When I first began to keep hunters, we knew nothing of those great restoratives in the stable—flannel bandages, hot water for the legs, and gruel. Except in case of illness they were never thought of. An old writer on farriery, the Sieur la Fosse, speaks of “the great advantage of keeping horses’ legs warm, as preventing glanders and other accidents;” but it is only within these few years that bandages have been applied as part of the clothing of a hunter; the benefit of which is, in my opinion, incalculable. By their use circulation is kept up in those parts where it is apt to be most languid; and the practice of washing legs in very warm water, and swathing them in large folds of flannel, takes off soreness and inflammation from blows and other injuries, which all hunters are liable to in a run over a strong country. Another advantage attending them is, that they admit of a horse being shut up in half the time it formerly required to clean him, which enables him to lie down, or roll, which he will always do if in a loose house, before he gets stiff from his work.
There is a cleanliness in not letting a hunter be taken into his stable until the rough dirt which hangs about him is removed; for which purpose he should be taken under a shed or into another stable; and the quickest method of removing it is by the means of a birch-broom. Three minutes will accomplish this. He should then be taken into his own stable, have two or three quarts of tepid gruel, and his feet and legs above his knees and houghs should be well washed in water nearly hot. When sponged well with strained sponges, one set of bandages should be swathed around them. His head and body should be well dried, which, if he is full of hard meat, will not occupy more than an hour, when he should be shut up in a loose house, well littered down, and a small feed of corn allowed him. In about two hours his groom should come to him again; his bandages should be taken off, his legs well wisped and hand-rubbed, his head and body lightly brushed over, and a dry set of bandages put on. A lukewarm mash, with a feed of oats in it, and three parts of a pail of tepid water, with a very small quantity of hay, will make him comfortable for the night; and on the following morning he should go to exercise as soon as it is light, and be walked for an hour with an extra cloth and a hood. He should have tepid water all that day, and a liberal allowance of it, with his usual oats if he will eat them, but no beans. If his appetite fails him, and does not return before shutting-up time that evening, he should have half a cordial and half a diuretic-ball mixed together; which, with a liberal allowance of tepid water, and an hour and a half walking exercise on the third day, will so far recover him as to enable him to return to his former high feed on the fourth; on the fifth or sixth have a sweat; and on the seventh be fit for business again (as far, at least, as his constitution is concerned) after the hardest day, and will carry his rider with more ease to himself than if he had not gone through it.—Nimrod.
Huntinghorn, s. A bugle, a horn used to cheer the hounds.
Huntress, s. A woman that follows the chase; a mare used in hunting.
Huntsman, s. One who delights in the chase; the servant whose office it is to manage the chase.
It is the opinion of a great sportsman, that it is as difficult to find a perfect huntsman as a good prime minister. Without taking upon me to determine what requisites may be necessary to form a good prime minister, I will describe some of those which are essentially necessary towards making a perfect huntsman; qualities which, I will venture to say, would not disgrace more brilliant situations:—such as a clear head, nice observation, quick apprehension, undaunted courage, strength of constitution, activity of body, a good ear, and a good voice.—Beckford.
Huntsmanship, s. The qualifications of a hunter.
Hurl, v. To throw with violence; to play at a kind of game.
Hurl, s. Tumult, riot; a kind of game; the bat used in hurling.
Hurler, s. One that plays at hurling.