CHAPTER V.. The Road Hack.

THE ROAD HACK.

HIS CONFORMATION—THE LADIES’ HORSE—ROTTEN ROW—THE COVERT HACK—THE HUNTER—FOR AN OPEN COUNTRY—FOR A CRAMPED COUNTRY—MADE HUNTERS—PLEASURES OF A PULLING HORSE—BREAKING IN A COLT TO HOUNDS—‘CAN HE LEAP?’—NATURAL JUMPERS—ARTIFICIAL FENCES—LIFTING HORSES AT THEIR FENCES—AN INCIDENT—WATER JUMPS—HOW TO FALL WELL—HIGH-COURAGED VERSUS SLUGGISH HORSES—WASHING HORSES’ LEGS—MUD FEVER—STOPPING HORSES’ FEET—MICROSCOPIC EXPERIMENTS—ENGLISH RACERS IN AUSTRALIA AND INDIA—PARING HORSES’ FEET—COLTS SHEDDING THEIR TEETH—COMPOSITION OF BONE—TWO-YEAR-OLD RACING—PRIZE-FIGHTERS—EARLY MATURITY AND EARLY DECAY—FAMOUS AMERICAN TROTTERS: TOPGALLANT, LADY BLANCHE, DUTCHMAN, AJAX, FLORA TEMPLE, LADY THORN, GOLDSMITH MAID, DEXTER, AMERICAN GIRL—RACING NOW-A-DAYS A MONEY-MAKING BUSINESS.