GIFT of GOING
—is a phrase from the sublime vocabulary of the horse-dealing fraternity, and implies a horse's possessing a much greater portion of speed in action, particularly in TROTTING, than could well be expected from his shape and external appearance. When a horse is shewn for sale, having little to recommend him, rough in his coat, low in condition, aukward in shape, and without a single point of attraction, if he can scramble along at the rate of twelve or thirteen miles an hour, he is then said to possess the "gift of going," which is to compensate for every other deficiency.
GIMCRACK
,—the name of a horse who was of great celebrity upon the turf, and for two or three years beat most of his time. He was foaled in 1760; got by Cripple, (a son of the Godolphin Arabian;) dam by Grisewood's Partner, and his pedigree was of the best blood; but being too small for a stallion of eminence, produced no winners of note. He was followed by young Gimcrack, a good horse for GIVE and TAKE PLATES, particularly at four heats.
GINGER
—is an aromatic spicy root, brought to us from the East and West Indies, in a preserved as well as in its natural state. In the former it is used as a stomachic and sweetmeat by the superior orders: in the latter it is common in all the shops, consisting of flat-knotted branches, of which the whitest, and least stringy or fibrous, are the best. It is a very useful ingredient in many compositions for the internal diseases of horses, particularly in the FLATULENT CHOLIC, commonly called FRET. Houses in the country, remote from towns, where horses are used and fed upon peas haum, and other winter fodder, frequently producing such disorders, should never be without a small quantity of this article: two ounces bruised, and boiled in ALE or GRUEL, then drained off, and the liquor given with a horn, would prove an excellent substitute for medicine upon many emergencies.
GIGS
;—a term almost obsolete for what are now called FLAPS, a kind of flaccid fleshy enlargement on each side a horse's jaw, which, in his mastication, frequently falling between the grinders, is productive of pain, and prevents the horse from eating. If they are long and thin, they may be completely taken off by a pair of scissars, and the wounds washed with a strong solution of alum in water: if they are too fleshy and substantial for this mode of extirpation, they may be slightly scarified with a BISTORY, or ABSCESS LANCET, and after having been left to bleed for a proper length of time, may be stopped, and the parts constringed by the solution already described.
GIRTHS
—are those well-known articles made from woollen web, and used for keeping the saddle in a safe and proper position. These, to prevent GALLING, should be made of ELASTIC, and not the tight wove web, which being more rigid and harsh, is the more likely to LACERATE during the heat and friction of a long chase. Observation should be made that girths are never too short, so as to have the buckle below the pad of the saddle, either on one side or the other; for want of which judicious and sportsman-like attention, WARBLES, SITFASTS, and WOUNDS, very frequently ensue.