290 BREAKING FOR SPECIAL WORK. 



leg leading, and the other half with the other fore leg 

 leading, provided that he could gallop equally well in both 

 cases. The fact that very few race horses can do this, 

 proves the necessity for such instruction. 



When a horse is about twice as tired on one fore leg 

 as he is on the other, he ought to be able to gallop far 

 better if he could ease the tired limb at the expense of 

 the fresh one. Horses which habitually lead with one par- 

 ticular fore leg at the gallop or canter, generally lose the 

 ability of extending themselves properly when they happen 

 to change the lead to the other fore leg. The cause of this 

 incompetence is, I think, due to the fact that, in the canter 

 or gallop, the centre of gravity of the animal's body is 

 more or less shifted to one side namely, to that of the 

 leading fore leg. Hence, the horse which has been accus- 

 tomed to travel with more weight on, say, the right side, 

 when the off fore leg is leading, will naturally try to bear his 

 weight on the right side when the near fore is leading, 

 and will consequently go in an ill-balanced manner. 

 Besides, when such horses happen to change to the un- 

 accustomed fore leg, they sometimes omit to change the 

 leading hind leg, and consequently go disunited. I do not 

 think I need say more on the advisability, when breaking 

 in race horses, of teaching them to gallop equally well on 

 either fore leg, and to change the leading leg when 

 necessary. If such an improvement in the breaking of 

 race horses was substituted, it would be also requisite to 

 give special tuition to the jockeys who were to ride them. 

 As the subject of riding, except as regards its connection 

 with breaking, is not within the province of this book, 

 I have dealt with it fully in Riding and Hunting. 



Ability to rein-back, and even to passage, will in many 

 cases be valuable at the start of a race. Considering that 

 five or six short and easy lessons would be generally suf- 



