Every horse must perspire more or less while undergoing preparation for fast work; but in all racing and hunting studs there are some horses that require to De purposely sweated. By putting the horse to exertion, under heavy clothing, the perspiration is excited, and encouraged to flow in much greater profusion than mere exertion would ever produce. The object of this is twofold. Sweating removes superfluous flesh, and it gives freedom of respiration. The one object may be aimed at more than the other; and the process of sweating is, or ought to be, regulated accordingly. If the main object be to remove superfluous flesh, the horse may be sweated without, or with very little exertion; if the main object be to improve the wind, the horse must have a good deal of exertion with less sweating. In both cases the horse is drawn finer. The fluid which escapes from the skin is derived from the blood. Copious perspiration is soon followed by absorption. The superfluous fluids and solids are carried into the circulation, in order to supply the deficiency which perspiration has produced.

Every sweat, if it be carried far enough, draws the horse finer, and such is the result whether he get much or little exertion.

I have never met with a stableman who seemed to understand the precise effects of sweating. They confound the effects of exertion with those of sweating; they proceed as if they thought the two should be combined. I have more than once stated that exercise, judiciously managed, gives power and alacrity to the muscular system, and freedom to the breathing. I have now to observe that sweating, considered by itself, does neither. Copious perspiration can be excited with very little exertion; and, when that is done, the sweating merely removes superfluous flesh. It removes fat, or other matters, which encumber the muscles and the lungs; but it does not improve the functional powers of either. Exertion produces one series of effects, sweating another; and though both are generally combined, there are cases in which they may, with advantage, be separated.

Sweating Without Exertion

There is some exertion, but so little that it is not worth considering. The horse is heavily clothed, saddled, mounted, and taken to the sweating-ground; here he is ridden at a steady, gentle pace, till he begins to perspire; so soon as the coat is damp, he is ridden a a smart pace to the stable; the doors and windows are closed; the horse is stalled with his head out, the saddle is removed, and more clothing applied. The groom stands by, while an assistant holds the horse's head. In a few minutes, from eight to ten, the skin becomes quite wet, perspiration issues from every pore and runs down the legs. The horse's breathing increases, and is often as quick and laborious as if he had just run a race. This arises partly from the heat, and partly from exhaustion. The sudden loss of so much fluid produces a faintness very similar to that which follows a large bleeding; and, without doubt the effect is greater from the heat accumulated on the surface. The time the horse is permitted to sweat in this manner, must be regulated by the groom. It had better be repeated in a few days, than overdone at first. After the first sweat the groom will closely observe its effect, and he will carry the next further, or not so far, according to circumstances.

With some the sweating need not stop till the perspiration be dropping fast from the belly, running down the legs, and passing over the hoofs; with some others, upon whom its effect may not yet be known, it will be time to stop when the hair is completely soaked. The groom now and then puts his hand under the clothes, and, passing it along the skin, observes how much fluid be lodged in the hair. If the horse be sufficiently warm when he enters the stable, he may have to sweat from five to fifteen minutes. Few require more than fifteen, and few less than five.

The sweating having been carried to the desired extent, the horse is stripped, the stable boys, usually one, and sometimes two on each side, immediately scrape the horse all over; they make the skin dry, with as much expedition as possible. After scraping the neck, sides, quarters, every place upon which the scraper will operate, the legs and head are sponged. By means of wisps and rubbers the horse is made quite dry; his standing clothes are put on; he gets a quart or two of tepid water, goes out and gets a short gallop; is walked about till quite cool; when he is stabled, dressed, clothed, watered, fed, and left to repose. The first water is tepid, and no more is given than sufficient to make the horse eat. The first food requires to be rather laxative, particularly for round barrelled horses. The sweating produces costiveness, which is obviated by a bran mash : food is given afterward.

If it be desirable that this sweating produce a very decided effect in reducing the horse, his allowance of water for the next twenty-four or thirty-six hours should be moderate. He will be disposed to drink very copiously, but if much be given, it will be rapidly absorbed, and will, in some measure, fill the place of that fluid which perspiration has taken away, ana there will be less stimulus for the absorbents to act upon the fat and other superfluities. The water should be tepid, for when cold it increases the horse's desire for it, and enough to make him feed is sufficient.

It is usual to give the horse a short gallop after his sweating, and after he has been dried; when he is able to take the exertion and to suffer so much exhaustion in one day, the practice is unobjectionable; but sweating, whether with or without exertion, does not render a gallop immediately afterward at all necessary. Some gentle exercise, however, is often useful, to prevent perspiration from breaking out after the horse is dressed.

I think this mode of sweating, without exertion, is the best for lusty horses, with defective legs. It is most necessary at the commencement of training, and may be practised two or three days after the first dose of physic sets. It removes so much of the fat that the horse may afterward proceed to exertion, which would have endangered his legs, had it been given before the sweating. This sweating merely removes fat. It confers no energy upon the muscles, nor capacity upon the lungs, beyond that they acquire from having greater freedom of action. This kind of sweating is never necessary for horses already low in flesh; and it need never be repeated while the legs can safely carry the body.