CHAPTER IX. 



The choice of a horse for harness, is in several 

 respects far less difiicult than the selection of a 

 saddle horse : yet it must be remembered that an 

 animal which is sold for the collar, is frequently 

 parted with for a dangerous fault in harness. I have 

 long made it a rule never to put a horse in my stan- 

 hope, that I had not previously tried in the saddle. 

 When I am on his back, I am his master, when at his 

 tail, he is mine ; and therefore, I like to know his 

 temper before I place myself in his power. 



Draught work is far less severe labor than carry- 

 ing weight, if the carriage is fairly adjusted to the 

 strength, and the roads are tolerable. It follows that 

 many blemishes which denote unsoundness, and many 

 actual defects, are comparatively immaterial. All 

 draught work, too, is done at the trot ; hence it is of 

 little consequence whether a horse for harness walks 



