more from strength and continuance than speed. The legs being very short, is also a defect, and of a contrary tendency. But legs are never too long, when the horse is sufficiently deep in the carcase. |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 309
The knees must be wide and strong, but
lean, and free from puffiness ; the hair bear no vestige of derangement. A nice eye will in- stantly detect any accident which may have happened to the knees from a fall, even if years have since intervened ; there will be ei- ther an inequality of the surface, a few staring hairs, or those which Lave grown after a cut, will be of a different colour, or will be too long, and so not lie level with the rest. The back part, or bend of the knee, is the situa- tion of mallenders, or chops ; the inner side somewhat below it, of the speedy cut, which is occasioned by strokes of the hoof in going. If the wounds have been healed, an excrescence will be distinguished by the finger, or the hair will appear to stare. Trembling knees denote injury, from excess of labour, which is generally without remedy. "Osi.etts are long excrescences situated under the knee, on the inside, and sometimes contract the joint, Splents are of the same nature ; their place is upon the shank ; they are sufficiently palpable, either to sight or feeling, but of no detriment, when they do not interfere with the sinews. They seldom increase in size, after six years old. When they are so placed as to contract the sinews, it is much the cheapest and safest way to deem them incurable. |
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310 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
If the legs be round and fleshy, and no pre-
ternatural heat, or extraordinary pulsation is to be discovered in them, by handling, it may. be their natural shape. They will be subject to grease and scratches, and belong to a horse of inferior kind, A good flat leg may have become round, hot, and swelled, either by s" over-work, or the want of it, and from stand- ing week after week, tied up in a hot stable. The horse may shift and change his feet, from the pain in his legs, and yet the main sinew may not have sustained any material injury ; for when that has really happened, he will be sure to inform you of it, by putting his -— leg and foot forward, in a loose, faint, and
faltering way. If he stand thrusting out his ^ fore-leg boldlv, as if from wantonness, and
renting on his heels, he is groggy ; that is to **ty/ say, his sinews are contracted, or his feet battered. To try how far the horse has been injured, let him be walked about for half an Jbour, when the swelling of his legs will, in ail »^ probability, subside^ If you then observe the tendo acldttis, or main sinew, distinct from the shank ; if on pressing it with the finger towards the bone, you find it firm, and tense ; if you discover by the feel, no soft, spongy sinews between the shank and the tendon, no extraordinary pulsation, but that all is well- |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 311
braced, and wiry, you may conclude the
swellings not dangerous. A person of expe- rience, with a nice and discriminating finger, will scarcely ever fidj_.tojdejej^l^mejie^sjn the back sinews ; but I must declare, that I have never yet in my life met with such persons among common grooms, and farriers, who / never attend to anjTbther symptoms in these cases, than heat, and tension ; whereas those symptoms may have prevailed, in a very slight degree, or may be past, and the sinews remain in a very lax and unsound state. I met with a remarkable example of this very lately. Two men were returning from the house of a ve- terinary practitioner of some note, with a fine young coach-horse, which went lame. Upon enquiry, he had been lame sometime, and neither themselves, their master, nor the doctor, could possibly discover the seat of his lameness, but they had blistered his pastern- joints, and taken several other steps at a hazard. I examined him out of curiosity. He had scarcely stood still a minute before lie set his near fore-leg out. I found the foot and joint perfectly cool, and apparently without complaint. I had him walked upon soft ground, and observed, he threw his fore-arms freely, and far enough forward, by which I was_ convinced of the soundness of his shoulders, |
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3l£ APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
^ On pressing the back sinew of the near fore-
leg, the horse-flinched, and on farther exami- nation, I found the sinews soft and flabby, with some little heat and beating. It was in vain that I communicated this discovery to the men, or that I demanded of them, whe- ther, independent of other ailments, which they supposed the horse might have, that which I had found was not sufficient to make him halt? No. One said he was lame be- hind, the other, that the lameness was in his shoulder, and that he knew a farrier who could remove it at a certainty. There seems a strange disposition in the
stable people, to attribute effects to occult and imaginary causes, when the real ones are so obvious, that one would wonder how com- mon sense could possibly avoid stumbling upon them. Horses, which plainly tell of <■ themselves, that they are lame from hard and ■" hot feet, and over-strained back-sinews, are usually contradicted by their keepers or doc- .- tors, who rather choose they should be lame ,„ in the shoulders. Should the chest be of
a peculiar J^hin make, and have a cavity in front, the business is done at once and the case declared a chest-founder. That disease is then perhaps hereditary, as I have more than once seen foals, of only a few days old, |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 313
with the said cavity, and all the appearance
of a wasted chest. To be serious, I have also seen a case of a recent and sudden foot- founder, with the chest remarkably shrunk, and a violent palpitation in the cavity, for which Osmer accounts very rationally. The shoulders seldom receive any other damage from labour, than concussions, which occa- sion stiffness and cramp. It is very plain that the articulations of the lower joints and the hoofs, enduring the severest service from being obliged to support the whole natural and imposed weight, must be most exposed to accidents. When the horse wounds his pastern joints,
in going, it is called knocking. If the places be healed, an escar will be discovered by the finger, or the fresh-grown hair will be long and uneven. The speedy-cut', and knock are capital defects in horses; the former natural, and past all remedy, the latter so likewise, except it be the consequence of weakness and lo^^conjjtion. The width of a horse's chest is no security against knocking, x* nor is it occasioned by the narrowness of the ^ chest, the stroke being given by the toe or heel'; of course those horses are liable to it, which turn the toe either out or in. In the latter case, they are styled pigeon-toed. In |
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314 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
a natural defect of this kind, it is ever pro-
ductive of disappointment and mischief to listen to the proposed remedies of grooms and smiths from shoeing ; since your horse would knock, or cut in the speed, with his hoofs, if ridden without shoes. The only remedy, is never to ride him without those round leather guards, which have of late yeai> been adopted. To be properly formed for action, a horse ought to go with his feet as near together before, as possible, without brushing the hair, and proportionally wide behind. When they proceed in the contrary form, a case by much too frequent, they are said to go with the wrong end first. Windgalls, improperly so called, are
encysted tumours, or bags filled with a ge- latinous fluid or jelly, which being pressed from the tendons by over-weight or exertion, stagnates between the joints, and forms for itself those cysts or bags. Their situation upon the pastern joints is well known. Some horses are very little subject to them, even if hard-worked; others will have them before they have done any work at all. If not too large, and they feel elastic and dis- appear on rest, they do not render the horse unsound ; but if large, and soft to the touch, they become exceedingly painful, and the horse |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 315
soon grows lame. The only radical cure is -
excision, which I have experienced, and shall describe in its place. The ring-bone is a hard, or bony ex-
crescence, upon the coronet, which sometimes a!most surrounds the top of the hoof, occa- sioned perhaps, by the iron lock, which has fastened a clog or tetter; it also may proceed from no visible cause, and is then supposed to be hereditary. However, I have never yet known it effectiiaily cured; tlie horses supposed to be cured, never standing sound in work. A QUITTOR, Or HORNY QUITTOR, Or whit-
lovv, is also situated on the coronet, or be-
tween hair and hoof. Those which I have seen, were immediately above the inside quarter; when deeply seated, they are no otherwise curable, than with the loss of part of the hoof, whence a seam or apparent partition, up above the heel, called a false quarter. In this latter case, the soundness of the horse can scarcely ever be depended on, and he is liable to drop down suddenly on his way, as I have more than once experienced to my cost. The sand-crack is a small cleft on the
external surface of the hoof. No horse ought to work a single day with one, because if |
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316 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &£•
neglected, or aggravated by work, the crack
may enlarge, and end in a quittor, and false quarter. Of the founder in feet, chest, or body, the
symptoms are so well known, as to need no description. Progression seems universally impeded. The horse bears upon his heels, ana inclines backward. Few recover, even if the disease be sudden and acute. Running-thrushes are a foetid dis-
charge from the frog, the aperture of which, in consequence, appears moist, the horn per- haps decayed. It indicates a strong, full habit, and hard feeding, and has been well compared by Bartlet, to the copious excre- tion of sweat from human feet, which it would be dangerous to repel. To talk of curing running thrushes, is merely to amuse. Horses much liable to them, will always have tender heels, and should be ridden with bar- shoes. Corns, upon horses, bear no analogy
with those upon the human feet; indeed the term is a misnomer. There are still callous, horny excrescences about horses feet, similar enough, in all respects, to human corns, but they are not so distinguished. We are to sup- pose the feet of Caesar's horse had proper corns. The ailment, in question, is called by |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 317
the French bleime, and is, properly, a bruised
spot or speck upon the sole of the heel, wearing either a red and bloodshot, or black appearance, according as it is recent, or other- wise, as we observe of the same accident in the human nail. Its most common origin is from bad shoeing, and is curable by the contrary. I have! cured, perfectly, very bad corns of two years standing, which never afterwards ap- peared, in the coui'se of years, the hack dy- ing in my possession. The feet, in general, may be divided into
the extremes of hard and soft, both of which are too frequently met with. I have had two hacks with feet of each kind ; one of which I rode constantly nine, the other, occasionally, three or four'years. For too hard feet I „.^ know of no remedy, except their constantly running abroad, and then a fortnight's work ._ upon the road, will render them so feeverish and painful, that your horse will be crippled ; — in short, will Have the appearance of an in- . cipient founder. Over-strong and hard hoofs _,
are said to occasion lameness, by compressing __ the internal structure of the foot. Their ap- pearance is usually high and deep, sometimes „ like ass-hoofs, very hollow, with scarcely any
frog ; sometimes much contracted a-top by — the coronary rings ; at others, deep, thick, |
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318 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
and clubbed, and the horse, though sound,
goes in a fumbling way. I have, now and then, seen Welch horses with this last de- scription of feet, which soon become lame hi the stable. Soft feet, and low tender heels, ^ may do great service throughout, with bar shoes, and constant attention. Bred hacks _- are apt to have the feet too small ; and often you will find horses, with feet of the right' — black flint colour, and to all appearance un- . exceptionable, and yet they will stand no ser- vice on the road. Aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus, and I
think Dr. Bracken's wits must have been at any rate sleepy, when he corrected Sir Wil- liam Hope, for the assertion, that tender- -*-"'" footed horses bear heavy upon the hand ; a fact, of which I have had long and trouble- some conviction. We do not often catch the good Doctor napping ; but I can mention another instance. To oblige his friend, Sir William Parsons, as it should seem, Bracken disgraced his excellent work, by inserting a cruel and ridiculous pretended remedy for cutting behind ; which was, to fasten a knot- — ted whip-cord between the horse's thighs : as if the infliction of tortures could possibly change mal-conformation, or strengthen weak- ness. How like to the cruel sophistries |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 319
ignorant and cold-hearted political quacks,
who punish misfortune in terrorem. Heavy-shouldered horses, and high, ham-
mering goers, beat and founder their feet. The ill consequences of being forelow, in a saddle-horse, are sufficiently obvious ; but to ,..- a pack-horse, it is an advantage. The old
prejudice, in favour of short backs, round ,~~ - barrels, and carcases ribbed home up to the
huggen-bones, seems to have given way to the reasonings of Bracken ; and the idea of an equal and proper distribution of length, is in general adopted by our sporting people. In- deed, to view the back of a horse, merely ajs a bearing fixed upon upright columns, the. intent of which is solely to stand under a given weight, a-short bearing would have the preference ; but as the back of a horse is destined to move, as well as sustain weight, ^it must be considered how far a defect of its longitude, and an irregularity in the general disposition of length, retards action. Our Jockies say, "A racer," they might have said a goer, " must have length somewhere." That is perfectly just ; but in consequence, it always happens, that a horse which wants length in his back, will be sure to have it in some improper place, the legs for instance. -—, Short-backed stallions are very apt to get |
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320 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
• leggy, spider-shaped stock. A horse which
stands over a great deal of ground, may be a goer, merely by virtue of his general length, if his shoulder be not too unfavourably made. The spine, being too short, is not suffi-
ciently pliable, and the want of room between the ribs, and^ hip-bones, occasions the en- __ trails to be so pressed towards the lungs in
action, as in a considerable degree to impede
inspiration. Length of back will always be found advantageous, when there is sufficient general substance, and particularly, width and swell of the muscles in the loins and fillets ; but short backs are infinitely to be preferred to longthin shapes, with hollow flanks, and narrow weak lines. Hollow backs are apparently weak, and
the curvature of the spine must in degree hinder action, as well as all other kregulari- ties of form. Horses of this form have some- times a very elevated crest, look handsomely mounted, give an easy, convenient seat, and are pleasant goers, High, or bream-backed horses, throw- the saddle forward, and are liable to be galled by it, and are often hard stumping goers. But a horse, unless a capi- tal one be the object, must never be rejected, merely on account of being either hollow, or swine-backed. |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C 321
I am uncertain, whether a mare, so much
hurt in her loins, as to be called broken- Backed, would breed ; but thoroughly con- vinced, that every horse of that description should be knocked on the head. They are sometimes styled Megrim Horses. They will feed, and even get fat. The defect is discovered by trotting them briskly about two hundred yards, when they will infallibly sink down upon their buttocks ; this they will do upon being put to any labour: it is totally incurable. I have seen but two of this kind, one of which I was uniucky enough to purchase; and, to amend the matter, he handled his fore-feet with all the dexterity of a pugilist; a vice, no doubt, acquired from the abuse the poor animal had suffered, in consequence of his deplorable misfortune. A sinking is sometimes observed at the
extremity of the back, as if it were parted from the rump by a cross-line, instead of the fillets being oval and elevated; it detracts from strength. The hip-bones being sharp and not handsomely turned, the horse is said to be ragged-hipped ; a defect, in point of beauty, according to the rule laid down in Hogarth's Analysis. The large carcased horse is generally
robust and durable, eats much, requires much vol. i. Y
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322 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
water, and digests well. One with a light
greyhound belly is speedy, most probably hot; if loose, and weak-loined, he is seldom worth his keep. These are such as give their jockies the slip, by running through the girths. But a light carcased horse, deep in the girth, and well filletted, may be among the most excellent, both for speed and dura- tion. Such are often found to be good and sufficient feeders, and of rare temperament. The goose-rump is, as well as the ragged
hip, another angular infringement of Ho- garth's curve of beauty. If the rump be too high, the hinder will press, too much, upon the fore-quarters in action. When the quarters droop, they are, in course, too short, and.the tail is set on too low. Round, full buttocks shew the common or cart-breed. To. be hipped, or hipshot, is to have
one hip lower than the other, and the flesh wasted on that side. It may arise from a blow or strain. A horse lame in the whirx-bone, or hip-
joint, drags his hind-leg after him, and drops backward when he trots. This lameness, and that of the stifle, if taken in time, and the subject be young, are always curable. The bay gelding, which I sold to the late
Mr. Beaufoy, member for Yarmouth, and |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C, 3£3
which he rode, I believe, nearly seven years,
I purchased lame in the whirl-bone, at five years old. In 17.97, at nearly twenty years old, he carried seventeen or eighteen stone, in the Hants Yeoman Cavalry. Stifled, or lame in .the stifle. < The
stifle is the knee-pan of the thigh; the liga- ments, by which it is articulated to the great bone of the hock, are sometimes over- stretched, and the stifle-bone may be moved, in all directions, by the hand. The horse will go lame, and only touch the ground with his toe. Bone-spavins are, in the hind, what,
splents are in the fore-legs, but always of much worse consequence, because usually nearer the joint. They are to be felt on the inside of the hough, or hock. They are said to be hereditary, as well as acquired by strains, the signification of which perhaps is, that a horse may be predisposed to them, by a natural moistness of constitution and laxity of the tendons. They occasion lame- ness, either perpetual, or at intervals ; and as, nine times out of ten, this is the case, after a pretended cure, it is satest to hold them incurable. Spavins, by the pain they occasion, generally prevent a horse from getting flesh. Y 2
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324 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
Bog-spavins, termed by the French,
vessigons, and improperly called blood-spa- vins by our farmers, are swellings like wind- galls, situate in the hollow or inside of the hock, and may also be seen and felt, on each side, without. When these prevail to any great degree, or the inside of the hock feels puffed or flabb}*, instead of close, dry, and elastic, it is the certain indication of hard service; and although it is often neglected, even by dealers, it is of the utmost conse- quence to examine the hocks minutely. We have the authority of Bracken, for their being safety curable, by excision, as well as windgalls, of which I entertain no doubt, although I have never experienced it. When they are large, they occasion lameness, parti- cularly at intervals. I have seen heavy, over- grown, three year olds, although they had never been worked, troubled with bog-spavins. A curb is a spavin situated along the
back part of the hock, just below the elbow, or extremity. It runs tapering downwards. After the curb has been extirpated by fire, I have usually seen the horse go lame. ThorougIi-pin. A tumour or wind-gall,
between the bones of the hock behind, which may be pressed by the finger to either side. Capped-hocks, formerly named by Blun*
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 325
deville, hough-bony. This is a swelling on
the point of'the hocks become callous. It is the general case of kickers, which wound their hocks, by striking against hard bodies. Jardons are hard tumours upon the
bending of the ham, on the outside. They arise, in manageci horses, from their having been kept too much upon their haunches, and occasion lameness. Sickle-hams, or sickle-houghs, in horses,
may be compared to knock, or nap-knees m men. The legs .bend, the hocks approach each other, a„d ihe feet are thrown out. It is an indication of weakness, as is every other breach- of proportion. Such horses, when yoitng, are often lame in the hocks, and will cut themselves, notwithstanding they ap- pear to go wide. They are reckoned speedy. Sallemders are, behind, the same as mallenders before. Rat-tails, scratches, crown-scab, grease, &c. are all visible enough, or to be felt upon the shank, coronet, and pasterns. What has been said of knocking before,
applies exactly to cutting behind. Good shape and condition are a security against this. A saddle-horse ought to be fri«ate- built, sharp in the keel, and spreading be- hind, in the quarters; of course, he ou^hfc |
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326 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, 8iC-
to go wide behind. When, a wide-going
horse cuts, it indicates weakness in the loins. To go hammer and pinchers, is to over-
reach, and strike the hinder toe upon the fore-heel; the wound thus occasioned was formerly called an attaint. A horse which, throws his haunches well forward in action, may occasionally strike the heel of the fore-, shoes, and such frequently-do it; but those which do it at every stnoke, and discover it by the noise their shoes make, are very dangerous to ride; in fact, fit for nothing but draught. When the thigh is too long, and the angle formed by the hock too ex- tensive, the horse is subject to spavins, from the too great weight thrown upon the hocks, also to over-reach. The string-halt, called by the old far-
riers, the mary-hinchcho, every one knows to be a sudden and preternatural catching up one, or both the hinder legs in action. The cause, obviously proceeding from over- contraction, no writer, that I know of, has attempted precisely to ascertain. All re- ceipts for its cure are good waste-paper. In horses which have it not in a very high degree, it is sometimes scarcely perceptible, but visible enough after a hard day's work. They should stand in a loose stable, and be as much abroad as possible. They are not |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 327
deemed unsound. I have heard the late
Mr. Tattersall say, he scarcely ever knew a string-halted horse which was not a good one. As much is generally averred in favour of rat-tailed ones. Perhaps their whole ten- dinous system is tough, firm, and dry. The" crib-biter, formerly called a ticker,
is sometimes distinguished by his dead coat, and thin appearance. These horses will stand biting at the rack, or manger, or even at a post, throwing themselves backward, and sucking in the air with greediness. It is a habit acquired when they are young, and which never forsakes them ; as I have known grown children, of thirty years^ of age, suck their tongues. Crib-biters are apt to ruin their teeth. I know not why, but I think bred cattle most subject to it. A variety of rules have been laid down to
determine the seat of lameness in horses, few of which, I believe, to be infallible. Very lit- tle else is to be discovered by the old method of turning a horse, which is lame before, short round, than that you have inci'eased his ,-pain. Osmer says, if a horse drags his toe upon the ground, the ligaments of the shoul-__ der are certainly strained, or perhaps even the scapula, or blade-bone dislocated, backward or forward. But strains of less consequence. |
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328 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
may happen to the shoulder, which are very
difficult to distinguish from those seated in the lower extremities. In such case, I know of no other rule by which to judge of the soundness of the shoulders, than that which I have already noted in Italics, a few pages back. Both the hand and the eye should be sedulously employed, in the endeavour to form a correct judgment ; the former much more than is usually the case. The pastern- joint should bejfcurjued bjjhe haiidt in order to discover any lurking uneasiness. The pa- tient himself, although unable to speak, will give very plain indications, in particular, by constantly attempting to favour the injured part. In strains of the, coffin-joint', or bone of the foot, the horse will stand with the toe only touching the_ground. In a liot^ or surbated foot, he will be altenmtely^ changing, or liftingjupjris feet. If a foot be pricked, or gravelled, or if the shoe set hard upon the soal or heel, or in short, if the horse have any complaint against the smith, he will frequently shew it, bv_ setting the in, jured foot upon the ojLher. Going short, and catching up the feet, as if the horse was treading upon hot iron, also denotes uneasy shoes, or tender feet. Horses with cramped or contracted sinews, or hurt in the kneq |
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APPELLATIYE3, QUALITIES, &C. 329
joints, as post-hacks frequently are, will fall
down suddenly in their walk. If a horse trot sideways, sometimes with one, sometimes with the other foot first, or if he perpetually tend to one side of the road, it shews univer- sal stiffness from hard labour, and the want of a long run at grass. Hurts in the loins are known by a rolling or wavering motion of the hind-quarters. In a sudden jerk or strain of the loins, the horse will seem to go, as it were, whole, and fixed behind, and upon his heels, as if foot-foundered. Horses are not so often lamed in the back-sinews, behind, as before ; but I have known several cases of the tendon of the hind-leg being suddenly let down, and, in the course of two or three weeks, by the help of bandage.and astringents, braced again and placed in statu quo. The symptoms were, lameness, and dropping suddenly at intervals; inflammation and tension ; after these had subsided, a palpable laxity, and softness of the tendon. The flying lamenesses, as they are styled,
Ml the shoulders, and lower joints of young, or unseasoned horses, it is the custom of far- riers to attribute to peccant humours. I must boldly avow my scepticism on this head, al- though Gibson and Bartlet be of the opposite party. They might just as well, in general, |
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330 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
I conceive, lay these griefs to the charge of
the lunar influence. They are often nothing more than the consequence of sudden and unusual exertion upon young and tender fibres, or those unaccustomed to stress and action. I know that copious bleeding and purging, much to the credit and emolument of the groom or farrier, are usually prescribed, and with success ; laut I have also repeatedly ^ seen a loose stable,, or a fortnight's run abroad,
succeed full as well. So much for humours which fiy about a horse ; they much oftener fly about the brain of his keeper. Horses are, in truth, sometimes subject to rheumatic pains, and the sciatica, or hip-gout. It is the opinion of many, that there is no
necessity for great substance in the shank and pastern, provided the sinew be Jarge and dis- tinct, and the loin wide and good,; in which, it. is insisted/ the chief strength' of the horse resides. BaretandOsmer are of this opinion; but I think it scarcely correct, since an equal distribution of substance is obviously as ne- cessary, as of length. Osmer, no doubt, in- tended to speak comparatively between the different species, and it is certain, that the southern bred horse, with his small hard^ .__j>]2aiik, and large^ dry, and tough sinew, is
able to move with a much larger proportional |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 331
weight, than the thick gross horse of these
northern countries. Nevertheless, to be able to carry:, weight, a large sinew should be at- tached to a shank, and joints proportionally large ; and the whole supported by a foot of compass sufficient to form a steady founda- tion. It is the result of my constant ob'ser- vation, that hacks, with large bone under the „ knee, will always endure most ^rattling over the hard road. Horses formed too bulky upwards, for their
lower extremities, are liable to various acci- dental lamenesses and defects, merely from the unequal pressure of their own weight. Hence windgalis, splents, spavins, and par- ticularly crookedness of the joints. These, and all early-grown cattle, should be put to work very late, in which case they will im- prove ; otherwise will seldom stand sound long. It is a mathematical truth, that a crooked joint cannot be so strong as a straight one," as a 9J3h^Hiil££i'2!0g' in proportion as it is perpendicular. There is a certain reason why St. Bel did
wrong in not quoting Osmer by name. In one case, he has very properly corrected him. Osmer, though an excellent writer, was a lit- tle too positive. He offers a method of shoe- ing, or paring one side of the foot of a colt, |
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3.32 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C
which is infallibly to prevent his ever turning
out his toes. But he erred in supposing the defect to be the mere consequence of early habit, since it is no doubt almost ever the result of natural conformation, and his pro- posed remedy might be attended with dan* gerous consequences. He, perhaps, received the opinion of the Stagyrite too literally, ** that Nature never errs,", which, if pre- dicted of her original determinations, is un- questionable ; but if of spontaneous and fortuitous action, is contradicted by every day's experience. It is a very just observation, that a hqrse_
cc can scarcely go too wide behind," and, that lie ought to be very wide across the_knee> forearm, thigh, and^Jiock^ But I have, as well as Bracken, seen now and then one, which exceeded in those particulars, and which were Jnapt for action in consequence, but robust and lmrdjfeedei's. A horse must obviously lose strength, if the hinder legs be too far ex- tended, and I have thence seen that wavering of the croup, noted by St. Bel, in both sad- dle and draft horses. Two extensive quarters press too much upon the fore-parts, and oc- casion the horse to over-reach. I know not whether it has been hitherto remarked, that a horse going wide behind, appears to an im- |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C. 333
skilled observer, to be lara§ of that hind-leg,
upon which his eye is dxed, notwithstanding it be perfectly sound ; but so it certainly is. The health and condition of animals is
ascertained by the gloss, sleekness, and even- ness of the_coat. If the horse's hair stare, or stick out, and look dead, he is diseased, or ill—fedl- If nits appear upon the extremity of the hairs, he has been lately at grass. The signs of vice and ill-nature in horses,
must be sought in the eyes_ and countenance^ A vicious horse, when he lays his ears and looks back, exposes the whites of his eyes, and his malicious intentions are very visibly- painted in his countenance. He stands commonly with his neck fixed, as if prepared for offence. Care should be taken "to discri- minate. The best natuied^ horses will, on the approach of man, lay their ears, smile, for they are most truly risible animals, and move their necks to and fro, in a wanton and playful manner. There is an es^'essiorjL 1 of nobleness and generosity beaming, from the ,ey_e_of a good, and well-teiru^ereg^horse.; and it is grievous, often to see the friendly ,,*./ advances of this excellent, this next to human," ~ ^^
^H^aiHi^. treated~wTth surly indifference, or cruel stripes. ------" Jockies say, « a horse should carry his
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334 APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C.
head in a proper place, when mounted;"
How is that ? So that his chin, or under jaw, recline somewhat under his windpipe, and his neck and head form a portiomof a circle. But this relates only to a slow pace. In the purchase of a horse, with the usual
warrant, we will suppose, the buyer ought to attend first of all to the most important considerations, in which being satisfied, it is vain to hesitate, since as the case stands, he may not meet that satisfaction every day. These, I think, are—age, ability to cany his weight, safe going, and good feet; free- dom from knocking, cutting, or over-reach- ing ; that there be no need of martingale, or crupper ; speed. What has been already said of form and
blood, the reader will find as strictly appli- cable, in general, to the hunter as thejhack^ _ney; but the former_not being required to trot, or to go much over hard jvaxk, are additional arguments in favour of thorough blood. Nor can it be doubted, that a bred horse, if not too high .upon the leg, from the cleanness of his make, and the strength of his sinews, is the fittest to carry twenty stone, over the deepest and most inclosed country. I have observed, that the Irish hunters
are the highest leapers in the world, from |
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APPELLATIVES, QUALITIES, &C 335
their being early trained_ thereto. Would
it not be advantageous, to bring all our colts of size and figure to the bar? Good standing-leapers are, I think, generally scarce; and some, which are good in that respect, will hesitate and boggle at their flying leaps. Perhaps an early attention might remedy those defects. |
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CHAP. VII.
ON THE PACES, AND THE EQUESTRIAN ART,
Oil MODERN METHOD OF RIDING ON HORSEBACK, AS PRACTISED BY BOTH SEXES.
I RESUME the description of the natural
paces, walk, trot, canter, and gallop, com- mon to all horses ; but of which, thejtrot is tne best j>ace of the northern, the gallop of t'^.™s.9ytjiem horse; and this distinction arises from their different conformation. In progression, the feet should be put ward *n an even and rectilinear direction, |
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336 THE PACES, AND
and the farther the forelegs are advanced,
the greater is the prospect of speed, the hinder-quarters, being thrown forward, in due proportion. The feet should be lifted up a middling
distance from the ground, so that the knee may appear handsomely bent, in action, particularly in the trot. Horses which lift their feet too high, are subject to the speedy cut, and may be very rough goers. Although sometimes very speedy, their labouring me- thod of going detracts from the power of continuance. Some of them, also, depending intirely upon their high form, are very care- less, and when they do fall, scorn to do things by halves. In the other extreme, are the daisey-cutters, namely, such as skim along the surface with a straight knee, these are absolutely useless, except they are racers or cart horses. There are, however, some horses, which go near the ground, and yet are perfectly safe by day, from a natural care: but they are disagreeable night hack- nies, their solicitude to keep themselves up, being a constant source of alarm to them- selves, and their rider. The walk is generally long and striding,
in proportion to the blood of the horse, contrarywise, short and shuffling. All horses |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 337
are improved considerably in their walk, by
keeping them long and frequently to it, pat- ting them on the quarter with the switch._ and obliging them to walk fairly without shuffling. Six miles in one hour is the ut- most that has ever been performed by a horse, in the walking way. The true trot is performed with a quick
and straight forward motion, and a bended knee. The horse which points out his fore- legs, and goes with his knee straight, is no trotter, whatever the old jockies may have said of their pointing trotters ; they lose time by oyerstriding : nor are such usually good hacks. But it matters not how far a trotter steps forward, provided his knee be suffi- ciently bent. Some trot too short, and tak- ing up their feet rapidly, appear to set them down almost in the same place. These are commonly bone-setters ; but I have known> now and then, one of them perform fifteen miles in one hour. The utmost speed of an English trotter, and I have reason to believe they excel all others, is a mile in about two minutes, nfty^seven seconds. Sixteen miles in one hour has been trotted sufficiently often, and with high weights; in my opinion eighteen is upon the trotting cards. Perhaps ten miles might be performed in half an hour. vol. i. Z |
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338 THE PACES, AND
The story of a gentleman's horse in Billiter-
square, which trotted thirty miles in less than an hour and a half, to be found in Bewicke's Quadrupeds, and in other publications, is, no doubt, the account of a capital perform- ance, upon paper ; but it is nonsense else- where. In Russia, Sweden, and Holland, they have fast trotters ; and, I have heard, superior in speed to ours, but my informants were not jockies. The canter is an abbreviation of the
gallop. The fore-legs should be put some- what farther forward than in the trot, the knees handsomely bent, the horse reclining sufficient1.}'' upon his haunches. If he bend his neck gracefully, rein we!!, and deal out his legs and feet, in an even and elegant manner, there is no pace in which a horse appears with such grace and beauty. It is truly the lady's pace. In the canter, the near or left foot leads the .way., The horse is brought into a canter, by pressing the jjght har^curb^ rein, and at the same time, lightly; and fre- quently touching his left side with the spur^ When perfect, he will take the pace easily, and without hesitation, on perceiving the ac- customed hint, whatever that may be ; and, in the same manner, will instantly stop, and sink into his walk, without boggling or danger. |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 339
This excellent, and most pleasant pace -of
the horse, from our general defective system of breaking, fy not' sufficiently attended to. Every colt, intended for the road or field, ought to be taught as handsome a canter, whilst in tackle, as his form will admit; in- stead of which, the few canterers we have, usually are to be taught that pace, in their work ; our four and five years old, too often coming up out of the country, as raw and ignorant of their paces as mountain goats. ie canter has been supposed incompatible
with fast trotting or at \L~,t- ■ j-
"■Hij,, 01 at least an impediment
to it, which is a vulgar error ; the extent, of
the stroke, and degree of bending the knee being nearly equal (with trotters) in both paces. Nor does the custom of canterinw at all add to the danger of a trotter's flying^out of his pace, which is the consequence of un- skilful riding ; and, m that case, he goes into ai&Upp, not a canter. Occasional cantering is moreover a great relief to fast trotters*" which are ever more_ shook and hurt, than any other description of horses._ Want of practice is the general reason why
horses will not canter long and steadily; yet there are certainly many which cannot be brought by any means to perform it well Others again, from their natural shape and z 2
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340 THE PACES, AND
inclination j will canter away freely, nine or
ten miles per hour, and continue it a whole^ stage. I have even known some which would canter pleasantly fourteen miles within the hour. These may be properly styled canter- ing hacks, and are very valuable. It is a pace to which all bred hacks ought, to be ac- customed, as they have seldom much expe- dition in their trot, and are the least liable to be shook by the hard road, in a canter. It is unnecessary to say much of the gal-
lop, in this place, it not being a pace cal- culated for road service. Common road hacks generally gallop too high, beside leaving their quarters too far behind them; some of them, nevertheless, free from those defects, have run twenty miles in one hour. Having some small pretensions, as a trot-
ting-jockey, the liberal reader will, I trust, grant me permission to mount my hobby, and dilate awhile upon my favourite pace. No arguments need be expended, in proving the trot to be the most useful of all the paces; the superior price of those horses, which excel at it, standing in good stead. Fast-trotting too is equally contributory to sport, as to business, and affords the amateur, or him who rides only for exercise sake, every day opportunities of gratification, |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 341
which cannot so conveniently or frequently
be obtained, upon the turf. I am ignorant how long it has been the
tashion to cultivate this pace, since trotting^ matches have never been admitted into our racing annals, and all authors are silent upon tlie subject; but suppose it be a natural concomitant of our improvement in the breed of horses. Our mixed breed, or chapmens' rses, are best calculated to excel in" this f ^ ernaPs there never was an instance , a b/ed horse being a capital trotter, or of performing more than fourteen miles in one hour; or if such instances have been, they are so rare, as not to affect the general principle. The reason of this inability in tne JS£g£i. I apprehend, to consist chiefly in his too great pliability of sinew, which oc- casions him to outstride the limited compass of the trot, and in the delicacy of his feejt and joints, which will not permit him to endure the rude concussion of the hard road inevitable in fast trotting. A trotter, as well as a racer, " must have
length somewhere," it must not however exceed in the legs. Horses, in general, trot well in proportion to the excellence of their shape, as I have already described it; and it scarcely need be remarked, of what c'onse- |
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I '2 THE PACES, AND
quence it is for a trotter, ou account of the
severity of his service, to go clear of ail his legs, and to have strong feet. But although an extensive counter shoulder is absolutely necessary to fast trotting, yet that extreme obliquity, or stant, so much in request for the racer, is not so to the trotter ; or rather perhaps would be disadvantageous. There is a certain fixedness, (so to speak) required in the trotting horse; he must not overstridp or ;.°iitJ™g§. himself, j'or, the instant he. straightens his knee (remark) he is beat. He must also throw his haunches well in. If that natural rapidity, that wire edge of speed, is not to be acquired, yet proper shapes will undoubtedly trot, and trotters are to be bred. They are divided into fair and running
trotters, of the latter (usually) speed is the best. > I am a bungler at description, and can - say, that the runner is distinguished by a EnHi&g motion, and does not bend his knees so much, or step out, so far as the fair trot- ter.. His pace, I conceive, to be somewhat similar to the racking of former days, already mentioned; it has also the appearance of being occasioned by hurts in the^kaftts ; and ©Id battered trotters frequently_becoine run.-,., ners in their latter day?. Or, after all, it may |
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THE.EQUESTRIAN ART. 343
be occasioned by bad breaking, and suffering
a confusion of the paces. Horses which jump and bound along like bucks, will never make trotters. An idea prevails with many, that trotting
horses are naturally stumblers, or at least dangerous to ride. It is totally' unfounded. They are, perhaps, merely from their mode of going, among the safest; nor is there any peculiar danger in the most rapid trot, provided your hack be well-shaped and sound. The notion has arisen from the miserably pattered state of raost horses of this de- scription. It may not be held unentertaining or un-
useful to such as are fond of the sport of trotting, if I dedicate a page or two to the memory of the chief of those horses which I have known to excel in this way. It is but just that they should inherit their fair por- tion of that celebrity, which the pao-e of equestrian annals confers on their elder bre- thren of the turf. The renowned Blank may be looked upon
as the father of trotters, since from his bastard son, Old Shields, and from Scott, the trott- ing stallions, have proceeded the best and the greatest number of horses of that qualifi- cation ; and to Shields and Useful Cub the |
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344 THE PACES, AND
Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk,
are in a great measure indebted for their
~£p fame, in the production of capital hacknies.
C «MMM«ii*iii i iinuiil in «■■'■■■■ ~""T^IJ-- - **■■*»
up was got by a black cart-horse out of a
_ chapman's mare ; of course his trotting stock
have run too much upon the round shoulder and buttock, and have been more remarkable for their speed, than stoutness. Scott was ^ got by Shields out of a hunting mare, and died about the year 1806. Pretender was got by Useful Cub out of a daughter of Pre- tender the race horse, a son of Marsk. Hue and Cry was, I believe, by Scott. The fastest trotter, as I have good reason
to suppose, which has ever been tried in England, was called Archer, from the name of the person who brought him to London; and from his having been bred in Norfolk, it is probable he was of the family of Old Shields. He was a bay gelding, full fifteen hands high, and master of fifteen stone. Be- ing the property of Marsden, the dealer, who also possessed the old one eyed _bjack gelding, at that time supposed to be the speediest trotter in England, for one or two miles, they were tried together ; and Archer proved to have the greatest speed, even for the shortest distance. I afterwards myself saw the black horse timed with the stop-? |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 345
watch, two miles, the last of which he per-
formed considerably under three minutes. With respect to the other, the rapidity of his burst, in the course of a mile's trotting, *which I witnessed, was truly astonishing; and I cannot conceive the rate of it could be be- low twenty-five miles per hour. It has been said of late, that an old gelding, the pro- perty, I believe, of one Cartwrigbt, which cut in the speed, was as fast as Archer, which I know from trials to be groundless, and that the old horse had not speed enough to trot along side Archer a single instant. This noble animal was sottishly and cruelly murdered, about twenty-five years ago, by be- ing trotted over the road in a hard frost He performed sixteen miles in fifty-four minutes and a half, carrying about eleven stone. The excessive shaking which he suffered from the hardness of the road, brought a fever and inflammation upon his feet, which, with the aidj)f suppressed perspiration, and improper treatment, soon killed him. , As Archer was the speediest, the well-known
brown mare, which died the property of Bishop, proved herself the stoutest, that is to say, the most lasting trotter in the world This mare was full fifteen hands and a half high, with bone sufficient to carry twenty |
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346 THE PACES, AND
stone ; shewed some blood, with a mixture of
the cart-breed, such as we frequently see in farmers' hacks. Her neck was short, her fore-hand well elevated, her shoulder deep., and counter-form, but not very oblique ; nor was she proportionably deep in the girth. She had sufficient general length, but was not long in the back, yet had plenty of room between her ribs and huggon bones, with good fillets. Her quarters were amply spread, and she
stood well before. In her latter days she was a dashing goer, inclining to the run ; but was never remarkable for speed, nor ever able, as I understand, to trot the mile in three minutes. In the year 1783, or thereabouts, she trot-,
ted over the Epsom road, sixteen miles in fifty-eight minutes and a half, carrying twelve stone, rode by Mr. Aldridge, who at present keeps the Repository in St. Martin's-lane* This I saw, and it was then said to be the first time, that sixteen miles in one hour, with twelve stone, had ever been trotted. In Oc- tober 1791, being then eighteen years old, she trotted on the Rumford road, sixteen miles in fifty-eight minutes, some odd se- conds, with twelve stone, or thereabouts, beating Green'j* horse, far fifty pounds. It was probably, within her powers, to have |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 347
trotted thirty miles in two hours ; which dis-
tance was actually trotted, in two hours and ten minutes, by Ogden's chestnut mare. Capt. Martineau and his father were pos- sessed of both Archer and this chestnut mare, at the same time, and the Captain has in- formed me, that on trial, the mare had the turn of speed for a short distance. The brown mare died January 30, 1794.
She had been nearly starved by running the winter in a park near Hounslow ; and the morning she was taken home, dropped down jdead, as^jthe boy was exercising her, after ^ _J£*t££i Very good portraits of the above two * mares may be seen in a monthly miscellany, by no means unentertaining, called the Sport- ing Magazine. A grey mare, called the locksmith's mare,
a runniug trotter, trotted seventy-two miles in six hours. In I793, Crocket's grey mare trotted one
hundred miles in twelve hours, and had' twenty minutes to spare. A five year old son of Young Pretender, I
have been informed, trotted, in 1792, in Lin- colnshire, sixteen miles in fifty-nine minutes, carrying fifteen stone. In April 1792, the yellow, bay gelding,
called Spider, and the old chestnut gelding, |
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348 THE PACES, AND
then near thirty years of age, above-mentioned
in the name of Cartwright, trotted thirty- two miles in two hours, between Stilton and Cambridge, ridden by the same person, weight nearly ten stone. Spider trotted the first twenty-four miles in an hour and half, bating a minute and half; and the old chesnut horse the remainder. It was said, that they could have performed thirty-four miles within the given time. * Spider was full fifteen hands, appeared s three-parts bred, and by his long sour head, shewed like the family of Bay^Malton. He ljjmckifltLverv much before, and had been fhed behind for a spavin, and sometimes could scarce rise when laid. It is remarka- ble, this horse had passed through the hands of several dealers, who never suspected his trotting, but called him a blood-horse. They also supposed him jinked in the back, from his lameness, on account of the spavin. He died in 1793. He was by no means speedy. My own brown mare, known by the name of Betty Bloss, was the slowest of all capital trotters; but at five years old, trotted fifteen miles in one hour, carrying fourteen stone, although fairly mistress of no more than ten. She afterwards trotted sixteen miles within the hour, at ten stone, with as much ease |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 349
to herself and her rider, as could any hack
whatever. She was nearly broken down at four years old, had bad feet, and besides had too much blood for a trotter, having been got by Sir--------Hale's horse, a winner of plates,
which coveredjn Kent, about the year 1772,
out of a three-part bred daughter of Rattle, son of Snip. Although so slow a gallopper, that it was a mere burlesque upon racing, to match her, she beat several well-bred hacks over the course, by dint of running every yard of the ground: and there is no doubt but she could have performed twenty- two miles in one hour, with eight stone. She repeatedly walked five miies within the hour, and, perhaps, was not to have been matched in Britain for variety and excel- lence of qualifications, being in the first degree docile, pleasant-tempered,' and safe, a tough and everlasting hack, a good hunter, and a capital lady's pad. ' It is with a melancholy pleasure that I thus write the euiogium of a poor departed servant, which cheerfully con- tributed during nine years, to the comfort and convenience of my life. She died in 1787. l he brown mare Phenomena, said to be
trie produce of a Friezeland horse and English hackney mare, was matched in .180G~to'trot seventeen miles in one hour, 0n the road |
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350 THE PACES, AND
between Cambridge and Huntingdon, which
she ^rio.ined in fifty six minutes, carrying. 6*<&9r^-~J2Lj£$> as I have been informed, riding five stone. She again performed the same in less than fifty three minutes. Her proprietor aftei wards matched her to trot nineteen miles within the hour, and received forfeit. He then offered nineteen miles and half, which was not accepted. Phenomena is about eighteen years old, and as nearly as I can guess, fourteen hands and half high, has a good lean head, handsome trotting shoul- ders, good loin, is tomewhat close made, goes clear behind, but does not stand even before. She rather goes to stay, than is remarkable for speed, and was enabled to the above great performances, by having a light weight to carry, the hint for which, was taken by the person who matched her, from pages 353 and 4 of this volume. Two years pre- viously, a subscriber to this work had made the experiment with seven stone. It is well enough known to those who re-
quest them, that capital trotters, whether for a single mile, or for distance, are always scarce, and command a high price ; and that it is extremely difficult to obtain them, until ^— they are in such a _bajttered^tate, that they are scarcely safe to ride ; the madness and |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 351
folly of their owners, always wearing out the
Sg !SlfeL«f these hw5sfeh« therr pace. As horSes trot from their »h I would recommend it to such sportsmen as tiesire a hack of this kind, to purchase a pro- mising one in his youth, either from his own search, or through tlie means of a dealer, who knows something of the matter, which, in truth, but few of them do. If a young trotter be obtained, it will be
perceived, m an instant, whether he has a natu al great bent of speed ; but if not, granting he be thorough-shaped, and can troi a mile in four minutes handsomely, he may improve, and become capital for a long dis- tance. In training a young trotter, take a ong time, keep him almost always within Himself, never trot him with a slack rein, or sutter h,m to hiteh, lead with one leg, or te get into a confused run between trottnd gal- lop ; but accustom him to pull weii ard steadily at you. Always oblige him to finish his trot in a walk, never in either canter or turn ; m -bich ~~~ CaSe' cause him to "distanceu^tis" ** W™»***i
not lose the^Tpiin *' r^M°^' do
.............................-.~- 'Pe£d *f?m old age, many hav- |
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352 THE PACES, AND
ing been known to trot as fast at twenty, and
even near thirty years of age, as they did in their pi ime; a solid recompence, surely, for the extraordinary care which these horses demand. As it is obvious, that the damage which trotters receive, in their feet, joints, and sinews, arises from their violent and in- cessant thumping the hard road, common sense will naturally prescribe moderate and sparing exercise, and soft ways; and when- ever you see a fellow wantonly rattling his trotter over a pavement, you may very fairly presume, a natural affinity, between the scull of the jockey, and the materials Avith which his course is strewed; and even if you go so far as to wish a happy contact between them, humanity herself shall forgive you. I would even recommend training a trotter on the turf, wherever that advantage can be ob- tained; far from rendering a hack unsteady in his trot, when he afterwards comes upon the road, he will trot more steadily for it; the chief reason for a good trotter flying into his gallop, beside bad jockeyship, being the soreness of his joints and feet. They must have the best grooming, and the constant use of a loose stable. To be able to perform sixteen miles in
one hour, a horse must have speed enough |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 353
to trot a mile iu considerably less than three
minutes and a quarter. If he be full of meat, and in work, from a fortnight Jo amonth's~ ^iminmg js sufficient; and "that "by no means, m the severe and rattling way which it is usually practised by our jSmithfield jockies, who sometimes contrive to win their match, and lose their nag. Four miles trotting in ..the .morning^ through the. last of which you must come along, and goocLwalking exercise -JlL..the afternoon, is fully sufficient. This ought to be preceded by a gentle dose of physic. If a.trial, all the way through* be held necessary, let it be as long as passible, consistent with condtion, previous to the i ace. Trotters should always be ridden with a
double-reined bridle, moderately curbed; and with respect to a jockey, I would advise a preference to be given to" one who belong to the running stables, and that n()t ^j* on the consideration of weight. Supposing
°>*e of this description, to be rather unac-
costenaed to trotting, he will train on suffi- .
ciently in fin/3, r ■ , . j uie course of exercise; and will
pouS^o^i^8 end8' Cer|ain .imP<*tant
will always be ^ TT ^^^^ assigned for Set£T u T™ ""^ vol i S a hu§e thundering fdlow |
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354 THE PACES, AND
upon a trotter, rolling from side to side,
sawing his jaws, and beating him out of his stroke, is, forsooth, that the weight may steaty the horse, and the jockey be strong enough to hold him; as if it did not require pulling with infinitely more effect and judg- ment, to make a waiting race with a hot and powerful horse, which is so often and SO well performed over the Beacon course, by a rider of eight stone. In trotting matches, no attention is usually
paid to weight, unless it be to set up a suffi- cient lump, for the sage reasons aforesaid; and I have actually known twelve stone chosen in preference to nine. But I submit it to sporting men, whether it consist with reason to exclude the general principle in this case, or whether weight can possibly be with- out its exact share of consequence, in a pace which sometimes equals the rate of twenty- five miles per hour. For my own part, I am perfectly satisfied on this head, not only from theory, but repeated experience; and can assure those, who wish to profit by trot- ting matches, that thev will find their ac- count, in paying due attention to the weight they put on horse-back. Let the sportsman beware, how he make his match in the winter season, when the roads are deep and |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 355
heavy; and if made fa summer, the proper
tune for a trotting race is early in the morn- ing, when the least impediment will be ex- perienced from traffic. Colt-breaking has not that attention
among us, which its importance demands. There is a general want of well-qualified men m this way, as well as of good farriers. Our chance-medley breeders either break t ieir horses themselves, or commit it to persons equally ignorant; whence the number . °"r Garroom, the breed and education of
which are so well matched. I have already given divers hints on this
part of the subject, and once more repeat my advice of teaching the coit a good canter. If it should be held proper to learn him to leap the bar, the utmost care must be taken- that he be not suffered to do it with a heavy weight, which may, in an instant, let down his tender sinews. It by no means injures a colt, of size and bone, to put a collar upon him, provided the draft be light and easy; for instance, plowing light sands; his know- ing how to draw, may be of after use and profit. The utmost care should be used to teach
a colt his paces distinctly. You will observe a number of horses, trained and ridden by 2a£
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356 THE PACES, AND
little farmers and countrymen, which confuse
and jumble the paces one into the other, shuffling between walk and trot, and trot and gallop, till they acquire a kind ofjacking pace, from which it is no easy task to reclaim them : or they will, perhaps, do one pace only. If the colt be unfavourably made forward, and it appear from the mal-con- formation of his neck, and the ill-setting on of his head, that he can never have a hand- some carriage, double care must be taken to give him a well-tempered mouth, the only thing which can possibly render a horse, of this unfortunate description, tolerable. Such as shew much blood, or stoop for-
ward, and lounge in their gait, in the usual manner of bred cattle, ouidit to be well set upon their haunches. The future goodness and value of the nag
materially depend upon eai'ly tuition. If he be defective in bending hj.s knees, let him be ridden daily in rough and s^ony roads; or if that fail, cause him to be ridden every dav, for a month, or more with blinds. Being blinded, lie will nahvrally lift up his feet. I have experienced the use of it. When ,a colt ilJ]e|l.acJtoiy, it is usual to
tame him, by riding him immodgrateiy over deep earth. It is a silly custom, and often |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 357
productive of great mischiefs, by weakening
-ikl^a^Jojntejaf a y0tfBg horse,Jareakmg his spirit, or rendering it totally desperate! Coolness and perseverance are here the re- quisites ; there is no horse with a stomach so proud, which a level course will not bring down. Ihe most proper period for breaking a
saddle-colt, is the usual one, when three years old. In the common mode of per- ormmg this premier act of horsemanship, there is very little variation, since Baret's days; or rather, it may be said, we have universally adopted his improved method. A head-stall is put upon the colt, and a caversane over his nose (from the old Italian word, cavazuna, Englished, by Blundeviilef cavetsan, or head-straine) with reins. He is saddled, then led forth with a long rein, and, in due time, lungech_ or led around a ring, upon some soft ground. As soonas he has become tolerably quiet, he is mounted a proper mouth and carriage given, and his paces taught. When sufficiently instructed he ought, in general, to be dismissed, until the following spring; an early period for serious business. There are some, who choose to defer break-
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358 THE PACES, AND
they often find just cause of repentance,
in the strength and stubbornness of the horse ; such practice would, however, be at least somewhat more safe, if a favourite method of mine were adopted, which is, to accustom colts to handling, to the halter and the bit, immediately upon their weaning. On the subject of riding on horse-
back, it is rather a hazardous task for an author to say any thing serious, after the immortal Bunbuiy's exquisite burlesque of Geoffrey Gambado, which ha> convulsed all those of the present time, who have any tolerable portion of the animal risibile in their composition. One would also wonder .hoy there could be any unskilful or barbarous horserffieft jamong us, since such judicious and liumane rules have been long since at- tainable, for the modet'a^e_^ujn^f,^ij^,sJnlrM ling, in the truly excellent pamphlet of my old acquaintance, Professor Charles Hughes._ But thus it is ; neither the light but poignant shafts of ridicule, nor the sage admonitions of us pains-taking authors, are able to pre- vail upon the bulk of the people to become good jockies. Jlear ^okl^B^mideyjlle^jipon this affair:—" Of which knowledge, what " lacke we English haue had, and speciallie *." haue at this present, is best seene at a |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 359
" muster, when the Queen's Maiestie hath
< need of horses and horsemen, where often- ' times you shall see some that sit on their horses like wind-shaken reeds, handling their hands and legs like weauers: or if " the horseman be good, then the horse for " his part shal be so broken, as when he " is spurred to go forward, he wil go back- " ward; and when his rider would haue him ' to turne on the right hand, he will turne cleane contrarie: and when he should stop he will arme himselfe, and run awaie, or else stop sooner than his rider would haue him, or use such like toies." Hear farther thej^rm-headed, but well-meaning^ Mfchaer Tkret? — " Also, hee must carry " his body upright, neither yeelding too " farre backe (as if hee were pulling at a " great tree, nor too forward as if he were " asleep, for these two motions serve to " other ends (as hereafter shall be showne) *'. neither to sit on one side, like a crab, or " to hang his body ouer, as if he were drunken, as I have seen some horsemen doe. Neither ought he to carry his legs so close to his horse's sides, that he cannot give " any motion therewith, except hee first " thrust them forth.—Neither must he " carry his legs (out) staring like stilts (with- |
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360 THE PACES, AND
" out ioynts, as Saint George painted on
" horse-backe) before his horse's fore- " shoulder," &c. I have been as correct as possible, in the orthography of the above quotations, for the use of that worthy gen- tleman, who lately published certain genuine Shakspearian_ M S S.; and who, no doubt, has more in petto, for the farther amusement of the public. The present times, mature however they
ought to be in the science, are far enough from deficient in caricatures of horsemanship. Observe that tall, thin figure, riding up Rotten Row, bolt-upright upon his horse, as though he were impaled, his stirrup-lea- thers of an excessive length, the extremity of his toe barely touching the stirrup, as if afraid of it; his lilly hands adorned with ruffles volant, and his head with a three- cocked hat, as sharp as a north-easter ; the head of his steed decked out with extraor- dinary trappings, and the stern secured by a crupper. This is a Toe-jockey, or a taylor on horse-back. But let not my readers misunderstand me. I here speak not of actual, but virtual taylors ; such, by virtue of a figure. Far be it from me, to speak with the least disrespect of a profession, which has produced so many heroes, in the |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 36l
ninth degree superior to ordinary men. To
go no farther, witness that noble English taylor to whose memory one of the chief cities of Itaiy erected a statue, on account of military virtues—those gallant taylors, who> jn j-he war before the last, plunged with their horses into the Thames, and swim- ming across, hastened to gather laurels in the bloody fields of Germany—and that Hercules in fields of more pleasant descrip- tion, the celebrated taylor of Brighton. Let it be remembered also, that every profession which conduces to public and private benefit, is honourable—and, moreover, that it would ill become a poor author to writfe contume- liously of taylors, who are, in general, such creditable men. Some you will see, who under the mistaken
notion, that it is the go, to lean forward, because they have seen something like it, at a race, hang quite over their horses necks : these equestrians make a small mistake, by ■.bending at the; hip-joint instead of the'mid- Jtlgjgf thi spinie, which, by protruding their postic parts, sives them the semblance of aemg JUst in the act of offering an oblation to ^the necessary goddess. Others thrust their legs out from the horses sides, in de- fiance of an or-dinary gateways. Behold |
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362 TriE PACES, AND
that knowing dog from Rumford, or the
interior of Essex, with a quid in his mouth, an Indiaman waving from his squeeze, his horse shuffling along, dot and go one, or budging forward in that delightful rack, between trot and gallop; the rider's whole foot, and part of his leg, thrust through the stirrup, and his toe projecting downward, as if he meant to dig a hole in the road; he rows the living engine along, by alternately striking the flank and shoulders with his heel and toe, whilst his arms, in unison, beat the devil's tattoo against his own sides. The modern seat on horse-back, and it seems to have owed its establishment to reason, confirmed by experience, is, to set naturally and easily upright upon your sad- dle, as you wouidjn^our_chair; your knees about as much bent, and turned inward, your toes somewhat out^ and upward, your leg fall- ing nearly straight, and your foot home in the stirrup; your ba^ckj^b_oneprepared to bend in _the middle, upon occasion, your elbows held close to your sides, your hands rather above the horse's withers, or the pommel of the sad- dle, and your view directed between his ears. This is .the true turf or Newmarket seat*. and the best exemplification of it, that I am able to give, is the portrait of Samuel Chif^_ |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 363
jyT' tb<effK&gy, Upau a horse named Baronet,
once the property of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wale . ne aeciiiie of Riding-house forms in this
country, and the universal preference given to expedition, fully confirm the superior 11 * and propriety of a jockey-seat. Indeed, orf J[iding-schools are now considerably re- former from .he stiffness of ancient j) ractice, Uj an respects; but the reader, on a refe- rence to Hughes's publication, will find, we do not entirely agree. It was the practice formerly iu the schools, and, indeed pretty generally upon the road, to ride with the tip of the toe only in the stirrup; as if it were of more consequence to prepare for falling with safety, than to endeavour to sit securely. Those who preserve a partiality for this venerable custom, I would advise to suspend a final judgment, until they have made a few more essays upon a huge, cock-tail half-bred; of that kind, I mean, which " cannot go, and yet won't stand still;" and will dart from one side of the road to the other, as
if they
really desired to get rid of their bur-
rest- K°r iS the ba11 °f the f°0t a ProPer
' Caiefly, because inconvenient to that e'eC ' °r rather almost kneeling posture,
w uch is required in speedy riding. The |
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364 THE PACES, AND
riding-house seat is preserved, py Jtlre ,ba^ance
or eguipoise of the body, solely ; that_ re- commended here, by the firm hold of knee, which is obviously strengtbenecTby the op- posite directions of the knee and_ toe, the _one_in, the .o^her^Qutward.. The use of a fixed seat is to enable the rider to give his horse the proper pulls, without which every experienced jockey knows he can neither go steadily and well, nor last his time. It is not the custom^pf the.....schools to spur the
horse with a kickj but spurring is ^always
so performed, upon the road and__fiel_d,; as the military mode ofgi}2ng that correction would quite derange a jockey-seat, and would be on other accounts inconvenient. The late M. St..Bel intended to have pre-
sented us with an essay upon English equita- tion ; a subject, wherein I judge he would have failed, from a want of practical expe- rience. His intention was doubtless to have recommended our return to the military or jndm^-h^u^jRmns, to which alone, he had been accustomed, in his own country ; the constant aim also of our riding-masters-; so much in nature it is, to be prejudiced in favour of our own peculiar habits, an argu- ment which I have no objection to see turned against myself. The war, in truth, has very |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 365
much diffused the habit of military riding,
and we had, two or three years since, a very curious example of it upon the turf. A gentleman engaged to ride four miles against another, with the condition of preserving the military seat and attitude, throughout the course, which he performed and won the match. We are not however to con- clude from a single fact, that such is the most safe, easy, ad advantageous mode of jockeyship, or that he who skilled in one particular, is of necessity, equally expert in every other branch of an art or science. Major Jardine says, that men are fre- quently good officers of foot, and yet have very little knowledge of the peculiar duties of the cavalry; and to take an example from lower life, many dealer's in fat stock, have little or no judgment in lean stores. There are many persons unaccustomed
to riding on horseback, who, when thev occasionally mount, are very justly anxious both for their personal safety, and their appearance. It is for the benefit of these I write. If they will immediately adopt my rules, they wiil not only make a respectable horseman-like appearance, but will place themselves in the line of improvement and in a situation the best calculated to insure |
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366 THE PACES, AND
their safety. Instead of being unable to
keep their spurs/Jx-twoa the horse's sides, they would, with a proper seat, experience considerable difficulty in reaching them. It is too often neglected, even by people who are fond of horses, to teach their chil- dren a good seat, thinking it probably quite sufficient if they can but stick fast; and I have seen young gentlemen riding with their fathers, in a very vulgar and unbecoming style. I cannot speak to the antiquity of the'
English fashion of rising in the stirrups during a trot, and of preserving time with the motions of the body, in unison with those of the horse; but I think the know- ledge of it is discoverable in Baret, and in no author before him. It would be super- fluous to give directions on this practice, which will be instantly acquired by observa- tion and use. The same may be said of the gallop, which is performed, on the rider's part, like certain other pleasant actions, kneeling; the pulling of the horse helping to keep the rider steady. In the canter, the rider sets upon his seat, as in an easy chair. The method of giving the wriggling; helps with the bridle, either in thejjalkvp, or swift trot* tQ^encourage a horse forward, must be |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 367
acquired by practice. The first-ate Eng-
lish horses, and the best examples of horse- manship, are to be seen in Rotten Row, Hyde Park; where for many years past, it has been the prevailing custom to take the morning ride, and where jnojpjerson of decent habit and {ferae&aouf1 is refused admittance, The following directions for a just seat
on horseback, are transcribed from Blun- deville, « And see that you do not only sit ;'€ him boldhe, and without feare, but also " conceive with yourself, that he and you " do JH^ke as it were but one bodiej and '•' that you both have but_ onejsenseand one " will. And accompanie him" with your '' bodie in any mouing that he maketh, ''alwaies beholding his head right betwixt : his eares, so as your nose maie directlie
** answer his foretop. Which shall be a " signe unto you to know therebie, whether '« you sit right in your saddle or not. And " let the ridge-bone of your back be euen : with his. And let your left hand, holding
" the reanes of the bridle, be euen with his (' cveast, and in anie wise keep your thighes " and knees close to the saddle, holdino H d°Wne your jegs straight, like as you do ;, Jhen y°u are on foote. And let your teete rest upon the stirrups in their due |
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368 THE PACES, AND
'** p!aces, both heele and toe standing in
" such sort, as when you shall turn your *-' head, as fane as you can on the one side, " Avithout mouing your body, and looking " downward to your stirrup, you shall " perceiue that your toe doth directlie " answere,the tip of your nose: and accord- " ing as the saddle is made, so shall you " ride long or short. But alwaies let your c 'right stirrup be shorter than the, other
ci±yJial£aJjQJe." Page 5, first Book of The Art of Riding. " Likewise his legs must be pendant of
" an equal distance from the horse's sides, " his feete so leuil in the stirrops as they are " when he waiketh on the ground, neither " must his stirrop lethers be so long, that his " chiefest labour shall be to keepe his feet "'' in them (for so a man shall loose his true " seat by stretching his legges, as if they " were on the tenters) nor so short that he " shall be raysed from his true seate (the " pitch of his knees being dislocated from " the points of the saddle) nor ought one " stirrop to be longer than the other (in my " judgment) although many worthy mer " haue set that order downe. My reason " is, in regard the man must haue a true "and vpright seate, and nature hath made |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 369
*' made his legges (which are the supporters
u thereof) one not longer than another, " but of an equal length; therefore I cannot " see how the body should be kept direct, " the legges one of them hanging sider than " another."—Baret, chap. 13. Before I resume the thread of my own dis-
course, I shall present the reader with a few useful hints from Mr, Hughes. : If you would mount with ease and
: safety, stand rather before the stirrup, ff than behind it; then with left hand, " take the bridle short, and the mane to- " gether, help yourself into the stirrup with " your right, so that in mounting, your '■? toe do not touch the horse. Your foot " being in the stirrup, raise yourself till " you face the side of the horse, and look *c directly across the saddle, then with your " right hand, lay hold of the hinder part " of the saddle, and with your left, lift " yourself into it. " On getting off the horse's back, hold
" the bridle and mane in the same manner 1 as when you mounted, hold the pommel ••' of the saddle with your right hand ; to " raise yourself, bring your right leg over " the horse's back, let your right hand hold '( the hind part of the saddle, and stand a <: moment on your stirrup, just as when vol. i. ■ 2 B |
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SJO The paces, and
* you mounted. But beware that in clis-
sc mounting, you bend not your right ki.ee, ' lest the horse should be touched by the ** spur. Grasp the reins with your hand, " putting your little finger between them. Sf Your hand must be perpendicular, your " thumb uppermost upon the bridle. " Suffer him not tojmger the reins (the
'/groom, in holdings the. llQrse) but only to " meddle with that part of the headstall, " which comes down the horse's cheek: to " hold "& 'hpfrse by the curb, when he is to_ " stand still, is very wrong, because it puts <{t him, to needless pain., <— " When you are troubled with a horse
<c that is vicious, which stops short, or by •' rising or kicking endeavours to throw " you off, you must 30^ bend your body " forward., as is commonly practised in such " cases; because that motion^ throws the " breech backward, and moves you from " your fork~or twist, and casts you out of " your seat; but the right way to recover " your seat, or to recover it when lost, is, " to advance the lower part of your body " and to bend back your shoulders and " upper part. Injiying or standing leaps, " a horseman's best security is, the bending cs back of the body. |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 5j»
<< The rising of the horse does not affect
" the rider's seat; he is chiefly to guard " against the lash of the animal's hind legs ; '* which is best done, by inclining the body " backward. Observe farther, that your " legs and thighs are not to be stiffened, " and, as it were, braced up, fouW<J0'%rinl, !' »hott^-be kx aed-ptiafele.:-lifee-the <lofcfeti-_ " man's onjiisbqx. By sitting thus loosely, ' every rough motion of the horse will be l' eluded ; but the usual method of fixing the knees, only serves, in great shocks, ? to assist the violence of the fall. To save >" yourself from being hurt, in this case, you **. must yield a little to.the horse's motion j. " by which means you will recover your " seat, when an unskilful horseman would '• be dismounted. " Take, likewise, particular care not to
•' stretch out your legs before you, because "' in so doing, you are pushed on the back *f of the saddle; nor must you gather up ••' your knees, as if riding upon a pack, for then your thighs are thrown upwards. Let your legs kang perpendicular, and sit '•' not on the thickest part of your thighs " but let them bear inwards, that you'r •'•' knees and Ue$ may incline inwards like-wise." I have hrkrp assigned a reason for the pre- 2 b 2
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37? THE PACES, AND
sent practice of riding with the knee some-
what bent, and the toe turned in a small degree ^outward, and upward; and this small deviation will, by no means, affect the general utility of Hughes's system. He pro- ceeds:—" If you find your thighs are thrown ^upwards, open your knees, whereby your ' fork will come lower on the horse. Let ' t,le .hollow, or inner part of the thighs, '.jpsp jlie saddle, yet so as to keep your ' body in a right poise. Let your heels ' hao^ strait down, for while your heels are c in this position, there is no danger of " falling." The following is an excellent rule:—" If
' your horse grows unruly, take the reins ' separately one in each hand, put your ' arms forward, and hold him short; but e pull him not hard with your arms low ; ' for, by lowering his head, he has the more ' liberty to throw out his heels : but if you '_raisejiis heaj^jiigh^^y^ujcaii, this_will ' prevent him from rising before^ or behind; ■ nor, while his~TTeacl is in this position, can ' he make either of these motions." " Is it not reasonable to imagine, that
' if a horse is forced towards a carriage ' which he has started at, he will think, he is ' obliged to attack or run against it ? Can |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. °i°
h it be imagined that the ride£s_ spurring
" him on, with his face directly to it, he " should understand as a sign to pass it ?"— —- These rational queries, I submit to the se- rious consideration of such as are fond of always obliging their horses toJouch:those objects, at which they are, or affect to be frightened. It may be remarked, that most of the
riding-school gentlemen are very fond of horses carrying their heads high.; a form much more suitable for state and parade, than real business. Almost all the Arabians ( / which come over hither, and which have
been worked m their own country, go_in that manner. Work indeed will bring the head down, but, perhaps, with the nose pushed straight out. Horses, of this form, are ridiculed by Baret, under the name of Astronomers, and Star-gazers. Indifferent horsemen should never ven-
ture on horseback without spurs. Let them reflect upon the predicament, of being placed between a deep ditch, and a carriage, at which their horse shies. There is a circumspection to be adopted
advantageously by the unskilful, which will at first, give them the semblance, afterwards |
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374 THE PACES, AND
the realitv, of good riding. The method
of taking a rein in each hand occasionally, much in use of^ late^ j^ears, gives the rider great command over the mouth, neck, and /ore-quarters of a horse. A good horseman, without pressing too
much on the mouth of his horse, is always prepared to assist him, in case of a blunder, with the united exertions of his arm, chest, shoulders, and loins; and, from the force of constant habit, this comes instinctive!}*, as it were, for the occasion, even if the accident be unnoticed, or the mind otherwise engaged. Both hands upon the bridle are necessary and becoming, in riding fast down steep descents, or stoney ways ; and it is extreme folly to commit the reins to the neck of the presumed safest horse. Some speedy and jadish horses will, after
" they have got their gruel," by being tra- velled briskly, thirty or forty miles, at the next, stage, fall into a slow trot, bend their necks, foam at^ the mouth, refuse to bear an ounce^ugon thejiit, and keep perpetually upon the curvet, as if they longed to be upon the parade. Whenever this happens, the best way of concluding the business, is to walk them the remainder of the jonrne}', |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 3f3
and then give them a week's rest: You may
choose whether yoTTwTU rids""thein another journey. I have no apprehension at all of ridicule,
for writing a Treatise upon sore backsides, since I am sure it will not proceed from the afflicted, and my observations are not ad- dressed to the class of sound-bottoms. Se-* riously, the dreadful manner in which some people chafe, deters them entirely from, the most pleasaxrt and healthy exercise in the world; and, in fact, makes a journey on horse-back, of any length, totally impracti- cable. Bracken's directions, ia this case, are excellent, and, I should think (for, hap- pily, I have no experience herein) if attended to, fully sufficient. Timely precaution is the chief dependance. The means, a good saddle, with proper room in the seat, and the same for the knees ; and a hack, which does not go too high, or step too short. A good stock of diachylon plaister ouoht to be at hand, a large piece of which must be applied, as soon as the skin begins to be fretted ; but to prevent which, nothing wil[ so much contribute, as frequent immersion of the thighs and hinder parts in cold spr |
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water. —J----a-
Freviously to further proceeding Qn the
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376 THE PACES, AND
Art of Riding on Horseback, I shall say a
few words on the modern horse-furniture, in use, either for road or field. I have already adverted to the variety of
bits and bridles, in use in former times, when, as we are informed by Madox, in his History of the Exchequer, they even bestowed names upon their saddles. Our bridles, at present, are either curbs,
double and single, or snaffles, either single, or accompanied with a check-cord and rein ; the reins either brown or black leather, quite plain, the headstall without a nose^ band, or any ornament of ribband in front. The curb-chain, and its application, is
well known. The double-bridle has two bits, snaffle and curb ; the latter with checks mo- derately long, light, and thin, and with a joint, like the snaffle, or whole, and known by several names, according to its form and effect. The use of a curb-bkidle, which, indeed,
js generally the most proper for road service, is to bring the horse's head in, to lift up his fore-quarters, and set him sufficiently on his haunches. This, of course, contributes to his going light in hand, and safely above the ground. The curb is to be used in those two paces, where stride is to be repressed.. |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 377
to wit, the trot and canter: in the walk and
gallop, where a h0rse cannotJkin£e out too far, the snaffle is ever the most fittmg" The proper way to ride with the curb-
bridle, is to hold both reins together, at dis- cretion, curbing the horse no more than is absolutely necessary; for which reason, the single curb-rein, with which the horse's mouth finds no favour, is an unfair and fool- ish contrivance. By being constantly curbed, his mouth becomes so case-hardened, that you are e'en where you set out, if you intend an improvement; relieved indeed, it is true, from the mighty trouble of holding two reins. It is necessary to observe carefully, that
the curb-chain be not fastened above the snaffle-rein, and that it be_liooked_.sufficiently loose, not to press too severely upon the horse's mouth. """*"" The Snaffle, it is remarkable, used to be
formerly reckoned one of their severest bits ; at present it generally signifies a mild one; although, it be true, we have hard and sharp °nes for some horses, the benefit of which 1S yery Problematical. The check, is a cord m the place of the curb-chain, which com- presses the under jaw, and is intended for a hard-pulling horse. This is chiefly in use |
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378 THE PACES, AND
upon the course. In swift action, whether
indeed it be gallop or trot, the horse must have the free use and extension of his neck and head. In a gallop, the curb lifts a horse up too much, and besides, he cannot pull fairly and well against it. Our general practice of breaking colts
with large and mild bits, is highly rational; and, if sharp bits, of all kinds, w^ere entirely excluded from our equestrian system, the change, in my opinion, would be full as much in favour of our own convenience, as of the feelings of the animal. If the mouth of a horse be already too hard, such rigorous means will surely never contribute to sof* ten it. The martingale was invented two or
three centuries past, by Evangelista, a cele- brated Professor of Horsemanship, at Milan. Its utility, in colt-breaking, is unques- tionable. The running-martingale, only, is safe to ride with upon the road, and many people even hunt, and take their leaps with them. It is scarcely possible to ride those horses without martingales, particularly in the summer season, which have acquired the troublesome habit of tossing up the head ; nor do I know of any other means to reclaim them. |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 379
The English saddle (I speak of those made
by capital artists) is highly improved within the last twenty or thirty years; not only in respect of symmetry, fitness, and beauty, but of ease, both to the rider and the horse. But nothing has contributed so much, in the modern saddle, to the ease and convenience of the rider, as the forward projection of the pads, where the knees rest, and the situation of the skirts, or flaps, above and below the knee. It is true, the knees are apt to be galled in a long journey, by the stirrup-lea- thers, which are now placed without the long flap; but they may be occasionally drawn beneath it. The saddle is secured by two girths only, and those placed exactly one over the other, appearing as if single. The circingie is out of fashionable use, except upon the turf, and saddle-cloths, are, at present, laid aside. As for the crupper, nothing is deemed more unsportsman-like and awkward; and whether from prejudice or not, I cannot help conceiting, it always detracts from the. figure of the horse. Where a horse has a good shoulder, and the saddle fits him, a crupper is totally unneces- 6a,T; but I cannot commend the taste or Patience of those, who, to avoid the ubn fashionable appearance of a crupper, wiil |
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S80 THE PACES, AND
submit to the risk of riding upon their horse's
neck, or the trouble of dismounting every four miles, to replace their saddle—If a martingale also subsist in this case, it is truly a pitiable one. When it is absolutely necessary to submit to be cruppered, observe that the strap be very broad and soft, that it may not chafe the horse's rump ; and that a candle be sewed up within that part which goes beneath the tail. For horses that are in danger of slipping through their girths, it is necessary to provide a breast-plate, which is fastened to the saddle. We have had several late inventions
respecting saddles, for which patents have been obtained. Some pretend, their saddles are constructed of whale-bone; others are contrived, by means of a screw, to contract or dilate, so as to fit any horse. Of the merits of these inventions, I am unable to speak from my own experience. Let me here endeavour to press it upon
the recollection of all persons, how cruel it is, from carelessness or indifference, to suffer the furniture of an animal, which is cheer- fully wearing out his life in their service, to wound or bruise his flesh, and so keep him. in a constant state of torture. How often do we see silly or insensible people, who, |
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the-equestbian art. 381
from an idea- of supposed convenience,, or
the still more contemptible one of inflicting punishment upon misfortune, with theiu Jl2E£LHEk^JSLlH£hl a__degre^a^^o, fill ^ their_ mouths with blood. TI^_natives_pf
Barbary, and even the Arabs J:here, totally tz%+/U degenerate from thejmld virtue of humanity *** , to beasts, practised in their parent country, ''*' ^^et- are the most cruel to their horses of any people in the world. They ride with long and sharp spikes affixed to their stirrups by way of spurs, with which they are constantly goading and wounding the bellies of their horses, in a long line, as far as the flank; whilst their awkward, ponderous, and cut- _ting_bits, lacerate, the mouth, till it stream with biood. Is it not almost enough to make an humane man curse the system of . , nature, which has thus permitted one brute to insult the feelings, and riot in the misery of another? Previously to mounting, every gentleman
will find his account in examining the state of both horse and furniture, with his own eyes and hands ; for however good and care- ful his groom may generally be, it is a maxim that too much ought uot_tp__be expected from the head of him who Ia"bours^w§i Jbis hands. Besides, all such sedulously avoid; |
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382 THE PACES, AND
trouble, particularly in nice matters. For
example, see that your curb is right, that your reins are not twisted, that your girths, one over the other, still bear exactly a ike ; that the pad be not rucked up ; but above all, that your saddle stand exactly level upon the horse's back. I have known capi- tal grooms in the service of sporting gen- tlemen, so careless in placing a saddle, that it has absolutely worn awry, and would never stand even afterwards. In JorjRNEY-riding, every person ought
to know, that no great performances are to be expected from a hack, which is not in thorough condition. If he have been lately fromjgrass, or straw-yard, or have been kept within, upon the saving plan of abridging his food in proportion to his work, a favourite measure with some people, he will receive damage from a long journey, however good he may be in nature: in such case, from thirty to five-and-forty miles is a sufficient day's w-ork. If his journeys are to be con- tinued, from twenty to thirty-five miles per day, will be found enough ; and in such mo- derate work, with good keep, that is to say, at least a peck and a quarter of corn every day, the horse may improve in condi- tion. |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 383
With respect to the capital performances
of our fest-rateJJgngKgh hacknies^I have, I lie eve, known some few, capable* of tra- velling one hundred and twenty -jnufea in twelve Jiours";' but such excessive trespasses upon the vital powers of the animal, are cruel and mrjus^; and never ought to be attempted but upon the impulse of uncontroulable necessity. These_murderous feats^ should be ever excluded from the sporting system, which, in no sense, needs them. J have often observed, that our best horses* when in the highest condition, lose their cheer- fulness, and their stomach, if ridden more than four-score miles in a day; but that distance they will travel, and even continue it for three or four successive days, if they are skilfully ridden, and well attended. Every body knows that a good nag will go fifty or sixty miles in a day, with pleasure, and even continue it awhile, if need be. There is a frequent deception in horses,
which, for the sake of humanity, I must not omit to mention. Many of thein, ap- parently well-shaped, with good action, and in perfect health and condition, are yet unable to endure any severe service. Thirty or forty miles, if they are obliged to travel it expeditiously, usually puts an end to tbeix |
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. 384 THE PACES, AND
_ appetiteand their ability. The_defeet wa£lie
J^heiiLioins, and is sometimes visible in their thinness, and faulty conformation. Such horses should never be travelled at a quicker rate, than about seven miles per hour, for a con- tinuance ; whereas, a good one, will per- form eleven, the stage through, without inconvenience: but in such expeditious travelling, the stage ought never to exceed two or three and twenty miles. In a long clay's journey, it is preferable
to feed moderately during work, and more largely in the evening and morning. For common occasions, precise rules arc
superfluous; but if you wish to " go along" with your nag, through the piece; at no fate, get upon his back until a full hour after he shalljbaye finished his bait, with which, my opinion, water should be allowed him-. Does any man doubt the utility of this ob- servation? Let him eat a hearty English dinner, drink part of a bottle of Port, rise immediately from table, and run two miles at his rate; at pulling up, he and I will argue the case seriatim, previously to his pro- ceeding two miles farther. Our elders have taught us not to give a
horse cold water, whilst he is in a state of perspiration ; and it is of almost equal con- |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 385
sequence, that we remember, never to suffer^
one in that state, to remain anff considerable time with his feet in cold water, either in winter or summer. Baret records a case ..■--,r. ■ ■ —\
of a hunter, spoiled by this practice; and I
have known several horses irrecoverably foundered by it: the last instance, within my observation, was of a bay gelding, the property of a gentleman in my neighbour- hood, lie was driven liard in a chaise, and, whilst very hot, suffered to stand some -.six or seven minutes in a brook, and has been ^oot-foundered, and incapable of quick draught ever since. Let the adventurous reader know, this practice may be often used with impunity, and yet once too often. The beginning, and the end of the stage,
should ever be performed as slowly, as con- venience will admit; if possible, water within three miles of the end. Your horse beino- cool, no clanger need be apprehended from his discretion; if moderately warm, appor- tion his drink accordingly, and ride him gently forward. In this favourable state, a horse will be ready for his corn in a quarter of an hour; and his legs may be washed, up fa_.foe _kg£^ but no Inoher, in cold water, either in the stable or out. The hostlers, at all considerable inns, are
vol. I. 5 C
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386 THE PACES, AND
generally intelligent enough as to the proper
stable treatment in common cases; but a horse with the effects of violent exertion upon him, demands extraordinary care. If / j&oid or damp weather, lead instantly to the
•stable, choosing a situation therein free from
any current of air. Litter up to the hocks with fresh dry straw. Loosen the girths, without moving the saddle, and throw a dry cloth over the loins. Let the face, ear-roots^ / throat, and neck, be gently rubbed, and
then proceed, whilst the horse is eating a
mouthful of sweet, well-shaken hay, to wash his feet and legs, up to the hock, with warm water. Nothing can be more bene- ficial than the warm water, in cooling and refreshing a horse, under these circumstances, and in abating the excessive and painful ^tension about the muscles; but no person must expect that an hostler will have re- course thereto, unless it be positively or- dered ; it being a standing maxim with all labouring people, to avoid trouble, and dis- countenance novelty. After the above opera- tion, and tha* the belly be pretty Avell cleaned, it will .be probably time to strip the horse, and rub him gently down. Sup- posing the time to approach for the com- mencement of the next. stage, the feed of |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 387
_oats, with which about one-third of dry*- ^
_Jbeans has been mixed, should be offered, as soon as the horse is tolerably dry. Half a pail of blood-warm water should be allowed at twice. The inside of the saddle should be made dry and comfortable, a thing scarcely ever thought of, but if that be impracticable, from the excessive quantity of sweat, a dry, fresh saddle-cloth, I have often found to b'e a great refreshment to the horse. Every stage, the horse's back ought to be examined with the greatest attention, by way of guard- ing against any warble or chafe. If it be the summer season, the horse may
be dried jtbroad, by being walked about in the shade, with his saddle on, a light cloth being thrown over his loins, or not, according to his condition and the temperature of the a*r- I say, the -shade, because all hostlers are fond of hanging a horse, already faint and oppressed with heat, in the blading sun to dry, fur the same reason they would their shirt; and I believe horses are frequently rendered side, and lose_tlieir_ap£etite thereby. At_night,"feed as eai-fy. as,jgossible, that the horse may the sooner take his rest; the usual allowance, or double feed, at this period is, eight pints of oats, and two or three of j^eans^ Suffer not the stable-doctors to exhibit any |
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o n o
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$88 THE PACES, AND
J of their nostrums by way of stopping your
(horse's -feet, but cause them to be vvaslied with either cold water or warm, according; to circumstances ; if hard and hot, of course ->' niWarm water is indicated, and the feet should be soaked in it a considerable time. In very hot weather, and upon hard roads,
j it is exceedingly comfortable to the horse,
i**~»- to have his feet just cooled, in any water
which may lie in the way ; the friction upon
" , the ijon shoe in a swift j^ace, must render
it nearly burning hot.
/ • If ahorse, which is known to be kind, stops
• ' ' short in the manner of a restiff one, it is
extreme cruelty to spur him on,. or correct
him for it; because it is merely a petition
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from him to gain attention to some latent,
"complaint.. His curb may be a hole too tight, or his girths: or he may be suddenly seized with the cholic or strangury, or with some natural want. In case of the strangury, with which I have often known jiffid hack- nies to be troubled on a journey, tfae_ rider ought to alight, and walk the horse gently, or stop with him, until he can void his urine. There is a cruel folly, of which some of your knowing blades are guilty; that of placing the saddle quite back, upon the horse's loins, with the girths strained bursting-, |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 389
tight, immediately upon the paunch. I
have seen horses, which chanced to have more wit than their jockies, rear up, and refuse to proceed in that painful state. It would be of considerable utility, upon
a journey, or in the field, if gentlemens' grooms were taught enough of the smith's art to fix a shoe, or drive a nail upon oc- casion, On the subject of Female Equitation, or
.Ladies Riding on Horseback, I must beg leave, first of all, to make a quotation from Mr. Hughes, whose authority will be ac- knowledged unquestionable. " Method op mounting.—A person
" should stand before the head of the horse, " holding with each hand the upper part of " the cheek of the bridle. Then the lady " must lay her right hand on the near side " of the pommel, and her left hand on the " left shoulder of a gentleman (or a servant) i{ who will place both his hands together, " the fingers and thumbs being interwoven " with each other. This being done, let the " lady put her left foot firm in the gentle-. iC man's hands; and giving a little spring, she " will be vaulted into the saddle in a moment. " When she is thus seated, let her rest the " ball of her left foot firm in the stirrup; if and to prevent accidents, she should wear |
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390 THE PACES, AND
" Italian shoes, with very long quarters, and
" the heel of the shoe coming forward to " the middle of the foot. Ladies shoes, " made in the common fashion, are dange- " rous, because the foot rests in the hollow " between the toes and the heel. Remem- (i ber that the pommel of the saddle should " be made very low, that the lady's knee " may not be thrown too high ; and the " stirrup should hang low; both which " circumstances will help to give her a grace- " ful figure, and add greatly to those charms " which nature has bestowed on her. " When she is thus placed, let her take her " whip in her right hand, near the head, •* with her thumb upon it, and the four " fingers under it, holding it obliquely, so " that the small end of it may be some " inches above the middle of the horse's " hind leg. The arm that supports the ' ■ whip is always to hang strait; but with a " kind of negligent ease ; nothing looks more " awkward than a lady^ holding the whip " with her arm crooked at the elbow. A " lady should hold her bridle moderately " slack, with her little finger under the rein, " and the other three fingers passing between " the rein, on thetopof which her thumb must li be placed. Being thus seated, she will please |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 393
" to walk her horse off gently; and put him
« into his other paces at her pleasure. f The pommel of a ladies' saddle should
" be always made with a turn-again screw, " to take off in case the rain, wind, or sua " is troublesome—when a lady may ride on (i the contrary side of the horse." Queen Elizabeth, it seems, or rather per-
haps, Queen Anne, wife of Richard II. first of all introduced the practice of ladies riding sideways on horseback, in England. Much has been said against it, as inconvenient and dangerous ; but on consulting an experienced lady on the subject, she remarked that scarcely any accidents ever occurred from the practice, even in hunting; that it was not only more decorous, but much more conve- nient for women, in several respects, which she was ingenious enough particularly to state. The first requisites for a ladies' horse are, that he goes perfectly safe above his ground, and neither shies nor starts; and bred cattle are the most adapted to this, purpose, provided they are well upon their haunches. The custom of ladies rising in their stirrup, in a trot, has been, I believe, introduced within these few years. It would be as unnecessary for me, to write
a panegyric upon the pleasure and profit to |
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392 THE PACE.S, AND
be derived from exercise on horseback, as I
hope it will be excusable, to make a few concluding remarks. This salubrious ex- ercise, by which the air may be so amply varied, is peculiarly adapted to debilitated and consumptive habits, and the lax-fibre; for it tends to the increase of substance, which the labour of walking has in general, the effect to abrade. The slow trot is the J>a^e^f health; and one grand mean of the" prolongation of human life. It is, perhaps, the only effectual remedy for habitual cos- tiveness and wind ; all medical ones, in my small experience, having the invariable effect of increasing and perpetuating the cause of those complaints: it should ever be taken with the stomach empty, where the viscera are sound. I have read in a strange per- formance, in which the doctor recommends the constant use of the warm bath, for strained sinews, and luxations of the joints, that it is dangerous to trot with long stirrup leathers, where any apprehension may be entertained of a rupture; and I think it an excellent caution to valetudinarians. Those who ride for their health will find much in- struction in an old book called Mcdkina Gymnastku, written by a relative of Dr. Ful- ler, a physician of high repute, in the days of |
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THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 393
ggjod. Queen Anne. Sydenham warmly re-
commends this exercise to asthmatic patients; and Dr. Darwin, in his celebrated Zoonomia, relates a case of Phthisis puhnonalis perfectly cured by perseverance in exercise on horse- back. It is an excellent^ bracer, and should ever be joined with the cold-bath, incases j of debility derived from excesses of a certain kirjcL If I wanted any illustration here, I should refer my reader to the records of crim. con. where he will find blazoned the wonderful and attractive powers of grooms and jockies. Had that inspired maniac, Jean Jaques, been as good a jockey as he was an eloquent scribe, it is probable, the Vene-' tian bona roba, had not insultingly advised him to study the mathematics; nor had chere Mamma been driven to the sad and' expensive necessity of providing him a sub- stitute. The motion of the horse and fresh draughts of pure, elastic air, are the best, perhaps the only means, to recruit and ex- hilarate the exhausted spirits, relieve the aching heads, and enliven the imaginations of studious and sedentary men; but how much is it to be lamented that under our profuse, and I am sorry to add, dishonest and ruinous political system, these comforts are now totally out of the reach of moderate |
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3(M , THE PACES, &C.
rate incomes. What a speculation, that the
natives of the most plentiful* and the richest country in the world, must be compelled to emigrate in search of the conveniences of life! but how much more lamentable still, that many must be driven to tire same ex- tremity in quest of its necessaries! I have heard, and read, the complaints
of many, stating, that they would willingly mount on horseback, for their health's sake,
but are at a loss for objects of amusement in the practice. To these, I would recom- mend to learn horsemanship, and in time, probably, the management of their horse might become interesting; to accustom themselves to study and contemplation on horseback; or to find companions in their own predicament, by which means society might, in time, induce a salutary habit. |
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CHAP. VIII.
CN DRAUGHT CATTLE, AND THEIR USE AND
MANAGEMENT, BOTH IN TOWN AND COUNTRY. HORSES, applied to the purpose of
quick draught, are distinguished by the |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE.. 39^
various appellations of coach-horses, cha-
riot and phaeton-horses, chaise and gig- horses, machiners, mail-coach and post- horses: those appertaining to slow- draught, are called cart, dray, or plow- horses. Respecting the highest form of the species
of Coach-horses in this country, I have scarce- ly any thing to add, to the few remarks made in the second chapter. The true horse for quick draught, must be from fifteen to six- teen bauds high, with a lofty fore-hand, substance somewhat obliquely placed, and sufficient racing blood to give him good action, and a fine coat. Mr. Culley's fa- vourite form of shoulder, before noticed, is, no doubt, admirably adapted to this pur- pose. The few foreign coach-horses, in use anion?"
us, at this time; such as, the . Hanoverian, and Neapolitan, if they m a more stately and superb appearance, and have more lofty action, are neither so useful, nor so speedj, as the English. I have often remarked, and leave to others
to determine the justness of it, that a small horse, in single harness, looks \e.ry mean and contemptible; but if there be a pair, or more, the case is altered: also, that'a pair of horses, galloping, have an unseemly ap- |
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396 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
pearance ; but if there be four of them in the
carriage; they make a very gallant figure in the gallop. The superiority of the English, in the
construction and elegance of wheel-carriages, of all denominations, has long been univer- sally acknowledged. Our improvements therein, of late years, have held equal pace and analogy, with those made in our breeds of horses; we have discarded useless and cum- brous weight, to make way for lightness, elegance, and convenience. Within the last fifteen years, mechanic invention has laboured, and brought forth many useful discoveries in this line; among which, the most important, is that of the power gained by the multi- plication of wheels. Of this discovery, al- though not brought to maturity, or into ge- neral use, many of the keepers of stage-coaches hoped to have availed themselves, and we saw Caterpillars* and Millipedes upon every road lead- ing to the metropolis, carrying, as was said, with the utmost convenience, double and treble the number contained by an ordinary coach. So- ciables, barouches, and carriages, in endless va- riety, have of late been introduced into the ser- vice of private families. A plan was formerly said to be under consideration, for an improved form of a mail-coach, to carry twelve insides, |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 397
with the accommodation of a light; which was
to save eighty, horses in a distance of one hundred miles: also, another for an eight- wheeled waggon, which, it was hoped, would be attended with proportional advantages. The proud and lofty phaeton has, for
some time, given place to the less sightly, but more convenient curricle. This is a low, two-wheeled phaeton. This carriage was said, at first, to be attended with certain disadvantages, and even dangers, which are now, it seems, in a fair train to be reme- died. The introduction of these light carriages
has, of course, brought into use the lighter species of horses; and even full-bred ones are frequently employed in the service: a custom to which I am by no means partial, who love to sit behind a good trotter. The delicate skins of bred horses are, besides, too apt to be chafed by the harness, and their legs to be knocked together upon the road, when distressed in their trot. I cannot al- together agree in opinion with those, who assert, that bred-horses are the toughest., post hacks. It is asserted, there is an elas- ticity in their hoofs, which eludes the con- cussion of the hard road, and that their sinews recover a strain sooner than those of |
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398 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
other horses. Perhaps they may endure
their misery longer, but I think they become lame in the legs and feet, sooner than horses less delicately bred. The present taste of driving horses of dif-
ferent colours, in light carriages, and where great state is not required, is, in my opinion, altogether rational, and attended with ob- vious convenience. But this practice has helped to introduce a laxity of equestrian discipline, alarming at first sight, and which has been really attended with very serious mischiefs. Gentlemen have been more ad- venturous than formerly, in putting rav,' arid imbroke horses into harness, and driving them immediately upon the public roads, or in the streets of the metropolis. The nu- merous accidents which have happened from this incautious, and, I must add, unjust practice, within the last two years, arc al- most incredible. I say unjust, because how- ever little store a man may set by his own neck, he can yet have no shadow of right to expose that of another to a wanton risk, .which he most probably does, whenever his horse breaks away with him. It is not two months, since a hunter, apparently imbroke to harness, ran away with a chair, beat a poor man down, and broke both his thighs-. |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 399
The dreadful accident, which happened some
time since at Bath, ought to be a striking lesson to those who have so little reflection or feeling, as to misapply the curb, by making it an instrument of torture. Every body has heard the fate of the unfortunate gentleman, who was dashed to pieces, by being thrown in his curricle down a precipice, the horses rearing up and running backwards, from being over-curbed., I know there are too many in the world who scorn, in any case, to be deterred, either by precept or example; it is, however, a duty performed, to give the needful warning : without ad- miring either their boldness or their apathy, I heartily wish they may experience no pain- ful occasions of repentance. I shall, in this place, finish what I have
to say upon the subject of those too nume- rous accidents, which happen upon the road, to our hired carriages. It is well known these were, more particularly, frequent with the mail-coaches, on their first establishment; and, on enquiry, it then appeared, that they were justly attributable to the ignorance and folly of raw and improper drivers, and not in the smallest degree to the new institution itself, which experience has since proved, was rationally founded.—Good horses are |
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400 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
well able to go through this severe and expe-
ditious service; the only thing to be la- mented is, that improper ones will, perhaps, be too often applied to it, which indeed, as the case stands, belongs to the class of un- avoidable evils; unless government, from a regard to the interests of humanity, and the glory of the country, were to provide their own horses, under the care of an able in- spector. A frequent and fertile source of mischief
is, the suffering horses to stand without any person to hold them, whilst the coachman is absent ffom his box : and this, I am sorry to be authorized to say, is too often the case, even at this instant, notwithstanding the number of accidents which have arisen from it. I have been informed that mail-coach
guards have sometimes been very deficient in blowing their horn, a part of their duty of the utmost consequence to the safety of other travellers, and carriages, in dark and foggy nights. Many reports have been abroad of drivers proceeding slowly along that part of a street in London which was free of car- riages, and of setting off, at the rate of four- teen or fifteen miles per hour, the instant they approached an, embarrassed part. Of |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 401
others, who were in the absurd and dange-
rous habit, of setting off upon the gallop, and with the whip, tlieir horses accustomed to it, standing trembling, whilst they ex- pected the coachman; and this along dan- gerous and narrow ways. I repeat not these observations, with the view of criminating, or casting an odium upon any man, or body of men, but merely as cautionary hints to such, on both sides the question, as they may concern. The truth is, the remedjr for these grievances can only be found in the exertions of travellers, whose duty to them- selves and the public, is rigidly to inspect the conduct of those with whom they entrust their lives; and to punish, with the full severity of the law, all trespasses, arising from inebriety, wantonness, or neglect. No coach-master ought ever to be per-
mitted to drive a restiff horse; and he who knows his own interest, never will purchase one at any price ; for even when apparently broke, they are always dishonest drawers, and rob the other horses of their labour, and, besides, are never safe. A certain coach, last year, was driven with a wheel-horse which was, at times^ restiff; on going down a steep hill, this horse thought proper to lie down ; by which freak of his, the coach was vol. i- 2D
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402 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
overthrown, one man had his back broken,
another was killed outright, and several maimed in a miserable manner. It would be to little purpose to say much
relative to the sorts, or shapes of horses, destined to this public service, since, gene- rally speaking, they are chosen, on the score of cheapness, from the refuse of private Stables. One remark will suffice ; that ac- tion is. of the first consequence, as nothing can be more obvious, than that a horse must be soon torn to pieces, which is obliged to run distrest every mile of his stage; sup- posing him a trifle too light, the error is not so great, because, if he possess a readiness and facility of action, he will occasionally borrow a little weight of his fellows, and maintain his ground a long time. It is well known, that there is no labour
so severe and destructive to horses as quick draught, and it is a miserable consideration, that the system of human interest requires it to be performed chiefly by cripples, and those already nearly worn out; and that we must derive our comforts and conveniences from racked feelings, and painfully extorted labour. Strange ideas have rushed upon my mind, on observing passengers impatient under the tortures of the gout and rheu- |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 403
rnatism, urge, and even fee the coachman,
to whip his horses on to the last pitch of exertion, when from spavins, lameness, or wounds, every step to them must be an ope- ration of the rack. I have already hinted, that reason, and our moral duties, lay us under a strict obligation of diligently seeking the remedy in all possible cases, and of not indolently and falsely swelling the list of unavoidable evils. There appears to be no other remedy for the evil of bad post-horses, than a general determination, among/person^ of property and consequence, to encourage those inn-keepers who drive none but able ones. If the difficulty of getting rid of cripples was enhanced, it might possibly be a general inducement, to treat horses with more provident care and humanity. But amongst these complaints,* it is with
the utmost pleasure, that I can record the liberality and sound discretion of many of our keepers of stage-horses^ who not only purchase excellent cattle, at very considera- ble prices, but keep them in the highest order, and work them fairly. As a pleasing instance, amongst many, I have formerly seen the Colchester coach-horses in such high condition, and so much above their work, that they were ready to bound out of their 2 d 2
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404 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
harness at starting; and what was infinitely
to the credit of the proprietors, I have known horses last a great number of years in their service. I should think that a nag, entirely fresh, must be cheaper to a coach- master, at double the price, than a second- hand one, the sinews of which, most pro- bably, have started ; at the same time, I am fully aware of the difficulty of procuring a sufficient number of the former. There can be no doubt but that extraor-
dinary care would amend the condition of poor post-horses, and also contribute highly to the interest of proprietors: these should always make it their business to understand horses thoroughly, in all their concerns, and to trust as little as possible to their servants. I am now speaking to the men of property in that line, who have the ability, and con- venience, for carrying any plans of improve- ment into execution. No horse should be put upon, merely
because he is tough and lasting ; but every opportunity seized of giving him a few hours, -— or a few days respite. In these intervals of rest, if possible, every horse should stand loose in his stall; or what would be far better still, the weather permitting, be turned into-a yard or adjoining field. The auvan- |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE, 405
tages derived to their poor battered feet, —*
contracted sinews, and wearied limbs, by this practice, are inexpressible. Every horse's legs should be watched with the most anxious care, for fresh strains; because if a few days only be allowed at first,- and proper remedies applied, the strains may probably be cured, which if neglected until the sinews become materially injured, Avould admit only of a partial cure, and even that cannot be obtained under a considerable length of time. Horses on their resting days, should have their legs and feet well soaked and suppled- in warm water^_in th^jnornin^, and_at night; & * // their sinews should be embrocated with the mixture which will be hereafter prescribed. Good warm mashes should be allowed,
when apparently necessary; and in cases of wasting and decay, I should suppose benefit might accrue from mashes made of boiled |
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jrice^ with an addition of bran or fine pollard,
to prevent its too astringent effect, I do not understand the usual routine of management for horses of this description, but suppose that some few of them have the benefit of being occasionally turned off to grass. It is certain, that a good horse might be made to last many years, by such treatment, and |
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406 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
to earn more money than three or four bad,
or ill-managed ones. It would be perhaps better, if alleges 1>
horses wore round or bar-shoes, merely by
way of obtaining a rest for the frog which
_ supports the tendon, since these horses are so
liable to strains in the sinews.
All considerable proprietors of horses
should make a point of giving encourage- ment to those gentlemenjof Jth^feculty, who have the good senjse and humanity not to be above veterinary practice. Surely their in* terests must be much more safe in such hands, than in those of ignorant blacksmiths. The mischiefs jlone by these last throughout the country, in the single article of firing _j)ost-horses, is immense. I have often thought it would be advan-
tageous for a coach-master to agree with an able surgeon to attend his stock of horses by the year; the bare advice of such a person would, I am confident, if well attended to, occasion a considerable annual saving, in the prevention of mischiefs. These horses are not only too often very
badly iired, but are worked much too soon after the operation; the consequence is, they reap only a slight benefit, or are even |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 407
perhaps injured by it. But there is nothing
from which they suffer move, or from which it is fairer to date the origin of their nume- rous ailments, than from their constant jmd- den transition from heat to cold, from ob- structed and repelled r^t^pjration.. Much of this is an unavoidable concomitant of their business; however, it behoves the master to give the strictest charge that his horses suffer no more of this than needs must; that they are not loaded with water while hot, or upon any consideration, or any excuse whatever, washed with cold water when in a high state of perspiration. I know this is not only practised, and with pretended success, but that I have in this case two very celebrated medical authorities against me. I must of course speak farther on this subject in my Second Volume, By the little attention paid in general to
the weight of postilions, one must conclude, that it is held to be an object of no conse- quence ; but for my own part, I am clearly convinced of the contrary; and could as easily be prevailed upon to believe, that fourteen stone is no heavier than ten, as that it would not be a great saving of strength to the horse, to have the latter weight to carry instead of the former. In the etlttffi** |
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408 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
ration of the various means of improvement,
every item ought to have its due share of attention; and without a pun, reflection will prove the present to be of great weight. The difficulty of obtaining men of light weights, subsists only in the improvident indolence of masters. Nature has sponta- neously furnished fitting instruments for all the various possible operations; among the rest, men of bulk and weight for ploughmen and porters, and little natty nine and ten stone fellows for grooms, joekies, and post-? ilions—witness the old ditty, written in the clays of gospel sun-shine, by that precious saint Adoniram Byfield, and to be found in one of his sermons : God made a great man to plough and to sow,
God made a little man to scare away the crow, God made the world as round as a ball, In came the Devil, and spoilt it all. Now this was the devil of misapplication.—
Were it but once known that the post-r
masters had determined to give encourage- ment to light weights, thev would soon have their choice from twelve stone down to a feather. In return and empty chaises, the lads generally choose either to set. upon the splinter bar, or within, but they should be |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 409
enjoined always so to do, it being a great
help to the saddle horse. I have made these few observations, in the
behalf of miserable and neglected objects, by way of stimulating and directing the atten- tion of those who are more versant in the subject. Cart-horses are well known to be of
the largest and coarsest- description ; their Belgic origin has been already noted. As it is the general opinion, that the saddle-horse ought to be sharp and frigate-built, so they hold that the cart-horse should be round, and, to borrow a lift from my beloved Smol- lett, as bluff in the bows as a Dutch fly- boat. Rotundity, or the form of carrvinw their substance in a horizontal position, seems to be the grand characteristic of Eng- lish draft-horses. They say, this make of the shoulder is the best adapted to drawing along, or moving weights; farther, that it is not so liable to chafe with the collar, as the flat and deep form. Both Bracken and Osmer seem disposed, in part, to controvert these positions, probably from their pre- judice in favour of bred cattle. That large bred horses would draw there is no doubt; and it is true, that the superior strength and elasticity of their tendons would enable them |
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410 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
to make great exertions; but the article of
gross weight has a considerable degree of consequence in this business, and experience seems to be decidedly in favour of nearly the present form and species of cart-horse. A very erroneous idea has prevailed, con-
cerning cart-horses, that provided they are big, heavy, and clumsy enough, all farther considerations are needless ; on the contrary, it is both theoretically and practically true, that great abilities for draught must depend materially upon just proportion; and that four thorough-shaped horses will draw with facility, a weight which would puzzle five ordinary ones, although of equal, or even superior size: a truth which they ought to reflect upon, who have a considerable number of those animals to maintain. A capital cart-horse is not more than six-
teen hands high, with a brisk, sparkling eye, a light well-shaped head, and short pricked ears, full chest and shoulder, but somewhat foreiow ; that is to say, having his rump higher than his forehand ; sufficient general length, but by no means leggy; large and swelling fillets, and flat bones; he stands wide all fours, but widest behind; bends his knee well, and has a brisk and cocking walk. |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 411
Many of the knights of the smock-frock
and the whalebone would shake their heads at my commending length in a cart-horse; nevertheless nothing is more true, than that in the account of just proportion, length will not he forgotten ; and that not only length, but a certain degi-ee of room and freedom of shape is absolutely necessary to enable the horse to make those active springs, which contribute more than mere bulk, to the translation of a mass of weight. Your short- legged, cloddy horses, as they are styled, are generally too sluggish and slow, subject to grease, and those disorders' arising from; a thick and sizy blood; but such are far preferable to the loose, leggy and weak- loined ; the worst possible shapes of draught- horses. The breeds of cart-horses, most in fashion
upon our island, at present, are the heavy blacks of the ^midland counties, the Suf- folk punches, and those of Clydesdale in North Britain. The first are those capital-sized and
high-priced horses, made use of by the brewery and distillery in London, and by the farmers of Beijkshire and Hampshire, and a few other parts, where their teams |
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4VA DRAUGHT CATTLE.
form a considerable article of ostentation and
parade. The old Suffolk punches, which also
extended to Norfolk, were low horses, rather coarse-headed, with indifferent ears, in ge- neral chestnut, provincialiy sorrel, fore-low, \vith deep and large carcases, and jiiinble walkers and trotters. They proved them- selves the truest and best drawers in the world, as well as the hardiest, and most useful cart and plouglv-horses. Their mvn-. bleness it should seem was owing; to their length and moderate sjze ; and their immense powers in lifting weight, to the same cause, combined with the low position of the shoul- * der, which occasions the weight to be acted upon, in a just and horizontal direction. Their superiority over all other horses, at drawing dead pulls, was no doubt in some measure, owing to early training, as in no country was so much pride taken, in teaching horses to draw; and it is well known, that a team of Suffolk horses, the signal being- given, would all down upon their knees, and leave nothing behind them, that is within the power of flesh and blood to draw away. As to draught-cattle, in my opinion, nothing needed to have been done, but to give those |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 413
of Suffolk a fine head and ear, and flat legs;
and we should then have nearly attained per- fection. The above description, however, relates
chiefly to the old breed of Suffolk punches, now totally extinct, nor have I, after a seven years search, been able to obtain, or even hear of a single living model, from which to make a drawing. The last individuals of the breed, of which Icould getanyintelligence,were an old stallion which travelled the Essex road, and a horse at Cavendish. Grenadier, I am informed, was of the old breed ; he died at the age of thirty seven years. The new, or present Suffolk breed is prinicpally dis- tinguished from the old, by having high, in- stead of low shoulders, and being generally finer, taller, and more sightly stock. This change has been effected by the introduction of Yorkshire half-bred horses ; indeed it had commenced before I left Suffolk, which was in the year 1773, some time previously to which I perfectly remember noticing the new variety, in the vicinity of Clay don and Bramford. The old absurd practice of drawing matches at dead pulls, by which so many excellent animals were strained and injured, is now very properly disused, and almost forgotten in Suffolk, I am bv no |
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414 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
means convinced, that the new are equal to
the old breed in the powers of draught, the superior height of the shoulder being disad- vantageous for that purpose, nor do I know that they are speedier walkers. But there was another breed of horses, in
Suffolk and Norfolk, how they came there, is somewhat difficult to ascertain, well fitted both for the saddle and draught. I have seen a cart horse of this description, which, bating a little coarseness of the head, was supposed fit to get hacks and hunters, from pro- per mares. I have also heard of a Nor- folk farmer, who about fifty years ago, had a peculiar sort, which he styled his Brazil_breed_. This blade of a farmer would, it seems, unharness one of his plough-horses ride him to a neighbouring fair, and after winning with him a leather plate, ride him home again, in triumph, to his wife. The late Mr. Bakewell, of Dishley, so
justly celebrated for his hospitality, and the general humanity of his character, rendered the most eminent services to his country, by his improvements in live stock. If he failed in any thing, I should conceive it wras in his judgment of horses. I have indeed heard the same of .him respecting pig-stock, from the most experienced man ia England. |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 415
Mr. Bakevvell's chief attention, I suppose,
was bestowed upon sheep and horned cattle. The black horse he shewed at Tattersall's some years since, for the purpose of getting saddle-horses, I have heard did not meet the approbation of intelligent breeders, nor did he appear to me at all calculated to suit the common run of mares. Of the Clydesdale horses, as I know
nothing, please to take Mr. Culley's descrip- tion, " probably as good and useful a draught- horse as any we are possessed of; larger than the Suffolk punches, being from fifteen to sixteen and half hands high, strong, hatxfy, and remarkably true pullers, a restive horse being rarely found amongst them. In shape, in general plain made about the head, sides, and hindlegs; mostly grey or brown, said to have been produced from common Scotch mares and Flanders horses, a hundred years ago." But the size, rather than the sort, of our
cart-horses, has become the chief object of consideration, since it has been the custom to breed them up to a ton weight, and- seventeen and even eighteen hands hi ah Prudence and (Economy, especially during these times of scarcity and general distress of the poorer classes, have incessantly in- |
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416 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
culcated the question—why breed your
horses to such an enormous bulk, since it is not yet your intention to eat them? An- swer it is the custom. A most satisfac- tory answer, no doubt, were it only because there is such a number of questions, of at least as much importance, which, if at all, must be answered precisely in the same way. But there are honest and discerning men, who have a just contempt for all precedents which are unfounded in truth and reason, and which militate against the general good; and these will naturally desire to trace causes, and examine foundations. These over-sized horses are neither able
to do, nor do they, more work than those of moderate size and true proportion ; for in growing them up to this vast bulk, you gain only in beef, and weight to be car- ried, but nothing in the size and substance of the sinews and muscles, the cords, levers, and pullies, which are destined to move their own as well as any extraneous mass. By this reasoning, it should seem, that the out-sized are unable to perform even so much Work, as the middling; and another argu- ment against them, equally just, is, that they must, in general, consume a propor- tional larger quantity of every necessary. |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 417
For whose, benefit, then, is this Howden
Mack, of English elephants, bred? It is not for the breeders, for they may have just as large a price for less stock, which would, moreover, cost them less in keep. These observations are respectfully addressed to the consideration of the breeders of the midland counties, with the reserve, that I must b« understood to refer to the old, not the pre- sent breed of Suffolk horses. I must also beg leave to refer all breeders
to Mr. Culley's book before mentioned, where they will find it recommended to mix even a little racing blood, with the eart- stock; and where they may read of the wonderful exertions, in carting-business upon the road of the Cleveland Bays, a sort of coach-horses. Although bred-horses are, of all others, the most sluggish yet it is well known, that a mixture of jfcheir blood gives spirit and activity to other races. Still, I think, this doctrine, as it regards cart-horses, must be received with some caution, for granting, that these half-bred cart horses may perform well in light work, and upon Jhard roads, they may not be so well calcu- lated for stiff clays, and heavy sands. For my own part, I cannot boast of my good fortune with this sort, of which I have tried vol. i. 2 E |
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418 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
perhaps a dozen, at different periods; not
one of which, to use ray offended carter's phrase, was able, when we came to whips, " to pull a plumb-pudding off a grid- " iron." There is also a very material idea, with
which I wish earnestly to impress the minds of all breeders of draught cattle ; it is, that in breaking the colt, they always teach him to back readily, and to go quietly in the shafts. - Every man who has had much to do with cart-horses, well knows the abuse, and the miseries they suffer, when they have not been taught to back; and also the trouble and fuss there is in a press of business, be- cause, truly, Ball is too modest to go before, and Whitefoot, peradventure, too ambitious to go behind; whereas, they should be all so far accustomed, as, at least, to make a decent shift in any place. In teaching the colt to back, perhaps the
readiest mode isjtojilind him. I have ob- served, that cats anddogs, and other ani- mals, go spontaneously backward, when blind-folded. I have had horses, that with a signal from the hand, voice, or whip of the. carter, would back a load, with equal dexterity, force, and patience as they would draw it forward, and without need of the: |
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Draught cattle. 419
smallest cruelty inflicted upon their mouths.
Is there nothing pleasant in that to the feeling and reflecting mind ? Another observation I address to the sons
of humanity. There are horses, whether from some latent and internal weakness, or whatever occult cause, which never can be forced by the utmost severity, to strain at dead pulls, and yet in all ordinary business, and where the weight follows freely, and is in obvious proportion to their powers, they may be as good, and as serviceable horses as any in the world. The best horse I ever had in my life was of this kind. He laboured ten years for me, and five out of the ten, I should think, as hard as any horse alive. Jle has many times, as filler in a cart, gone down some steep ways with sixty-three hun- dred weight behind him, which shewed we placed some dependance upon his goodness* and he was always perfectly kind and willing. But if hooked to a fixed body, which he
could not move, the instant he perceived the state of the case, he ceased all farther effort,, and would not pull an ounce; bj^ltjaiiswere'd th^JllHP* hy shaking hisvneck and headfapd looking_bjick.to;Jthe_object> or, as I have sometimesjhought, polntmg towards his own loins. There is an a^alialogylbehveen this 2e2
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420 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
case, and that of race-horses, which will not,
or rather cannot, run to the whip ; and it is equally against common sense as common humanity, to whip and abuse them ; yet I have heard of fixing a chain to the neck of a cart horse, going up-hill, and other bar- barous follies. In treating of draught cattle, for the use
of the metropolis in particular, having al- ready expatiated to the extent of my know- ledge, on the general principle, I have only a few practical remarks to make. I think it would be much to the advantage of the proprietors of drays and town-carts, to make use of a lighter, and more active description of horses. Such would not only perform the same quantity of work as the heavy horses, in less time, but would not be so liable to beat and founder their feet; would last longer, and consume less. Is a proof of this demanded? Let the enquirer satisfy himself of the labour performed by the old Suffolk and Norfolk cart-horses, which he may very easily do. Let him look into the Annals of Agriculture, where he. will find, among many other observations highly de- serving his attention, the account of Mr. Collett's five horses, which used to draw thirty sacks of barley, over the sandy road |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 421
from-Walton to Ipswich ; and Mr. Consta-
ble's cart, of East Berghoit, which, with only- one horse, carries ten sacks of flour, twenty stone seven-pounds each sack, five or six miles, over a road where are no Urn pikes,. But there are many proprietors in town, of the same opinion with myself, on this head; and one gentleman in particular, of the highest respectability in the distillery, told a friend of mine, that, his own horses being ail engaged, on a certain occasion, he was under the necessity of employing the light team of a farmer, which, to his_ surprise then, went through the day's labour with more ease and dispatch, than was usual with Jiis own. There would certainly be a difficulty, or
rather an impossibility, in obtaining, imme- diately, a sufficient number of horses of the description which I have recommended, for the use of the metropolis; but were the gentlemen in the brewery, and other consi- derable proprietors, to express their inclina- tions to such a change, Suffolk horses would be bred in every breeding county in England. It is urged, that the chief use of large
horses in town is, as thill horses, to stand the shaking of slop-carts, and other very ponderous loads; but I think a gross and |
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422 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
bulky, or a tall, leggy horse, can never be
so able to endure this, as a square, muscular, boney one of fifteen three or sixteen hands high. Those over-grown cattle are apt-to be too much shaken by their own weight. The practical arguments, however, of Messieurs Trueman, Harford, and Co.-of Lime-house, are of more validity than a whole folio of my theoretical ones. The __ drays of those gentlemen have, for some months past, been drawn by three mules each, the highest of which did not appear to me above fourteen hands. They carry three butts of beer, from Limehouse to Lon-r don; the same weight, precisely, which the London drays carry with three large horses, and the shafts beai* in like manner upon the thill-horse. I have retained the above reasoning in
favour of a smaller description of horses, for the use of the metropolis, on the ground, that excess on the side of bulk and coarse-* ness is the most disadvantageous; but must confess, that the activity and good form of the superior class of large cart horses, have, in a considerable degree, tended to moderate my former opinions; Now I have mentioned shaft-horses, I
wish to ask the question, what possible |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 423
use it can be of, for the weight of a carriage
to bear upon the thill-horse, instead of upon a wheel, or wheels? I lament here, that I cannot boast of being even a smatterer in the mechanics, of course, that I cannot deliver myself upon this part of the subject, scientifically; but I am an old carter_; and have been long convinced, that there really was never any necessity for the practice, and that it stands upon no better foundation than that of ancient custom. The danger and inhumanity of this custom is visible to all who have eyes, and walk London streets in a slippery Season. It has made me shudder a thousand times, to see a wretched animal, perhaps weak and half-fed, staggering under an immense load, down a hill of glass, and upon shoes which seined to be contrived expressly for the purpose of sliding. How it happens that the horses keep their legs, or that so few accidents ensue is wonderful; but sure it ought to be still more wonderful, that men are not warned from- such stupid practices by the smart of those accidents which do really happen, and these are suffi- ciently numerous. The Thames-street carts ought to have either four wheels, or three. In the latter case, it is said, that upon the true mechanical principle, for saving draught, |
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424 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
the additional wheel ought to be placed
abaft; but then should the thill-horse make a stumble with a shifting load, the intention of preserving him from its weight would not be answered, and the care of carmen, in properly securing a load, is far enough from a certain dependance. Many of the brewers, of late years, have adopted the four-wheeled dray, the convenience and ceco- nomy of which are obvious ; and I have no. doubt, but it will soon become general throughout the trade. The management of draught-horses in
town, is a cheerless and invidious topic to a considerate mind. How hard, that feeling animals which contribute so materially to the opulence, the convenience, and the com- fort of their masters, should themselves miss any of those just and necessary comforts, in the power of opulence to bestow. But an exception must be made, in favour of many noble-minded citizens of London, who de- monstrate the best proofs of meriting the large property they possess, in the fine ap- pearance and high condition of their horses, and in the visible care and humanity of their servants. There are some men, however, so excessively intent either in the acquisi- tion of wealth or the enjoyment of it, &, |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 425
wholly to lose all thought or solicitude about
these humble instruments of their profit. I beg of these to grant me their pardon, if I presume to remind them of both their in- terest and their duty. I am about to advise the best regulations within my knowledge: if it be said, these are no novelties, I shall retort—Are they useful ? if so, Why so gene- rally neglected ? In many places, where a great number of
horses are kept, the number of helpers in the stables is insufficient, or the superinten- dance defective ; besides, the common run of horse-keepers are not sufficiently expert at their business. A man jaded and tired with a hard day's labour, and who must rise with the dawn to repeat the same, is absolutely incapable, be his abilities whatever they may, of doing stable justice to a number of large horses, besmeared from head to* foot with dirt and sweat, or to take the ne- cessary care of their harness. Granting sufficient help, there must still be superin-. tendance, which may be placed in the hands, of a proper person, not kept expressly for such purpose, but who will undertake the task for a small addition to his wages. A m aster should have a monthly review of all Uls horses i and, at all events, should acquire |
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426 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
sufficient veterinary knowledge to defend
himself and his cattle from blacksmiths and grooms, next to divines, lawyers, and po- liticians, the most ingenious sophists in the world. But where is a constant great hurry of
business, and at unseasonable hours, it will be impossible, with even the greatest care, to do all that is necessaiy about horses, during the six days of labour. Good Sunday, the day of rest, a day on which deeds of substantial charity are, at least, as becoming as empty words, presents itself as the pro- perest time to repair the deficiences of the week. A number of men in the employ ought to be "enffaged, to undertake this Sunday business of the stable in rotation, or for a continuance, at their option, at hand- some additional wages. If any religious alarmist should thence be apprehensive for the safety of his soul, let him plead before the righteous Judge, that he was employed in the cause of humanity; a much better plea, than many of those will have, who work double-tides on a Sunday at that species of labour which is held so merit'o rious. ; • A severe stable discipline ought to be
maintained where the horses are numerous, |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 427
and they ought never to appear abroad, in a
rough and ill-favoured state, to disgrace the opulent circumstances of the owners. A dray, or cart-horse should be smooth
trimmed about the head and ears, his mane pulled even, and reduced to a handsome length and thickness, but not so much of it left as to harbour dirt and sweat. His tail should be a switch of a moderate length, and his legs invariably close trimmed, coach-horse fashion. Ask an old horse-keeper, who is so be-
witched with the beauty, and even excellence, of hairy legs, -that he cannot conceive any horse able to draw with smooth ones, and he will tell you directly, and even make you believe it, unless you are upon your guard, " that there is no possibility of keeping a <e cart-horse clean, and free from grease, V if you take the hair from his legs, which f£ screens them from the dirt." What a powerful sophism! But the misery of the matter is, these hairy-legged horses are per- petually apt to be greased, from the slightest neglect, and then the sophists are at last under the necessity of going fundamentally to work, and of cutting off the sacred locks, beneath which they find, cakes of dirt and sweat, which have occasioned all the mis- |
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428 DRAUGHT CATTLE.
chief, and which need never have happened,
hut for neglecting the salutary operation of the comb and scissars. Plenty of warm water and soap, if neces-
sary, should be allowed once a week, for the legs and feet of horses, which are subject to neat and swellings therein; care should be taken, that they do not stand too much in their dung, which heats and helps to foun- der their feet. If any hurt happen to a horse, which work may aggravate, he should be withdrawn instantly, in the first stage of the mischief; if his case require a situation different from that of a crowded town stable, he should be sent forthwith down to a farmer's yard, where he may be well shel- tered, and carefully attended. I have seen fifty cases of this kind, in which, from the indolence and irresolution of the owner, and the knavery and ignorance of his blacksmith, a horse has been kept at an useless expence in town, for months together, till at last he has either been sold for a trifle, totally lost, or sent down into the country to be cured. Nothing can look so abominable or dis-
graceful to considerable owners, as their horses being wrung in the shoulder$, by the collar, or chafed by the harness. A regular system of management and preventive care |
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DRAUGHT CATTLE. 429
are, in these respects, all in all. Collars and
harness svffered to remain sodden and har- dened with sweat, water, and dirt, must infallibly fret the toughest skin. All acci- dents of this kind should be: attended to in the first instance; an hour's delay may pro- duce the trouble of months. The leisure afforded by the reservation of
the seventh day, is or ought to be, pecu- liarly useful to the poorer proprietors, the horses of many of whom are, during the days of labour, enveloped in all kinds of filth. Many will start and shrink back from the
trouble of the task I have presumed to re- commend unto them. These calculate ill. Improvident negligence is usually produc- tive of accumulated trouble; and an article of high price reasonably demands, and will as certainly repay, the insurance of care. Previously to speaking of draught cattle
for agricultural purposes, it is necessary to enter into a digression, not only extremely unpleasant in its own nature, but rendered doubly so by the consideration, that in hand- ling the subject, sacred truth will oblige me to struggle against the fier.ce and headstrong current of popular prejudice;, a atru<Me° |
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430 POLITICAL ECONOMY.
however, which I never did, or ever will
decline, upon any case of importance to the interests of mankind; being, by nature, more solicitous to say true and useful, than pleasant and flattering things. The subject to which I allude, is described by the cant terms of monopoly, forestalling, and REGRATiNG; why it is intitled to a place here, will be explained by the following alarming facts. The unfortunate dearness of all the ne-
cessaries of life has had such an irritating effect upon the minds of the lower classes, that certain of them, in one or two counties, have formed themselves into gangs, and, under the name of the Comet Society, have committed, by night, the most daring and inhuman outrages; not only harmless and unoffending cattle have been maimed and destroyed, with circumstances of the most wanton barbarity, such as cutting off the teats of cows, and the tongues from the mouths of horses, but even barns, houses; and stacks have been fired, and, I believe;, some murders committed. One cannot help noticing, in this flagitious conduct, that senseless and infamous practice, which I am sorry is not cdnfured to the poor vulgar, |
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POLITICAL ECONOMY. 431
oi taking vengeance for the injuries com-
mitted by a man, upon the feelings of his innocent beast. This ferment in the minds of the lower
people, and the consequent atrocities, may, with the most impartial truth, be attributed to those inflammatory ballads, which have been circulated with so much industry about the country; but still more to those incendiary paragraphs on the subject of monopoly (a subject of which the sagacious scribes have as just ideas as of the planetary worlds) that have disgraced but too many of our public prints. Some of these, in a news-paper which I could name, are direct incentives to murder, and, in my opinion, ought to have been presented to a jury, as misdemea- nors of a most injurious tendency towards the public peace. There are some men I well know, from whom their country had a ri^ht to expect better things, who, in their writings and their speeches, seem proud to expose their share of the vulgar delusion; if, as may be justly suspected, they are acting ad captandum vulgus, or by way of shift- ing off the load of conscious guilt, let them beware, they are like children p'avmg with edge-tools; they are exposing their own |
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432 POLITICAL ECONOMY.
glass windows, to a chance of the most de-
structive vollies. I always understood, that those legisla-
tive burlesques, the laws against monopoly, fore-stalling, and regrating, framed during a period grossly ignorant of the nature of either liberty or commerce, were repealed in the lump, by a statute made in the early part of the present reign: nor have I any in- formation of a subsequent statute, upon which the many late invasions of the liberty and property of certain industrious citizens, nick-named regraters, have been grounded ; unless our magistracy can upon a plea of necessity in their own judgment, assume a dispensing power. I have descanted pretty much at large', upon this subject, in another work; but as I am convinced of its great importance, that it is in general ill under- stood, and therefore cannot be too often brought forward to public discussion, I shall make a few additional remarks. I would ask our English democratic wri-
ters in particular, who assert that all poli- tical systems have hitherto failed from ig- norance or the erroneous application of general principles, by which principles, themselves pretend to be invariably guided, |
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POLITICAL ECONOMY. 433
how and why, in the particular cace in
question, they have contrived to substitute an arbitrary discretion? And by what pos- sible means, they can bring that discretion to coincide with practical utility? There are, we well know, in the course of human affairs, extreme cases, wherein principles are naturally subjected to the controul of human discretion; but those,, none but idiots mis- take, and none but knaves and madmen ever dream of bringing into common use, or of reducing them to the shape of perma- nent restriction. I think it may easily be proved a solecism,
to style any thing monopoly, which is not supported by arbitrary prohibition, for in- stance governmental; in other words, where all may freely buy, who have money or credit, there can be no illegitimate or im- proper advantage. You say, this man shall not make whatever use it shall please him,, of his superior capital—.You say, then, whether you know it or not, this man shall not have a superior capital .1 defy you to divide the principle, and also to bring any effectual schemes of regulation into practice, without going the whole length of an Agra- rian law. Are you prepared for that? Are you a merchant or tradesman? You shall vol .1. 2 F
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434 POLITICAL ECONOMY.
trade only to a certain extent, that you may
not overshadow the interests of humbler men.—You shall not be too early at market, or purchase out of a market, lest you thereby interfere with the public interest—The price of your commodity shall be fixed, lest the poor should be unable to purchase it. But every declaimer against regiaters is provided with a racket, wherewith to strike all such arguments from his own immediate con- cerns. But corn, and flour, and cattle, are ar-
ticles of the first necessity, without which the poor cannot exist: and have we of this country yet found ourselves in any situa- tion, in which money has not been the re- presentative of or acceptable consideration for those? Where then the difference between hoarding money, and hoarding corn, and why did not some of you, previously to com- plaining so loudly against holding up corn, bring forth some of your hoarded money, for the benefit of the poor ? The late scarcity of corn, you say, was
owing entirely to monopolizers. It is an occasional whim of theirs then, I suppose; or what could they all be about, some years past, when runs of the best Essex wheats were hawked about in the Corn Exchange |
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Political economy. 435
at two or three and thirty shillings per quar-
ter? Two or three and thirty shillings per quarter for the best wheat in the world! piping times those. Who can doubt but the disciples of a certain school, would, by their excellent regulations, checks, and counter-checks, keep things for ever upon such a fortunate level, without even the help of the law of the maximum; merely by splitting hairs between the " North and North-west side:" as in the same school you may be taught to walk the chalk so- berly which separates hell and heaven, and be regularly insured from the peril of be- lieving " too little or too much," Men are to be prohibited, it seems, from
cultivating more than a certain quantity of land, that Jby being prevented from the acquisition of property > they may be con- stantly obliged to sell their corn as soon as it shall be ready; at the same time no spe- culators, alias monopolizers, are to be per- mitted to indulge in their " nefarious prac- tices," of buying it up; of course, all cul- tivators being in the same predicament; the corn will arrive in a most plenteous and glorious overflow, at Bear-key: where, as nobody may purchase the surplus, it may be given to the poor. This would doubt* 2 f2
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436 POLITICAL ECONOMY.
less ensure a most punctual payment of
refit, on the part of the farmers. But say the anti-monopolists to the speculators; we do not mean this, we would wish to derive benefit from your capitals, at such times only as we think we have need thereof; but the speculators answer and say, please to leave to us, the free and absolute disposal of our own property. Behold a red-hot democrat, iust arrived
from Shad Thames—" Mercy on us! what a burning shame! wheat at such an immense price, that the poor are starving, and yet mine own eyes have seen the warehouses, from Rotherhithe to London Bridge, loaded with wheat till the very beams crack. In- stead of being sold, as it in all conscience ought, instantly, they are still turning and skreening it, that it may be withheld from the necessities of the starving poor; nay, it has been already so long with-hekl, that they are even tossing it over-hoard in waste, for which they will, no doubt, be tossed into hell I" Public-spirited citizen, do you know
where this foreign wheat was purchased? What it cost? What has been disbursed thereon, for insurance, freight and charges? Have you seen a pro forma account sales |
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POLITICAL ECONOMY. 437
of it? Do you know at what price the mer-
chant can afford it; or if on a foreign ac- count, at what price the sale is limited? Lastly, do you expect that merchants, corn, and cattle dealers only, are bound to feed the poor gratis? I say if you are not already conversant in those things, you had better have previously informed yourself—that's ail. I have often reflected upon the charming
predicament, in which this country would have stood, had not the farmers held back their wheats, in the early stage of the late alarm; had they complied with the popular clamour, and overloaded the markets, such was the demand from without, that half of it would have found its way abroad. With repsect to live stock, it seems, the
horrid fact has been proved, that droves of oxen have been sold and resold, " nine times," in the course of their journey to London; dreadful to be sure that, and what is doubly so, there is no remedy for it. Pity that the original owners, who perhaps did not reside above two hundred miles dis- tant from the metropolis, nor above forty or fifty miles distant from each other, had not the patriotism, or the leisure, or ability, to come each, and all together, up with their own cattle; because "either this seems ab- |
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438 POLITICAL ECONOMY.
solutely necessary, or that the anti-monopo*
lists should employ some persons to go down expressly on purpose, to supply the city of London with cattle, all those who do it on their own account, being so obstinate, un- patriotic, and wicked, as to conduct the business for their own private emolument, and at their own discretion. No man, it seems, must buy and sell a
beast more than once in the same market; hut suppose this man has his living to seek by jobbing, suppose he has been, after riding the country manv a weary mile, and laying out his little all, unfortunate in his first transaction; he must not drive an advanta- geous bargain or two, if by good hap, such should occur, to bring himself home, and to put himself in a capacity to serve you again. Indeed you offer rare encouragement to trade. Bnt mark, do you suppose you can ever give efficiency to such Jaws, which no man will ever make a conscience of breaking? nay, which nature and reason will teach him to break, at every opportunity out of sheer contempt. A certain Roman Kmpe- ror enacted a law, that no man might fart in company, seeing it was such a breach of good manners; but was afterwards so con- siderate as to permit, by a subsequent or-r |
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POLITICAL ECONOMY. 439
donnance, all the citizens, to fart ad libitum,
for their health's sake. The grave legis- lators of another country ordained the baiting of bulls to death, and without pre- viously making the experiment, to deter- mine the posse of the business, made it death, without benefit of clergy, for any man or woman to hold crim. con. with the devil! As is the increase of trade and plenty, so
must be the increase of monopolizers, forestallers, and regraters; names are of no consequence. You must either suffer the discretional operation of these, for the removal of occasional surplus, or pre- vent all surplus, by universal and permanent Agrarian restrictions. Is it not so? But how, with your limited powers, will you ever be able to trim the balance ? rash med- lers! gratis anhelantes, how dare you thus pre- sume to invade the high prerogative of om- nipotent chance ? How men with the slightest pretensions,
to either theory or experience, upon the subjects of human liberty, political oeconomy, or commerce, could entertain the idea of proposing, or even debating for a moment, upon such a scheme as an arbitrary division of farms, is to me not a little wonderful; and why, since they omitted (unless from |
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440 POLITICAL ECONOMY.
forgetfulness) those necessary concomitants
in tlae Giagvain, an equal participation of property, and a community of wives. But these last blessings must be deferred, till the expected advent—when the lion and the lamb shall chum so lovingly together. Have these advocates for coercive reforma-
tion never readj heard, or experienced, that to check or limit acquisition, is not to pro- mo-e improvement ? Philosophers are they, and yet to be informed, that the energies of nature are not to be eontrouleo? and for the best of ail possible reasons, because they ea:.-not: Republicans? and yet still to be taught those things, which are neither within the province, or the power of the civil go- vermifittt For my own part I have no hesi- tation in declaring, that I wish nothing but universal c: -sal resistance, to that gov ivhiph shall presume to
affix limits to the property of its constituents;
and (alas, il .are to disagree with both parties) I deshe to be understood, as
havmgno p ejsted reserve. 1 ;.e a peer of the u/nes,both present and
future, appears-to demand the full exertion of all the ability m agricultural sciences which can be found in the nation. Plenty of corn, and security for its continuance, |
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POLITICAL ECONOMY. 441
perhaps can only be insured by growing to
Sach an extent as to command foreign mar- kets : and in this, we must soon expect pow- ers iJ competition from emancipated and en- Jightened -France. Nothing, bowever, can be ciore iiiiuik.ai to national views, like these, ttan the uesire which certain bodies are ever so forward to manifest, of confining th« complicated and scientific business of Guluva'tttm,, and its adjuncts, to the most ign .u;t, secluded and uninformed, conse- quent, y Hie most obstinate and bigotted of ma kind ; and this too in the very teeth of all e jcrience. l^ith these reasoners, i<mo~ ranee, a smock-frock and low" circumstances, form the sine qua non of agricultural ability; as according to the account of the narrator of Lord Anson's voyage, a liberal education is, in the vulgar opinion, incompatible with the duties of seamanship. But the ancients were of a different opinion,
and many of the most illustrious of them for talents, dignity, and virtue, held them- selves most suitably employed, when en- gaged in agricultural pursuits. Cicero says, Agriculture'proximo, est sapiential; and Hume, one of the wisest and best among the mo- dems, has delivered himself to the same effect. Husbandry, therefore, is a most |
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442 POLITICAL ECONOMY.
suitable, as well as most delightful employ-
ment, for gentlemen and philosophers. It is nevertheless notorious, that a great
number of gentlemen farmers have, at different periods totally failed in their expectations, and, in consequence, quitted the pursuit: a result perfectly natural, if it prove, as I have no doubt upon enquiry it will, that Such
men were mere theorists, and trusted, pro- bably, a course of experimental husbandry to ignorant bailiffs, or even to men inte- rested in defeating their success. I have * never yet heard of any one able gentleman agriculturist, who was not perfectly satis- fied, both with the pleasures and emolu- ments of his profession. In my ideas, the philosophy of agricultural regulation lies in a very small compass; namely, to leave it as nature intended it, free of all shackles; but I fear few will agree to go the length of my conclusion—I mean to include the la- bourer. If he can save money enough from his earnings, (and I know of no right to limit the wages, that is, the property of the labourer) in God's name, let him be a farmer too. For the observations on oxen as beasts of
labour, the merits of oxen in comparison with horses, and other agricultural topics, which |
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POLITICAL ECONOMY. 443
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had place in the early editions of this work,
j must refer the reader to my subsequent labours, The New Farmer's Calendar, Ge- neral Treatise on Cattle, &c. where those subjects are investigated at large; retaining only the following page or two, on the de- fects of servants, which I am sorry to say, have in no quarter yet been sufficiently amended. I have already hinted at a circumstance
which in every county, forms a considerable bar to agricultural and veterinary improve- ments ; I mean the inveterate prejudices and obstinate conceits of servants, which are patiently submitted to, and their pretended skill implicitly relied upon by indolent mas- ters. Bailiffs, grooms, huntsmen, farriers, and all of that description, down to plough- men and carters, attach an absolute infalli- bility to such peculiar usages, good or bad, as they have been originally taught, which they will struggle to maintain with unwearied zeal, either by open force or private fraud. They seem to misunderstand the very prin- ciple of servitude, obedience to orders, and are imprudently allowed to attach to their character a responsibility of a very different and incompatible nature. " Oh, oh, sir, |
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444 POLITICAL ECONOMY.
leave it to me, and I'll warrant it/' has been
productive of a thousand ridiculous errors. Many of ihtse infallibles will positively re- fuse to obey directions, alledging very stiffly that it must be a hard case indeed, if they are still to be taught their business. But what is still more perplexing, some of them will pretend to comply, and even to be con- vinced, at the very instant, watching an op- portunity to give the knowing wink to their fellows, as a signal that they fully intend either to neglect your orders, or if possible to render your intentions fruitless. What can be more stupid than the common prac- tice in the country, of suftetiug ignorant carters to fat their horses as if intended for the shambles; and even to steal corn for them beyond the stated allowance; to stuff them with various nonsensical or harmful nostrums, under the idea of getting their coats fine, until the pampered animals are constantly in danger of their lives from the smallest excess of labour, or the most trifling accident ? This stall-feeding custom is a branch of the economical system of those farmers, who ride forty miles to purchase a yearling for twen- ty pounds, in the hope of making a profit, by selling him for thirty-five at six years old; |
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POLITICAL ECONOMY. 445
the annual expence of the horse in the in-
terim being twenty pounds, and the worth of his labour perhaps five. Examples of the rascally and wanton te-
merity of these master-servants are too nu- merous. In the last,year, two grooms in Ireland, for a bet of a quartern of whiskey, ran a hunter of high worthy at so lofty a leap, that the horse's neck and both his fore- legs were broken in the attempt. I have myself had, besides numbers of inferior ac- cidents, two horses ridden until they dropped down dead outright; and the loins of a valua- ble cart-horse broken, by his being whipped under a heavy load against a hill; and let me. here caution all those who keep cart- horses, never to suffer a horse to be strained by drawing too heavy a load, merely to save an idle lubberly fellow the trouble of hooking on another horse. It is not only necessary that the conduct of
servants who have the care of cattle, be strictly watched, but that a punctual obedience to or- ders be stipulated and explained to them at their hiring. If a farmer shall ehuse to send his plough intothe field with only a pair of cattle and one man, I see no possible right a hired servant can have to refuse to labour in that manner, any custom to the contrary notwithstanding; |
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446
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ASSES AND MULES.
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since such duty is clearly within his power,
and since any detriment arising from his in- ferior performance at first, cannot fall upon him, but upon his master. A worthy Alderman one of my subscribers,
jocosely hinted, that I ought at least to say a few words on the subject of Asses: I will say, it is fortunate that the faculty of speech hath not descended from the inspired donky of old Balaam, to reproach us with the un- merited miseries of that unhappy race. But as an ill wind may blow good to
somebody, so the burdensome and grating taxes upon the horse, have tended to the encouragement of the ass, of late years, much ridden by the farmers of the North Riding, Yorkshire, and by the labourers in Norfolk and Essex. He is even elevated to the highest honour, being the fashionable joalfrey of the ladies at Brighton and Tunbridge. It was reported, that an old celebi*ated co- median was seen riding upon an ass, across one of the squares in London, a few months before his death. Were it worth while, the ass is doubtless improvable from Southern stock; and treated like the horse, would doubtless prove a lasting traveller, at per- haps seven miles per hour, chiefty on the canter. Such is my information from a* |
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ASSES AND MULES. 447
most respectable Jack-ass man, in the neigh-
bourhood of JSmjtMeld. Asses are said, first to have appeared, or become common in this country, in the reign of Elizabeth. In 1808, an ass belonging to Cambridge, travelled eleven miles in one hour, with ease, and had six minutes to spare; and a jockey at Newmarket had a small mule, which beat their best hacks at a day's journey. __ What I have farther to say upon the ma-
nagement of cart horses, will be found in the chapter on SHOEING. |
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CHAP. IX.
THE MENAGE.
1 CAN pretend to no other knowledge of
managed horses, than that limited species which is derived from cursory reading, and occasional slight observation. This art may, I think, be divided into the grand and petit menage; the former, or management of the great horse, intended purely for pur- poses of parade and shew; the latter con- fined solely to the utile of military tactics. The grand menage consists in teaching a |
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448 THE MENAGE.
horse, already perfectly broke in the commori
way, certain artificial motions, the -href of which aie called the Terra e terra, Demi-volt, Corvet, Capriole, Croupade, Balotade, and the Step air! Leap; which la-t is a motion compounded of tinee airs, namely, the Terra e Terra, Corvet, and the Le;p, by which the motion is finished. When a horse is perfect in all these, he is styled a full-dressed, or managed horse. The petit menage is that diilling or train-
ing, by which the army riding-mas Lers fit the horse for mi itary service, in the ranks. The chief objects of it are to set him upon his haunches, and make him rein well, to give him a cadenced pace, to teach him to rein back, or retreat, to move side-ways, to stand fire, and to leap.—After these, a horse will soon become capable of all the necessary military evolutions. The common business of our town riding schools, is to teach grown gentlemen and ladies, and to set ill-broken horses upon their haunches. It is well known, that the grand menage
has been long out of fashion in this country, and farther, that it has for years past been upon the decline in ev-ery other. I look upon it as a relict of that superstition in all things, which is the characteristic of barbarous |
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THE MENAGE. 449
times. It is unnecessary to any good or
useful purpose, because all such, whether of parade or business, may be fully answered by the common^ rational, and unirjurious management: whereas there is always more or less^crueityjpractised in completing the full-dressed horse; such, for instance, as Revere whijspings, the meaning of which the horse cannot possibly comprehend, and which are therefore unnatural and illegiti- mate measures; the labour and irritation also, are excessive, and after all, the natural paces of the horse are spoiled, and he is rendered unfit for common business; the only compensation for which is, that he has learned sundry harlequin tricks; two of them are, to skip like a goat, aiid kick up behind like an ass ! It is vexatious in the extreme, to read
the directions of the old Italian writers, for teaching the horse their different manoeuvres* Their method of learning him to yarke, or kick up behind, a trick I should conceive, much more probable to be attended with mischief, than either pleasure or profit, wa* as follows:__the rider sat spurring and curbing
his horse, whilst one or more persons on
foot were with equal wisdom, employed in whipping or beating him behind with rods; vol.. i. 2G
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450 THE MENAGE.
and this hopeful discipline was daily repeated,
either abroad, or in the stable, until he could yarlte, forsooth. I lately saw in a stable-ride, what ap-
peared to me to be a foreign horse, aged and thoroughly managed. He was in the hands of two fellows, one of whom held him by a very sharp and powerful curb, sometimes forcing him to stand still, at others permitting him to canter up and down, whilst the other whipped him continually with all his force under the flanks and fore-arms, and in all the tenderest parts of his body. To my astonishment, the generous animal, although darting fire from his e}7es and nostrils, re- ceived all this cruel discipline without the smallest attempt at resistance, and even with a good natured resignation, which seemed the result of inculcated duty. What would I have given at the instant to see these scoun- drels receive five-hundred a-piece at the halbert, from the arms of able and willing operators ! The great length of time, which is full
.three years, before a horse becomes per- fectly managed, and the consequent large expence, must necessarily operate with ef- fect against this fashion. There is, more- over, an objection proper to this country. |
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THE MENAGE. 451
I am assured by professors, that English
horses are impatient under the discipline of the grand menage, indeed, insusceptible of being very highly dressed. Not having y t degenerated, but partaking of that freedom, of soul which once distinguished Englishmen, they think foul scorn of those unnatural shackles, at which feeling, instinct, and reason revolt. Even the brute mind arms and re- volts against tyranny, and horses, as well as men, are most easily governed by the plain and gentle methods of common sense and ob- vious use. Every military gentleman, I must suppose,
has perused with due attention, the excellent and truly practical treatise of my Lord Pem- broke upon the breaking and managemt-nt of horses for military service; there is also another book, lately published, intituled, " Rules and Regulations for the Cavalry, by order," &c. which I just mention, lest it may have escaped the notice or the me- mory of those interested therein. With respect to troop-horses, our heavy
cavalry are much improved in lightness and activity within the last half century; but a farther improvement in the same line will most probably take place. I have consulted many gentlemen who have seen service, both 2 o2
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452 THE MENAGE.
in the present and former wars, who, after
making due allowance for the formidable weight of those heavy horses, in the charge, still seem to incline upon the whole to ac- knowledge the superior utility of more active and speedy cattle. For my part, utterly inexperienced as I am, and as I hope ever shall be in this bloody business, I can- not see how superior activity, and superior ability to carry weight, can possibly be less formidable, in any respect, than mere bulk. But it may be safely averred, that good well-shaped, half-bred horses, would beat the present race of heavy troop-horses, at twenty and five-and-twenty stone, by miles in an hour. They would also get through deep and difficult countries with much more expedition and ease to themselves, than heavy cart-bred cattle, whose own weight and laborious method of progression, must be impediments increasing in proportion to the badness of the roads. It would not be possible, at present, I well know, to find a sufficient number of that species of horses to which I allude, for the public sexvice, but the case may be altered hereafter, when the heavy black locusts shall have been su- perseded by a lighter, more active, and more useful race. |
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THE MENAGE. 453
Since writing the above in 1795, the im-
provement has actually taken place, and I am informed, that our horses obtained the highest approbation and applause of the French in Spain, during the late most dis- astrous retreat. Never did so fine a body of horse leave the British shore. Previously to their embarkation, some squadrons of the most beautiful of them were pointed out to a certain man, for his admiration, on which he exclaimed—" take your final leave of them, for they will never return to this country/* Too fatal a presage ! |
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CHAP. X.
THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE, DIET----
EXERCISE—CONDITION—SOILING, &C.
1N all civilized nations, ancient or modern,
the opulent have been accustomed to erect commodious, and even magnificent habita- tions for the horse, as an animal of the first consequence, and necessarily in habits of the, most intimate association with man; the |
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454 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE-
stable has sometimes vied with the palace in
splendour and convenience; and for promo- tion of the latter, economical writers have been careful to furnish us with precise rules ant^ ample instructions. The points insisted upon by the ancient
writers, as of most importance in the si- tuation of a Stable, either for horses or oxen, are as follow: That the aspect be to- wards the South, with the convenience of windows opening backwards, for the ad- mission of the cooling breezes of the North in the sultry season ; that the ground be dry, and somewhat upon an ascent; no nuisance, either of swine or poultry, at hand, and that there be a good watering place at a reason- able distance. It is farther the opinion of Vegetius, that a stable ought to have good light; for that the eyes of horses being too much accustomed to darkness, might be injured by every sudden exposure to the glare of open day. In our own happy clime we are indifferent
about the aspect of a stable, or whether it be towards the North or South; our cliief external considerations are, sound and clean approach, the proximity of good water, and freedom from nuisances and ill smells. From the best and most general informa-
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 455
tioii I have been able to obtain, the English
have a just right to boast of the superiority of their stables, as well as of their horses; and if we have no establishments in this coun- try, upon so grand and extensive a scale as were the once celebrated stables at Chan- tilly, we possess some which have been ge- nerally acknowledged far preferable to those, m the more essential respects of utility, con- venience, and comfortable accommodation. But it must not be hence inferred, that
tour great men have confined their attention solely to mere ideas of convenience in the erection of their stables; since there are in England many equestrian palaces worthy of admiration, not only for excellence of general intention and design, but for true taste and elegance of architecture; at the head of this class are those belonging to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, at Brighton, and to the Dukes of Bedford, Richmond, and Devonshire. Of these magnificent places, where art
and knowledge seem to have been exhausted, it is impossible to say any thing but in the style of approbation and of respect, for the li- berality as well as judgment of ihe noble pro- prietors ; my business is to borrow from these |
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456 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
great models, and to enquire how far their
principles, and their characteristic excel- lencies, may be rendered applicable to a smaller scale, or to a general system of stable economy. In the crowded quarters of great towns,
and where necessity piedominates, it would be idle to recommend impracticable improve- ments in the lodgings of either beasts or men, ■who must alike submit to vesetate within the narrow limits assigned them; it may be averred, however, that horses tied up in a close confined stall, and constantly inhaling the hot and suffocating steams of their own ordure, piled up in heaps around them, ought not to be expected to continue long in a sound and healthy state, and that in order to prevent, as far as possible, the con- sequent evils of their situation, the utmost attention should be used in keeping the stable ciean, and in the constant admission of a current of fresh air during the absence of the cattle: and notwithstanding the ob- stinate prejudices of stable people, I am convinced, that no measure within their reach would so much relieve the cramped sinews, and surbated feet of labouring horses, as that of suffering them to stand loose ip |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 457
their stalls, narrow and confined even as
they are; and that every opportunity should be taken to put it in practice. What follows will be found applicable to
the general subject, but more immediately to the stable concerns of persons of property in the country, who love the horse, and are emulous of keeping him in the best style of accommodation. It was the opinion of the ancients, that the walls of a stable ought to be of considerable substance, in order to defend the horse, naturally sensible of cold, from the fineness of his coat during the winter season; and that brick was to* be preferred to stone, as less liable to retain the moisture and damps of the atmosphere. * But Ve- getius gives a caution, and in my opinion a very rational one, against encouraging too high a degree of heat in stables, both on account of the relaxing effect it must needs have upon the bodies of horses, and of ren- dering them liable to the risk of obstructed perspiration upon exposure to the external air. ^ Columella recommends planches of heart of' oak for the horse to stand upon, and herein he was followed by our early English writers, and perhaps the practice was pretty general in their days. The rack, manger, |
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458 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE-
hay-loft, a.id stall, as at present in use, are
of ancient date; but entire boarded parti- tions for the stalls were formerly looked upon as an extraordinary expence, and the horses were usually separated by posts and bars only. The loose stable or box, or at least its ivequent u*e, is an improvement of mo- dern days. I believe throughout England, stables are now paved with clinkers or stones, the straw covering, and accidental incrusta- tions of dung, rendering such a bottom sufficiently warm. The reader will have noticed my frequent
w?rm recommendations of the loose stable, where the hoise stands constantly untied, and at his liberty; a measure generally adopted in sporting stables, with horses lamed in their sinews> or having their legs swel'ed and heated from work. Now as this measure is adopted, and found to be a useful remedy in such cases, why not make a constant custom of it as a preventive ? It must surely have an unfavourable effect upon the joints and sinews, and the circula- tion even of the soundest and most vigorous horse, to stand so many hours constantly tied up in one position, with scarcely a pos- sibility of exercising that muscular motion, intended by nature to accelerate"the course |
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THE ECONOMY OP THE STABLE. 459
of the animal juices and prevent their be-
coming stagnant. It may be compared"to sedcntarv~habTts in the human bddy, always productive of debility and disease. But if the being placed a a joint fixture with the manger whilst within doors, be supposed to have an unfavourable effect upon the health of a horse which is regularly worked or exercised, what must be the case of those which are scarcely led out of the foul at- mosphere of the stable once a week, even to take their water, and all the while kept full of hard meat ? I put it to th? indolent ow- ners of humour-blind, greasy-heeled, aad broken-winded horses, to answer that ques-i tion.
My proposed improvement is to convert
every stall, over and above the larger boxes for particular occasions, into a loose ssable, by placing two moveable bars at the bottom, to prevent the horse from passing his bounds; or should it be thought necessary, folding doors might be adopted, to open iuwaros, that they might not intrench upon the li, berty of the common gangway. A horse might then exercise himself in his stall, by turning about, rolling, and stretching out his limbs at pleasure. All danger of being halter-cast, which has proved fatal to so |
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460 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
many horses, would be out of question.
It would particularly benefit those dull and phlegmatic horses, which are observed al- most constantly dozing with their heads over the ma.iger, and such as are difficult to lie d> wn. Stiff and greasy-horses, which have not laid down for months, when tied up in a confined stall, upon being turned into a loose stable, well littered down with fresh straw, have been observed to begin pawing with their feet, and to throw themselves down almost immediately. I am wel' enough convinced that my plan,
whatever advantages it may promise, will experience the most determined opposition from a great majority of the respectable fraternity of grooms and horse-keepers; who far enough from desiring a horse to exercise himself in his stall, would scarcely, with their good will, permit him to move a limb, and often very sensibly present him with a good beating for soiling his coat, in return for the trouble they must have in cleaning it. They would be in the horrors too, at the idea of the horse's dunging in the man- ger, or the additional trouble of fetching the dung from the upper end of the stall. In all cases of this kind, the prejudices of ser- vants have ever had too much weight with |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 461
their masters; but a little extra trouble in a
gentleman's stable, ought by no means to be weighed against advantages such as have been recited. I have known stables, where mangers were not used, but instead thereof, drawers, which were pulied out, and put up, as the occasion of feeding required ; a custom, I believe, derived from Italy. Indeed there is this inconvenience attendant upon fixed racks and mangers, that they are always contaminated with the breath and slaver of the horse, whose stomach is also palled by having his foul dishes ever before him; and it would be better, both on account of room and cleanliness, did it not trench too much upon convenience in another respect, to have both racks and mangers moveable. The modern circular rack, placed in the corner or centre, is certainly an improvement of the old form, which extended quite across the stall, and was commonly fixed externally from the head boards, the top of the staves leaning forwards, from which position the horse was constantly in danger of receiving the hay seeds in his eyes. Were a moveable rack required, the round one could easily be contrived to slide up to the hay-loft, and back again, as occasion demanded. It is remarked by several of the ancient writers, |
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46*2 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
that the racks are generally placed too high,
which obliges horses to an unnatural method of feeding, and by straining the neck, occa- sions many to become ewe-necked: on this account Peter Crescentius recommends placing the hay as low as the horse's knees; and it is very certain, that most horses prefer —- eating their hay from the ground, and if with it they should eat their clean litter, I know of no harm it could do them, although
grooms are generally so disturbed about the matter: if they prefer the soiled litter, it indicates a depraved appetite and want of physic. Complaints were formerly made by writers of the too general narrowness of stalls, a defect which no longer exists in our best stables, a moderate addition to the length of the stalls of which, would render them complete and comfortable boxes. A very gentle descent in the stall, is suffi-
cient to facilitate the. course of the urine to- wards the drain; but the sink is now made with a grating in the centre of the stall, which preserves the stable dry. Horses are secured in their stalls by two halters, one at each extremity of the manger, either affixed to it or above it. Level with the horse's head, in front, is fixed a strap, to Jjuckle occasionally to the nose-band, and |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 463
hold fast the head. On each post, at ti.e
lower end of the stall, a strap ought to be attached, to communicate with the bridle, when it shall be necessary to set the horse upon the bit, with his tail towards the manger. In cart stables without stalls, both hu-
manity and interest require the utmost at- tention to feeding the horses, since with a manger common to all, the strongest and most courageous will ever rob the weaker, and even if possible prevent them from eating. A he matter is of so much consequence, that no method can be eftectual, but that of head-boards, making an absolute separation at feeding. The care of a horse keeper is lighter than the chaff he feeds with. A small anti-room, or passage to the stable,
is exceedingly convenient for the purpose of containing the corn-*chest, trusses of hay, pails, brooms, and the various other ne- cessary articles; and also for closets and presses, unless it should be thought pre- ferable to affix a press to the wall immediately behind each stall, where the saddle, bridle, and various appropriate trappings might be handily deposited. It is, perhaps, still the fashion to keep
our stables too hot; however that be, there |
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464 THE ECONOMY OP THE STABLE.
is a kindred error on which I shall speak
more decidedly. The neglect of airing stables of all descriptions, is too general, and the hot and piercing effluvia of the dung must, I am convinced, have a very ill effect, although it may be gradual, upon the eyes, brain, and lungs of the horses, and may be secretly preparing a foundation for many diseases. I believe it to be an assisting cause in the blindness of those many horses, which annually become so, nobody seems to know why. Yet when the stable is empty of horses, and enveloped with a hot mist, which makes one's eyes water, I have ever found the grooms averse to leave even a •crack open, whence the foul air might es- cape. The general plea is, the probable intrusion of pigs or poultry, in truth a good one; for setting aside the idea of dirt, the feathers of the latter are dangerous ; but it is of the utmost consequence to have win- dows so placed, that a current of fresh and wholesome air may be conducted through the stable. I have often tasked myself to consider of
a convenient, and at the same time compre- hensive plan of stabling, calculated for a country gentleman of moderate fortune, who might find it subservient to his interest, or |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 465
his pleasure, to be pretty largely concerned
in horses; a plan which might, in a consi- derable degree, be ornamental as well as useful to an estate. I think the rotunda form would conduce to these purposes. I sup- pose a circular range of stabling externally, the internal compass of which should form a ride, covered in above, for the purpose of exercise in bad weather. The uncovered area, shut up from all intrusion, would make a most convenient yard for the various ne- cessary occasions, including that of a good wash-pond. Should the neighbourhood afford only hard, or indifferent water, the roof of the building might be contrived with a particular attention to catching rain water, the most pure and salubrious species both for man and beast, winch might be preserved sweet and good, for months, in a subterra- neous cistern, according to the directions to be found in Mr. Marshall's Yorkshire Tour, to the circle it is proposed to include every appendage of the stable—lodging-rooms for the grooms, granary, coach-house, smith's forge, surgery, warm bath, or whatsoever farther convenience, experience might sug- gest. Arbitrary custom, rather than real ne-
cessity, has dictated to us the invariable vol. x- 2 H
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466 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
use of hay-lofts, as well as immoveable racks
and mangers. In. the situation which I am supposing, no floors above the stabling are of absolute necessity, or if erected, need not be used merely as depositories of hay, but applied to any other useful purpose. The advantages of dispensing hay, fresh and fresh from the stack, are unspeakable. The horse not only has it in its highest state of per- fection, in respect of flavour and nutritious juice, and before it has become soft and musty, or dry, and full of dust and filth, from being tumbled about in a hay chamber, but it is also necessarily administered with more care, below and in the light. The receptacles for hay might be below, and as some considerable quantity must be taken from the stack each time, to prevent too great trouble, it ought to be trussed close as for market. Whatever may be thought of this extra labour, I am covinced the saving, in the quality of the hay, would be an ample compensation. It is the good custom of our plentiful
country, for horses to stand constantly upon a luxurious carpet of clean wheat straw ; old authors have given a caution, that the bed reach up no higher than the horse's koees, lest in the act of returning his sword |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 467
to the scabbard, he might, by foul hap,
-* draw up therewith a sharp straw ; an accident which I never witnessed, but which is pos- sible, and might be attended with very dan- gerous consequences. Some have recom- mended the practice of denying litter to moist and tender-footed horses, to the end that the stones may render their hoofs ob- durate and firm; their reasoning appears to me superficial; such a method, I believe, would be a proper one to founder the feet, and benumb the limbs. I nevertheless admit the truth of Mr. Clarice's reasoning upon the relaxing effect of too hot_a bed for the feet and l£g&-e$t modus in rebus. A^ Vienna^ and perhaps in most parts of
the Continent, the horses, even.in the first stables, stand ail day upon boards, without litter, or with the stall dressed in so awk- ward and scanty a manner, that the Jittie straw left is trodden into a heap at the hordes hinder heels. Those foreigners of distinc- tion, who purchase English horses, and wish to keep them in the superior style of this country, ought, at ail events, to retain an English groom. I proceed to the various duties of the
groom and horse-keeper; by the latter term, we intend him who looks after cart- 2h2
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468 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE^
horses. In regular racing and hunting sta-»
bles, of course, a lad is required to every horse ; in a common way, a groom will take care of two hacks or hunters; as to cart- horses, the neglect of which is but too ge- neral, as has been already stated, the labour of one man to four of them, at least, is re- quired, to preserve them in decent and healthy condition. The ordinary regular stable attendance
is four times per day ; early in the morning, twelve at noon, afternoon, and night. All saddle-horses kept in condition, stand clothed in a kersey sheet, and girded with a broad roller, with occasionally the addition of a quarter-piece; the breast-plate is sometimes put on when going out to exercise; the hood is used to race-horses only, except in case of sickness. All horses, excepting racers, are best without clothing in the summer season. It is a ridiculous cockney practice, and
indeed productive of many ill consequences, to oblige a horse to stand in the stable with his belly bound up so tight, that r6om is scarcely left for the performance of the animal functions, under the idea of " getting his guts up." Granting the pretended de- sign were answered, which I could never |
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THE ECONOMY OE THE STABLE. 469
observe, the consideration of the probable
mischief ought to outweigh the presumed benefit- Proper exercise or work will soon / draw up the belly: if a horse in high con- dition should still carry a large carcase, it is a rare sign of ability for business. A certain friend'of mine once complained that the bellies of his horses were reallv so large, that lie was ashamed to ride them, notwithstand- ing the vast care of his groom, in giving , 0 them nitre and diuretic baife, and keeping . 9 '?. J2°^^ths constantly upon them, jlrawn .. < up with all his might. Soon after, I rode a stage with this gentleman, of about twenty- four miles, rather briskly ; I suppose after the rate of eleven miles per hour: at the end, I could scarcely see any bellies his horses had, nor much probability of their recruiting in haste, for they would riot touch their food. I never afterwards heard of the body* girths. Here follows the immediate style of trim-
ming horses. The legs and heels are trim- med quite close, and delicately even, with ^ comb and scissars. The long hairs around , the eyes arejmlled; those below, upon the nose, cut close with the scissars; the beard and ears, singed with a lighted candle. The latter is a useless and dangerous practice; |
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470 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
useless, because nowise contributory to the
appearance of beauty or symmetry, the ends ot which are answered to the full, by clip- ping the hair peifectly even, externally; dan- gerous, because, in the first instance, the horse is punished and rendered shy about the head, and, what is of much worse con- sequence, liable _toxpjds, from the exposure of the delicate organs of hearing to sham air, and the drippings of rain and sleet. Na- ture has given tha_Miair to defend the inner ear, and no horse ought to be deprived of it upon any pretence: in fact, I know of no pietence we have but that—such is the custom. Dr. Darwin remarks, that this silly custom not only renders horses hable to take cold in the head, but also to the intrusion oFhay^seeds into the ears, in both -which cases, the eyes are affected with syrn- pathetic inflammation. The mane is pulled with the fingers, a
few hairs at a time, and rendered thin enough to hang lightly and smoothly on the right, or off side, to somewhat more than a finger's length; at the upper extremity of the neck, it is close shorn with the scissars, to the extent of two or three fingers' breadth, to admit the headstall of the bridle, and this leaves, detached from the mane, the foretop; |
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THE ECONOMY OE THE STABLE. 471
which, by being close cut in front, at the
roots with scissars, and at the ends with the knife, is left in pretty near agreement with the mane, in point of thickness and length. The manes of draught-horses are left fuller. Horses manes are sometimes hogged, that is, cut in such a manner as to stand upright. The hair of the tail is cut even, and much shorter than formerly. Some tails cannot be brought to hang close and even, which is usually occasioned by the dock being left too long. In one or two counties, both east and
west, the cu&tom of plug-tails still subsist; that is to say, they cut the tails of their cart-- horses so close, as to leave only a stump, which they trim quite bald; another of the thousand instances in which common sense is outraged in complaisance to silly and capricious habit. I have no eyes to see what advantage there can possibly be in a plug-tail, to countervail the barbarous defect of a good brush, with which nature has in- tended the animal should defend himself from tbe goadings of insects in the summer season. Here, as in all other cases of cruelty, error, or prejudice, the people of conse- quence should take the lead of reformation \ they should neither suffer the tails of their |
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472 THE ECONOMY OE THE STABLE.
own coits to be thus excessively curtailed,
nor pu,chase any cart-horses with such defect—their example would soon prevail. I have sometimes seen horses so exceedingly tormented in the fields, during the fly season, as to be almost entirely deprived both of rest and feeding in the day time, and have determined in consequence, to accommo- date such as were defective in that respect, with long false tails for their defence; a method said to be practised in Italy. So much, however, am I an advocate for fashion, where the sacrifice of reason and utility is not too great, that I cannot -help agreeing with those country gentlemen, who have fine teams of large thorough-bred cart-horses, and who preserve the hair of their heels un- touched. Their full suit of hair certainly gives those huge animals a more stately and majestic appearance; and situations where the attendance is equal to the nicest duties of cleanliness, are very different from those in which I have so strongly urged the ne- cessity of close trimming. But the greased condition of too many stage-waggon horses is a most powerful argument for trimming ail in that service; nor is there much con- sequence attached to the idea, that the hair deiends the legs of those horses from flints |
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THE ECONOMY ©F THE STABLE. 473
upon the road, since horses which travel fast
are infinitely more Halle, and yet always close trimmed. I must observe in this place, I have seen several disagreeable accidents from the legs of cart-horses being wounded by bean stubble, the punctures, at first of little apparent consequence, being over- looked, or neglected.- The legs ought to be well examined, after labour in places where such accidents are probable. I shall give the method of dressing a horse,
in an extract from that old author whom I have so often quoted; it will be found to accord pretty nearly with our present prac- tice: Having tied up the horse's head, " take " a curry-comb, and curry him all over " his body, to raise the dust, beginning '•' first at his neck, holding the left cheek of —■ " the head-stall in your left hand, and curry " him from the setting on of his head, all " along his neck to his shoulder, and so go •' all over his body to the buttocks, down " to his cambrell-hough ; then change your '■' hands, and curry him before on his breast, and laying your right arm over his back, " join your right side to his left, and curry him ail under his belly, near his fore bowels, and so all over very well, from " the knees and cambrell-houghs upwards s |
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474 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
" after that go to the far side, and do in like
" manner. Then take a dead horse's tail, " or a dusting cloth of cotton, and strike " that dust away which the curry-comb " hath raised. Then take a round brush, " made of bristles, and dress him all over, " both head, body, and legs, to the very If fetlocks, always cleansing the brush from ,c that dust which it gatbereth, by rubbing <( it upon the curry-comb. " After that take a hair-cloth, and rub
" him again all over very hard, both to " take away the loose hairs, and to help to " lay Iris coat; then wash your hands in " fair water, and rub him all over with " wet hands, as well head as body, for that '■'■ will cleanse away all those hairs and dust ft the hair-cloth left. Lastly, take a clean " cloth and rub him all over till he be very " dry, for that will make his coat smooth iC and clean.------Then take another hair-
" cloth, (for you should have two, one for
" his body and another for his legs) and " rub all his legs exceeding well from the " knees and cambrell-houghs downwards, " to his very hoof, picking and dressing 1* them very carefully about the fetlocks, '■ from gravel and dust, which will lie in, " the bending of his joints." |
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THE ECONOMY OE THE STABLE. 475
Nothing can be more obvious than the
great benefits derived to the animal system from the factitious exercise" of this f, iction, which at once seconds the intentions of na- ture, by aiding the general circulation, and cleanses the external surface from all im- purities ; it is said to be equally beneficial to the operator, and the labour of grooming has been warmly recommended by physi- cians to asthmatic patients, or those who labour under the defects of a confined chest and impeded respiration. Without regular grooming, it is vain to expect a horse will exhibit himself in his most beautiful colours, or be capable of his utmost exertions; in a word, that he will be in high condition. Care should be taken, by the master I
mean, that the curry-comb be not too sharp, or at least not used in a rude and .severe manner, so as to be an object of torture and dread, instead of delight and gratification to the horse. It is too often the fate of thin-skinned horses, to suffer much from the brutality of heavy-handed and ignorant fellows, who punish with hard blows every motion the irritated animal is necessitated to make, looking upon him as a mere ma- chine, which is destined to undergo all kinds of inflictions, and thinking it an act of bra* |
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476 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
very, and a kind of point of honour, to exact
absolute submission, possible or not, by the most prompt and rigorous punishment. But these are either persons intirely ig-^ noj ant of horses, or ordinary stable fellows; a good groom acquires patience and circum- spection from their necessity, which expe- rience has taught him; he handles his stable tools with a tenderness, dexterity, and adroitness, which nothing but the best les- sons and much practice will teach; his horses are perfectly clean in every part, fed with regularity and cleanliness; he knows to ex- ercise them with temperance and safety, and has a skilful hand to preserve them from a fall. A raw lad, or half-groom, will make your horse's back shine, and suffer the dirt to remain in all the hidden parts ; will either gorge him, with meat, or repeatedly neglect him •, and whenever he takes him out to exercise, will be sure to do him more harm by worrying him about, which he probably thinks a gallant thing, than a day's journey would do; and, if possible, break his knees before he returns. A gentleman, himself inexperienced in horses, but wishing to keep them in good stylea must have a groom who has served in stables of repute, or if he desire £0 make a groom, he must send his servant |
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THE ECONOMY OE THE STABLE. 477
where he can see good practice, or he will
but deceive himself. The duties of a groom consist in dressing,
dieting, exercising, and administering physic. It is in the aggregate of these in which consists the excellence of English practice. In Spain, and other parts of the Continent, the horses of considerable stables appear to the eye perfectly well drest, and their coats in beautiful condition; but the attention of the grooms is chiefly confined to the exercise of the stable. The care of the legs and feet forms a
most important branch of stable discipline. The legs must be kept perfectly dry, and so clean that not a speck of dirt be suffered to lodge in any crevice, under the knee, or fetlock, or around the coronet, and withal preserved cool and free from stiffness and inflammation, dirt suffered to form a lodg- ment, or wet remaining upon the legs in cold weather, will fret the skin, and cause cracked heels, mallenders and sallenders, rats-tails, crown scab, and such a train of stable plagues, as may baffle the most vigorous efforts during a whole winter. From want of care, the best flat-legged horses, whatever may be their condition, will soon become greased ; but I have seen round, fleshy-legged cattle, |
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4J8 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
which could never 4ae preserved from it, by
the utmost care of the most expert grooms, and which absolutely could not be kept in the house at all with who e legs. The most sovereign of all medical recipes is prevention. —As soon as the Jegs are perceived to be- come Jbot, the heels scurfy, and the hair begins to stare, take a tub or pail of warm soap-suds, with a piece of soap at hand, set therein the horse's leg up to his knee, and with the fingers gently scratch off the scurf from every part, patiently bathing and suj2r pling the leg and heel, as long as the water remains warm. This must be done all-fours, and will abate the tension a*nd render the legs cool. Wipe perfectly dry with a linen cloth. At night take the same steps with chamber-lye, in which hot iron has been quenched. Continue this as long as needful. Touch the cracks and raw places, in the nterim, with French brandy, or the tobacco infusion, or as occasion may lequi e with camphorated elder, or spermaeefei ointment, although this latter has been complained of as too stiffening. Linseed oil and brandy shook together till the mass become white; soap liniment and other forms to be found at the conclusion of the chapter, may also be useful in this intention. Care should |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 479
be taken not to irritate, and add to the in-
flammation of the legs, by harsh, too long ~=f continued, or improper rubbing; and if they be tightly bandaged with linen or woollen, which every groom knows how to perform neatly, it wili contribute to cleanliness, and the general end. Some gallopers are apt to crack the skin of their heels in exercise, in that case, supple occasionally with simple ointment, but in general warm water will be a sufficient preservative. Pains and sore- _ 5!S!LS_ Jn^ the shins and shank-bones are often the consequence of exercise over hard ground, in very dry seasons, for which I know no better palliative, than frequent warm emol- lient fomentations. The legs of young horses are extremely ._
apt to swell upon their first standing in the stable, and particularly after a journey ; not however so much as usual, if they have the benefit of a loose stable. Soak the less when cold, and not in a state of perspiration, up to the knee, patiently and thoroughly in chamber-lye heated with the poker, - adding a handful of salt, if thought proper, twice a day. Bandage with linen if necessary. Worked horses, with inflamed and swelled legs, battered feet, windgalls on their pas- terns an'd hocks (for in fact bog-spavins, or |
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480 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
as the farriers chuse to call them, blood
spavins, are nothing more than wind galls, or more properly jelly-bags) and contracted or starting sinews should be fomented and - embrocated according to the necessity of the
case. In contractions of the sinews, and hardness cT7ne~"Joints, of course restringents .a»e-fprbiddfiD> Warm discutient fomentations are required, and the most efficacious method is that before recommen ed, of setting the leg^into the liquid, as high as the knee. In case of strained sinews, cause the accus- tomed tension and inflammation to sub- sidy by the use of the above fomenta- Jtions, if possible, previously to the exhibi-
tion of astringents. Or sue the fomentation in the morning, and the restringent em- brocation at night, agreeable to discre^ tion. Rub the saturnine or strengthening embrocation, strong or mild according to the demand, well, and for a long time* into the pastern joints, along the back sinews, and under the knees and hocks. It may be used either cold, or blood-warm, and about a tea-cup full, if strong, suffices for a leg. Hunters, after a haid chace, wou'd be in- finitely benefited by such treatment, the most scrupulous and minute care being pte^ viously had to free their legs and pasterns
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THE ECONOMY OE THE STABLE. 481
from thorns, and small prickles, which they
may have caught. As has been already hinted, in the First Volume, page 184, and in the discourse on hackney horses, every opportunity of leisure ought to be eagerly seized on, to practice these salutary measures of prevention, which with the joint assistance Of the LOOSE STABLE, OCCASIONAL RUNS
AT GRASS; and TIMELY EVACUATIONS FROM MILD CATHARTIC MEDICINES, WOu!d have the blessed effect of forming a coalition be-
tween interest and humanity. I must repeat, I am not flourishing away, either upon my own, or the theories of other men : the truth of the principle I am labouring to inculcate is sufficiently obvious to the well informed, to me it is confirmed by many years experi- mental practice. With inconsiderate and capricious people void of attachment even to the highest desert, it is the rage to change their horses as often as their clothes; in such hands a capital horse, wantonly and i<mo~ rantly distrest, without that saving caution which alone can ensure the continuan, e of great performances, is, to use their own ex- pressive phrase, soon done up: others, of more sedateness and feeling, who wish to ride well, and at a moderate price, wid find it their interest to purchase this sort of cast- vol; i. 21 |
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482 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
off horses; they are frequently to be met
with in the early stages of decline, and with proper methods may be recovered, even to their pristine worth. With a thorough groom, the feet of his
horse are objects of constant careful inspec- tion; these should be well cleansed beneath the shoe with the pecker, from all small stones or gravel, at every return from abroad. The shoes must be examined, that their endte do not press into the crust, and that the nails be fast; otherwise instant application must be made to the farrier. Horses ought by no means to remain in old shoes, until the toe be worn away, or the webs become so thin that there is a danger of their break- ing, unless in case of brittle hoofs, when it is an object to shoe as seldorn as possible. Upon the average, good shoes will wear nearly a month. Steeling the toes is in general, a useful practice, but less necessary when the best iron is made use of. I promised, in the Introduction, to give
my opinion somewhat more at large, on the new method of treating the feet, some years since introduced by the judicious Mr. Clarke, but which has not yet generally obtained. Both Clarke and St. Bel assert, that_oils_ and greasy applications have really the effect |
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STABLE—STOPPING F£ET\ 483
to harden and prevent_the^rowth^of ungular —
and horny substances, instead of the generally intended one of softening and relaxing them; and I am inclined to the same way of think- ing myself: but how then are we to account for the well known speedy growth of the human nails, upon hands which are constantly employed in greasy occupations? Yet I have observed, that the constant handling^ ftreaSY .. meat has the effect of hardening, inljamirsg, and cracking the hands of butchers, and that leather," although it be at first softened and suppled by the application of^oih from its frequent use, becomes more hard, cracks,^ and loses its colour.; and-1 think that some blackening composition might be contrived, more serviceable, as well as more beautifying, to harness. As to constantly greasing and stopping the feet of horses with dung, and the various compositions in immemorial use, all of which I discontinued in my own practice, from my first perusal of Mr. Clarke's book, about the year 1782; according to the best observations I have been able to make, their general tendency is to heat, dry, and harden; ■—- and if it be allowed, that the hinder feet, in a slovenly stable, grow fast from standing constantly soaked in dung, and urine, yet -"* such is not a sound, but a fungous and pre- |
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484 THEECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
ternatural growth and enlargement of the
bottom of the hoof, which, in the meantime, assumes a deep and improper shape, be- coming jhot and contracted above. The same false kind of horn is observed to shoot very quick, from the hoof being constantly bathed by the discharge of grease, in an in- veterate case. The warmest advocates for the old practice will allow, that notwith- standing their oiling and stopping, most feet will contract, and become feverish byjong standing in the stable; turn the horse abroad, and the coolness, and moisture of the earth will soon occasion the horn to relax, the heels and quarters to expand, and the whole foot to take its natural shape. This seems to point out to us the proper substitutes within doors ; to wit, water arid cooling earth. In fact, I have taken horses frequently, with feet rendered as TiarcT.as .oakj,, an(l_HSSiiX foundered, by the heat and greasing disci- pline of the liveiy stables, and very shortly put them into a state of gradual amendment, by well soaking their hoofs, three times a day with warm water. For the naturally soft hoof, I know of no other remedy than cold spring water, or chamber-lye, and per- haps an occasional stopping with blue clay, having never found permanent benefit from |
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THE ECONOMY OE THE STABLE. 485
the use of any restringent medicaments; and
the reader may recollect, that I was troubled nine years with soft hoofs. It is, however, necessary to remark, "that Solleysel, and several old writers, have given a caveat against the benumbing effect of any clay stopping, to which the discreet reader will pay that degree of attention which he sup- poses it may deserve. I will readily allow, both that it may be sometimes beneficial" to anoint the coronary rings with cooling liniment or simple unguent, and to use an occasional stopping or poultice, either emollient or restringent; but I contend that the oil-bottle and brush, the stopping-box, and its whole mass of antiquated cumbusti- b'es, whether tallow, suet, or fe—*ds of various kinds, should be instantly swept from our stables to the dunghill, where they might possibly do some good, and would be out of the way of doing any harm. 1 have, in various places, spoken
against any stable attempts to amend feet become thoroughly bad, because such measures are generally deceptions, and be- cause defective feet may be cured so much more cheaply and effectually abroad, in any season: nor, when it is attempted in the stable, have I much opinion of the ha^ardoua |
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486 STABLE—THRUSHES.
operation of the rasp and buttress, or of
the Various app icatkms to promote the re- production of the horn, which may be made to gr.nv as fast as it really ought, by the simple use of water: comd we artificially impel nature to "premature efforts, I see not how we should be gainers, unless indeed in the way of trade. From the days of Solleysel to the present, and longer for aught I can tell, tar, cold or boiling hot, applied to the coronet or sole, has been a favourite nostrum either to promote the growth of horn, or discuss stagnant humours. I must acknow- ledge I can say nothing of its merits, in either respect, from my own experience. It may be necessary to remind some readers, that the growth of hoof, as of all other lingular substances, must be progressive from the root downwards; in consequence any medi- s cament intended to promote the growth of the hoof, ought to be applied above, that •*^. is, upon and around the coronary ring. Running-thrushes, it hath already
been remaiked, are a natural defect, of course, in such case, a remedy to repel the discharge would soon bS found much worse than the disease : but there is a bastard species of this genus, acquired from bad grooming, and suffer- ing particles of grit and dirt to lodge in the |
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STABLE—FURNITURE. 487
aperture of the frog; another more frequent
cause still, is the cutting and trimming, or rather destroying the frog by common shoers, whence the cleft is distended, and an acrimonious discharge ensues. The re- medies are frequent ablutions, with a good lather of old strong soap, detergents and styptics; and, above ail, encouraging the full natural growth of the frog, from which not an atom should be pared, excepting what is ragged or decayed. It is beneficial in general, to take off the
shoes of a horse which is necessitated to stand long in the stable, and does no work; the growth of the crust, and the enlargement of the heels is thereby promoted. I pass to the care of the Furniture
and trappings. The bits and stirrup-irons are polished, not plated, which is unfashion- able. They are best kept in order by being instantly rubbed clean after use, and placed in a dry situation; so shall very little, either of oil or scouring paper be found necessary. Lazy and slovenly fellows will take the bridle from a horse's mouth, and giving the bits an apology for a wipe, daub them over half an inch thick with stinking oil: the bri- dle is then hung up, probably against a damp Wall, and put upon the horse next day with- |
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488 THE ECONOMY OK THE STABLE.
out being cleaned, but enca-ed with oil and
rust as it is; by which, if a puny feeder, he is rendered sick and off his stomach: for most horses have great aversion to any thing greasy, and their bits ought to be as sweet -*• and clean as their master's silver spoon. I believe that oil is, however, not so much in use as formerly, either in the stable or the dwelling-house, and have been informed by some, whom I esteem good housewives, that elbow-grease is of all others the best beau- tifier both of steel and mahogany. Another great defect exists among grooms,
even smh as set up for professors. They take no care to dry the pads of a saddle after a journey, but confining their attention merely to externals, never scruple to put a hardened and damp saddle upon a horse's back; it is the same with regard to body clothes, which, whether they be soaked through with sweat or rain, or damps, are inconsiderately girted round the body of a hore, sick or well, in the precise state in which they chance to be picked up. If there be any truth at all in analogical reasoning, such practice ought to have a very ill effect upon fine skinned animals at least, which are studiously kept so warm, and the pores of which are ever in such a ready state for. |
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STABLE—DIET. 489
absorption: here we have, I doubt not, one
of those latent causes of colds, " caught," as ~~* the grooms say, " the devil knows how." The pads of saddles ought to be kept per- fectly soft, and free of dit and sweat, and after use, should be dried either in the sun or by the fire, and hung in a dry place: the clothes also ought to be washed much oftener than they generally are, and ever kept bone dry : how often have I seen wet clothes thrown upon a horse, in order to cure him of a fresh contracted cold ! These animals, beyond all others, exposed to the inflictions of carelessness, caprice, and cruelty, have no power to tell-their secret complaints, and too often their keepers have neither the power of reasoning, nor the gift of sensibility. The Diet of horses must in course de- pend on the produce and circumstances of the different countries. The horse, although universally a granivorous animal, yet varies in a degree, from the general rule of his nature in some countries: amongst the Tar- tars, and other inhabitants of the fiozen regions of the North, he is said to be fed during the Winter season upon fisb, an ac- count which I can easily credit, since I have ijiyself known horses fond of raw flesh ; one hunting-mare in particular, which it was |
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490 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE-
dangerous to place near a butcher's shop,
where, being left by the servant, she has more than once spoiled the shape of a leg of mutton, or demolished a sheep's pluck. The natural food of the horse is the simple
herbage of the field, grass, and on that alone he can be constantly kept in the highest state of health and vigour, so long as he shall not be required to labour, and whilst he is employed in labour, grass in some form, -either dried or green, seems absolutely necessary to his maintenance in a healthy state. Hay, straw, and corn of the various kinds, have been from the earliest times the common food of horses; but in England, and indeed France and Germany, during latter periods especially, they have rejected all other species of horse-corn, from a well- grounded preference in favour of oats and beans, the latter for draught horses chiefly, or as substantial auxiliaries to the oats; oats imparting as strong a nourishment as the constitution of the horse will properly bear, are at the same time of an abstersive and clean- sing nature, and are, moreover, in my opinion, the best and cheapest in-door fattening for almost all animals. White pease are excel- lent mixed with oats, perhaps superior to |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 491.
beans for saddle horses. They are also good,
cut from the stack, and given in the straw. In former times, bean and pea-bread were given to race horses. The species of corn usually given to horses
in many countries is barley, and the bulky provender straw; both which, in warm climes, are said to be nearly equal in nutri- ment to our hay and oats. With us, barley^ is apt to scour horses and make them state red like blood. Wheat is often e;iven to the horses of the great upon tlie continent; and it is said, when Philip of Spain was in this country, his Jennets_ were fed upon wheat during a time of scarcity, which gave great umbrage to the people. There seems to exist no perceptible dif-
ference of quality between the white and the b!ack_SMi being equal in weight and thin- ness of shell; those, and their being short, plump, and free from tail, are their well- known criterions of goodness; it is equally well-known, they should be some months old when used. New beans are improper for horses, swelling in their maw, and griping them in a very dangerous manner. The remedy is to dry theml^n a^kiln. Old beans should be split, and given"either with bran prdilgEff; I fed cart-horses nearly seven years |
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492 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE- '
upon beans, without finding any detrimental
effect therefrom; but the horses laboured excessively hard. Beans contain more solid nutriment than oats, but of a less salubrious nature. Grains constantly used, loosen a horse,
and impoverish his blood ; bran_ scoiirs^ and -JSJlS^ens^the entrails; both of them are good occasional dietetic alteratives. Carrots are said to purify and sweeten the
blood, to amend the wind, and to replenish after the wastings occasioned by disease, or inordinate labour, I have been accustomed to use them for years, in all forms, and to all descriptions of horses. They are either given in Spring and Autumn, to high-fed horses, as a change of diet, at the rate of one feed per day, in lieu of a feed of corn, or as full subsistence to others. They ought to be washed clean, and if large, cut into flata and^sizeable pieces. They are occasionally to be purchased in the London markets, at a price sufficiently moderate for horse food, perhaps at ten-pence per bushel. The quantity for a feed is from half a peck to a peck. The orderly periods of feeding with corn
in this country, are morning, noon, and night; the quantities each time either a quar- |
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THE ECONOMY OE THE STABLE. 493
ter or half a peck, with, or without, about
two handfuls of beans, according to the horse's state of body. Much greater care than is common, ought to be had to sifting the oats clean from dust, and the dung of mice. Water should be allowed without fail twice a day. I have often heard of the bay and water system of certain economical stables, calculated to furnish the horse with a carcase, and saye the expence of corn ; but there is also another error not unfrequent among stable people, who suppose water to be at best but a kind of necessary evil to horses, and therefore think it a point gained, whenever they can find an opportu- nity to abridge the quantity. They find warrant for this practice in some of the old authors, but how well soever a horse may shift with little or no water, whilst abroad and feeding upon succulent meat, it is in- dispensible to him in the stable; and I have oft-times seen much mischief ensue from its being withheld: costiveness, inflammation, gripes, and their various consequent morbid derivatives; perpetual longing, and the danger of excess upon every opportunity. The well known use of hay is to dilate
the body of the horse, to satisfy his'appe-
: tite with bulk and quantity, as corn does
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494 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
with compact and solid-nutriment. English
hay, the best in the world, it is true contains great nourishment, and will keep a horse, and even fat him ; but he is unable to labour ^ upon hay alone, and I have experienced the
truth of Bracken's observation, that it in- --- jures the sight of horses to keep them so, in
particular if suddenly taken from good keep and full feeding. Hard upland hay is the proper kind for nags and coach-horses, and it ought to be of fine colour, fragrant scent, and full of flower. Clover hay, and that of the artificial grasses in geneva', from its grossness, is appropriated to cart-horses. Without attempting to ascertain the precise quantity, it may be said, that hay should be given as often as a horse has a keen appetite for it; but great care should be taken, that so much be never allowed at once, that he leave, and blow upon it. There lies the secret, even in fatting animals to profit; a thing not so often clone as supposed. At night a considerable quantity of hay is left in the rack, absolutely necessary, no doubt, to hard-working horses, whose most leisure time for feeding is thr night; of the propriety of the measure, for horses kept in a state of luxury, I have my doubts, " Fasting is nature's scavenger,"
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 495
The ancients, according to Zenophon, fed
their horses but twice a day j the modern Turks, Arabians, and Moors, feed only once with corn, that is, barley ; or as some assert, only once in twenty-four hours, when they allow three or four pounds of barley, feeding in the interval with straw, but very little hay, which in those countries is hard to be procured: Camerarius, who really seems to have deserved to ride a good horse, from his liberal manner of feeding, directs six douhle^p_ugj]s3 or handfuls of oats, or barley, to be administered three times a day, the last, or night-feed, to be somewhat the largest. This maybe estimated at about a peck and half per day. His daily routine of diet is the following. At first going to stable in the morning, give a feed of corn, but no hay. At nine o'clock give him a lock of weil-dusted hay, which being eaten, water the horse: leave a farther supply of hay, and return at twelve to give the noon- feed of corn. At three give more hay, and suffer him to drink again. At night offer him water previously to his last meal. Ve- getius and Bhindeville advise to feed a horse fa ^raajl gortmrm at a ti;ne,__ particularly with the coarse and rough garbage, which it is the custom to give to cart-horses, lest. |
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49^ THE ECONOMY OE THE STABLE.
by filling themselves too suddenly and gree-
dily, digestion be impeded, and surfeit ensue. Assuredly, we have little fault to - find with the old writers in this impoitaut respect. There exist two disputed cases in stable
economy, to which it is necessary to advert; for my part, I think them by no means of difficult solution. The gallop after water, and the ratio of feeding horses which labour but little, or occasionally. First of the first—It is remarkable that our early English writers condemn the gallop after water, and call it a French custom; whilst Solleysel, and the French writers of the last century, equally decry it, but insist on its being an English one. It is undoubtedly in opposition to sound theory, and for that reason alone ought to be discontinued; at the same time I must acknowledge, I never observed' any ill effects to arise from the practice. In the waterings o? race-horses, it must needs be more in- nocent than elsewhere, seeing they take a moderate number of godowns of water, and walk a considerable distance previously to their sedate and steady canter; unless indeed they water immediately before a brushing gallop: that may be attended with pdnful sensations, and certainly with no benefit to |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE SfASLE. 497
tile horse. But I have seen a training groom .
take his hack from the watering trough, and ridg it up and down, as if he would burst it, under the stupid notion of warming the water in its belly; jn Some cart stables the sane folly prevails; and these stuffed and trussed animals are first swilled and then stirred up in the same manner, I never see this farce repeated, without wishing to have it in my power, to make each of the fellows run half a mile with two quarts of small beer in his belly. My own practice is to Walk briskly after water; or in bad weather, and stable- watering, to rub well over the breast, belly, and loins. Authors and others say, " feed according
" to your work." Verily, verily, I say* take heed lest that adage deceive you. It -*" must be observed, no horse can be in high condition, the meaning of which is, capable from that internal strength afforded him by full nourishment, of exerting to the utmost his natural powers and qualifications, without being con^ntly_fedn. in the amplest — manner. If yOU occasionally lower his diet, you must never expect to ride gallantly, or to have your horse in full condition, or in a state that great exertions may be made with impunity. Again, the danger is equal with vol. i. 2 K
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498 THE ECONOMY OP THE STABLE.
full feeding, and inadequate or irregular
exercise. It your economy lead you to the saving shift of hay only, because your work is done, you endanger the eyes and wind of your horse. A plan of this saving kind may be most safely executed where is a run of good grass; but in that case hard riding must not form a part of it, nor high condi- tion be expected. All horses, however well shaped and firmly constitutioned, ridden, or worked, upon this economical and nicely regulated plan, will be occasionally liable to knock and cut their legs from weak- ness, be throwing off their meat every mile or two, and heaving at their flanks as if griped. In a word, from middling feeding will result middling case, and middling per- formance. On this head, I am obliged to differ from
Mr. Clarke, for whose opinion in all things, wherein he appears to have had thorough experience, I • have great deference. In his correction (page 86, of the Treatise on the Prevention of Diseases) of Dr. Bracken, on a part of the subject of which the doctor was likely to be so consummate a judge, both as a physician and a sportsman, I think Mr. Clarke is by no means fortunate. Al- though a fat horse unexercised, must be at |
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THE ECONOMY OP THE STABLE. 4.99
any rate extremely unfit for labour, yet
there is an immense difference between that compact and solid flesh, which results from - corn-feeding, and the oily and unsubstantial fat produced by aliments of inferior quality j and a horse fed, and even fat with the tatter, is infinitely more liable to a sudden dangerous crisis, from over-exertion, than if he were, in the stable phrase, full of hard meat. Again, Clarke quotes Berringer, who, I
suppose, had it fr0m Buffon, that "the
^^Lliorses are so hardy and strong
in tlieir constitution, as to be able to r,m
f( tlree or--i2JiUluUilred English miles in
"three days. They subsist,Summer and
*' winter, sole]^upOn grass In the great
deserts." By way of a counterpart, I wilt
quote an hostler of former days, who ran to
Ms master in a great stew, to inform him that
a horse had devoured his grindstone: The
master answered and fcaid-that may be. I»
ti'uth, Buffon, the Prince of Naturalists/
^w about as much of the physiology of
qume performances, as the-horse does of
"S l^W1- : This *f a Part °f the
J - , m a hnowiedge of which, enquirers
must not ]lave recourse either to the elabo ^to.y, or the riding-school. It is a th*J 2k2
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500 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
which has no necessary connection with far-
riery or menage. In this reforming age, various have been
the improvements proposed, for the econo- mical dieting of horses. Lord Dundonald, and indeed others before his lordship, have been strong advocates for the continental Culinary system, or the practice of cooking the victuals of horses, or at any rate of malt- ing their corn; tedious methods, which, I conceive, will scarcely ever obtain in this country, where the raw provender, judiciously chosen, and properly dispensed, succeeds so admirably. Indeed Sonnini, in a late pub- lication, complains much of this washy re- gimen upon the Continent, and of the too free use of roots and improper herbage, speaking decidedly in favour of hard and dry meat for the labouring horse. In feeding for the shambles, I admit the superior utility of coction, which I have often essayed. Carrots, and even turnips and potatoes, have been cried up as equal to corn for labouring horses, and flattering accounts have been published, which served to excite the admirf tion of the curious uninformed, arid the smiles of those whose judgment had been previously informed by experience. |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 5Q1
In point of nutriment. Carrots undoubt-
edly rank next to corn. By way of trial, _I rode iny hackney, three or four months one winter, upon carrots and hay only, and I found he carried^ me short journies very well, and would go fast; but was incapable of hard work, though he appeared in good condition. Cart-horses I kept on the same food, and the result was. similar. I will readily grant, that cart-horses previously in high condition, and firm in flesh, will per- form moderate work perfectly well, and look fine and sleek upon carrots and good hay; but a long continuance of severe labour would soon alter the case, and substantial corn would be obviously demanded by nature. It does not appear to me, from repeated trials, that the most advantageous application of a carrot crop is to give it to labouring horses: the most beneficial use of that ve- getable is for Straw-yard horses, mares, and foals, horned cattle, milch cows, store pigs, and fatting beasts; and for those various purposes, I know them by experience to be absolutely invaluable, and that all which has been said in their favour by our best writers, is fully intitled to credit and attention. They do hot boil so advantageously as potatoes, |
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502 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
taking more fuel, and not mixing well with
meal; but are infinitely more wholesome when raw. A page of Agricultural Memoranda"in my
Common-place Book, now laying open be- fore me, I will present the reader with some particulars relative to a small carrot crop, which I cultivated in Hampshire in the year 1791, for the purpose of feeding horses and store- pigs : such minutes I am aware can contain nothing of novelty to the experienced agri- culturist, but they may serve to remind a considerable number of persons, who have not yet made trial of carrots, of their great consequence, in the light of that most ma- terial object of husbandry, winter food for cattle. The soil was a loam of tolerable fertility,
partly hazle and partly black; the former in general ten inches deep, the latter rather stoney and shallow. It bad produced nearly a load of beans per acre, the preceding year. On February 17—Ploughed for the first time, as deep as a very ordinary team of three light mares would perform. March 18—Ploughed in twenty loads per acre of good rich yard dung. The 29th—Sowed broad-cast eight pound of Sandwich seed, |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 503
procured from a gardener, upon an acre
and half laid out in lands; and April 21— Sowed another quarter acre. Second week in May began hand-weeding with women, a boy attending them to carry the weeds to the farm-yard, which, with the young roots were greedily eaten by the sows. The acre and half was weeded in a fortnight, three women the first, and eleven the last week. June 20—Weeded a second time, finished in about ten days. July 16—Thinned the carrots for the last time, and began hoeing; finished in ten days by one man. In Sep- tember and October took them up occa- sionally, as wanted, for store-pigs. Novem- ber 2d, began digging the crop with dung forks. A man ciug about two moderate cart-loads in three-quarters of a day ; finished and housed them all, November 28. The produce upon an acre and half, and half- quarter, was four hundred and thirty-nine and a half heaped bushel baskets, the carrots topped (which was done in the field) and the dirt on. A basket full, clean washed, heaped a nine gallon bushel, and about half-a-peek over; so that the crop may be called about three hundred bushels per acre. The charges, '#ere as fallow : |
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504 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
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«£* *. d.
Rent and Tythe, 20s. Team, 20s. Seed, 12s.- 2 12 o
Hand-weediny, 2i. 17s. 6d. Hoeing, Us. Sd.
Digging, 14s. . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 %
Cartage home, 13s. 6d. Topping, Gs. Stow-
ing, &c. 10s 6tL . . . ,...... 1 10 0 Washing, halfpenny per bushel. ..... 12 Q
^ 8 17 8
Or not quite 7id. per bushel, .—^
The carrots were generally long and straight,
but best in the hazle nioujd, the black being
too shallow. They were light coloured, and of a fine aromatic flavour. The season was exceedingly unfavourable and blighting, and the roots suffered much from the grub- worm ; but not so much as the cabbages and potatoes, of which also I had about four acres that season. In a favourable year, from four to five hundred bushels of carrots per acre, might very well have been expected. The summer having proved so dry and unpropitious, I left the crop to receive the benefit of the autumnal rains, which succeeded; but the good effect was counterbalanced by late digging up. If they lie in a heap in the field with their tops only half an hour, they heat and become liable to rot. The top should be cut off as close as possible., without wounding the root/ |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 5QS
which will produce decay, and the roots must
be stored perfectly dry. The weather proved so uncertain, there
was no possibility of getting in this crop dry ; and to enhance my ill-luck, I was persuaded to lay the ro^ts in straw; the consequen- e was, in their sweat they heated the straw, which became good rotten dung, and in the end about fifty bushels of carrots were rotted and spoiled. In favour of this crop must be farther reckoned, the young roots which were drawn, to leave the carrots a spaa dis- tant; these young ones were frequ ntl) of considerable size, and amounted to ma: y cart-loads; the carrots drawn as waited, and, lastly, the turning in of pigs after the digging. OS o
Fourteen bushels of boiled potatoes went
considerably farther in feeding the same number of pig-stock, than sixteen bushels 6f carrots, beside the latter taking exactly double the quantity of fuel. I have various precise details of the application of the garden crops, as well as of hay and corn, to the purpose of stock-feeding, was this the proper place to introduce them • not taken from the uncertain reports of a bailiff, as is too often the case, but'from my own personal observation. |
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506 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
Of potatoes and turnips as food for horses,
more particularly if they labour, I have no other ideas than of their gross impropriety ; but I once turned a mare, lean and worked down, into turnips, upon a rich sand in Essex, with a lot of bullocks, and she came up neariy as fat as the beasts. The jockies of Blundeville's days were accustomed to fat their horses for sale upon sodden colevvorts
mingled with bran, and a little seasoned with
salt. Almost all those new experiments, as they are styled, in the diet of horses and cattle, are tp be found in Blundeville and Markham, particularly in the last page of the latter; where we find even the fir-tops - lately recommended by Mr. Lawson, which, discovery Markham says, he had of ' a great lord.' Nothing can better characterize the ^. use of potatoes for horned cattle, than the
experiments of a gentleman at Enfield, re- corded in the Annals of Agriculture this summer; even with good hay, they rendered the milk of cows so thin and poor, that it was not good enough for sucklers; now good Jhay alone will produce milk sufficiently " substantial for butter. I have heard of a
dairy of cows in Hampshire rotted by feeding upon potatoes. As to giving them to horses I should do it, in a certain case, with the |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 507
Utmost pleasure; that is, when I had
nothing better to give them. I must declare it often excites both my sensibility and my risibility, to read the wonderful accounts of certain experimenters in feeding brute and human cattle; one of these adepts will make nothing of taking a store-pig from the yard, and fattening him to marrow in three weeks, whilst I am such a stupid bungler, as to be eight or ten doing such a business, with the best food. It has occurred to my observation, that
the turnips, cabbages, and other vegetable productions upon poor soils, are by no means so solid and nutritious as those grown upon - richer lands. Thus, in some counties, bul- locks will be made thorough fat with tur-r nips or cabbages, which vegetables, pro- duced upon poor land, I have known to fail of that effect, even with the assistance of good hay ; and the beasts have afterwards been obliged to he made up with corn, nor had it ever happened otherwise to the owners of them. I have heard much of milking cows upon cabbages and straw; I put mine upon that diet, the vegetables coming off a middling soil, but the beasts scoured and fell away to that degree, that I was under the necessity of taking several into sick |
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£08 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
quarters, where they were soon recovered
to their former plight, by good hay and mashes of bran and meal. The milk too '/eeame poor as water. I found it necessary to restrict the quantity of cabbages, and Wfcm hay. What I have ever thought vu.ious, both horned cattle and swine, ac- cording to my constant observation, prefer - the leaves to the finest and sweetest white hearts of the cabbage; I suppose on account of the greater affinity of the leaf to the bitter taste of grass, their natural and favourite viand. Granting the fact of the inferiority of the above-named vegetables, does the analogy hold in respect to corn? And is tlide a greater quantity of nutritive sub- taace in a pound of flour, the produce of the hundreds of Essex, than in the same quantity grown in a less fertile district ? Chaff-cutting with an engine, was prac-
tised in Germany and Italy, and known in England, more than two hundred years ago. Of cut straw I have no opinion, as being void of nourishment, and I think the straw of greater use under the feet of a labouring- horse, than in his belly. Hulls, or chaff, are much better, also cut clover hay, to mix with the corn of cart-horses. Cutting up unthreshed oats for feed, is an ancient and a |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 5Q9
good practice, particularly when hay is scarce.
Threshing and dressing are saved, and it is an economical expenditure of the oats* which are moreover very fresh and agreeab'e to the horse. If a necessity exist for usir>g new oats, and no better convenience offers, - they may be dried in an oven. I have found it a fact, that it is most ad-
vantageous to grind all corn for horses which are kept at home, accordingly, I ground both beans and oats as fine as possible; bujt it is more usual barely to break them. Whole corn, with whatever it may be mixed, will much of it be swallowed in that state, a great deal only half masticated, which will elude the digestive powers of the animal, and be ejected from his body crude and unbroken. This is particularly the case with brood mares and young stock, the bellies of which are full of slippery grass; such should ever have ground corn, and mashes should always be made with it. Ground buck-wheat agrees well enough with horses, but that species of corn is the least substantial. I must how- ever acknowledge, that of later years I have / entertained doubts of the benefit of grinding corn for horses; nor do I think it of that indispensable consequence even for hogs, which I formerly did. |
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OIO THE ECONOMY OP THE STABLE.
Mr. Lawson, a merchant of London, has
lately published an essay, on the use of '.' mixed and compressed cattle fodder," intended as feed and fattening for horses, oxen, sheep, and hogs. His plan is, to grind, cut, mix, and compress, all the articles in present use, as food for cattle, with some additional ones of his own recommending; and to keep the mass stowed in casks, or other close stowage. He gives a detailed account of all the instruments necessary in the process, the most commodious methods according to his own practice, and various tables of expence and quantities. His dietetic additions are, pea, bean, and
potatoe haulm, the tops of carrots, and the young branches of fir-trees, dried in the sun, or upon a kiln. With respect to dried bean- stalks, and potatoe haulm, and indeed such rubbish in general, as it is sufficiently obvious they can contain no nutriment, I must adhere to my former opinion, that they ai'e of much greater use under the feet, than in the bellies of cattle. The mischiefs that farm-horses are constantly receiving from gross, tough, and foul fodder, are notorious, the benefit, even while themselves can pick the best of it, without proof; at any rate, an expensive |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 511
apparatus for such purposes, could not pos-
sibly answer upon a farm. Against the idea of compressing fodder
for certain purposes, I have not the shadow of an objection to make, nor any thing but approbation to bestow upon Mr. Lawson's judicious method of conducting the process— I only wish to suggest the propriety of ex- eluding all but nutritious ingredients. 0B can scarcely export his compressed fodder to a.,y country which has not rubbish enough of its own growth, and it will be doubtless much for the honour of his British merchan- dize, to be of genuine salubrity. The ar- ticle surely promises much convenience to the military or sea service, and may probably become an object of foreign trade. To kiln-dry carrots at home, could only, be de- sirable or advantageous. under the circum- stance of their being inj danger.from wet, since in their new state, they have nothing noxious or surfeiting, like potatoes or beans. In order to rear valuable stock, either for
use or sale, it is necessary to give:;the _colts corn immediately from weaning, and during every winter.. It is also of the utmost con- sequence that they have good shelter from cold, wet, and storms, in hovels or out- bouses, moderate!v littered.., down. Low |
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£12 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
keep and damp lying, produce a poor and
watery blood, and are by no means favour- able to the growth of that plumpness of the muscles, which so materially conduces to substance, strength, and symmetry. A quar- ter peck of ground oats per day, with good hay, or even plenty of good oat-straw, is excellent keep the first winter for a foal. The only substitute for corn is fine pollard or carrots; of the latter, a yearling will eat a peck per day, sliced thin. Foals should be weaned by the beginning of November, if the mare be in-foal; if otherwise, they had better suck all the winter, the dam being high fed, and the foal sharing with her. A caution, however, is necessary to those who feed foals as if they intended to bacon them; of this description was that worthy old farmer of whom I have somewhere made honourable mention; he would sometimes feed a colt stone blind by the time it reached its third year. It is of consequence to be remembered,
that yearlings will frequently suck the mares, and very much injure the young foals. Foals are often griped by the milk, either on ac- count of its being heated by the mare's la- bouring, or its quality being affected by sour and bad herbage. Warm mashes of fine |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 513
pollard and bran are in this case useful. If
necessary, a small quantity of sulphur, mag- nesia, and honey, may be added. Sticklers are also occasionally liable to be hide-bound, dull, and inapt for motion. They will be sometimes costive, then loose, the excrement scouring from them in small quantities. It arises on most occasions, from the imper- fect digestion of bad milk. Balls of fine rhubarb and magnesia, equal quantities, made up with honey, and the sifted meal of oats, are the proper remedy, and must be used as necessity requires, until the colt be weaned. From two to four tea-spoons full make a dose, and care ought to be taken that the ball be not too large. I have not engaged in the present Treatise
to meddle with the business of the breeding stud, but will copy the following little anec- dote of a mare and foal, from my memo- randums, as it is of the nature to afford a caution against accidents which too frequently occur. In April 1789, I expected a Young Marsk mare to foal every hour. The mare fed upon the common, and from an impro- vident desire of saving a little grass, instead of committing her safe, at such a crisis, to a small paddock, according to the advice of persons of discretion, I suffered her to remain vol.i. 2 L
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514 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
by night upon thfe common. I was called
up one blustering and rainy morning, at four o'clock, and informed by a friendly labourer, that my mare had foaled under shelter of a hedge, and that the foal had rolled into the. ditch and was drowned. It was at no great distance from the house, and we wheeled the foal home in a barrow. It was a fine colt foal, but stiff, and to all appearance had been suffocated with the mud and water. By way of experiment, I ordered the foal to be wrapped in a blanket and laid before a good fire, and by rubbing and chafing him for upwards of an hour, we at length recalled the vital principle, which had not really fled, but only remained in suspense. His mouth being now opened by degrees, a warm cordial of gruel, ale, and spice, was administered, and in a few hours he arose, with a little assistance; he was able to walk about, but had not yet strength to draw the mare's milk. She was brought to him occasionally, and he remained all night by the fire-side, a boy sitting up with him. The second day he was put into a loose stable, with the mare; the third and fourth, he was suffered to go abroad with her, a few hours in mid-day, and was brisk and well. On the fifth came a sharp north-east wind, and I saw the im- |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 515
propriety of turning the colt out, but the
farrier would insist, he could be no where so well as abroad .with his mother; I fool- ishly complied, and being obliged to go to town, at my return, found the colt had lain about the cold ground too long; the im- pression upon his tender and susceptible body was too forcible, it struck to his heart; he died in the night, Great moderation should be used in the
labour of mares heavy in foal. Gentle work during their gestation is in no degree inju- rious, probably salutary; but the risk lies, both in excess and continuance, to too late a period. Instances are not wanting of mares foaling under the harness. I had two mares in foal, at plough, the one had three or four months to go, the other not two months. They laboured hard. The first, remarkably big, became dull, and her flesh fell away, but she fed as usual. At coining into the stable from work, she was suddenly seized with the fit, and qast at once twin colt foals, dead. This accident instantly directed my attention to the other mare, which on in- spection appeared ill, aud by the symptoms, very probable to. follow the example of her fellow-labourer in a few days; in short, the part was obviously enlarged and swollen, 2 l 2
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518 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
there was a small discharge, and nature was
hastening towards a premature crisis. I or- dered her to be withdrawn from work in- stantly, gave her two or three mashes, com- posed of line pollard, malt, a small quantity of boiled rice, and a pint of ale. In a few days, her usual health and cheerfulness re- turned, the part contracted within its com- mon bounds, the discharge ceased, and she went her full time, producing a colt foal. It must be noted, however, that she was not worked any more till after foaling. The - usual methods of violent exercise, to produce ' abortion, are inhuman and unmanly, and if they have the desired effect, never fail to leave an incurable weakness in the body of the mare. The brown mare, mentioned in a former chapter, was ridden forty-two miles in three hours, over cross roads, by a barbarous master, when heavy in foal; not indeed for the express purpose of procuring abortion, but it had that effect too surely, and the mare was never thoroughly recovered of the shock her constitution received, not- withstanding my long and careful attention. The old farriers had a still more inhu- man method of manual extirpation of the fcetus. Perhaps no part of our English stable-
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 517
Menage, is so liable to censure, as the com-
mon method of treatment shewn to covering stallions. The importance of the high- bred ones, will not be doubted by any one who will give himself the trouble to enquire mto the prices sometimes offered for them, or the annual sum produced by such as are of established repute, Eleven thousand guineas was the sum offered at Newmarket by Earl Grosvenor, as I understand, for Eclipse ; and afterwards, in London, another offer of six thousand, was made for the half share of him, both which were refused by Captain O'Kelly; whose demand for the purchase of his horse, was twenty thousand pounds down, a well secured annuity of five hundred for his own life, and three brood mares. The price offered for Shark, by the same noble lord, has been already mentioned. •Matchem earned his owner more than twenty thousand guineas, and both Herod and Highflyer produced very considerable annual incomes, A certain famous stallion was, as I have
been informed, so shamefully neglected, as to be suffered to lie in his own dung until it was fairly baked upon him ; and at last dled of an inflammation in his sheath, which Wded in a gangrene. Osmer complained o| |
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518 %HE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
the general neglect of the feet of stallions
and brood mares in his time ; it wm so with Eclipse, which horse had scarcely a foot to stand upon, for some years before his death. Another horse of prime note was so exhausted in his nature by the unthrifty avarice of his proprietor, that he made a premature exit from the service, dying in great agonies. The folly of both parties, in this case, is suf- ficiently obvious, but I think that of the owner of the mare most admirable; who can expect any success from suffering her to be presented to a horse, exhausted by having perhaps already obliged half a dozen^ or even half a score females the same day! This branch of the subject being of conse-
quence, and frequently involving the pre- servation of considerable property, I shall therefore present the reader with my ideas on the proper method of treating the covering stallion the year round. I think, in the winter, his body ought to be exposed to the bracing properties of the air, in a paddock, where he may shelter at his pleasure; this will also preserve his legs and feet. It is erroneous practice never to physic stallions, and I have seen the ill consequence of it in divers instances ; it is the real cause of blind- * ness in many. A horse ought to be prepared |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 519
in the spring, for the compaign of covering,
with two or three mild and cooling doses. I know of nothing so generally proper in this case as the neutral salts, of which more — hereafter. Mild purgatives disembarrass the animal springs, and promote their utmost elasticity; they attenuate the blood, which ,. ja state of luxuryjias the invariable effect to inspissate, to a degree beyond the criterion of active health and vigour. The feet should be managed according to the rules already laid down, among which, that of constant ablution is of the greatest consequence in the present case. Care must be taken to preserve the proper shape of the hoof, by preventing a too great increase of the toe. „ The salutary exercise of good grooming is well understood ; over and above that, the stallion ought to be regularly led abroad, to imbibe the exhilarating and envigorating influence of a varied atmosphere, and on no pretence to be kept successive days breathing the enfeebling effluvia of the stable. As I have already said, it is better to feed him with ground corn, that of course being more easily convertible into nutriment, and with the least fatigue to the digestive organs, since nothing will pass whole into the stomach, and the practice is a great preservative of |
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520 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
the teeth. It is better to~ grind the corn in
a small quantity and often. If beans are used, one quarter of them, to three of oats, is an advantageous proportion. In case of apparent debility, from over exertion, mashes of boiled rice, decoction of rice infused in the drink, or small quantities of ground rice mixed in the feeds, will be found bene- ficial. Preternatural heat, costiveness, inertia, and sluggishness of the blood, will be best remedied by warm pollard mashes, or salined water: nor will gentle evacuants, in such case, detract from, but rather add to the constitutional vigour of the stallion, by re- lieving nature from the oppressive and de- bilitating load of obstruction. I have recommended ablution for the feet
of stallions, it is equally necessary for certain other parts of them, where, instead of saying it is neglected, I may aver it is never used, or even thought of. Hence the accounts in authors of horses being burnt by the mare, of mattering,, and, its disagreeable concomi- tants. The inflammation in King Herod's sheath, which killed him, I have no doubt ■was occasioned by the neglect of ablution. I Avish analogies were out of the question here, but I must forbear to trespass on the limits of my proper subject. |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 521
The penis and sheath of the stallion ought
to be well and often washed with soap and milk-warm water, and there are many which would be benefited by sluicing their testicles with cold water from the pump or well, morning and night; the parts being after- wards rubbed dry with a linen cloth. After the covering season is over, a small
range of fresh young grass would greatly be- nefit a horse. In the autumn he should be allowed carrots, abridging his corn or not# as the state of his body may require. His powers would be consolidated and increased by his being ridden exercise in the winter season. Many stallions have been severely Abounded,
some killed outright, by an unlucky kick from a mare. It is always usual, by way of precaution, to fasten the mare's legs with ropes, but I have nevertheless known acci- dents to happen from very vicious mares. The best method is to have a high post con- veniently placed, to which the mare's head may be made fast, and four low ones to receive leathers which may secure her legs. This would be useful for unruly colts, and in many cases. The following is a very powerful practical argument for the necessity of air and exercise. Many years ago, a certain |
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522 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
gentleman had imported an Arabian, for
which he was offered seven hundred pounds ; he would have an even thousand, and cm that determination kept his horse so long in a hot stable in London, that he became con- sumptive, and about a fortnight before his death, was sold for twelve or thirteen pounds at Tattersali's. No ai-guments can be required by readers of
common sense, in support of the necessity #f exercise for horses kept within doors ; that is to say, out of their natural state, in order to preserve them in health, or in apt condition for labour: all that remains is to remind men of the duty, to describe its most advantageous method, and due portion. In truth, it is a business in general either totally neglected, or conducted upon very erroneous principles. Exercise is two-fold, either calculated for
common occasions, and the mere preserva- tion of health, or for the purpose of fitting a horse to undergo extraordinary exertions. The first intent may be fully answered by walking exercise alone, and I can, from long experience, assure those keepers of coach and road-horses, who send their boys out to rattle and flurry them over the hard ground, and even the stones of the metro- |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 52S
polis, by way of salutary exercise, that they are
miserably wide of their mark; but the ab- surdity of the fact is dreadful indeed, when we know that even sinew-strained, sroscv, and ioundered horses, are exercised in exactly the same mode, and often up and down the stoney mews in the metropolis ! This is to add to the mischiefs of real la-
bour, instead of imparting the benefits of recreation; and horses which are hot and choleric, are materially injured in temper and appetite, by the ill-judged and boisterous exercise of ordinary stable-lads. Nobody will suppose these remarks are intended to apply to regular grooms, and convenient grounds. Where the case is otherwise, a horse may be kept in fine condition by regular and fast walking, as described in a former chapter, beside being by such means trained <to that excellent pace. Two hours a day> - either at once, or twice, will be commonly sufficient; otherwise four hours, and what more the horse may demand, the owner had infinitely better perform himself, than intrust it to his servants. Few persons but those acquainted with the tactics of regular stables, have adequate ideas of the efficacy of walking exercise, in keeping down flesh, opening the lungs, and facilitating muscular action. I |
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524 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
have heard of a horse which ran three four
mile heats, over the sands of Leith, without having previously had a single canter. "^ The in-door exercise of the loose stable
has been adverted to, that abroad in the paddock, or enclosed yard, is admirable, where a horse may be daily turned out, the weather permitting, with or without his sheet, as he has been accustomed, with the hap- piest effects to his limbs and feet. Unsound ^ or shaken horses should ever be permitted to exercise themselves, but where conveni- ence admits not of it, they ought to be led, never ridden, on any stupid or indolent pre-, tence whatever. A necessary part of stable discipline is to
set a horse now and then upon the bit, be- tween the pillars, that is to say, between the stall posts, his tail toward the manger, a rein on each side attached to the posts, commu- nicating with the cheeks of the bridle. This serves to correct the errors of the mouth, *~ to elevate the head, and set the horse upon his haunches; it is a species of exercise, and contributory to digestion. A horse which has a will of his own may be in some degree reclaimed by being frequently lunged around — a ring, as is the custom in breaking colts. If a horse's mouth should become tender |
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THE ECONOMY OP THE STABLE. 525
from severe bits, or is naturally so, that he
throws up his head and is afraid to step out, the only remedy is a snaffle with a large mild —— bit, such as is used for colts. It is possible that the same method might also reclaim a callous mouth, which severe bits never fail of the effect to render still more dead and obdurate. The propriety of exercise on an empty -ss-
-r: stomach will not be disputed. I go somewhat
farther; in journey-riding, it is a favourite — practice with me, to jjq a twenty-mile stage — to breakfast, and I have often thence expe-
rienced great benefit, both to myself and —-** hackney, in the expulsion of wind, and un-, - ~- lading the bowels. --
Thus much may suffice on the head of
ordinary exercise ; in respect to that species which may be styled extraordinary, or train- ing, I need only speak of it in this place, as it regards the Hunter. The regular Hunter, whose work is of
course severe and constant throughout the season, ought in common justice, and in the benign feelings of the true sportsman, to have the whole remainder of the year to himself, which should be divided between the loose stable and the pasture so shall he make his appearance in the season, in condition to |
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526 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
top every fence, and to be up with the
staunchest and fleetest hounds; and from continuing successive years, shall become as fond of the sport, and as expert at his business, as the huntsman himself. The interval between taking the hunter
from grass and the commencement of the hunting season, is to be spent in purging and training him. Having trimmed and clothed him at your discretion, give him .., walking exercise twice a day, avoiding the heat, for about ten or twelve days, at the end of which period he may take his first dose of physic ; two or three doses will be sufficient, and a week after the setting, in other words, cessation of the effect of the last dose, his gallops may commence. . I shall suppose myself addressing those
entirely unacquainted with the subject. Galloping exercise should ever be performed on soft and dry ground; and the sound elastic turfs of Newmarket, and the Curragh of Kikiare, are justly esteemed the most excellent for that purpose of any in the world. The concussion suffered by the joints and sinews, from constant exercise upon hard ground, counteracts in a consi- derable degree the very end of training; and where such inconvenience subsists. |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 52?
walking exercise should be chiefly depended
upon. The Hunter should be taken out twice a -—■
day ; in the morning, and after the heat of the day is over. If washy and delicate, he should be galloped only in the morning. The proper exercise rate is a long steady canter, in which the groom preserves a jockey-seat, bearing upon his knees; this _ rate is sufficiently quick and striding to exer- ,.—
cise the wind and sinews of the horse, and to fit them by degrees for their utmost ca- pability of exertion; at the same time it neither irritates, fatigues, nor sweats, all which must be religiously avoided. After ~ the hunter's flesh shall have become hard, -
— his muscles tense and firm, and his wind free ~-
from obstruction ; in a word, when he ap- proaches the state of high' condition, an ...occasional burst of speed maybe encouraged, *
if thought necessary, but I know not that sweats are ever given to hunters, which in- deed could not be otherwise than detrimental, - both in reducing them too" low, and ren-
dering them too susceptible of cold. — -- -A- waJk of twenty minutes is proper before
the gallop ; for which last, a. rising ground is -""""
preferable, and the most advantageous length is about a mile aud a quarter: this performed, |
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&28 TliE ECONOMY OP THE STABLE-
Walk to water, after which walk again a
reasonable time, and repeat the gallop ; ano- ther course of walking at the ease of the horse, so as to continue the whole to the ^ period of about two hours from leaving the stable, concludes the morning exercise! circumstances may render it necessary to abridge this course in the afternoon, or even entirely to omit it. Thus, in two or three months, may the hunting-horse be put into a proper state to exhibit his best performance in the field. If he be a young horse, or one which has
never been in the field, of course there is a ^ necessity of teaching him to leap. Accustom — ,. him to see a steady leaper go over the bar ; .— then lead him to it, well covered with furze,
^ and about breast high, a person always standing behind with a whip', to make him clear his hinder legs; when he is tolerably expert he may be ridden over, the height being encreased by degrees. Patience, cool- ness, short lessons, which do not tire or ir- - •*-- ritate, and moderate heights only, are the true methods to form a good and safe stand- ing leaper. As to flying leaps, they are best learned in the field ; in truth, any horse will take flying leaps after a pack of hounds. A hard feeder during this exercise will eat |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 529
and digest well a peck and a half of corn a
day. in the following routine; half a peck — in the morning, a quarter at twelve o'clock, —- — another .quarter at tour, and half a peck at -~ night. It may be remarked of all animals applied to domestic purposes, that such as -- have the legs and spine short, and the loins - wide and substantial, are endowed with the most perfect digestive faculty, and in conse- quence have the power of extracting the —- . largest portion of nutriment from a given * quantity of food. This consideration may be had in view, in apportioning the feeds of horses, and in the purchase of animals for the.fattening-stall. * : I must by no means omit in this place, to
caution the sportsman against the too fre- quent use, which is the abuse, of cordial balls, so highly in vogue amongst liquorish _—> - * and sweet-toothed grooms, and the interested venders of veterinary panaceas. Bracken • surely acted without his accustomed caution, in recommending so indiscriminately this favourite nostrum ; and his recommendation ......
_ set all the northern grooms, in particular,
cordial ball mad. In cases where cordials are indicated, almost any of the forms of the pasta hppjpiatria, may succeed, but the con- stant use of the cordial balls, adopted in some vol. l. 2 M |
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530 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
stables, is not only a superfluous expence,
but I have known it attended with very ill effects upon the porous system, and stomachs of horses. As an example take the follow- ing. A certain training groom recommended a Yorkshire lad to the care of a stable of as high-bred and good hunters as any in Eng- land. In the height of the season the gentle- man complained, that although he had gone to a vast expence, and purchased, as he sup- posed, the best cattle, not one of them would - stand a hard day's work in the field, but that _ after an hour's riding, they became washy and faint, ejected their meat continually, and ^ were so light in the carcase, that they were _ ready to slip their girths. On examination of the horses, and the conduct of the young groom, it appeared that the mischief had arisen from his constant stuffing them, morn- ing and night, with coixhalballs, which from the quantity of sulphur, they contained, and their general aperitive quality, had the above described effects: those balls being totally discontinued, the carcases of the horses became hard, and they performed their busi- ness in the highest style. The practice of riding rough hunters, or
such as are suffered to run abroad all winter, was formerly much extolled by a few partial- |
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THE ECOETQ^ OF THE STABLE. 63l
m people. Horses in that trim were said to
be very hardy, and weather proof, and it was even asserted that they ran equally stout with those in the highest condition. I have ho belief for irrational assertions upon any subject, the primordial circumstance simply* of their irrationality, being in my opinion, a sufficient confutation. Possibly some hardy- constitutioned horses may have performed well in such an unfavourable plight; which said horses would no doubt have been capable of achieving still greater feats in higher con- dition. Even the riding a horse in such a bear's skin, rnnst detract- much from the meritorious pride and pleasure of a sportsman. Any grass given with corn,jnust necessa^ rily ]essen_theJiold of the hard meat upon the * .body of the horse, but more esjgedally the faint and vyjighy herbage of the winter: I should suppose the risks of catching cold in- creased by this method; by no means an improper one, to lay a foundation even for the glanders. To allow the hunter to Walk about in a paddock,, and cool his limbs, ail —""* nour or two in the middle of his leisure days j with bis. clothes and brea&t-plate upon binij is a practice as excellent as it is widely dife ferent from the foregoing, The next consideration is that ol" saiUSG-
% »2
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532 THE ECONOMY OP THE STABLE."
the horse; without possibility of dispute, one
of the first magnitude. To feed, lie, and roam at large, upon the grass of the earth, and to have his body constantly wetted with the dew of heaven, is the natural state of the horse, in which, by consequence, he must enjoy a superior portion of health and hap- piness, and without an occasional recurrence to which, he can only possess a partial and imperfect share of either. I shall, therefore, in place of argument, appeal to men's con- stant experience, and without hesitation, lay it down as a rule, that in order to cool and re-invigorate the limbs, and purify the blood and juices of horses, and to enable them to endure to their latest period, it is absolutely necessary that they be allowed an annual run, of at least six weeks at spring grass. Where horses cannot be spared from the stable, the usual substitute in town, is to soil them at home upon green tares ; this, at least, surely never need be omitted, being within the reach of almost every keeper" of horses. I will barely repeat the old caution, to give the green meat fresh, because, if kept till its juices be exhaled, it not only becomes useless as to the original intent, but tough and indigestible, and apt to occasion dangerous obstructions. In soiling labouring horses |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 533
with tares, it may be necessary to allow hay
also, the tares sometimes, from their extreme succulence,, over filling the horses. Fatal -* instances are on record. Even dried tares, or hay, which are supposed to absorb a great deal of moisture, will sometimes gripe horses. ^rinkle with salt. In my opinion, natural grass is superior, ^
and more likely to answer the intended pur- pose of stable soiling, than tares or any other herbage; from repeated trials I have found, that horses and horned catle prefer it to all other green meat, without even excepting — the so often and highly celebrated lucern. —— The great bulk of the artificial grasses is an important object, but no doubt, I con- ceive, can be entertained of the superior quality of the natural, either green or dry. When the vast consequence of grass is considered, both in relation to quantity and quality, the neglected state of our meadows and pasture lands, in many parts of the country, may well be wondered at, and the question natu- rally asked, why the simple herbage should not be cultivated with the same care and assiduity as corn : I have known it repay lr«niensely the expense of manure, of pure and good seed brought from a considerable |
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534 THE EtoSfOMy OF THE STABLE.
distance, and of the most attentive culture.
There cannot be a more improvident prac- tice, whether in a public or private view, than withholding so tenaciously, old, foul, ■■un- productive meadow from the plough; the breaking up of which would pay so abun-, dantly in the first instance, and still more largely in the succeeding grass crops. It is obvious nothing more is needed, in this case, than to. adopt improved methods of laying down to grass. Previously to turning a horse to grass, it
has been the custom with some to Call in the assistance of medicine; I confess I know of/ no necessity for such steps, with the excep- tion indeed, that if the horse should be ex- cessive plethoric, or full of blood, dull and heavy-eyed, it would be highly proper to ,- bleed him a few days before his departure: the eyes of horses, in such a state of body, are in great danger while feeding abroad. Abridge his clothing, and accustom him to. - the cold by degrees ; and if you turn him into the pasture upon the approach of night, according to the advice of (I think) Mr- Mar- shall/it will be an additional security against catching cold ; since the charrns of his new situation will induce him to rove about, until |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 535
the morning sun shall have prepared him a
warm and dry couch, on which he may repose in safety. ^* If the feet be too strong and deep, take down the crust with discretion, that the frog -.....-
may come fairly in Gontact with the earth. —
The proper grass shoes are narrow tips, just wide and long enough to cover the crust, and —- — prevent its being broken, and the inspection .^
of the farrier is necessary, at least once a — __ month, to replace in case of wear or accident,
and to prevent the too great length of the toe; in very dry seasons, and hard pastures, and - where horses are much driven by the flies, <~ — their feet will demand constant attention, or
they may come up with the crust so splintered and damaged, as scarcely to afford sufficient hold for a shoe. If a servant be sent to in- spect horses at grass, and there should be a necessity for employing a country blacksmith, -- care should be taken to restrain him from
his favourite operation upon the frog, the -.......
binders, or the sole.
The grass of the salt-marshes is universally
celebrated for its alterative and restorative qualities ; it powerfully provokes the diffe- rent secretions at first, until having become habitual to the constitution, it nourishes in the same degree. The farriers sav> jt ^j |
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536 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
cure every maiady of the horse except rotten-
ness ; and these doctors imitate then betters, who when they have ineffectually exhausted the whole iEsculapian art upon a patient, always send him to Bath. Those pastures within reach of the London manure, are deemed insalubrious on that account, as being forced and rank; the gramineous product of low, fenny soils, is also sour, and defective in nourishment; sweet, herbaceous, upland grass having in all accounts, the preference for horses, hilly pastures are preferable, and in a still higher degree for foals. In our fotturiate climate, s& free of dange-
rous extremes, a horse may run all the sum- mer in defiance of heat or insects, and will be much better in health than he could possi- bly be kept in the stable; bur if only the usual period of soiling be allowed him, that is to say, a month or two, no doubt but every one would choose to have it early, whilst the grass is young, and the heat moderate; choice should also be made of pastures well shaded and well watered. Cutting grass and carting it to the stable,
. is an immense saving upon a farm, greater; indeed, than I could conceive, until I re- peatedly made the experiment, the quantity of dung also raised by that means is an im* |
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THE ECONOMY OP THE STABLE. 537
portant consideration ; but the attendant in-
convenience is the keeping horses shut^ u£_ in a hot jmd mrwholesome stable, at the very "—"* season when lying abroad is so natural and beneficial to them; in truth, poor animals, it is a trespass upon their health and their Jeejings, it is abridging the too scanty ieward
of their never-ending labours. Every body knows that there are salt- -
marshes, a few miles to the eastward of the metropolis, where horses are received; and, I believe, intelligence thereupon is usually to be obtained at one of the inns in Smith- field. As to the other places of reception for grazing horses around London, I think the different parks applied to that purpose are to be preferred, on account of the security, good attendance, range, and shade. I can speak of the merits of Bushey and Kempton / Parks as excellent feeding grounds, from having sent horses thither both in winter and summer, several successive years; whence I never failed to have them return full of firm ^~ - good flesh. I once purchased a six year old
cart-horse, apparently in the last stage of a consumption, for thirty-six shillings; whilst at home, he always required the he]g 0fmen to lift him up when down; with some diffi-*
culty we travelled him to Bushey Park, but in |
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538 THE ECONOMY OF THE STASJ.E.
. less than two months, the case was so hap-
pily altered, that he came back without any trouble, and fat enough for bacon. The charge, accoMing to my recollection, used to be three shillings per week in summer, and four in winter ; when, beside the range of the parJs, they had hay allowed in a good warm straw-yard. A winter's run at grass, from the as-
trictive effect of cold upon the animal fibre, is justly held the most natural and efficacious method of recovering the tone of the sinews itrover-worked horses ; it is farther much to be preferred, as well on the score of ex- pence as of health, to standing unexercised, and useless in the stable: the only question is how to carry this measure into effect, with judgement. Small indeed is the advantage in any point
of view, of the common shilling and eighteen penny methods, of turning a horse off to starve all the winter upon straw; for the benefit which may be supposed to be derived to his limbs, will perhaps be fully counter- balanced by the impoverishment of his blood, the consequent ruin of his condition ; and. wh^n taken up with his distended carcase, .oa.t, and bare bones, half a summer had Sate spent in bringing him to decent order, |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 53^
either for use or sale ; the spring grass is the ..,-
best remedy to repair the waste of a winter so spent, and even then his flesh, will melt in work like butter. To be wintered abroad *— to any salutary purpose, a horse must have plenty of good hay, and sufficient shelter by night or day, against the inclement extremes of the season, in a dry hovel, or warm straw- yard ; but if to this should be superadded a moderate daily allowance of corn, such a me-* X thod would be the most powerful restorative, of which the nature of the horse is susceptible. Certain of the hardy, common-bred, thick- hided horses, will endure the utmost rigours, of the winter unsheltered, and make a tolera- ble subsistence upon the faint and unsubstan-, tial herbage of the season,; but even these would be better by all the cost, for more liberal keeping: others will make a shift barely to exist under such harsh treatment, and a random view of this leads inconsiderate- people, who have a general idea of the bene-v fits of a winter's run, to commit the barbarous fotly of exposing emaciated and. thin-skinned horses, perhaps just taken fr°m a no^ stable, -— upon open heaths or marshes, where they are literally tortured to death by the cold ; and I have myself seen such dying by inches, under -— all the horrors of an intermittent. Qmne ni- |
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540 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
mium vertitur in vitium. Nature shrinks
from extremes, and expands herself to the moderate and gradual application only of the mo->t proper remedies. Experience fully proves, that all the domestic animals of Northern climates should be sheltered by nigh-, during the winter season. In a former chapter, I have exhor-ted the
owners of good horses, who have little or na use for them during the winter, to send them to pasture, as a material branch of the hu- ma>e and economical plan of lengthening the period of their services: all that I have; need to add farther upon this head, is, to. give a caution that frequent inspection be made as to their treatment whilst at straw-; yard, and that it be by no means omitted, to, promise a reward to the .overlooker or ser- vant in whose care they are placed. I shall conclude this chapter, with an en-
deavour to afford a few useful hints, upon a subject which has long, and more than once, to my cost, engaged my attention, and which I am sure will immediately interest the feelings of too many of my readers; I mean that opprobrium of our laws and police, the prac- tice of horse stealing. The subject is brought more particularly to my recollection at this time, (1796) from accounts which I have |
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THE ECONOMY OP THE STABLE. 54l
deceived of very considerable depredations
of horses and cattle committed in the neigh- bourhood of Dulwich, one of which was at- tended with a curious circumstance. A gentleman of that place lost a favourite colt,' of which in about three weeks, he accidentally read a description in an advertisement. He found the colt at about forty miles distance from home, which, however, the advertiser at first refused to shew him, and he was under the necessity of making application to the mayor of the town. The person having the colt in possession, had it seems, purchased it about three weeks before, and had paid half a guinea earnest, with a promise to remit the remainder. This he failed to do, and the seller (a very honest man no doubt) had the audacity to arrest him, After this quar- rel between friends, the colt was advertised. My readers will not fail to apply a certain old proverb, so very apposite to this occasion. I have revolved in my mind a number of
different schemes, for the recovery of stolen horses, all which seem to be clogged with in- superable difficulties. I have sometimes thought, that through the medium of the Post Office, a plan might be practicable of sending instantly a description of a lost*horse, to every parish in the kingdom ; but of that, |
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M£ TtTE ECONOMY OjT THE STABLE.
I suppose, the expence would be too cou-ii-
derable. It is said the laws, which regulate the slaughtering of horses, are not sufficiently precise, nor the penalties considerable enough. In fine* a horse which may suddenly be moved to a great distance, and so easily disposed of, particularly in times of brisk export, is such a temptation to the dishonest and profligate, and the chances of recovery are so few, ex- pensive, and uncertain, that there appears btit little hope in any but measures of prevention in the first instance. The best security that I know of, is to lock upon the shank, or pas-^ tern of the animal, a case-hardened and file- proof iron-ring, lined with some soft material to prevent chafing, and bearing the owner's iiame and place of abode; some gentlemen have preferred the fixing a collar upon the neck, which is rather more expensive, and4 perhaps, less secure from the file; but in either case, the price would not be any great object. It is granted there would be no ab- solute security in this plan, since thieves get their bread by their ingenuity ; but it would certainly place a very formidable difficulty m the way of the exercise of their calling, There are few thieves, I think, but who, on inspect tion, would prefer a horse without this trou* blesonke mark upon him* Granting a man |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE* &4S
did his business at random, and blundered upon a horse in the dark bearing the afore- said mark, as soon as the light should enable him to discover it, he would,, no doubt, run away from his new and dangerous bargain, as fast as he would from a thieftakei\ Suppose even a man went prepared with tools, proper4 to destroy the iron, he must hax^e an assistant, and the operation would demand some time, which would risk a discoveiy. In case of strays, the security is complete. But, in all cases, it seems, the present trouble is supposed to outweigh the eventual benefit of precaution; that I leave to the calculation of those who are interested. Here follow the formula? of those remedies
prescribed in the present chapter. Tobacco infusion. Infuse two ounces
of the strongest tobacco, twelve hours, ia half a pint of camphorated spirit and brandy, equal quantities, stirring as often as possible. Touch with the infusion, or apply pledgets of the tobacco. Camphorated elder ointment. Into
half a pound of ointment of elder, stir and mix well, six drachms of camphor finely pow- dered, moisten, if needful, with spirit: add, when desired, more Gooling and repellent, |
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544 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
three drachms sugar of lead in very fine
powder. Soap liniment. Mix soft soap, a small
quantity of Venice turpentine, fuller's earth and vinegar, or brandy; if necessary add a small quantity of linseed oil: spread on tow. Cooling repellent white ointment.
White wax six ounces, melt it in three pounds of oil olive, add by degrees one pound of cer.use finely powdered: if desired more repellent, add one ounce of sugar of lead; rub the sugar of lead, well powdered, in a small quantity of the oil first, then mix. Ointment for the pasterns of horses liable
to crack in exercise; mix hogs lard and lin- seed oil, two parts lard to one of oil: stir well into the mass, French brandy, after the rate of a gill to half a pound. Touch the cracks frequently with brandy. Legs swelled of young horses, from long
standing or work. Bathe with distilled vine- gar, to a quart of which may be added two ounces of camphorated spirit. Or, a bath for the legs of cold spring water, continued ten or twelve minutes; rub thoroughly dry wit a linen cloth, so gently as to cause no heat. Emollient and discutient fotus or
bath. Boil worm word, camomile flowers, |
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THE ECONOMY OE THE STABLE* 545
Wallows, bay leaves, tansy, and rosemary,
of each six handfuls in a gallon of water slowly* to three quarts ; mix the three quarts with water in a strong tub, in which bath the horse's two legs may be placed as warm as is convenient, and there kept as long as the heat continues. Warm it afresh for the hinder legs. Here I once for all, request the reader to
note, that whenever I recommend, either for drinks or external use, the good old house- wife's medicinal herbs, as above, I mean such out of the number as can be easily obtained. In the present intent, boiling water poured upon bran, with a lump of sope dissolved in it, form a good substitute. Pains in the* shanks and shins of
Racers. Poppies bruised four ounces ; la- vender, elder^flowers, and camomile, each th ree or four handfuls; boil in six pints of water, strain off three pints, and add three ounces of camphorated spirit: use the mix- ture warm, twice a day with sponge or flannel, to the legs and joints, when the horse comes in from exercise, the last thing after dressing. Satuhnine strengthening embroca-
tion. Best distilled vinegar, one pint; aqua vfgetn made with one pint of water, and three vol. i. 2 N
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546 THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE.
tea-spoons of Goulard's extract of Saturn,
two ounces of oil of turpentine: mix. A quantity of this should be kept close corked for stable use, as it improves by keeping : its strength may be varied by the increase or diminution of the quantity of Goulard's ex- tract ; but I have ever found the present form sufficiently strong, in this intention. I have, of late years, omitted the water in this embrocation, allowing two tea spoons full of the extract of Saturn, to one quart distilled vinegar. Circumstances will best determine as to the preference. Running thrush : when this has become
inveterate, fetid, and discharges much, de- terge and heal it with either of the following : JEgyptiacum half an ounce : brandy and dis- tilled vinegar of each one ounce ; tincture of myrrh-aloes one ounce, mix. Bailie twice a day, and charge with tow dipped therein. Or, quench unslacked lime in vinegar, strain, and use the liquid hot. On, distilled vinegar ; oak-bark finely powdered, and whites of eggs. Should the discharge stop very suddenly, purge, or give alteratives; indeed, if it be a natural thrush, no astringents can be safely used, without concomitant internals of the alterant, or purgative class, for fear of a me- |
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THE ECONOMY OF THE STABLE. 547
tastasis, or translation of the humour to some
other part; a much worse consequence than the natural defect. |
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CHAP. XII.
THE ART OF SHOEING.
IN treating this subject, several authors
have commenced, by giving broad hints, that in reality, shoes were not absolutely ne- cessary to horses, and that under certain re- gulations, they might be dispensed with: that nature herself had made sufficient provision for the defence of the foot, by surrounding it with a horny and callous substance: that horses re- quired no other defence, in their wild and natu- ral state; and that, moreover, it had been im- memorially the custom in some countries., and these the most hard and flinty, to ride them without shoes. These reasons are in- conclusive even in speculation, but are blown away in a moment, by the mere breath of practice. . There are no doubt, men, as well as horses,
in some uncivilized countries, which are ha- 2 n2
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548 THE ART OF SHOEING.
bituated to travel barefoot, and their soles
become hardened in consequence ; it is even practised in some of the remote and obscure corners of our own island; but I should con- ceive it no where generally practicable, at least not with much convenience, excepting with those whose feet have a peculiar consti- tutional hardness. All horses feet, it is true, are sufficient in themselves, while running abroad in a natural state, and generally super- abound in substance; but it must be consi- dered, in that situation, they do not labour, nor bear any extraneous weight. In the constant and severe labour -performed by horses in civilized countries, it has ever been experienced, that the growth even of hoofs * the most luxuriant and obdurate, never equals the consumption occasioned by friction, and that with the generality of feet, all work is impracticable without an artificial defence.— Hence the necessity of iron shoes. Several shocking instances have been reported of late years, of the feet of miserable horses having been totally worn off, and of the animals being obliged, in consequence, to be knocked on the head, from having lost their shoes in run- ning a stage in the mail-coach by night; and I have been told of sottish and beastlv fel- lows, who have brought a horse home in the |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. 549
night, with one of its fore feet worn to the
bones, and its sides bathed in blood; the stupid wretches not having the sense or feel- ing to discover the accident, and their ge- nerous and high-spirited horses, answering the spur in that dreadful state of torture. Of the ancient mode of shoeing, little or nor-
thing has been handed down ; but it may be presumed that the method at present in use among the Eastern nations, is of ancient ori- gin. Their horses shoes are described to me as round, following the shape of the foot, and much less substantial than ours. The basis of the present European method, I should suppose, derived from the middle ages* In Italy, the true art of shoeing has been
long known, but perhaps has never obtained generally in that country, any more than else- where. Caesar Fiaschi, who published a book on horsemanship, in Italian, nearly three hundred years ago, lays down a very rational and natural method of shoeing, equal indeed, in most respects, to that of any modern writer. It was he who invented the calkin, for the outside extremity of the hinder shoe, styling it ramponealla regonesa ; but he directed it to be made, not hi^h and sharp, but rather flat and handsomely turned upward, 'decryin<* strenuously all other kinds of calkins, and |
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550 THE ART OF SHOEING.
turning up of the shoes, even in case of frost,
as of infinitely more danger than real use. He recommends a welted shoe, of hard and well-tempered iron, flat, and so placed upon the foot, that the horse may tread perfectly even; to prevent slipping, the welts to be indented like a saw, or short and sharp but- ton-headed nails to be used ; to the same end, he farther directs the external surface of the shoe to be hammered somewhat con-, cave. St. Bel claims the invention of this last measure ; and it is by no means improbable, that he had never read Fiaschi's book, or that two distinct artists should chance to hit upon a similar method. It is not for want of good directions, that
the miserable system of shoeing, otherwise crippling the feet and legs of horses, has pre- vailed in Europe so long, since an ample por- tion of such may be found in the old Italian, French, and English veterinary writers. One would be tempted to wonder how man- kind could possibly err upon such a subject, since, in the case, the indication must plainly be, to follow and assist nature, not to counteract and supersede her. Another subject of ad- miration is, how men could rest so long con- tent, under a system so constantly productive of disagreeable consequences, of accident and |
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THE ART OF SHOEIN&. 5&1
danger. It would almost tempt one to give
into the plea of legislators and politicians, who aver, that there is an everlasting variance between simple and practical truth, and that mankind can never be quietly governed by the former. Thus however it is, the world has ever been contented with make-shifts, and governed by sophistries of all kinds. Faith and good morals, it seems, cannot sub- sist, without the meretricious aid of lying su- perstition ; human government, unless founded on the base of political fiction, and arbitrary power ; nor the very feet of our horses per- form their duty, unless the whole substance be pared away to make room for a succeda- neum of iron. The cream of the jest is, there still exists a race of Don Quixotes, ready to stake life, limb, and property, in support of these precious ' :uths, and to fight it out " mordicus to death." But to return to arming the feet of horses,
instead of the heads of scholars and politi- cians. The foot of the horse is surrounded and de-
fended in front, sides, and at bottom, by the horny soal, an ungular substance, thicker than the human, in proportion as the animal is larger. The heels partake of the same kind of defence, but of a thinner texture. The |
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552 THE ART OF SHOEING.
foot being open at the back, and not sur-
rounded by the firm soal, as in front, is ob- viously in need of support; and the fro,g_ is destined by nature to that office, on which account, and as having so large a portion of the general mass to sustain, particularly whilst the animal is in a state of inaction, it is com- posed of a very tough and elastic substance. The frog, moreover, serves as a cushion, rest, or salient point, for the tendon of the flexor muscle, or back sinews. The bars, or bind-, ers, are those parts situated between the heel and frog, and which, by a mutual resistance from within, help to dilate and oppose the contraction of the heels. The horny, defends the fleshy soal above it, and the internal parts of the foot, from the accidental contact of hard bodies ; but from its concave form, ap- pears not to have been intended by nature to bear weight, excepting round the extremities adjoining the wall. The wall, or crust of the foot, is the thick edge surrounding it, from heel to heel; it is the bottom of that portion of the sole, which envelopes the front and sides of the foot, set up as it were vertically, and thence able to contain nails driven in a vertical direction. This wall then, or rim, is plainly the place on which to fix a support and guard for the foot; for on the wall* and |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. 553
the frog, the animal naturally bears his
weight, and the frog, in a sound and healthy state, from its tough and elastic; nature, needs no artificial defence.—This being the state of the case, one would suppose, that in order to good and safe shoeing of horses, nothing far- ther could be necessary than to follow the directions of nature, and the dictates of com- mon sense. That is to say, to place the need- ful guard around the wall of the hoof, the extent of which must determine the length of the shoe; to have especial care that no more iron, than is absolutely necessary, either in length, width, or substance, be nailed to the foot, lest the artificial covering, by its su- perior weight and hardness, break and wear away the natural, and so the remedy itself turn out a disease ; and lastly, to place the horse upon a flat and even surface, and, on no pretence, to alter his natural position, or bearing, upon his heels and frogs, the doing which, not only diminishes his points of sup-, port, and in consequence renders his motion unsafe, but occasions the main tendons of the leg, and the frog, to stand without the ne- cessary rest or bearing; whence an inordinate stress upon the tendon and ligaments, and the constant risk of lameness, either in the leg or foot- But the common farriers of every |
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55-i THE ART OF SHOEING-.
country m Europe, for even in France they
are not more improved than our own, act in direct opposition to these maxims. They affix long, heavy, and hollow iron shoes to the feet, by which the crust, or wall is con- stantly worn down and broken, and they themselves are laid under the necessity of paring down the sole, which never ought to be done; for, in consequence, the sole itself comes to the need of cover, which is then supplied with additional breadth of iron. The frog they pare down every time of shoe- ing, lest it should touch the ground, and, as an additional help, make the shoes thickest at heel, by which means the horse is thrown too much upon the toe, and stands in a tick- lish and unnatural position. To cioavii the whole business, and to prove beyond a doubt, the unconquerable stability of the animal, they set him upon a convex and oval surface Of shoe. Many of these -adepts pare away the sole, and thin the frog, almost to the" quick, by way of making what they esteem liandsome work; and as the horse becomes tender in consequence, they proceed to load his feet with an additional weight of iron. In order to open the heels, in their phrase, they cut away from the bars, in five minutes, more substance than nature is able to replace |
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THE ART OE SHOEING. 55B
in as many weeks ; and which substance, as
lias been said, is the very thing that inter- venes between the frog and heels, to preserve them from becoming narrow. Common justice, however, obliges me to ac-
knowledge, that our farriers, in general, are much improved in the art of late years, not only in the metropolis, but in different parts of the country, which is doubtless to be attri- buted, in a great measure, to the establishment of aVeterinaryCollege. But great numbers still hold out. In imitation of their betters, they answer any proposition of reform, by saying, they are not prepared to change the principles upon which horses have gone well so long". They had rather rest contented with the pre- sent evil, granting it one, than run the risk of incurring another, of the consequences of which they are ignorant. These are weighty arguments. Such is the constitution of things, that all kinds of business may be car- ried on, and even with considerable success, upon erroneous principles. Many of the people of Ireland and Scotland obliged their — horses to dra\v_byjdieJtail^and took ages td be convinced, that it was more convenient for them to do it with their shoulders. Our ad- vocates for the old system of shoeing have one good reason for rejecting the new; which |
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5!)6 THE ART OF SHOEING.
is, that they commonly reduce their horses
feet to such an unnatural state, that they have becom.: incapable of it. The improvements which I have allowed,
have not yet reached the draught horses. These are shod, even in London, the far greater part of them, in the worst and most destructive manner possible; qf, which, bye- and-by. The change for the better in the shoes of our saddle-horses is, they are neither so long nor heavy as formerly; with respect to length in general, proper, and the nails of proper size; nor is the terrible butteris in such constant use, or the binders of the hoof so muc cut away as formerly. But, except- ing those of the College, and some few belong- ing to the running staoles, our best farriers still are apt to make use of too much iron, one reason of which is, that they do not al- ways provide the best sort; their shoes are internally too concave, and externally not sufficiently flat; and they are still obstinately bent against permitting the frog to rest upon the ground, where that is practicable. I say, where that is practicable;. for I acknowledge, that with thousands of horses, it is totally impracticable; and it was purely owing to a want of experience in riding different Worses over the roads, that La Fosse^and |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. 55J
St. Bel recommended it without any re-
serve. The method of La Fosse to shoe with half-moon shoes, or lunettes, reaching only half over the horse's foot, will suit very few horses indeed. I have often smiled at my own credulity, when, many years ago, I sat off, top full of theory and Bartlet and La Fosse, to ride my hack forty miles, shod with a bran new and neat pair of half-moon shoes. It was towards evening, and a very sudden and hard frost; but the frogs touching v the ground, secured my nag from slipping. She carried me the journey without much apparent uneasiness ; but on my return the following day, refused to go faster than a walk after the first five or six miles, and in five or six more, came fairly to a stand-still; when I dismounted, and drove her before me to the nearest inn. I could discover no vi- sible damage done to her heels or frogs, but I supposed she stopped merely from pain and fatigue in her feet. I made repeated trials, afterward, with the same, and other horses, but with no better success. Never- theless, a person in the neighbourhood, at the same tinie,j|rove several post-liorses con- stantly with half-moon shoes, and, as I was informed, kept their feet by that means, in a better and sounder state than ever they had |
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553 THE ART OF SHOEING.
been before ; and I was assured by a gentle-
man last year, that he had long ridden his J/ hackriey, shod in that way, with all possible success.—Certain sound and tough feet will
endure to be so exposed: and when the frog is good, and in its natural state, its elasticity preserves it from harm; it will even grow luxuriantly under such.rough usage; but I think it wrong to leave any part of the crust uncovered, unless as an expedient to reduce too ^*>f high, or widen too narrow heels. La Fosse's famous method has long been
proved generally impracticable; but that which originated from it, namely, Osmer's improvement, since adopted by St. Bel and others, far enough from being in the same predicament, is, I am thoroughly convinced, not only practicable for nine-tenths of our saddle, and all our cart-horses, without ex- ception, but the only safe and proper way in which they can be shod. The one tenth which form my exception, consist either of blood horses with low heels, and scarcely any frogs, or those with large, moist, and fat frogs, or such as have running thrushes; I have seen, of the first, with heels comparatively as tender as a bruised apple, and with no frogs to reach the ground, even whilst at grass; as to the |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. . 559
Jast, every one knows the}^ cannot travel the
roads upon their frogs. For all these, I know of no remedy, but thejjar, or round shoe; which ought to be made as light and flat as possible, and so contrived, that the foot may stand in a natural position, and the frog rest upon the bar. People in general are preju- diced against the appearance of this descrip- tion of shoe, which is, nevertheless, in com- mon use in some parts of the world ; but that, if judiciously made and well affixed, it is per- fectly safe. I have had many years experience over pavement and roads of every kind. In- deed, on reflection, it must be safer than the method in which weak-heeled horses are ge-
es nerally shod, as on the bar they find an ad- ,—-
ditional point of support. The common method of shoeing weak heels, it is notorious, is with long shoes, made additionally thick at the heel, by way of covering the tender quarters, and hoisting them up from the ground ; but by these long and heavy shoes, the quarters are gradually rendered still weaker, and the crust battered to pieces ; and what with the heels being preternaturally lifted up, and the foot having few and uncer- tain points of support upon, perhaps, a con- vex surfaced shoe, every step of the horse is attended with danger. |
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560 THE ART OF SHOEIN&.
I have thus given up part of a very cele*
brated theory, and agreed that numbers of our horses, from the natural or acquired weakness of their quarters and frogs, can- not travel the roads without an artificial de- fence for those parts; but what can induce pur rational and better kind of farriers to reject this theory where it is practicable ? For what end or purpose, do they still continue to set a good foot upon a convex, in prefer- ence to a flat and even surface of iron, and to make thick instead of thin shoe-heels, thereby preventing the frog from resting on •the ground, and the animal from enjoying that firm support, which nature plainly in- tended, and of which they may be convinced by viewing the horse in his natural state? If the thousands and thousands of horses, suddenly let down in the back sinews, nobody can tell how or why, did not indicate some hidden cause, still the usual reasonings upon the subject, urged by so many experienced professional writers, ought to set us upon our guard. The frog, as has been said, is the natural rest, or fulcrum, of the tendon; now if this stand hollow and unsupported, it surely follows that the tendon, upon every exertion, must sustain an inordinate stress. Willi respect to the face of the shoe, a»d |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. B6l
the sure tread of the horse upon the ground,
one would suppose that every owner of com- mon sense, and a moderate quantum of dis- cretion, would take the trouble of reflection entirely out of his farrier's hands; telling him at once, that there was no office to insure necks, nor any manufactories where jury-ones may be purchased. Let any man, who thinks this language over-strained, take up the foot of a horse, and examine the long, broad, and oval shoe, with which thousands are ridden over the slippery pavement of London. Let him seriously consider how few and uncertain points, an animal of such bulk, and bearing additional weight, has to rest upon, more par- ticularly in a situation of declivity, when the natural use and support of his heels, is denied him: I think, if he consider all this, he will make his will, previously to taking a journey from Hyde Park Corner to Whitechapel Church, upon a horse so shod. And yet how extremely few are the accidents, in pro- portion to what might be reasonably expected. Within four or five years, although I have looked out, I have witnessed only six or se- ven cases of horses slipping upall fours u pon the stones, and falling upon their sides; in but one or two of which, the rider had his vol. j. 2 O |
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562 THE ART OF SHOEING,
limbs broken. One would suppose, at any
rate, that riding in London, must be within the, verge of the court of particular provi- dence. Were these break-neck hazards una- voidable, it would be a commendable mark of philosophy, and indeed of duty, to meet them with fortitude and resignation; but in what terms is the circumstance to be described, when it is certain they are incurred for no other purpose in the world of things, than purely to humour the delectable preju- dices of an anvil-headed farrier. In good truth, and honesty requires it to be told, both in Gath and Askalon, the whole fault is fairly to be attributed to the habitual indolence of property. There are some toils to which even the rich must submit. True knowledge is not to be acquired, or the acquisition to be enjoyed, by deputy: and if gentlemen and large proprietors of horses are desirous to avoid the difficulties, and dangers, and cruel- ties, perpetually resulting from prejudice, ignorance, and knavery combined, they must embrace the resolution of making themselves so far masters of the subject, as to be able to direct those whom they employ. It is my duty, during the present Treatise, to afford them such a general insight, and to furnish |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. 563
them with such principles, as shall not fail
of the intended purpose, if seconded by very moderate application of their own. The advice I have to offer, in respect to
shoeing, will, I trust, lie so much within the province of general reasoning and common sense, that little or no professional knowledge will be requisite, in order fully to compre- hend it. I am the more particular in the article of shoeing, as it is that in which we ever have been, and still are, so notoriously defective; a few words will describe its vast consequence: of what use, as has been often demanded, is the most beautiful and stately edifice, if in constant danger of falling, for want of a sufficient foundation? Let us previously finish what remains to
be said upon the shoeing Cart-horses, which draw upon the London pavements. All of which I have been complaining relative to the shoeing saddle-horses, is the pure sun- shine of wisdom placed in comparison with the accursed methods taken purposely, as it should seem, to overthrow, cripple, and tor- ture the unfortunate cart-horse. This wretched animal has huge masses of iron affixed to his feet, by monstrous skewers, in the name of nails, the weight of which, alto- gether, tears and batters his hoofs to pieces, 2o2
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fi64 THE ART OF SHOEING.
wounds his pasterns and legs, and renders him
liable, at every step, to strains in his joints and sinews. But this is the least part of the danger, to which he is so sottishly exposed : although employed in sustaining upon his back immense loads as shaft-horse, and in drawing weights which require the utmost exertion of his powers over a pavement, fre- quently as slippery as glass, his heels are hoisted upon stilts, and the iron which covers his feet, is purposely worked into a globular or oval surface, not unlike a walnut-shell; a procedure, one would suppose, which could only result, speaking of the proprietor of the beast, from downright insanity. Setting aside the imminent peril of accidents, strains, bruises, and foundering from the burning heat of such shoes in work, how is it pos- sible that a horse, with so ticklish a hold upon the ground, can make the most of his strength, such a large portion of which is wasted and consumed in disheartening strug- gles, merely to keep himself upon his legs. To see the dreadful cruelty with which gene- rous and obedient animals are whipped during these extremities, is enough to drive a feeling mind to distraction. We generally find that cruelty originates in'
some little, dirty, contemptible interest, or |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. 565
rather supposed interest. It is precisely the
case here. The feeling, well-beino-, and safety of these noble animals, are sacrificed to the contemptible consideration of a differ- ence in the price of iron. For cheapness sake, the softest and the most ordinary is made use of; in course, the shoes are required to be of an immense weight and size to bear a large horse, without bending under him. Shoe-moulds, ready-made, of this soft inferior iron, are, I am given to understand, pur- chased at a low price from the founderies, by the blacksmiths in general. By a strange absurdity, as cart-horses are
shod in a more unnatural and preposterous, method than any other description, so there is infinitely less occasion, and less excuse for it. Although the pure, dry, and elastic air of some parts of Asia, so hardens the ^y hoofs of horses, that they are tough enough to endure the ground with very slight, per- haps sometimes without any shoes, yet the nature of the hoof in that race is essentially — changed by the heavy and moist air of our northern climate, and we find the feet of our horses, generally Render in proportion to their blood, and tougher as they approach the cart- breed. Most Cart-horses are provided7~in an ample measure, with, quarters and fro^s |
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566 THE ART OF SHOEING.
sufficiently capacious to support their weight,
and which would for ever do that office in the fullest manner, were they not constantly pared down to make way for an artificial and delusive support of iron. This pretended iron support is much more destructive to their feet, than either their own weight, or the hard ground, for instead of encouraging the natural growth of horn upon the foot, destined to sustain the shoe, it is daily abrading and wearing that necessary substance away. The plea, that heavy horses require such ponderous shoes, to support their weight, is totally unfounded and absurd; since those horses, as well as all others, are never so firmly supported, or their feet so strong and sound, as when running abroad without shoes; and if it be urged, that, in such case they do not labour, the answer is as just as it is ready; that during the season of labour and carrying weight, a heavy covering, which weakens and destroys the feet, can never be a proper support for the body. What would a porter say to the artist, who should pro- pose to him to pare away the hard skin of his heels, and to make amends for the loss of natural substance, by an additional thick- ness of shoe ? I will however grant, because I know it
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THE ART OP SHOEING. 567
from long experience, that almost all horses
require a certain substance of shoe sufficient to preserve their feet from the concussion of the ground, in exercise ; and for this any per- son may find an analogy in his own feelings, when running over hard ground, with thin- soled shoes; but this consideration by no means affects draught-horses in the degree it does those which are obliged to move quick ; and the circumstance of the former being con- fined to a walk, is extremely favourable to any necessary amendment in their shoeing, even when their feet may have been crippled, and worn tender by weight of iron. If there be really no necessity for these
heavy oval shoes, beyond a paltry saving m the price of iron, and a gratification of the ridiculous prejudices of ignorant smiths, surely the concerned will no longer suffer their oavii interests, and the feelings of their cattle, to be so idly sacrificed. Excluding all ideas of risk and damage, let it he simply considered with what ease a couple of horses, properly shod with flat narrow-webbed shoes, and having their soles entire, and their frogs in their natural state to cling to a siippery surface, would take a load up-hill, over the pavement, to what they would be able to do with the common large and oval shoes. It |
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568 THE ART OF SHOEING.
must at least make a horse difference in four;
but in the view of humanity, the difference is immense. Taking it as a mere point of interest, and supposing that the amendment cannot be compassed without an additional allowance to the farrier, there is nothing more obvious than that it would be infinitely to the advantage of the keepers of cart-horses to comply ; of the truth of which, they may be very cheaply and easily convinced.
The reader, desirous of information, will
have made his own inferences from the prin- ciples I have laid down ; without being any great connoisseur in horse-shoeing, he has, I dare say, found them accordant with com- mon sense, which has much more to do in the right management of all things, than professional mystics are willing to allow. As has been said, the reformation must come from the personal exertions of people of pro- perty. In such consists the lawful and me- ritorious influence of wealth. Little is. to be effected, as ages have shewn in this particular case, from the feeble efforts of authors, who, to use a phrase of the schools, are poor by custom, and therefore little attended to. But whoever shall set about this necessary reform, will have an immense load of preju- dice to counteract in grooms and farriers in |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. 569
general, by no means undeserving the charac-
ter bestowed on them, by the discerning Earl of Pembroke. A holy zeal for antiquated forms, and an invincible attachment to pre- cedent, right or wrong, are not confined to the superior professions. The late professor, St. Bel, assured me, that one of his workmen —-* left the service of the College, although his wages were higher, and his labour, less, than elsewhere, rather than submit to be taught any other method of shoeing than that which he had learned in his youth, and which, for that good reason, he was sure must be the best: and I was within these few days inform- ed, by a friend, of a dairy-man in Bucking- hamshire, well known to the said informant, who always weighs his butter for market with 9. family stone, although the said stone weighs several ounces above a pound ; giving the following sage reason for the practice—" that —-♦ " as his father before him, weighed with the " stone, and did well, besure it did not be- ec come him, to be wiser than his father!" With respect to those farriers who are in-
telligent, and desirous of improvement, the best method an employer can take with them is to put Osmer's book into their hands. ]ST0 man of tolerable understanding can read that treatise without learning something of horse- |
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570 THE ART OF SHOEING.
shoeing; and I have recommended it to se-
veral young farriers of merit, both of town and country, who have acknowledged their obligations to it. Farther, every one who wishes to have justice done to his horses, must insist upon the following preliminaries with his smith, which are entirely within the cog- nizance of common sense—namely, That he never weaken the foot of the
horse, by paring away the sole and frog, nor
destroy the bars, under pretence of opening the heels. That he make use of none but the best,
hard and well-wrought iron; that he set the horse upon a flat, and even surface, and never make the shoe project beyond the heel. That he never suffer a burning hot shoe to
be fitted to the horse's foot. The above directions may be made gene-
ral, almost without exception. I am sorry to say that the villainous custom
of fitting the shoes red-hot, and of burning the crust of the foot to a level with the shoe, instead of hammering the iron to the shape ©f the foot, subsist in full force, at this in- stant. The mischief done by this lazy cus- tom, to the feet of horses is incalculable; a pregnant example of which, is the case of |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. 571
Hue and Cry, the trotting stallion; which
— horse lost both his fore-hoofs by it: and, as I have been informed by the owner, the late Mr. Bevan, the farrier sat up three nights with the horse, using his utmost endeavours to prevent a mortification from seizing his feet. The hammers of the smiths are, in general,
too large and heavy, that they cannot drive a nail with that ti-uth and accuracy which the cases requires, and where the smallest devia- tion may occasion disagreeable consequences. __ The brutal treatment also, which horses ex- perience from too many men of this descrip- tion, ought here to be pressed upon the re- membrance of proprietors. It is well known, and indeed every day seen, that the miserable animals, flinching under the torture inflicted by these Vulcans, are cruelly beat about the ^■-- head and body with their massy hammers. There is also a gross abuse in the affair of —- twitching; when a horse is twitched to ex- cess, the mark is over shot, and the intention of thereby holding him in a quiet state is de- stroyed. I once saw a mare in foal twitched to such excess, by a stupid, hea\y-handed fellow, that her lip burst asunder, and the mare threw herself upon the ground in a |
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572 THE ART OP SHOEING*
state of desperation, and would not rise until
the cord was loosened. It is here necessary to give the reader a
caution against the too usual error of preci- pitant measures of improvement. A gentle- man finds his horse constantly tender-footed, flinching and stumbling. The farrier is ap- plied to, he makes great promises, and every shoeing the horse goes worse. The owner now, with his favourite author in his hand, takes up the foot of his horse, and perceives with indignation that he is shod right wrong, in the very, teeth of orthodoxy. The farrier is again sent for, and damn'd for a thick- headed son of a bitch, not worthy to shoe Balaam's ass; and, in fine, ordered, at his peril, to shoe immediately and strictly ac- cording to the given pattern. The fellow shakes his wise noddle, grins, and makes his bow. The nag being shod, according to or- der, is mounted by his sanguine and delighted master, who now supposes all his troubles at an end ; but, alas! he has only made an ex- change of errors, his horse goes like a cat in pattens, he can't trot a yard. The poor ani- mal, as if he were in fault, is now checked with the curb, spurred, cursed, abused, and rode home again. Another meeting takes |
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THE ART OP SHOEING ^73
place with the farrier, who now assumes airs
of consequence, on account of his superior skill and fore-knowledge of what had happen- ed. They both join in ridiculing book- knowledge in the art of shoeing, and the folly of authors who pretend to shoe all horses by one common standard. The nag is shod again in the old way, goes better immediately in consequence of the change; but in a very short time, having no feet to go upon, is sold for a few pounds to the mail coaches, where they are made to go, whether they can —-*• or not. The error lies in supposing a horse able to
go well in proper shoes, or indeed any shoes at all, whose soles, frogs, and heels, are so reduced, as to be scarcely able to bear his own weight. In such case, the only remedy is to turn him instantly to grass, with narrow plates upon the walls of his hoofs, to prevent their being broken, until his heels and frogs shall have grown to their natural state, and then to put him into the hands of a skilful farrier, who may always preserve them in that state, by strictly following the rules of Osmer and Clarke, supposing the hoofs to be naturally sound; if otherwise, I have nothing better to propose, than to repeat my own favourite method of the bar-shoe. |
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574 THE ART OP SHOEING.
But of all things in the world, let no man
put faith in farriers, or their pretended cures by siioeing, in cases like these. There is only one farrier equal to the task, which is Na- ture ; and she always performs her operations ^" subjove, abroad.'-"* I think I cannot too much recommend
the practice, hinted at in the beginning of this chapter, of hammering the external surface . of the shoe somewhat concave; its great use m securing a horse's footing over convex stones, must strike every one, and it is unat- tended by any countervailing disadvantage. On a reference, I find it mentioned by Sol- lysel, as well as that ancient author whom I quoted. It must be of infinite use to town cart-horses more particularly, but I think it a practice which merits universal adoption. Respecting the single calkin, or usual turn-
ing up of the hinder shoe of the saddle horse, I must acknowledge I see nothing in it either of prejudice or utility. If the horse have the use of his frogs upon the ground, he will want nothing else to preserve him from slip- ping ; and if otherwise, he slips with his toe not his heel; however, the calkin may con- duce to a firm tread. As to calkins upon the fore-heels, I am convinced nothing results from them but mischief and danger in any |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. S?5
case. In frosty weather, or upon a chalky
or slippery country, sharp-headed, four-edged ice nails, made of the hardest stuff, are the only security; unless, as an additional one, it be thought proper to indent the wel ts and toes of the shoes, which may have considera- ble effect. In this affair, there is certainly an exception to be made with regard to cart- horses, which are obliged to back with heavy loads, an exertion in which the stress mate- rially lies upon the heels, and most of all the hinder ones. The case is the same with the shaft-horse, in going down-hill. It is a question, whether their frogs, would, in those respects, be sufficient ; if not, calkins behind might, as usual, be adopted, but not at any rate before. To recapitulate, all horses with good feet
should, and well and safely may be shod with flat, light, narrow-webbed shoes made of the hardest iron; these shoes should be formed thickest at the toe, and thinnest and narrow- est at the heel, that the animal may have that equal and steady pace, which nature in- tended him. The weak and tender foot may require greater cover of iron, and the heels and frog being low, must have the artificial support of thicker and wider shoe heels. |
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b?6 THE ART OF SHOEING.
Such necessity however, is too often induced
by the farrier. I shall conclude this chapter, with the best
professional advice I have been able to pro- cure upon certain practical and operative parts of the subject. St. Bel proposes the following weights, each
shoe, for the respective descriptions of horses, which, at any rate form a good general out- line, to be varied according to circumstances, at the discretion of the operator. 16. oz.
For the heaviest cart-horses - - - 2 12
---------lighter ditto - - - - - 1 12
---------heaviest coach-horses - - 1 12
---------lighter ditto - - - - - i 4
---------saddle-horses in general, from 1 2 to 10 oz.
---------racers - - - - - - - 0 o to 4 or.
The fairest opportunity of making, trial of
the true principles of the art, is that presented by the colt at 3iis first shoeing, when his hoofs are in a state of natural perfection, and previ- ously to his being habituated to any particular custom. This occasion ought to be zealously embraced, in particular if the present owner means to keep the horse for his own use; and, indeed if it were possible to diffuse such ideas among our breeders, that circumstance |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. 577
alone would have a most powerful tendency
towards the necessary reformation. As the matter stands, the feet even of our four and five year olds, are too generally put out of a state, of speedy amendment. The weak and tender foot may require
greater cover of iron, and the heels and frog- being low, must have the artificial support of thicker and wider shoe heels. Such necessity is too often induced by the farrier. I have given my opinion as to the depend-
ance which ought to be placed on the opera- tions of farriery, for the recovery of thin, weak, and damaged feet: I have not a whit more respect for the various manoeuvres prac- tised with the intent of curing convex or po- unced feet—of the different modes of shoeing in use to prevent interfering—or of the opera- tion of unsoling, and of various others which might be named. As to any tampering with pomiced feet, or those where the soles belly out, and the horse is obliged to walk upon them, it is attended with constant pain, with- out hope of amendment, to the animal: the shortest and cheapest way is to knock him on the head, or suffer him to take his chance abroad. I have no reverence at all for the memory of the inventors of the different kinds of shoes, the use of which, in different cases, has been so ostentatiously set forth by writers; vol. i. 2P
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578 THE ART OF SHOEING.
they appear to me ingenious contrivances,
without use, and generally full of cruelty. The usual methods of shoeing, taken to pre- vent a horse from cutting, generally give him an uneven, and consequently unsafe po- sition upon the ground: and after all, he continues to interfere. Drawing the sole, I look upon to be an abominable, and to the best of my knowledge, ever an useless opera- tion. I speak not on my own experience, for although farriers have more than once proposed it to.me, I never would permit it; but I have made it my business to enquire for many years past, and I have never yet heard of a horse which was worth nine-pence after it. The general directions are, never to pare
the sole, frog, or binders, any more than to cut them level, and strip them of rotten and scaly parts ; but I must confess I have seen feet so exceedingly luxuriant in growth, and so tough, that they would bear, nay perhaps require some little paring; but the danger to be apprehended from the want of paring, was ever a feather when weighed against that of trusting a smith to perforin it at discretion, buttress in hand.—In this case, I have gene- rally stood over the operator myself, ready to cry out—No more, doctor. The direc- tions, however, do not extend to the crust or |
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THE ART OP SHOEING. 579
wall, which in deep, concave, hard feet, must
be at any rate taken clown, because its growth continually binds and contracts the quarters, dries up the frogs, and prevents their necessary contact with the ground. The size and strength of the feet, and the situation of the frogs, are the best measure for the due performance of this. Whenever it becomes absolutely necessary
to cut the bars or fro<*s, never suffer it to be performed in the usual way of blacksmiths, that is to say, inwards or downwards, one of the most destructive of all their manoeuvres, but always let them be shaved horizontally, or flat: and it is so dangerous to cut too near. in the frog, that in case of a considerable bulk in that part, it is even better to thicken the shoe-heels a trifle, and so to bring them and the frog upon a level and even bearing. For a foot in a sound and natural state, the breadth of the shoe at the heels, should be one-half of its breadth at the toe," and its sub- stance decrease by degrees from the toe, so as to be one-half thinner or weaker at the ex- tremity of the heels; notwithstanding this de- crease of width at the heel of the shoe, it will be still wide enough to stand out somewhat beyond the crust, and thereby be prevented from getting within the heel as it grows. The form of the shoe must exactly correspond 2 p o
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580 THE ART OF SHOEING.
with the outline of the foot, and ever be made
thickest externally at the rim, and gradually thinner internally next the horse's sole, a form directly opposite to the common concave shoe; this will leave just room enough (and there ought to be no more) between the edge of the shoe and the sole, for the introduction of the pecker, which is used to remove small stones and gravel accidentally lodged. Mr. Clarke says, he has frequently observed a - swelling of the legs immediately above the . hoofs, attended with great pain and inflam- mation, and a discharge of thin ichorous and foetid manner, which he attributed to the compression made upon the internal parts of the feet, by the common concave, long, and heavy shoes ; and that from the same cause chiefly proceed most of the diseases of the feet, founder, hoof-binding, narrow heels, foul thrushes, bleime, high soles, and the like. 1 have been long convinced of the truth of this observation. As to the disposition of the nail-holes,
everv farrier knows that in the fore-feet, the toe is thickest and strongest; in the hinder feet, the heels ; according to the French proverb, quoted by Blundeville, (Levant derrier, derrier deviant—before behind, behind before. There is a complaint of very ancient stand-
ing, against smiths, for needlessly multiplying |
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THE ART OF SHOEING. 581
nail-holes, and making their nails too large;
by which the crust is so torn, as scarcely to leave sound space to drive a nail. It is the ca-ie even now with many of our country sheers, who are not satisfied unless they skewer on the shoes. Old Blundevilie's di- rections herein- are not amiss, who says, the nail-heads should be square, and not so broad beneath as above, but answerable to. the pierced holes, which they should fill ; and above which they should not appear more than the thickness of the back of a knife.— The shanks of the nails to be somewhat flat, stiffer towards the head than below, and the points sharp, without hollowness or flaw. As to the number of nails in a shoe, the following table is according to the direction of Professor Saint Bel: For Race-horses, six—three on each side.
------ Hacks, Hunters, &c. seven; four on the outside, and
three within; the inside quarter being weakest.
------Mail-Coachers, Post-horses, &c same number.
_— large Horses, four on each side.
—— heavy Cart-horses, five on each side.
Solleysel says, that common smiths, in order
to prevent pricking the horse with their large nails, pierce the shoe too near the edge, which practice, in time, ruins the foot. The shoe being fast nailed, the less there
remains to be rasped the better, and that in- |
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|
582 THE ART OF SHOEING.
strument should only be used as high as the
rivets, but never above them, because, in the first place, it is unnecessary, and because the surface of the hoof is much injured, and dis- posed to dry by being rasped; farthermore, a heavy and careless hand is extremely apt to touch with the tool the origin of the nail just beneath the coronet, where it is extremely sensible ; the consequence of which is a small wound or bruise, ending frequently in a sand- crack. Every foot should be kept as short at the
toe, as is consistent with the safety of the crust, and the proper shape of the foot. My Lord Pembroke's rule is, to cut the toe square, and afterwards round off the angles; and Laurentius Russius, who wrote some cen- turies before the noble Earl, says, that a short toe, and a narrow, light, and straight shoe, make a large and strong hoof, and a firm leg. In taking down the toe, Solleysel forbids the use of the buttress, directing it to be done with a paring knife, after the shoe is fixed, ■which is to be purposely set back, as far as necessary. This, he says, will occasion a de- rivation of nourishment backward towards the heels, and in time greatly strengthen and enlarge them; which salutary consequence is, indeed, well known to us. If the rasp is |
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|
THE ART OF SHOEING. ' ^83
8 at all used in this business, it ought to be con-
fined to the toe, and laid on in such wise as to render it as thick as possible, in tender- footed horses. The oniy advantageous method that I could
ever discover of shoeing deep strong feet, with CONTRACTED NARROW HfeELS, is that
of La Fosse, with the half-moon shoes; the
crust being previously taken down, as before directed. The horse being presumed already lame, will travel very little more so, from his quarters being exposed, and as being totally unfit at any rate for expeditious riding, a little tenderness and flinching may well be borne in a slow pace, since the short shoes will be daily contributing towards his cure, whilst- large, hollow, and long ones would only be aggravating the disease. The smiths render these feet finally useless, by rasping them, and paring the soles, under pretence of giving them ease, which, in fact, causes them to dry and contract still more: the only means whence they can possibly get ease is, by the expansion of the quarters, to be attained from the animal's weight borne upon them ; the frog, also, which appears dried and shrunk up, will expand and increase m bulk from the same cause. Some feet of this descrip- tion will be thus rendered good, and the ie- |
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|
584 THE ART OF SHOEING.
inedy is pleasant, from being void of trouble
or expence; but if the horn be of a certain peculiar hard and faulty contexture, or the bones and internal processes of the feet mate- rial!}^ damaged,.which will be discovered after a few times shoeing with the short shoes, all remedies hitherto proposed, from the days of Solleysel (the grand empyric for feet) to the present, are worse than the disease. For the flat foot, the author just men-
tioned advises the following treatment:— Forge a shoe as straight as possible from the toe to the spunges, that is to say, not so cir- cular as usual, with holes pierced very near the edge ; after this shoe is nailed fast, there should be about half an inch of horn left to be cut with the knife from the toe, and in proportion round the sides. The shoe is on no account to be made concave next the foot, altliough it may rather touch the sole, but to be hammered hollow externally. The horse may be expected to flinch a little from the shoe setting somewhat upon the sole; but beware he be not pricked. Every time of change, the shoes are to be made still straighter at the toe, which is to be kept short, but not at the quarters; and in three or four times changing, the author promises an amendment in the shape of the feet. I |
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|
THE ART OF SHOEING. 585
have -never experienced this, nor have I much
opinion of its utility, or of any measures tend- ing to throw nature out of her destined course by violence. A foot naturally flat and thin, will he so still, or rendered worse, by forcible attempts at amendment. The only practice to be depended upon, I believe in this case, is to keep the toe as short as possible, never to diminish the substance of the crust, sole, or binders, and to shoe always in bars, making use of the smallest nails. Our modern Ens- lish bar shoe is a judicious improvement of the ancient planche, or pancelet, of which Blundeville and others had so high an opinion, for strengthening and giving substance to weak feet. The late Doctor Snape, farrier to his Majesty, had a very ingenious hand at forging this kind of shoe, as I have often ex- perienced. Joint-shoes for all. feet, vaulted shoes for
pomiced or convex soles, patten shoes, lu- nettes, or half-moons, thick at heel, those with a button or shouldering on the inside, to stand clear of a false quarter, and those formed thickest on the inside, to prevent in- terfering, are very ancient inventions, and sufficiently known to farriers. I have said, that interfering is usually oc-
casioned by a preternatural turn or twist of |
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|
586* THE ART OF SHOEING.
the pastern joint, which gives the toe an
oblique direction, either inward or outward; or perhaps the defect may not lie in the lower, but in the upper extremity of the leg ; in this case, it ought to be considered, that those measures of shoeing, the aim of which is to give the foot a straight position upon the ground, must at the same time inevitably expose the ligaments to unusual straining; the consequences of which may be much worse than those of cutting or knocking. Here follow, however, the best directions for shoeing a horse which interferes. A careful farrier always examines and notes
which branch of the old shoe is most worn, and acts accordingly. When the toe is turned outward, the stress lies chiefly upon the in- ward quarter, of course the inward quarter must be left untouched, and the thickness of the shoe on that side increased; the ex- ternal branch of the shoe being made thin, and that quarter of the hoof also reduced in proportion. The whole operation ought to be performed to such a nicety, that the foot may bear equally upon all parts of its circumfer- ence. To amend this position, farriers have formerly made the inner branch of the shoe excessive thick, and even raised it upon cramps ; which must always have very ill |
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|
THE ART OF SHOEING. 587
consequences, particularly as the horse inter-
feres with the heel, and the mischief is done with the foot lifted up; whence it follows, that the forced straight position on the ground, is at last of no consequence to the main end. When the horse is pigeon-toed, that is,
turns his toes inwards, the mode of shoeing usually adopted, is just the reverse of the above. After all, if any good can possibly be done in these cases, it must be from leaving nothing on the inner side, with which a horse can strike himself; but with this view, an injudicious operator frequently reduces the hoof till it is irrecoverably weakened, the horse has an uneven position upon the ground, and still interferes. For hammer and pinchers, or over-
reaching, short fore-shoes, and a reduction of the toes of the hinder-feet, is the method di- rected ; after which, and supposing the horse can go with his quarters exposed, he will most probably still strike his fore-heels with what you have left of his hinder toes. I have never seen, or indeed at all consi-
dered the form of the ox's shoe, so am unable to judge' of the propriety of the following methods given by Saint Bel. The ox is ei- ther shod with a flat plate of iron, having |
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588 PURCHASE AND SALE.
six or seven nail-holes on the outer edge,
accompanied with a projection of four or inches of iron at the toe, which passing'the cleft of the foot, is bent over the hoof: or with eight shoes, one under each nail; other- wise with four, one under each external nail; or only two, one under the external nail of each fore-foot. H |
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CHAP. XIII.
PURCHASE AND SALE.
JnLORSES in this country have hitherto
been chiefly bred for domestic use, those ex- ported being a small number in proportion ; at the conclusion of the present war, it is highly probable the foreign demand will be much greater than in times past, and may perhaps afford the country an opportunity of getting fairly rid of that surplus, which may and ought to be replaced by neat cattle. The marts for purchase in England, are
country fairs and public shews, and the sta- bles of dealers, where horses are sold by pri- vate contract; and in towns, repositories, where they are put up to sale by auction. |
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|
PURCHASE AND SALE. 589
Previously to the war, English horses of
the shewy kind, for the purposes of luxury, and some few for the breeding stud, were in demand throughout the continent; but the French were our best customers. As a proof of the high repute of English nags, they were sent as far as Vienna, notwithstanding the proximity of that city to the famous breeding countries of the East. Both the late and present Emperor, and the Archduke Charles, were considerable purchasers; and an emi- nent dealer in Park lane, assured me, that the custom of the last King of France was a good five hundred pounds per year to his father, who acquired great part of his pro- perty by selling horses to France. The ex- pence per horse, from London to Vienna, is about twenty three-pounds. Before the war, the price of oats at the
houses of entertainment in Belgium and Ger- many, was generally about eight-pence per peck, the quality inferior to the English; the hay dearer than with us, and far inferior. At some of the towns in France, there are regular markets and fairs for horses, every Sunday morning. The principal breeding counties of England,
are Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Dur- ham, for saddle and coach-horses; Lincoln- |
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590 PURCHASE AND SALE.
shire, and the midland counties, Leicester-
shire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, and Staffordshire, for cart- horses ; and Suffolk, Norfolk, and the Isle of Ely, for saddle and cart-horses. There are also many horses of all descriptions bred in the other counties, particularly nags for the saddle and quick draught, in Shrop- shire. The bargain for a horse is either attended
with the warranty of " sound, free from " vice or blemish, and quiet to ride or draw," or he is sold without warrant, to be taken with all faults ; in which latter case, the buyer can have no right or pretence to return him, except he prove glandered, which exception, I suppose, arises from the illegality of selling any horse in that state. At Bucks Assizes March 1808, it was remarked to a jury by Mr. Wilson, counsel for the plaintiff, that a horse warranted sound and not proving so, it was not necessary to return the horse, in order to support an action. It has not been so much the custom, of late years as formerly, to warrant horses at the hammer, doubtless on account of the high prices and quickness of sale. Difficulties having arisen, and various
opinions prevailed, as to the precise definition |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 591
of the terra sound, I shall point out what
has been hitherto the relative practice, and how far. in my own opinion, it consist with equity. The late Lord chief justice Mans- field, I have been informed, laid it down as a rule, that any horse sold for more than ten pounds, ought in law to be sound, of course returnable if otherwise ; a determination in- consistent either with truth or equity in the first instance, which ought to be the ground of all law, and manifestly affording the pur- chaser an undue advantage. An unsound horse may be worth a thousand pounds. The above dictum of Lord Mansfield was ridiculed' from the bench in Norfolk, in the year 1805, the judge then deciding warranty to be every thing. I shall define soundness to imply, ."■ not
" diseased, lame, blind, or broken-winded ; </ nor having, at the time of sale, any impend- " ing cause thereof." By custom, two or three, days trial are allowed the purchaser, within which period the horse ought to be returned for unsoundness : but if the defect lie hid, and the horse can be proved to have been unsound at the time of sale, a much longer detention does not bar the return of the horse ; on the other hand, if the seller can prove the sound- ness, it is presumed the horse has been da- |
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592 PU11CHASE AND SALE.
maged whilst iu the custody of the purchaser,
who in such case must sustain the loss. In cases of this nature, as well as all others, justice must depend, in the last resort, upon the judgment and integrity of the evi- dence. At Dixon's Repository, one clear day's trial
only is allowed, and it was lately decided in Court, that the public notice of the keeper of the Repository, to such effect, was sufficient.
The impending causes of unsoundness are various ; such as rottenness, defects in the eyes, and wind; splents, and spavins. For example, a rotten horse may be bought and sold as a sound one ; his gaunt, hide-bound, and ill-favoured appearance, being attributed to bad usage, and want of condition ; but death in a few days may convince the buyer of his error. In just such a predicament I found myself some years ago, when I pur- chased a mare of a noble Lord, for eighteen pounds, warranted sound, which died rotten about ten days afterwards; her liver, on examination, appearing to be totally decayed. Doubtless 1 had a remedy at law, but my complaisance extended so far, that I did not call upon his Lordship. A horse may chance to be sold in the instant that a cloud in his eye is beginning to occasion partial blindness, |
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|
PURCHASE AND SALE. -§93
instances of which I have witnessed; or just
before he becomes lame, from an initient splent, or spavin ; in such cases, the defect must have existed at the time of sale, the warranty was false, and the bargain is void. In case of warranting a one-eyed horse, it is usual to say, sound, " barring the eye;" but should such an one be sold as sound, without that remark, he would doubtless be returnable. A distinction always exists in practice, be-
tween unsoundness and blemishes, which in fact accords both with truth and convenience : the latter may exist without impediment to the former. Blemishes consist of broken knees, loss
of hair in the cutting places, mallenders and sallenders, cracked heels, false quarters, splents, or excrescences which do not occa- sion lameness ; and I should suppose, wind- galls and bog-spavins, if they prevail to any great degree; these last may have been re- pressed, immediately previous to sale, and may re-appear, in a few miles riding. Neither wind-galls nor bog-spavins impede a sound warrant, provided the horse does not go lame ; it may be the same, probably, in respect to a false quarter, although, I think, I have never seen a horse with the latter vol. i. 2 Q
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594 PURCHASE AND SALE.
defect, which I should have accepted as a
sound one. The term quiet, or free from vice,
implies according to established usage, that the horse is neither restiff, nor a notorious runaway, kicker or biter; and that he will quietly and obediently permit himself to be saddled, or accoutred in the usual way ; this last, however, some dealers within my know- ledge have ventured to dispute. In the year 1779 I purchased a black gelding, at a certain repository, warranted sound and quiet to ride. I had my doubts at the time of pur- chase, on account of thesmallness of the sum; fourteen guineas only, for a sporting-like son of Engineer, six )rears old, and able to carry fourteen stone up to any hounds. I found him in truth sound, and quiet enough to ride, without a saddle ; but the attempt to saddle him cost the labour of four men, and that at the extreme hazard of their limbs. A more improper nag could scarcely be found for me, who could never ride without a saddle in my life. The dealer at first refused to take him back, on the allegation, that he did ride quiet, literally according to the warrant, and that it was no fault of his, if the horse and my men fell out upon so trifling an affair as saddling ; but the prevailing rhetoric of an attorney's |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 595
letter gave him a rule, and shewed him cause
to alter his mind. An exactly similar in- stance occurred to a friend of mine last year, who dreading the law worse than a vicious horse, pocketed the affront. The trial of a horse's soundness ought to be
committed to a person accustomed to horses. Our judgment, as to the goodness of the wind is now universally guided by the soundness of the cough ; but independently of that criterion the preternatural heaving of the flanks in a broken-winded horse,, will always be suffi- ciently apparent, if he be put upon a swift pace It is necessary to try the new purchase m all paces, and even to ride him fairlv a con siderable number of miles, in order to disco ver any latent defect, or lameness of the sinews, which may have been patched up with bandage and astringents, for the express purpose of sale. This method is very com- mon, and frequently practised upon specula tion. A man says to himself, the soundness of this horse is indeed very doubtful X will warrant hnn however, and give him a chance, if he come back I shah be but where I was. The following piece of finesse 1 have known successfully played off A dealer has a horse with a latent unsoundness He says to the person cheapening him « J 2q2
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596 PURCHASE AND SALE.
" will either warrant him or not, as you
" please; if you will give me such a sum,
" which is a sound price, I will warrant
" him a sound horse ; but if you will give
" me no more than so much, it is not worth
" the warrant, particularly as you seem diffi-
•' cult, and likely to make trifling objections;
" at such price you must take him with all
" faults." It is a frequent practice at the
Hepository, for the auctioneer to say, "this " horse is sound, but the owner does not chuse " to warrant him." I apprehend however, such declaration would in law, amount to as suf- ficient a warrant of soundness, as a purchaser could desire: however it may be in other cases, the practice of the law encourages no deceptions in regard to horses. It is by no means proper to have a newly
purchased horse shod or trimmed, previously to a determination to keep him. On this essential branch of the practice of
horse-dealing, few, I think, will be inclined to agree with Mr. Taplin, who, in his last publication, recommends " that no horse " should be deemed sound, and sold with " such warrant, but a horse in a state of " perfection, entirely free from lameness, cc blemish, and defect, not only at the time of " transfer, but never known to have been |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 597
" otherwise." Had Mr. Tapiiu made a per-
fect cure of an unsound horse, he would, I have no doubt, warrant hiinsound, if necessary to the sale, notwithstanding he had once been otherwise. As to the choice, qualifications and defects
of horses, I believe I have spoken suffi- ciently in their place. Now for the accus- tomed ceremonial of examining a horse, in order to purchase. Having already been made acquainted with the terms, and that the nag is quiet to approach, giving him some gentle warning with your voice, you go up to him in his stall on the near side, and laying your hand on his fore-hand, you proceed from thence to examine his eyes, mouth, and countenance; still holding his head, and turning your own to the right about, you have a view of the curve of his neck, the height of his fore-hand, and the position of his shoulder and fore-arm. Re- turning to his fore-hand you descend to his legs and feet, minutely examining with your fingers every part from above, below, within- side, and without. You will not forget the virgin integrity of the knees, so much and so justly in request: so difficult is this to repair, either by nature or art, when once violated, that I am almost tempted to add it as a fifth, |
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598 PURCHASE AND SALE.
to the four irrevocable things, tempusjuvehtus,
verbum dictum, et virginiias. Being satisfied respecting his fore-train>
your eye and hand will glance over his back, girting-piace, carcase, and loin ; thence pro- ceeding to his hinder quarter, and the setting on of his tail. You will judge how far he agrees in each, and every respect, with those rules of proportion already laid down. The hinder legs and feet will demand a share of attention full as minute as the fore ones, and I must once again repeat my advice, that the inside, or hollow of the hock, be not passed without due notice, as is commonly the case, since it often happens that the injuries of hard labour are most apparent in those parts. A survey of the other side of the horse concludes the stable examination. Suffer no person belonging to the seller to
be with you in the stall, during your inspec- tion, that the horse may not be rendered un- quiet, either designedly, or at the mere pre- sence of an habitual tormentor. A short time since, I had occasion to examine a horse for a friend, at the stable of a considerable dealer. It was a very beautiful and well- shaped nag, but as is commonly the hard fate of such, appeared to have done too much work. The attendant, from a superabundant |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 699
share of regard to my safety, must needs
hold the horse's head whilst I examined his legs, still assuring me he was perfectly quiet; nevertheless, every time I attempt- ed to feel below his knees, the horse started, and flew about the stall in a strange manner, to the no small risk of my toes and shins. Whilst I stood musing and won- dering what beside the devil could possibly ail the animal, I discovered a short whip un- der the arm of the jockey, with which he had no doubt tickled the neck and chest of the horse, whenever I stooped clown with the intent of handling his legs. I wished this adept good morning. To any reader who may suppose I lay too
great a stress upon a stable examination, I shall assign what I esteem a very forcible rea- son ; the examinant will by no means find so good an opportunity abroad, when the horse according to commendable custom, shall have been fired, and set upon his mettle, and when his own attention must inevitably be divided. The stall is also a good situation in which to judge of the temper of a horse, his condition, sound or infirm method of standing. Your intended purchase is now led out in
all his glory, and so much care has been pro- bably used, during the ceremony of bridling and combing, to arouse his natural and sup- |
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600 PURCHASE AND SALE.
ply him with an addition of artificial fire, that
"ware-horse/-' is by no means an unneces- sary caution to the by-stander. He is taken to a spot of ground raised for the purpose of shewing his fore-quarters to advantage. Here you have an opportunity of making another general survey, in a good light. It is in this situation you must make a final judgment respecting that most material object his eyesr taking care to have his head placed favourably for your inspection. The next consideration is, the condition of his legs, that he stand .— straight, and do not knuckle with his knees, —** ^ that his joints do not tremble, the sure indi- cation of weakness, and that his feet are even, and a just distance apart. Order him next to be walked forward in hand, placing" yourself immediately behind him, that you may see how he divide his legs, whether he be straight in his hams, and go sufficiently wide behind, and close before. Keep your posi- tion, and let him trot back, still in hand, and you will perceive whether he bend his knees, and go free from cutting or knocking, whether his feet be sound, and his joints free from stiffness, or injury from hard labour. After these preliminaries, you may permit
the jockey in waiting to mount, who ought to exhibit a fair specimen of every pace, walk, trot, canter, and gallop, you having |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 6'0I
placed yourself in the interim, about midway
of his intended course, forward and back again ; in which advantageous situation, you may command a view of the horse, his figure and action, in all directions. In this part of the shew, the particulars to be noted chiefly, are how the horse carries his head, the degree of freedom he possesses in his shoulders, whether he goes well above his ground and safe, whether his haunches follow well, and without over-reaching, and whether he sub- mits to the touch of the spur without sucking •— in his wind and swelling, which is a sure in- dication of a rebellious disposition, and that he obeys with reluctance. As the concluding scene, the nag is brought back to that ele- vated spot just mentioned, when you take another cursory view of him, and he returns to his stable. But I wrould advise no person, however
accustomed to horses, to purchase one for his own use, without previously riding him a trial himself; a privilege which no dealer of credit refuses, to the extent of two or three miles upon the road, in company with himself or servant, It is undoubtedly the way to know all that can be well known of an animal, in so short an acquaintance, first to see him ridden, and then to ride him yourself. You will be enabled to determine, how far his |
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602 PURCHASE AND SALE.
merit is to be attributed to the skill or spurs
of the jockey; how far his condition and wind are to be depended upon, and whether he has - been merely pampered for sale ; whether his
carriage be adroit, careful, and safe, over rough ways; whether he be naturally shy and skittish, or has taken aversion to particular objects ; and whether he trot down hill, in a firm and compact way, naturally throwing his weight upon his haunches, and bearing light on the hand, or whether he lean forward, as if desirous of using his nose as a fifth leg. This last is a consideration never to be over- .- looked. A hack that will not go well down
hill, may fairly be pronounced good for no- thing, were it only because srich good quali- fication is generally the consequence of being well-shaped, the backward position of the shoulder, and the inclination forward of the haunches, favouring the attitude most proper for descent. Last of all, there may be some- thing highly disagreeable in the motions or carriage of a horse, which a person can by no other means discover, than by actually riding him ; and I have frequently heard men of consummate judgment acknowledge them- selves much deceived by trusting entirely to the shew. Much obloquy has, in all periods, fallen
upon dealers in horses, who have been gene- |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 603
rally supposed more prone to trick and de-
ception than any other class of traders ; but this arises perhaps chiefly from the precarious nature of the commodity in which they deal; and amongst a number of shabby and tricking fellows, which indeed are to be found in all trades, there are no doubt many fair and ho- nourable men in this. Their method of pre- paring and decking out their goods for sale, has always been vehemently decried as directly calculated for the purposes of deception ; this is only in part true, that is, as far as the ma- noeuvres are intended to conceal unsoundness; as no reasonable objection can possibly be against their endeavours to set their horses off to the best advantage. The grand com- plaint is on the behalf of humanity, the laws of which, upon those occasions, are always outraged, wherefore a change of measures would be a desirable event, and this is evi- dently in the power of the buyers. Property, would it shake off its indolence and apathy, or would it be as sedulous to cherish, as it ever has been to oppress, might work mira- cles of reformation. I allude principally to the well-known sta-
ble discipline among dealers, of figging and firing. The first, is, to thrust a corn, as it is phrased, ofginger,into the fundamentof ahorse, or burden of a mare, the instant of being led |
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604 PURCHASE AND SALE.
out to shew, for the purpose of irritation, and of
elevating the tail, which is thereby usually cocked up in a monstrous and ludicrous man- ner. Firing is the discipline of the whip, which is used to arouse every spark of mettle in the horse. The latter is an everlasting source of cruelty, perpetrated by a race of brutal and insensible miscreants, who would be as little scrupulous to derive gain from the torture of their own species. Horses, whilst in such hands, live in a constant state of apprehension and misery. Almost every hour in the day, the tormentor goes into the stable, like a West-Indian Negro-driver, whip in hand, and inflicts the cruelty of the lash upon each horse, in order to make him lively and apt to fly, even at the sound of a man's foot; and this correction from habit, from a desire of reaping ail its imaginary benefit, and from supposed causes of offence, is often per- formed with the utmost force. But the bar- barity is never so monstrous, or rather hellish, as when inflicted upon the debilitated and crippled objects of excessive labour. Too much of this is practised at the sales of worn- out post-hacks and machinets. I once saw a poor mare, stone blind, exquisitely shaped, and shewing all the marks of high blood, most unmercifully cut with the whip, about a quarter of an hour before the sale, in order |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 605
to bring her to the use of her stiffened limbs :
it was a fruitless piece of cruelty, her labour was done, and she was receiving her reward from the hand of ungrateful man! I saw the tears trickling down her cheeks, and to me it was an affecting sight. All this barbarity is totally unnecessary, for the intent of it is so generally known, that it can deceive nobody; nay it often has the effect of producing sudden cramps in a horse, and always of spoiling his trot upon a shew. I insist upon it, from long observation, that all horses are shewn to the best advantage by a moderate use of the whip. There is also a cruel folly prevalent among cow-jobbers, namely, that of stocking the cows, as it is called ; they oblige these crea- tures to suffer the pains of retention, twenty- four or perhaps forty-eight hours, previously to sale, that they may have a great shew of milk ; as if ail buj^ers of cows were not aware of the custom, and of consequence, deception must be out of question. The plea that any knowledge of the animal can be thence obtain- ed, is ridiculous; for there are other rules of judging infinitely more certain, familiar to every experienced man. Many cows get in- flamed and even indurated udders from this practice, from which they never perfectly re- cover. |
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606 PURCHASE AND SALE.
To return to figging and firing. The Lon-
don dealers, with some few exceptions, per- mit no servant to shew a horse without hav- ing previously figged him, under a certain forfeit. They assert, they are obliged to purchase horses in the country shewn in that manner, and that they can do no less, in justice to themselves, than to shew them under similar advantages in town ; the truth is, the custom is inveterate among them, and they can see no beauty or merit in a horse, unless he be transformed into a Merry-An- drew, and jump about from side to side as if distracted, knocking his huggon-bones against every wall he goes near. But all this is but a poor recommendation to a man of taste and judgment in horses, and I am con- vinced the dealer thereby often misses his mark. As to the practice, as intended to favour deception, or cover unsoundness, the remedy is always in the purchaser's own hands. " Mr. Double-cut, unless you chuse " to keep the whip intirely out of sight of " the horse, and the ginger out of reach of " his------, our business is at an end. Good-
" day; I wish you a better customer."—
Prob. est. There is a prejudice somewhat general, but
which holds much the same relation with |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 607
truth that prejudices generally do ; namely,
that good horses are not to be found in the hands of dealers, and we frequently see it in- serted in an advertisement, by way of addi- tional recommendation of a horse, that he does not belong to a dealer, or that he has never been in a dealer's hands. It is yet strange, that a man whose living is to deal in them, who has so many through his hands, who goes to the fountain head to obtain them fresh and young, and whose interest it is to sell good horses, should have none of that kind to sell, and somewhat more so, that a private person should be desirous of parting with so scarce and valuable a commodity. I will agree, that a second-hand good horse is far preferable to a fresh bad one. But upon the average, young and fresh horses must necessarily bear the premium ; and if a dealer be careful to furnish his stables with such, no blame ought to attach to him ; for were he to journey into the country, witli the resolution to buy none but good horses, his journeys would be many, and his pur- chases few indeed. Horses go through the hands of several
descriptions of persons before they reach the metropolis. The considerable breeders sell their colts to another class, whose business |
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608 PURCHASE AND SALE.
it is to keep them until they are fit for market
and general use. These last dispose of their horses either at their country fairs, or through the medium of particular connections in town. The London horse-dealers consist of two
classes, such as constantly buy and sell at repositories, and sales by auction, their trade being chiefly confined to second-hand horses, for hackney work and inferior purposes ; and of those who supply themselves from the country. Many of these last attend the re- positories where they frequently find much more advantageous bargains than can be met with in the country ; and some have farms, whither their London purchases are sent, in order to be converted in due time into " Horses fresh from the breeder's hands." It may be necessary to mention a subdi-
vision of dealers, for the information of those it may concern. There are always some few who arc connoisseurs, and make it their business to search out horses of high quali- fication ; these men will always be found out by enquiry. As to the bulk of dealers, all they know, or care about the matter is, whether a horse set two good ends, look big enough, and be in a selling condition. |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 609
The old established Repositories in Lon-
don are Tatter sal's, near Hyde Park Cor- ner ; where horses, carriages, and harness of all kinds, are sold by auction twice a week, Monday and Thursday, at twelve o'clock; Aldrich's, m St. Martin's Lane, on Wednesday ; and Dixon's, or the City Repository, in Barbican, on Friday. Smithfield Market, or fair, for horses, is held every Friday afternoon. Several other Re- positories have been established in London, of late Years. At Sadler's, in Goswell Street, the annual cattle shows are held, in December and March. Tattersal's is the chief repository for race-
horses, stallions, brood-mares, hunters, and bred hacknies ; although horses of all kinds are to be found there. Other cattle of valu- able breed, and high price, are sometimes sent thither for sale ; also dogs, or any ani- mals which have relation to field sports. There is a subscription-room always open on sale-days, where sporting people meet for the purpose of betting, and the general business of the turf. The subscription one guinea an- nually, and open to the public. Aldrich's, the oldest repository, being the
original one opened many years ago by Bea- ver, is for horses of all descriptions, but vol. i. 2 R
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610 PURCHASE AND SALE.
chiefly for hacknies, and horses for quick
draught. At Dixon's, and at Sadler's, the bulk of
the sales consist of hacks, journey-horses, machiners, stage-waggon, and cart-horses. Smithfield Market is for the refuse of all
kinds, including such as are intended for slaughter, which too often exhibit a pitiable sight. Some few fresh horses are there ex- posed to sale, particularly of the cart-kind, and it may be noted, that the principal dealers in cart-horses reside in that neigh- bourhood, and are to be met with at market. The charges at repositories are as follow :
Keep, half-a-crown per night; duty, on sale by auction, ten-pence in the pound ; com- mission, one shilling per pound. If the horse be put up, and not sold, the expence is half- a-crown ; if sold by private contract, no duty attaches. A particular day of payment for horses sold, is fixed at each repository; a necessary measure with regard to warranted horses, as they are liable to be returned, if not answerable, within the limited davs. I have been told, that at repositories, parti- cularly Tattersal's, open accounts are kept with constant purchasers, and considerable credit given ; but I speak barely from re- port. |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 6ll
Horses intended for sale by auction, should
be sent, at latest, on the morning preceding the sale-day, that they may go out in good place, or rather, stalls should be timely se- cured for them. If they have been accus- tomed to stand clothed at home, they ought to be sent with their clothes, lest the acci- dental roughness of their coats should hurt their market. The price may be limited, or a person may attend to bid. Those sent from the country, should arrive some days before the sale ; and if horses of high price, it is common for them to continue some time at the repository, their own grooms attending them. A horse being purchased in fine condition,
the purchaser should be prepared with clothes, with which to invest his new bargain, the instant he is stripped by his late owner, as a cold is usually caught extempore, and horses are very commonly injured in this way, without its being suspected. There are frequently printed catalogues,
and the expence of inserting a horse is one shilling ; horses are also particularly adver- tised at the option and expence of the pro- prietor. Repositories, I think, are the best places
for the disposal of horses of high qualification and great value, either b}^ auction or private 2r2 |
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612 PURCHASE AND SALE.
contract; but the worst possible, for low-
priced ones, since the duty and charges must eat deep into their small value; such are the best got rid of at Smithfield, where the seller incurs no charge but the price of a halter ; and buyers of ordinary horses are commonly either to be found, or heard of, at Smithfield. The market prices of horses, although supported by the military demand, were extremely low during the earlier part of the last war, with the exception of those of great intrinsic value, from uncommon pow- ers. Such have been sold at high rates. Mr. Tattersal refused two hundred guineas for his Norfolk chesnut gelding, got by Foy ; but a few weeks afterwards sold him at the hammer, without warrant, for one hundred and forty guineas, This nag, I understand, was tried to trot thirty railes on the New- market road, carrying his owner, upwards of seventeen stone, which he performed in two or three minutes over two hours. The most formidable part of the present
Chapter is now at hand, for who shall pre- sume to counsel a man in the choice of a wife or a horse ? I have only to point out where, and how, the latter may best be had. AH who know horses, live in the constant conviction how irksome a business it is to recommend one to the unskilful, who are |
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ever attached to dazzling shew, in preference
to just proportion and intrinsic worth. But what a fortunate coincidence, that good judges are to the full as scarce as good •horses. To the true adept I say, sois sage pour toi-meme, and suffer every gentleman to please himself. It is my advice to all persons unskilled in
horses, but no concern of mine whether or not they follow it, by no means to purchase one upon their own judgment solely, such step being too often followed b}' repentance, and a degree of vexation and disappointment, even to a rich man. To those who desire to be out of leading-strings, I recommend sound theory, and much practice. But upon whom are the uninformed to rely ? Upon their own servants ? It is my duty to state, that I have heard of treachery and dishonesty in some of that class, by whom the interest of a master has been sacrificed to the dealer for a bribe. Inferior horses have been in that way pushed off, at high prices, and valuable ones sold for no just cause, and very little money. Perhaps it is as safe a method as any, for a gentleman first of all to make enquiry into the prices current, and to trust the remainder of the business to a dealer of repute, allowing him sufficient time, and giving a very minute description of the kind of horse wanted. |
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614 PURCHASE AND SALE.
Under such circumstances, it would be the
interest of a dealer to act honourably, and I should suppose the pursuit of that kind of business would turn to much better account in the end, than the silly practice of many dealers, who warrant all the horses they sell to be good ones. It is an ungracious task, but I am com-
pelled by truth and moral duty to state, that my Former experience of the treachery and dishonesty of grooms, has bt en confirmed by some late \evy flagrant instances. A very respectable dealer, whose custom it is, openly to allow half a guinea, or a guinea, as groom's fee, on the sale of a horse, exposed to me, a train of nefarious transactions, between the groom of a friend of mine and a certain dealer, in which the groom constantly received fees to the amount of five and even ten guineas, on every new purchase or exchange; the party ultimately paying these fees, will be easily apprehended, and that my friend, who, according to good custom, was guided in all stable concerns by his groom, often changed his horses. Being concerned in an award, respecting a horse returned for unsoundness, it came out, that the purchaser's groom had refused a guinea fee, insisting on four at least, and it was the plea of the dealer, that the horse was not returned for unsoundness, but |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 615
for the insufficient weight of the groom's fee.
Another groom, in London, within my know- ledge, has been detected in selling the corn from his master's stable, a way in which I formerly suffered for a considerable length of time, before the villain was detected. As to the influence of grooms over their
masters, at which I have elsewhere taken the liberty to smile, it must necessarily subsist, since so few of the latter can or will take the trouble to aquire any solid knowledge of the horse, however many they may chuse to keep, either for business or sport. An expert groom preserves his horse in beautiful order, and read)' for action, and exclusive of his practi- cal and really useful habits, always possesses a number of imposing subtilties and plausi- bilities, which procure him the reputation of general skill. A curricle horse was somewhat amiss with respect to chewing his victuals; the groom wondered much at it, since he had bled the horse, and was beside in the constant habit of administering to him cordialballs, /ever balls, andjiittej Apparent and sudden good, but latent and permanent ill effects generally result, from the tampering of such people, in a department where they must of necessity always grope in the dark. The convenience of repositories in town, as
a point of meeting between buyers and sellers |
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616 PURCHASE AND SALE.
is indubitable. The constant and material
question, with those Avho want a serviceable horse, is—how far a repository may be de- pended upon in that respect ? That will best appear from a sketch of what is generally to be found there ? to wit, second-hand horses, and occasionally a few fresh country horses, which the necessities of some of the dealers, or other accidental circumstances, may have brought thither. Second-hand horses, or such as have already passed the ordeal of town service, are to be divided into several classes ; for example, into those which have done their work ; those miserable devils which Avere ne- ver calculated to do any, but are destined to beat the rounds of London, until they are swallowed up in the vortex and disappear ; those which are in various degrees injured by labour or ill-usage, but which are reco^ verable by care ; and those which have been chopped and changed, and discarded, to be replaced perhaps for infinitely worse, by ig- norant and capricious owners. Behold an ample field for the exercise of judgment in horses ; and should a man venture there, even without possessing that judgment, it is a lottery where he may perhaps gain a prize, and where, at the worst, his blank will be worth something. It is apparent then, that good nags may be found at a repository, by |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 617
those who have wit enough to pick them out;
and equally apparent, that there is a chance to meet with second-hand ones at the private stable of a dealer, who sells none but such as are " fresh from the breeders in the country/' There may be perhaps, upon the average, from five to fifteen guineas saved in the price of a nag by purchasing at a repository ; it is for the adventurer to consider, whether that premium be adequate to the risk. Many of the best cattle in the country have been sold at auction for very small sums. Bishop's fa- mous brown mare, was at six years old sent to Aldrich's for sale, and was at last purchased by himself at a very inconsiderable price. The caprice of a certain description of people towards horses is aimost miraculous ; they seem to entertain a natural antipathy to good ones, which they are sure to reject, but more certainly still if offered at a moderate price ; whilst they will lug out their gold most libe- rally, for the purchase of some ill-shaped, cock-tailed garroon, intrinsically not worth nine-pence. I could illustrate this by a cloud of examples, of which take the following as a specimen. A gentleman purchased of a dealer a well-bred black gelding, five years old, fifteen hands high, and master from twelve to fourteen stone, road or field ; the price was thirty-eight guineas, a considerable |
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618 PURCHASE AND SALE.
one at that time. The gentleman kept him
about a twelvemonth, hunting him occasion- ally, but never experienced any satifaction with him, his groom liking the horse still worse. He was to be got rid of at any rate, and whether at the repository or not, I have now forgotten, but he was purchased for a trifle by a butcher, who was a supposed judge of horses. The butcher became weary of him, and sold him to a friend of mine, for about fifteen pounds. My friend, chiefly on the representation of another supposed judge, and who after riding the horse frequently, pronounced him'good for nothing, thought himself well rid of him at eleven pounds. In the hands of this last proprietor I tried him. He was one of the safest and pleasantest horses, and the speediest walker, I ever rode— he trotted nearly or altogether fourteen miles within the hour, and was a perfect canterer— I saw him many times leap the bar, higher than a five-barred gate, both standing and flying, in a style of the highest excellence ; and I have reason to believe, that he had more speed for a burst, than many winners of plates : add to all this, he was an elegant figure. At a repository the choice of horses is
great, and the opportunity of examination and trial as fair as can be reasonably desired, since |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 619
the proprietor is the middle man between
buyer and seller. Previously to the sale, a person may ride the horse which he has se- lected, or see him ridden. One great reason of the ill success of private purchasers at a repository, is, that they seldom think to at- tend until the time of sale, when their spirits being exalted, and their eagerness whetted by the eloquence of the orator, the flourish of the hammer, and the crack of the whip, they dash at an extempore bargain, to be repented of afterwards, when the false fire shall have become extinct both in themselves and the horse. On the contrary, a man who expects success here, must attend at least some hours before the sale, where he may probably make good advantage of his own, or the experience of an attendant. He will find, as well here as elsewhere, that the silver key will unlock the secrets of the interior cabinet. The low- est price that a horse will be sold at, is fre- quently fixed ; in which case, if he be judged worth the money, it is obviously the interest of a buyer to prevent his going to the ham- mer. These sales famish the occasion of a considerable speculative trade in horses, which are there purchased and sent into the country, to be made fresh, and in condition to be re- sold. Great skill is requisite to determine whether a worked horse be in a recoverable |
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6'20 PURCHASE AND SALE.
state, because if too much injured in his joints,
or too old, he will frequently come up from grass more crippled than when first sent thither; a thing which I have often witnessed, but could never account for to my own satis- faction. When the pastern joints, from con- stant severe labour over the road, have be- come obdurate and callous, and the sinews con- tracted, the case is infinitely worse than when they are in a lax state; the former situation is hopeless. The middle priced horses, and such as are warranted sound, are the beat ob- jects of speculation. The London repositories are the best mar-
kets in the world for brood mares, of all de- scriptions, excepting first-rale cart mares, and I have often wondered that recourse is so sel- dom had thither by the country breeders. But there would be a little trouble in the bu- siness, and what is of still greater consequence it would be a breach of sacred custom. Many a mare have I seen, actually worth fifty pounds for the stud, and if compared with such as are commonly used for that purpose, perhaps several fifties, knocked down at five guineas to run in a fish-cart. There is a no- tion current amongst some persons in the country, that such worked mares will not breed, or that they are, in some respects, im- proper for that purpose. It is futile. Those |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 621
mares purchased at^Michaelmas, and wintered!
m agood warm straw-yard, with the allow- ance of a few carrots, will take the horse in due season, with as promising hopes as any- whatever ; and after breeding a foal, may be probably recovered in the use of their limbs, to the degree of being able to do great service. An excellent author remarks, that the great- est profit is to be obtained from the mare, by alternation of labour and breeding. Good serviceable plough-horses are often to be pur- chased at these places, much cheaper than in the country. The Spring is necessarily the dearest time
for horses, from the custom so generally pre- valent of riding in the summer season only: the same cause operates, on the other hand, in the reduction of their price on the ap- proach of winter. Towards Gunpowder Treason, the town repositories are always full ; between that period and Christmas the ■surplus is taken off, and prices advance gra- dually until the season for the company to leave town, when it is not uncommon, from various causes, for them to suffer a sudden declension; and in some years, a horse has been purchased at Midsummer five guineas •cheaper than he could have been obtained at Lady-day^ These observations, so trite and generally known, I offer merely in the style |
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622 PURCHASE AND SALE.
of memoranda. In the same way I must re-
mark, that it is by no means either prudent or advantageous to part with a good horse, merely because he will not be wanted in the winter, since that breed is so very scarce, and since the defalcation in price is almost always larger than the amount of winter keept in the country, and concomitant charges. On the same side of the question may be added, that bv allowing a valuable horse so fair a chance as an annual winter'sjrun, to cool hi§ limbs, and recruit his strength, he might be enabled to go through his business in the most perfect style, even to his twentieth year, or upwards; and at that late period, be fresher upon his legs, and more safe to ride, than most of the victims of our usual and improvident methods at seven or eight. As an instance among many, of the longevity and lasting nature of horses, there was living in the service of a farmer, near Manchester, in the Year 17&7, a^kjoW grey fr°r.se, which had been left there by the Rebels in 1745, and which' had laboured hard_ during that long period of forty-two years. As so much mo- ney is frequently lost in chopping and chang- ing of horses, this plan must surely be pre- ferable in point of pecuniary calculation ; in the regards of comfort and convenience, of the certainty of possessing a trusty and faith- |
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PURCHASE AND SALE. 623
ful slave, whenever our occasions call, the pre-
ference is great indeed. It is natural to en- tertain some degrees of attachment to these creatures which are domesticated with us, and which render us such essential services, and wherever practicable, it must be' delightful to a good man, to render even a brute animal happy in its condition and feelings. Com- passion to old age, to long and faithful ser- vices, ought to form a part of this plan. It is mean and indefensible in persons of pro- perty, to desire to make so contemptible an addition to their store, as the price of a poor old horse, already worn out in their service; such, if necessary to be put away, should be shot at once, or given to those who would en- gage to work them lighly, and use them well. These reflections have served to recal to my mindj^worjthy^ old farmer, in truth, one of ,the justest and most humane of men, whose memorv^is very dear to me. His frequent saying was c< that when he held up his band [^ at the Old Bailey in tli£ other world, he " was sure he should have no four-legged " witnesses against him/'__ Respecting the prices of horses, within
these few years, it may not be amiss, to put a few notes upon record. Good sound hacks have been worth at the hammer, in London, from forty to sixty and seventy guineas each : |
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624 PURCHASE AND SALE.
in the dealers stables, in course, more money
has been asked and given. Particular well- bred shewy nags, from the same prices up to one hundred and even a hundred and sixty or seventy guineas. In 1805, a farmer sold five nags of his own breeding, at Horncastle fair, for six hundred and twenty guineas. Fresh and well-bred curricle and barouche horses, are worth from four score to one hundred and fifty, and perhaps some, in a very high form, have stood their owners in two hundred pounds each. The first class of ^- coach horses nearly the same. Hunters of high repute, have been sold as high as six and seven hundred guineas each. I have several memo- randums of two and three year old racing colts, sold at fifteen hundred guineas each, and have been informed that Lord Fitzwil- liam refused three thousand guineas for Sir Paul, by Sir Peter Teazle out of Pewit. These sales, surely do not evince any decline of the turf. The largest size of cart horses, cost in London, from fifty to seventy guineas each, and upwards. A vast improvement of price, since the times in which we purchased good hacks, from twelve to five and twenty guineas a piece, and hunters at five and thirty. The present price of a good labouring ox, in Devonshire, is about eighteen pounds. END OF VOL. I. Squire and Warwick, Printers,
EuinivalViim Court, London.
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