262 Next to the Ground 



as in spring, and the place of the clipped coat 

 is taken by clumsy blankets. 



A horse has naturally these gaits : walk, trot, 

 canter an easy slow gallop full gallop, and 

 full run. Tennessee saddle stock owns be- 

 sides, these fancy saddle gaits : running walk, 

 pace, fox trot, single-foot, and rack. A well- 

 trained horse whips from one to another at a 

 touch on rein or mane, or the mere snap of 

 the rider's fingers. For an all-day ride the 

 fox trot is incomparably the best and easiest 

 both to horse and rider. Women prefer the 

 pace for journeys of a mile or two. Five 

 miles at the pace, unrelieved by any other 

 gait, will tire anybody. The single foot, in 

 which the horse appears to have all but one 

 leg in air, is oddly enough the easiest of 

 all gaits to sit well. As for " rising to the 

 trot " or even riding at a trot, unless 

 mounted upon a beast which could do noth- 

 ing but trot anybody undertaking it in 

 Tennessee would be reckoned sadly lacking 

 both in horse sense and regard for his own 

 comfort. Trotting is there recognized as 

 solely a harness gait. Pacing is also a har- 

 ness gait, but for the race track rather than 

 road driving, although Tennessee has devel- 

 oped the most famous pacing blood in the 

 world. 



For pure joy of motion nothing matches 



