THE FIVE-GAITED SADDLE HORSE. 225 



the walk and faster. They are right on the edge of a 'four 

 beat' gait. That is, you can hear each foot-fall distinctly. 

 Loosen your snaffle reins and take hold lightly of the curb 

 and give him a touch of the spur, urging him just out of a 

 walk. These are gaits a little faster than a walk and not 

 so fast as a rack. They are what are called slow gaits. 

 Cleanly performed they are delightful to ride; they are all- 

 day gaits. The real old-fashioned plantation running-walker 

 is a 'nodder;' he keeps time to his paces by the nodding of 

 his head, just as a mule does by the flop of his ears. This 

 gait is literally named. It is an accelerated walk a run- 

 ning walk, not a flat-foot 'heel and toe' walk. The slow- 

 pace is not the side-wheel gait of the harness horse; there 

 is too much roll to that. It is a similar gait, but instead of 

 both feet on one side of the body striking the ground at 

 exactly the same instant, there is just enough break in the 

 impact to introduce a short interval and rob the gait of the 

 unpleasant roll of the side-wheeler. The fox-trot is the 

 other slow gait. It is a dog-trot, a slow and rather loose- 

 jointed trot, a 'shog.' Whichever gait the horse strikes 

 when pushed out of a walk hold him to it. Do not let him 

 forge ahead into a rack or a trot, or fall back into a walk. 



"Now that your horse has shown that he can go along 

 nicely in the slow-pace we will rack down that smooth road 

 ahead which is not too soft on its surface for the rack is 

 rather a hard gait on a horse and the going can easily be 

 too soft for him. You have him on the curb; increase the 

 pressure a little, give him the leg that is, grip him with 

 your knees so that he will feel the clasp and give him the 

 spur. A horse is taught to rack by spurring him forward 

 and curbing him back; he then flies into what may be 

 called a 'condensed trot' which is a good description of the 

 rack. A racking horse must go up against the curb, and 

 above all things he must not be allowed to fall into the 

 swinging side-wheel pace. If he falters touch him with 

 the spur and lift him gently on the bit to steady him. Do 

 not gouge him or rip him. Spurs should be used thus for 

 punishment only in the most extreme necessity. A willing 

 horse will soon learn to respond instantly, when he feels 

 the heel move backward to his flank, even before he is 

 touched with the steel. 



"Let us now drop out of the rack. Release the curb reins, 

 teach him to slow down at the word 'steady,' and come 

 down easily generally through a running-walk into the 

 walk. We now want to stir up our livers a bit, and hence 

 will trot over that stretch of road ahead of us. Of course 

 we could have gone into the trot from that fast rack that 

 15 



