HORSES FOR SHOWS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 118, 24 June 1914, Page 11

HORSES FOR SHOWS.

A- TALK ON PWEPARATIbit

In' k' paper ia the f' Farmer and Stockbreeder, ' ' an English exhibitor of torses grves. some. hints upon prepara-tion-,forthe> show ring. In the Dominion show rings- there' is much room for'"iitt-. prov6itieiit in : jthe; condition in /which.;, light' horses -are shown,;, and those who; belifcye putting, thgir entries in the ring, "jjn, the. best condition! possible will find 'mji(?ji49. interest.them in the followingchat upon, the subject:— There two things needful to win at shows'. T. The, firsts .of course,; is that the horse., must, t>e. good enough for the company he;meets,,;but a second essen : tial is that the animal should be well brought .out. .It must be.got into.pro-; per show condition, and trained to deport: itself f&vourably in the show ring. Condition, in particular counts for much in the eyes pf the judges, so much so that ~unleßS: a .hoffse has been suitably conditioned, i^3 t chances of suceess are mueh' depreciated, pr even may be ■wholly/ discounted if the company be strong, ~ Eyery. season it happens time and again,, .when two. horses run one another; closely in point of merit, that it is superior .condition:that proves the deciding .factor. Jn ; scales in favour of the one horse. To bring, a ; horse into! show condition l demands considerable . .skill and much painstaking "attention, but it is an art that may be learnt by' ahy'ohe, there is no special.mystety attaching to it 1 as some>affect to believe. Three principal, factors 1 are to be named : as playing a part in '= the ■ conditioning process 1 , briefly ' summed- tip, beih£ feeding, grooming and eXefcisey the last embodying also"th/e' rieedfur'training, which aecessarily varies much according to the' elass of horse The : Hackney, for instance, requires quite a different system of schooling for the'show ring from the show Hunter, or a horse intended to be entered in a hack class. It is diffi-' cult to define in so many words on paper what degree of bodily condition exactly is to be. aimed at in preparing a horse for show, but to give, at any rate, some tangible information : regarding this allimportant point, it may, to speak roughly, be stated that horses of the light division require to be shown in a nicely fleshed or what might suitably be described as a fresh condition, or they may even be on the lusty side; but they should not be in such a fleshy, not to say'fat condition as it is customary to demand in the Shir 6 and other heavy, draught horse breeds." A horse in show form'should have the ribs nicely covered with tiesh, theiflank should be full, and 'the' crest line of the »eck : well filled out as becomes a wellfed horse,'while it jshouZd.be straight;, in the barrel.' But/while the latter should not lie'in the leas};, tucked tip, it must not, on the other hand, be top big or gross, ! such as. is seen in horses that are fed on an unduly bulky diet and dp, not get en6ugh'c'orn. : It will be apparent that a horse, properly conditioned fo» show requires to be in better ilesbed cpnditjpn tftstf'ia the case with horses in hard, working Condition, which is a,s. pften as.• not signalised by .a certain.spare or lean: look. The lesson, therefore,, is that while a horse being prepared for the show ring must be liberally fed. pn cprn, etc., we do not want tp, work, the animal at all severely, as that would .wprk off some of the flesh which, it aimed at producing. '■■■■•

TREATMENT -TO SUIT INDIVIDUAL

In some measure the feeding is regulated by the individuality of the horse, and it certainly will not answer to feed

and treat all horses alike on a cut-and-dried system. For example, if au animal happens to be light in the. barrel and deficient in depth of rib or girth, it will be desirable that it should carry correspondingly more flesh, but just stopping short of acual fatness, with a view to obscuring these deficiencies as far as may be, as the greater the horse's condition is the less, will the faults obtrude themselves. On the other hand, if the conformation is very good, and there is a notably deep and well-sprung rib, these favourable points will" be brought out all the more conspicuously if we do not have the horse specially fleshy, so that the framework may not be unduly covered up. These and kindred details need to be carefully studied in the preparation for show if the most is to be made of the horse's chances. LIABILITY TO OVEEDOING.

The relatively heavy corning which is called for to produce show condition, combined with the fact' that anything approaching real hard work is to be avoided, and only exercise in mqdera l tion is admissible, must necessarily tend to a heating effect. It consequently becomes incumbent specially to guard against any harmful results liable to accrue in this direction, or as the result of the high arid full-blooded condition which is being maintained. 'To this end, it is all important 'that frequent bran Slashes should be included in the dietary. These have a cooling and highly beneficial action, while green food may also- advantageously be given as a regular feature, but of course in strict moderation; for too much would tend to enlarge the barrel unduly, be-; sides impairing the bloom of the condi'-; tion. Beans are to be eschewed, as being too heating and liable to fill the legs, and usually oats alone will fully, suffice, in the way of corn, for bringing ft horse into good show form. If, however, the addition of some stronger food is deemed desirable, peas will best meet the requirements -of the case, but they should be supplied only quite sparingly. These will engender plenty of spirit and mettle, though, ordinarily, high feeding on oats will do all that is needful' in this direction. However, 'here, as in other respects, one must study a horse's individuality and feed it accordingly.

The use of condiments and condition' powders is optional. Many set great; Store by these, but it will be found that they can generally be dispensed 'with, and powders and drugs do not have a wholesome- effect when regularly usedy .though a course of alterative powders , will prove useful for stimulating the appetite, should this flag, as it frequently does when a horse is highly fed. For the purpose of improving the: coat there is nothing better than linseed meaL of which a little may with advantagiesfjbe r.eguj,arly given, as it is a good conditioning food and withal wholesome. A little linseed oil occasionally; may also, be recdnime'Med io "Assist the action of ihe bbwfels, excepting' with* horses of a washy naiinre, and <whieh • consequently are inclined to seour under excitement. When a horse ! is poor or has been lying out im the rough, it will need some extra pushing on to get it into good condition, and in this case the inclusion of some locust - beans, molasses meal,'and : malt jjulmß-in the dietary is to be advocated. '.',',',., Apart from- having them thoroughly grained or. schooled to carry themselves ■well and move with balance, one great secret of getting horses to show off to the best advantage in. the ring is to have them above themselves, so. that. tihey may be in mettlesome mood. Never will a horse move with more vigour and stride out more gaily than when in the 'Spirited condition resulting from his being kept above himself, or."full of beans,*' as grooms.describe it. This is attained by dint of high feeding and abstention from-too much exercise or work. Particularly when a horse is of soft constitution and none too stouthearted will it be.desirable to restrict the exercise, merely giving enough, to maintain it in a healthy state and-, prevent it from, becoming excessively frisky. .: •:.:..■'..• ■ ; EXERCISE AT A SLOW PACE.

In regard to the exercise, this should chiefly be of a. slow order, consisting of plenty of walking, interspersed with bouts, ..of trotting at a medium pace. Such slow exercise will help to fetch up the- muscle as effectually as fast, wprk for show purposes, if enough is given, and; has the merit of not taking very mueh put of the horse. It will be well to exercise the animal plentifully in, a circle, so that he becomes accustomed to mOving "round in the show ring. A good form of exercise consists in lungeing,, a side rein, fastened to the roller, being worn on the outside, in order to keep the' head straight, or we may put these side reins on both sides. Their effect will be to assist in improving the carriage and promoting balance of movement.

A horse being conditioned for show cannot be groomed and strapped enough. Grooming should be done at any rate twice a day, and quite two hours daily "should be spent oh this, preferably longer.- Besides putting the requisite gloss and bloom on the coat, real hard strapping promotes the health, which is a very important consideration in view of the fact that the horse is being highly fed, and not getting over-much work. A sleek coat is obtained if the horse is left unclipped in the winter, though, of course, it may not be feasible to dispense with clipping during that season, but if it can be conveniently managed, then.it will certainly be best to refrain from having the wintej-'ebat in a horse intended to be shown clipped. An essential part o£ the conditioning process is to keep the'horse rugge'd. in the stable, this being indispensable to ensure a glOssy coat and the proper bloom of condition. It will be Well alsoto bandage the legs regtila'rly, so as to keep them fine, the high feeding necessarily entailing a tendency for the legs to fill. If this undesirable feature should make itself at all apparent, daily hand rubbing of the back sinews and fetlock-joints is to be recommended. Mane and tail must receive careful attention, and if there seems any danger of the horse rubbing the latter, a tail guard must be habitually worn in tho stable, to prevent it rrom becoming disfigured. : ..8.C..