49 



MANNER OF GOING. 



Having finished your examination, view him 

 in a canter. He should go wide behind* and 

 close before, skimming the ground with his two 

 fore feet, like a true daisy-cutter; but whether 

 in the gallop, trot, or walk, he must on no ac- 

 count step short; the feet must be lifted with 

 a kind of spring, and brought firm and flat to the 

 ground. There never was a truer passage in a 

 book, than that the safety of a horse depends a 

 great deal more on the manner in which he 

 brings his feet to the ground than on that in 

 which he lifts them up. 



You should not conclude your bargain yet, till 

 you have mounted. The dealers, if you are a 

 light weight, will always allow you a five minutes' 

 walk, trot, and canter, in front of the stables, and 

 that is as much as any man ought to ask, or get. 

 If the fore feet are not lifted light, quick, and 

 airy, but feel to stick or dwell long on the ground, 

 he has been overweighted, and his action ruined, 

 or there is something wrong in the chest, or feet. 



* If the hocks turn out, and the toes turn in, described 

 under hocks as most faulty make, he will of course go wide 

 with his hocks ; that is, if he goes at all, which is doubtful : 

 but hang such wide-going as this ! 



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