THE ARMY HORSE. 223 



A three-and-a-half year old horse is more supple and can 

 be more easily educated than a five-year-old. He has not 

 been able to acquire the faults of temper which we find 

 in him later on, and which are almost always the result of 

 injudicious or cruel treatment by people about him. He 

 has not the bad habit — which all horses left to themselves 

 contract — of going on his shoulders, on which account the 

 hind quarters become less developed than the forehand. We 

 can then easily make him rely on himself, and put equal 

 weight on all four limbs, which is of great importance ; be- 

 cause true equilibrium of the body is the one thing of all 

 others which we should try to obtain in breaking and riding. 



The horse ought to be neither on his shoulders nor on his 

 haunches; but should have his own weight and that of his 

 rider equally distributed on both ends. Only on this con- 

 dition can he be light, active, and sure-footed, and capable of 

 doing long and severe work without injuring himself, When 

 a horse has been addicted for a long time to the habit of 

 standing and moving in a state of bad equilibrium, his con- 

 formation becomes distorted and can rarely recover from its 

 effects. If, as is the most frequent instance, the horse is on 

 his shoulders, his hind quarters are soft and drag themselves 

 along the ground, on account of want of exercise and develop- 

 ment ; but the forehand works too much and becomes 

 fatigued. Being overloaded and heavy, it has difficulty in 

 changing its place, and the slightest mistake or weakness will 

 involve the entire body. The limbs which are overworked 

 become soon worn out. This is the only cause of the pre- 

 mature reductions which each year decimate the effective 

 strength of cavalry squadrons, and put many horses out of 

 work at an age when they ought to be in their prime. 



The most essential part of breaking a horse is to teach him 

 to balance himself properly. No one will deny that a horse 

 can be more easily educated at three-and-a-half than at five 



