PREFACE 



THE subject of this book has long been of vast im- 

 portance to horsemen. 



I wish to impress upon my readers that this work is 

 the outcome of much practical experience of one who has 

 studied the horse and the conditions under which 

 he is born, reared, broken, trained and fitted for his 

 everyday life, whether intended for the hunting-field, 

 polo, racing, show-ring, the farm or the road. It grieves 

 me when I see horses who have worked and served their 

 masters faithfully for years, being finally led to " the 

 Boat/' Surely our Government, in the interests of 

 humanity, should make it compulsory to have these 

 poor decrepit animals humanely destroyed in England, 

 and to prohibit exportation, which, after all, only benefits 

 callous men who are devoid of all feeling. 



I have oft-times suffered at the many hopeless sights 

 T have seen brought about through thoughtlessness 

 and ignorance, and I have often felt it my duty to take 

 up my pen and write something for horsemen to read 

 that will in the end benefit my favourite animal, the 



horse. 



PERCY F. THORN. 



