C. (continued 2)

COURSING

—is a species of sport that a celebrated writer has traced to great antiquity; "it having been treated on by Arrian, who flourished A. D. 150." The same author, the Rev. Mr. Daniel, in his elegant and truly entertaining publication upon "Rural Sports," says,

"In our country, during the reign of King John, greyhounds were frequently received by him as payment in lieu of money, for the renewal of grants, fines, and forfeitures, belonging to the Crown. The following extracts prove this Monarch to have been exceedingly partial to this kind of dogs. A fine paid A. D. 1203, mentions five hundred marks, ten horses, and ten leashes of greyhounds. Another, in 1210, one swift running horse, and six greyhounds."

"In the days of Elizabeth, when she was not disposed herself to hunt, she was so stationed as to see the coursing of deer with greyhounds. At Cowdrey, in Sussex, the seat of Lord Montecute, (now Lady Montague's,) A. D. 1591, one day after dinner, the Queen saw from a turret sixteen bucks, all having fair law, pulled down with greyhounds in a lawn before the house."

Coursing was formerly extended to the DEER, the FOX, and the HARE; and much ceremony was observed in park and paddock coursing with the former, even in the Royal presence. It is, however, now principally confined to the hare, (except in the season for fawn killing;) is not only universal in most counties, but particularly patronized and promoted in others. Clubs are composed of the most opulent and respectable members for the enjoyment of the sport, who have mostly two (some three) meetings in each season; the first established and principal of which is the "Swaffham Coursing Society," instituted in Norfolk by the late Earl of Orford in the year 1776, which is supported with true personal spirit and sporting energy; the Bradwell and Tillingham meetings, in Essex; the Flixton Wolds, in Yorkshire; and the Ashdown Park meeting, at Lambourn, in Berkshire.

The meetings at Swaffham are held on the second Monday in November, and the first Monday in February, unless prevented by frost or snow, in which case they are then held the first open Monday in or after November, and the first open Monday in February; and not later. The Ashdown Park meeting to be held at the Red Lion at Lambourn, annually, the second Monday in November.

The LAWS of COURSING were arranged in the reign of Queen Elizabeth by the Duke of Norfolk, and were sanctioned by the acquiescence of the nobility, gentry, and sporting world, who then followed the diversion; and have since been considered the fixed criterion for the decision of all bets, by which they are regulated and determined to the present day. The person appointed to let loose the greyhounds, was to receive into his slips (or thongs) those matched to run against each other so soon as he came into the field; and then to follow next the hare-finder, or him who was to start the hare, until he came to the form; and no horse or foot men were to go before, or on either side, but directly behind, for the space of about forty yards.

Rules.

—A hare never to be coursed by more than A BRACE of greyhounds.

The hare-finder to give the hare three soho's! before he put her from her form; to give notice to the dogs, that they may attend to starting.

The hare to have twelve score yards law before the dogs were loosed, unless the small distance from cover would not admit it without danger of immediately losing her.

The dog who gave the first turn, if there was neither cote, slip, nor wrench, during the course, WON.

A cote is when a greyhound goes endways by his fellow, and gives the hare a turn.

A cote serves for two turns, and two trippings or jerkins for a cote: if the hare did not turn quite about, she only wrenched, and two wrenches stand for a turn.

If there were no cotes given between a brace of greyhounds, but that one of them served the other at turning, then he that gave the hare most turns, won; and if one gave as many turns as the other, then he that bore the hare, won.

If one dog gave the first turn, and the other bore the hare, he that bore the hare, won.

A go-by, or bearing the hare, was equivalent to two turns.

If neither dog turned the hare, he that led last to the covert, won.

If one dog turned the hare, served himself, and turned her again, it was as much as a cote; for a cote was esteemed two turns.

If all the course was equal, the dog that bore the hare, won; if the hare was not borne, the course was adjudged dead.

If a dog fell in a course, and yet performed his part, he might challenge the advantage of a turn more than he gave.

If a dog turned the hare, served himself, and gave divers cotes, and yet in the end stood still in the field, the other dog, if he ran home to the cover, although he gave no turn, was adjudged the winner.

If by accident a dog was rode over in his course, the course was void; and he that did the mischief was to make reparation for the damage.

If a dog gave the first and last turn, and there was no other advantage between them, he that gave the odd turn, won.

He that came in first at the death, took up the hare, saved her from being torn, cherished the dogs, and cleansed their mouths from the fleak, was adjudged to have the hare for his trouble.

Those who were appointed judges of the course, were to give their decision before they departed from the field.

Exclusive of the county clubs and local societies established for the annual enjoyment of the diversion upon a larger scale, COURSING has its devotees, who are as energetic in its defence, as its most enraptured advocate can possibly be, for what he calls the inexpressible pleasures of the chase: taken, however, in a more extensive point of view, it is held in nearly an equal estimation with angling, when put in competition with the more attracting sports of the field; and seems much better calculated for the amusement of a cynical solitary disciplinarian, than a mind open to all the more noble and exhilarating sensations of the CHASE.

COSTIVENESS

—will be sound satisfactorily explained under the head Constipation; to prevent which, regular exercise, great friction, flank rubbing, and frequent changes of food, will greatly contribute.

CRACKS

—in the heels of horses, during the winter season, are found only in stables where the master seldom or ever condescends to appear. These trifles are too frequently attributed to a defect in the constitution of the horse, when, with more propriety, they might be fixed upon a want of constitutional punctuality in the groom. Horses left with wet legs and heels after chase or journey, particularly in sharp easterly winds, or in frost and snow, constitute the evil to a certainty. So severe a rigidity is occasioned in the texture of the integument, that it becomes partially ruptured, (or broken in various places,) upon being brought into action the following day: this, with the irritation and friction occasioned by the sharp particles of gravel and extraneous matter in the dirty roads, soon produce enlarged lacerations of the most painful description. The prudent part of the world will always consider, as well in this, as in every other case, that prevention is better than cure: servants should be allowed in the stables, linen cloths for rubbers to the heels, that they may never be left in the least wet, particularly in the winter season, when once getting tender, the stubbed ends of the new and stiff straw frequently occasion or increase such lacerations.

CRAMP

—is a most extraordinary spasmodic muscular contraction of some particular limb, where the stiffness and rigidity of the part exceeds belief. To those who have never been accustomed to such cases, they are serious and alarming; for the strength of two men is inadequate to the task of rendering the affected limb pliable and active. The cause is sometimes not to be ascertained; but it has frequently arisen from a horse, in a high state of perspiration, having been placed in a current of cold air, or a damp stable, and in a few minutes found not able to move. Standing still two or three days in succession without exercise, after long and constant travelling, is likewise known to produce it. But whatever cause it may have originated in, the direct road to relief is still the same. Instantaneous BLEEDING, hot fomentation with a decoction of aromatic herbs, immediately followed up by strong friction with an old stable horse-brush, and this by an embrocation of camphorated spirits, half a pint, incorporated with one ounce of oil of origanum, and a part of it patiently rubbed in upon the particular part affected, never fails to relieve in a short time. Should it, however, not take effect so soon as expected, dissolve a cordial-ball in a pint of gruel, to which add an ounce of liquid laudanum, and let either or all the operations be repeated in a few hours, should the case (or a relapse) require it.

CREST-FALLEN

.—A horse is said to be crest-fallen, when the part running from the withers to the ears, and upon which the mane grows, is impoverished, and wasted, from the natural prominence of its beautiful curve, to a state of reverse hollowness or indentation. This is generally accompanied by a total emaciation, brought on by very bad support, or neglect under different degrees of disease. The firmness and corresponding curve of the crest is almost invariably a tolerable criterion of the health and condition of the horse; and a judicious inspector seldom omits this part of the examination. If the flesh upon the crest is firm, solid, and not flabbily soft, or fluctuating, it is a good sign of constitutional strength; but a horse having a low, bare, indented crest, will always have a poor, weak, and impoverished appearance, doing his owner no credit. This defect, however, proceeds more from penurious keep, and temporary starvation, than any cause or defect in Nature, and may always be expeditiously remedied by liberal support, and nutritious invigoration.

CRIB-BITING

—is a habit acquired by some horses, of incessantly biting the manger, and gulping the wind; which appears, from observation, to be more prejudicial to character, than to bodily exertion. It is said, "young horses are most subject to it; and that it is often occasioned by uneasiness in breeding of teeth, and from being ill fed when they are hungry. The bad consequences are wearing away their teeth, spilling their corn, and sucking the air in such quantities, as will often give them the cholic or gripes."

It is certain a crib-biter never appears high in flesh, or so full in condition as horses that are not so; and so prejudicial is it considered by many, that they will not admit a horse to be perfectly sound if sold with this infirmity. Opinions vary upon the difference it makes respecting the labor and fatigue a horse of this description can undergo; some asserting that "the defect keeps him weak, languid, and unable to endure much work:" while others as strenuously insist upon its being in no way whatever prejudicial.

"Who shall decide when doctors disagree?"

CROPPING

—is the operation of taking off the ears, which was till very lately performed with a knife and wooden mould, rendering it both tedious and painful: it is, however, now very much improved by the invention of an instrument admirably adapted to the purpose, by which the separation of the ear is almost instantaneous. It is only adopted where horses are lop-eared, and bear the appearance of mules about the head. As the operation is at best but a cruel mutilation, every humane and tender mind will think it "more honored in the breach than the observance."

CROWN-SCAB

—is a partial appearance about the coronet of a horse, varying in different subjects, according to the state of the object diseased. It partakes a little of the disorder called grease, to which, if unattended to, it would soon degenerate; being a species of that defect, but in an inferior degree. In some it appears as a scurfy eruption, raising the hair, and turning it different ways, from whence soon oozes a kind of oily ichor, fœtid in smell, and greasy in appearance: in others, the discharge is thinner, and more watery, according to the greater or less degree of morbidity in the frame, or acrimony in the blood. It has been a practice with the old school to counteract its effects by vitriolic lotions, slight styptics, and strong repellents: scientific disquisition will not, however, justify such treatment, but recommend daily mollification with warm oatmeal gruel and a soft sponge; when which is wiped gently dry with a soft linen cloth, it may be very mildly impregnated with camphorated spermacæti ointment, and the cure assisted by mercurial physic, diuretic balls, or a course of antimonial alterative powders.

CUB

.—A young fox is so called during the first year.

CURB

—is a callous enlargement, approaching ossification, and is situate at the lower junction of the bones, at the hind part of the hock, originally attended with stiffness, and lastly with lameness and pain. Curbs are evidently produced by kicks, blows, sudden turns or twists, riding too hard (or drawing too much weight) up hill: they should be attended to on their first appearance, when they soon submit to the usual modes adopted for extirpation. Mild blistering frequently succeeds, particularly where the operation is twice performed; but when the case is of long standing, a few slight feather strokes with the firing-iron may be necessary to confirm the cure.

CURB

.—The chain is so called, which is the part of the bridle-bit fixed to one cheek, and passing under the lower-jaw (and above the beard or chin) to the other. By the rein being fixed to rings or loops, at the lower extremity of the bit, this chain, called curb, constitutes a fulcrum; and the harder such rein is pulled, the harder will be the pressure of the curb upon the under jaw, and of course the greater power given to the rider. The curb consists merely of a neat wrought chain, small rings and links, by which it is fixed to the cheek-eyes of the bit, and easily taken off and on for the purpose of cleaning.

CURRY-COMB

,—a well known stable utensil, in constant use for the cleaning of horses. They are much more applicable to post and draft horses, than to horses of superior description, the fineness of whose coats, and the tenderness of whose skins, occasion much uneasiness to them during the prickly persecution, and to whom good, sweet, clean straw-bands are greatly preferable; it being matter of fair doubt, whether more horses are not lamed in the stable under the dancing ceremony of the curry-comb, than by accidents upon the road, or strong exertions in the field.

CRUPPER

,—a leathern convenience, or long strap, annexed to the hinder part of the saddle, having at the other extremity a loop to pass under the tail; by which the saddle is prevented from getting forward, and bringing the rider upon the neck of the horse. Such aid is by no means required with horses well made, and uniformly proportioned: they are rarely brought into use, but where a horse is lower before than behind; and are in so much disrepute with amateurs and connoisseurs, that a real sportsman would sooner part from his horse than to be seen ride with a crupper.

CUTTING

.—Explained under Castration.

CUTTING in Action

,—in the manege called interfering, is lacerating the round inside projecting part of the fetlock-joint, with the edge of the shoe, upon the foot of the opposite leg. This arises much more frequently from the indifference or neglect in the owner, than from any imperfection or defect of the horse; more horses cut from being broke and put into work too young, rode too long journies in a day, or over-worked when weary, than from any cause whatever. Some horses, it is true, cut from their formation, particularly those narrow in the chest. Carriage horses, too, very frequently cut behind; but this must in a great measure be occasioned by the projecting parts and cavities in the pavement, for all which the surest footed horse existing cannot be prepared.