Notes on equitation and horse training/Question 29
XXIX.
Training for a military race.—It is impossible to lay down fixed rules for training a service mount to run a military steeple chase. The care of the animal as well as his work will vary with his breeding, but an officer or a noncommissioned officer training his horse must pay constant attention, in all cases, to—
- (1) The amount of work.
- (2) The condition of the legs.
- (3) The appetite.
First. Amount of work.—Training a service mount for a military steeple chase does not involve such complete conditioning as is required in training a thoroughbred for a flat race. Moderate work should be sufficient to put him in condition, keeping in view the main object which is to bring him up to his maximum strength and energy on the day of the race. First, it must never be forgotten that the less the horse has of pure blood, the less he should be worked into condition for a speed test.
About two months are required to prepare a horse, following a well-chosen programme and working only rarely at full speed. It is better, if possible, to have the horse a little above condition to start with, that is, fat rather than poor, because it is easier to take off fat than to gain weight by building muscle.
Each day's work should be of about two hours' duration. Exercise should be given in the morning as far as possible, at any rate in summer, so as to avoid the heat and the flies. Give the horse one, or at most, two quarts of oats about one hour before work.
First and second week.—Exercise the horse at a walk; work him once or twice every day at a trot for a mile or
two, and at a gallop for half a mile. Twice a week give him a mile at a very moderate gallop.
If the horse is too fat, give him a purge during the first days of training to decrease, the size of the intestines, and at the end of the first week give him a sweat to eliminate part of the fat from the tissues. (See Question VIII.)
Thin horses or small eaters do not need either purges or sweats.
Third and fourth weeks.—If the legs keep in good shape and the appetite continues good, increase the speed and duration of the gallops, diminishing proportionately the length of time at the trot. Twice a week give a good gallop, but not at full speed. A second sweat should be given at the end of this period if the horse is still too fat.
Fifth and sixth weeks.—Same work, increasing the speed and taking the horse once or twice over a distance nearly equal to that of the race.
Seventh and eighth weeks.—Give several gallops from one-half to three-quarters of a mile, increasing the gait during the eighth week at the end of the stretch. Give also two or three gallops about 2 miles long, but never force the pace.
Two days before the race, gallop from a half mile to a mile, increasing the pace as much as possible the last quarter of a mile, but of course without overtaxing the horse. The day before the race give him only a half-mile gallop at a moderate gait. The morning of the race exercise for an hour at a walk.
Training for obstacles is only secondary, provided the horse already knows how to jump. It is sufficient to take him over a few obstacles at an ordinary gait, from time to time, after the second or third week.
During training it is essential that the horse be calm and that he lower his head and stretch the reins without boring on the hand.
It should also be clearly understood that the programme of work is subordinate to the horse's appetite and to the condition of his legs; the gallop must be replaced by the trot or walk, entirely or partly, every time the tendons become heated or the horse refuses his oats.
Second. Condition of the legs.—The horse's legs should be examined every day and handled with the greatest care. As soon as one tendon becomes more heated than the other decrease or stop the work and relieve the overworked part with douches, with bandages soaked in the "white lotion"[1] or in water and arnica, until the heat has disappeared. Then change the work and replace the rapid gaits by the walk, increasing the duration of exercise. If the tendons heat again it is better to stop training entirely and thus avoid a strain that would lay the horse up for a long time.
Third. Feed during training.—As a general rule a horse never eats too much during training. But if he eats heartily and if his legs will stand it increasing the work is sufficient to prevent him from taking on too much flesh, and training in such a case will go on under the best possible condition. This, however, is rarely the case; increasing the work generally decreases the appetite, and it is difficult to make a horse eat more than 14 quarts of oats a day. As soon as a horse stops eating with relish, the gallop should be decreased or stopped, and resumed only when the horse cleans up his oats.
During training hay is an entirely secondary nourishment; 4 or 5 pounds a day are generally given. Bedding should always be abundant and extra good, so that, if his appetite suggests, the horse can eat some of it.
The ration should be gradually increased with the work, and given in three or four feeds. Oats that are not eaten at the end of an hour and a half or two hours should be taken away so as not to make the horse lose his appetite.
With light eaters mix carrots, bread, green forage, etc., with the oats, but in small quantities. A piece of salt in the feed box is often useful in creating an appetite.
When a horse, as is often the case, needs cooling (the counteracting of the heating caused by grain) he should be given two handfuls of sulphate of soda in a mash three or four days in succession. The mash is placed in the feed box after the evening feed and left there all night.
If a horse is a large eater and fills his belly with the bedding put on a muzzle after he has finished his feed.
A horse must be left absolutely quiet when eating; the evening feed should be the largest.
- ↑ Acetate of lead, 1 ounce; sulphate of zinc, 1 ounce; water, 1 quart.