The Sporting Dictionary and Rural Repository, Volume 2 (of 2): Of General Information upon Every Subject Appertaining to the Sports of the FieldTaplin, William
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The Sporting Dictionary and Rural Repository, Volume 2 (of 2): Of General Information upon Every Subject Appertaining to the Sports of the Field
Taplin, William
Hunting -- Dictionaries; Sports -- Dictionaries
SOILING,—in the more confined signification, applies merely to the
supplying a horse with grass, clover, tares, lucern, fain-foin, or rye,
cut green, and brought to the stable for his daily consumption; but in a
more general acceptation it extends to the act of turning him out in a
plentiful pasture, and in the genial season, when and where he may enjoy
all the advantages of which the frame is susceptible. It cannot but be
known, that liberty, so dear to us, and to every part of the creation,
must be equally so to the horse: to have his limbs free from restraint,
to expand his frame, and roll upon the earth, to snort and snuff the
ambient air, and to have his coat cleansed and purified by the dew of
heaven, is to the horse a state of nature, and a life of luxury. Thus
free and uncontrouled, although they are equally subject to, yet they
are seldom known to be afflicted with pain or disease, in any degree
equal to those who are confined within the limits of a small and
offensive stable.
To constitute occasional revulsion, to correct acrimony in the blood, to
purify the juices, to invigorate the frame, and reanimate the system, it
is absolutely necessary the horse should have his annual run of _six
weeks_ or two months in a luxuriant pasture, and at a proper season of
the year, if either his frame or health is thought worthy protection. In
the Metropolis, and in large towns, where the environs are entirely
appropriated to HAY FARMERS and COW-KEEPERS, no such convenience can
probably be obtained for any pecuniary consideration whatever; in which
predicament the only alternative to be adopted, is to supply them with
green food daily, and this is termed SOILING in the STABLE. Even this
process, simple as it is, requires some previous precaution. The article
with which the Metropolis, and other cities and large towns, are
supplied, are mostly _tares_, (in some countries called _vetches_;)
though _clover_ is at some-times, and in some places, to be procured;
but whether one, or the other, it is absolutely necessary the supplies
should be fresh, and, if possible, never more than thirty or
six-and-thirty hours off the scythe; from which time (particularly if
laid in a heap) they begin to heat exceedingly fast; and when once the
juices are exhaled, become tough, turn black, and rapidly approach
putrefaction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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