SWEAT
—is the transpiration of perspirative matter through the skin by the effect of an increased circulation of the blood. This, in a moderate degree, is so conducive to the promotion of HEALTH, that those horses who regularly enjoy exercise to a proper state of perspiration, occasionally, and at proper times, are always in the highest condition; provided they are taken care of in proportion to the exercise each has had, or the work he has undergone. By the appearance of a horse in a high perspiration, immediate judgment may be formed of the property of his blood; and in a collateral degree, of the state of his health; for when a horse in good condition is under a profuse perspiration, the sweat is so congenially incorporated with the coat, (particularly if the horse is well bred,) that the hair lays so uniformly one way, that if the sun happens to shine, it seems a covering of satin: on the contrary, when a horse, after equal (or, in fact, much less) exertion, bears a greasy kind of perspiration upon the surface, with the coat turning in different directions, bearing a gross matted appearance, and of a faint fœtid effluvia, the blood is in an improper state, and the horse in very bad condition. Sweating a horse in the stable, by the administration of medicine, is a practice, the propriety of which has not hitherto been clearly ascertained; at least not perfectly demonstrated upon the true principles of science, uncontaminated by the obtrusive aid of deceptive speculation. See "Tartar Emetic."
SWEATING for the TURF
—is a sporting ceremony with training-grooms, to which, in their opinion, no small probable consequence is attached; as is fully confirmed by the invariable punctuality with which it is performed. The two reasons assigned for the necessity of this operation, is to preserve the WIND in its proper state of purity, and to prevent a superfluous and improper accumulation of FLESH. Horses in training are (in strict conformity with this intent) sweated at certain periods, or intervals, of six, seven or eight days each; which are brought nearer to, or delayed farther from each other, by the increasing or reduced state of the subject so to be sweated. The ceremony is performed in the morning, soon after the dawn of day, under the ancient superstitious opinion, that the AIR is then more pure than at any other part of the twenty-four hours; and with those whose department it is to execute the office, as much imaginary consequence appertains to it, as to making up the most important national dispatches at the principal office of Administration.
The horse intended to be sweated, is previously loaded with a profusion of sheets, quarter-pieces, and horse-cloths; the number and weight judiciously proportioned to the quantity of perspirative matter it is intended he should lose: when all which is completely fixed in the stable, he is then brought to the exercise ground, with a light or feather weight upon his back, where, after having been walked time sufficient to afford ample opportunities of unloading the carcase by excrementitious evacuation, he is permitted to start for a sweat of two, three, four or five miles, according to his age, his strength, his state of flesh, and the kind of race (in respect to distance) he is in training for; as well as the sort of course he is intended to run over. It is a most judicious and confirmed rule in sweating, that the horse is to begin at a very slow rate, and so continue till he has covered half the ground he is to go, when he should have his speed moderately increased during the third quarter, so that his fourth should be at a degree of speed very little short of his rate in racing.
Having ran his ground, and pulled up, he is walked in hand for a few minutes, to give time (in the language of the turf) for the sweat to come out, which, when the cloths are taken off, follows in copious streams that the animal seems to enjoy. At this moment two assistants are ready with each a thin wooden instrument, called a scraper, made of oak or ash, in shape resembling half the blade of a mowing scythe, (narrowed at the ends for the convenience of the hands,) with which they scrape the sweat from the neck, back, sides, belly, and quarters, so long as the least moisture is observed to appear; the moment which ceases, the scrapers are exchanged for wisps of soft straw, or separated hay-bands, 'till the body, and every part, is perfectly clean and refreshed. He is then furnished with dry sheets, hood, &c. brought to the ground for the purpose; when being led home to the stable, he is supplied with the necessary quantity of soft water, a little warm, previous to undergoing a regular and complete dressing, with greater nicety, than in the open air: when this is systematically gone through, he has a farther moderate supply of water, which is most commonly (though there are occasional deviations) followed by a warm and comfortable mash; upon depositing which in the manger, and setting the stable fair, the door is closed for a double period of the usual hours for going to stable when a horse has not been sweated; and although he undergoes the afternoon and evening routine of being fed, set fair, &c. he is neither stripped, or goes to exercise, any more on that day.
SWEATING of JOCKIES
—is a ceremony which every JOCKEY is under the necessity of going through when engaged to ride, and the horse is to carry less than his own natural weight. For the reduction of weight, jockies are obliged to encounter great inconveniencies, particularly when they have much to lose, and a very short time to lose it in. The means of reducing themselves to the weight required are various, and depend upon the greater or lesser quantity they wish to lose in a given time, and have to waste themselves accordingly. If they have but two or three pounds to lose, they will waste that in a single day's abstinence, and a morning and evening's walking: should four or five pounds be required, a gentle laxative, followed by two or three days extra walking, with an additional waistcoat or two, will generally carry the point: if more is necessary to be lost, it is sometimes a hazardous reduction, and great exertions are made to effect it: additional purgation, continued abstinence, increased perspiration, and almost perpetual exercise, all which, if persevered in to an extreme, tend to undermine the natural stamen by which the frame is supported, and absolutely saps the constitution. Instances have been numerous, where JOCKIES have undertaken to waste fourteen or sixteen pounds against the day of running; which having been at no great distance, they have, in addition to the evacuations already described, submitted their bodies to the debilitating FUMES of a hot-bed; and what is still more extraordinary, to be immersed in the stench and steam of a DUNGHILL to effect their purpose, which so completely relaxed the solids, and deranged the system of the natural economy, that consumption followed, and DEATH soon closed the scene.
SWELLED LEGS
.—See Legs Swelled, Humours, and Grease.