Book VII. TRAINING HORSES. 939 



his haunches. When horses do not put out their strength sufficiently, they should be galloped briskly, 

 and then slowly again by turns, and they will thus oe compelled to obey the hand and heel. In the slow 

 gallop, as well as in the trot, it is sometimes necessary to close the heels to the horse's sides, which is 

 called pinching; but this should be done in such a manner as not to make the horse abandon iiimself upon 

 the hand, and care must be taken that he be upon his haunches, and not upon his shoulders ; and, there- 

 fore, when he is pinched, he should be kept in :he hand. To put a horse well together, and make him 

 bring his hinder legs under him, the rider must close his legs upon him, putting them very much back; 

 this will oblige him to slide his legs under him ; at the same instant let the hand be raised a little to sup- 

 port him before, and yielding again immediatel}'. Let him be thus supported, and have the rein again 

 from time to time, till he begins to play and bend lis haunches, and gallops leaning and sitting down, as 

 it were, upon them ; let the rider then press him with the calves of his legs, and he will thus become 

 quick and sensible to the touch. If a horse has toe- fine a mouth, gallop him upon sloping ground ; this 

 will oblige him to lean a little upon the hand, in order the better to put himself upon the haunches ; and 

 through fear of hurting his bars, he will be prevented from resisting: the operation of the bit. If the 

 horse is heavy in hand, gallop him up sloping ground; and when his appui is too strong, this will lighten 

 him The gallop serves to assure and make steady a weak and delicate mouth, and also to supple a horse, 

 and make him steady and active in his limbs. {Berenger's History and Art of Horsemanship, 

 vol. ii. p. 104, &c.) 



.WQS. In galloping in a circle the horse is confired always to lead with his fore leg, within the turn ; 

 otherwise he is said to gallop false. But here, too, the hind leg of the same side must follow. The varie- 

 ties of gallop are a. hand-gallop, a. Canterbury -gai'loi', a school-gallop, SfC. A smooth gallop, close to the 

 ground, the French call the English gallop, galo]) a VAnglois. 



599(1 The canter is different from the gallop in sorie essential particulars. Whether the gallop be fast or 

 slow, still the legs are at one period wholly removed from tbe ground, and the horse is all in air. In the 

 canter, on the contrary, at no period is the horse completely elevated from the ground, but has always one 

 or more points of contact with it. Blaine descri jes its operation thus : when performed on the right, the 

 horse commences by first placing his ofF hind leg a little beyond the other; at nearly the same instant he 

 elevates the fore hand, and places first the near Ion leg on the ground ; the off doubling over and beyond, 

 is placed in an instant after it. In the next mo\enient the hind legs are thrown in, and, while elevated, 

 the off fore leg becomes raised from the ground ; but the near fore leg is not elevated until the hinder 

 ones are replaced. The near fore leg is, therefore, the whole point of support in cantering at each re- 

 move, and thus it is that cantering horses always fi; st fail on that leg. 



5997. The amble is a peculiar kind of pace, by wlich the horse changes sides at each remove; two legs 

 of a side being always in the air, and two on the; g-ound. An amble is usually the first natural pace of 

 young colts, which, as soon as they have strengtl; enough to trot, they quit. There is no such thing as an 

 amble in the manege ; the riding-masters allowing )f no other paces beside walk, trot, and gallop; their 

 reason is, that a horse may be put from a trot to a gallop, without stopping him ; but not from an amble to 

 a gallop without stopping. Tiiis movement, wh ch is very laborious to the horse, and in which he ought 

 not to be indulged, except on smooth ground, is very easy to the rider ; it has not the hardness of a trot, 

 because tlie hind leg moves along with the fore fme, and creates no resistance to the motion. It is, how- 

 ever, now never taught, and therefore any directior.s regarding it would be useless. 



5998. The training of cavalry homes is exclusively performed in the military establish- 

 ments, and therefore can never be required of the farmer or breeder. 



5999. The training of coach horses conmences with taming, walking, trotting, and 

 repeated longing ; and next with yoking arid driving in a break or four-wheeled frame, 

 with no other load than that of the coach box or seat placed in the usual position, the 

 driver and his assistant sitting on a board f xed to the perch or hind axle, in order to be 

 ready at a moment's notice, to descend aid restrain, or direct the horses. Coach horses, 

 from 15 to 16 hands high, should walk light five miles an hour, and trot twelve. They 

 should be first accustomed to this exercise in the country, next in the outskirts of a large 

 city, and lastly in the most crowded streets. 



6000. The age at which a horse is Jit to iie xvorked in a coach, is four and a half or five 

 years ; but by the fraudulent practice both of the country and town dealers, horses of 

 three and four years old are frequently employed. The first business of the Yorkshire 

 dealer, who has three or four year old colt; to dispose of, is to draw their corner teeth, 

 in order to make them have the mouths of those of five. They also undergo the opera- 

 tion of docking and nicking; and after lia>ing been kept two or three months on mashes, 

 made of bran, ground oats, or boiled corn, they are sold to the London dealers, who, it 

 is said, sell these three or four years old horses as if they were five years old. They are 

 then taken into immediate work, either for the coach or saddle ; and in a few months are 

 completely destroyed by this premature j.nd too severe labor. The drawing of the 

 teeth is not a fraud practised on the Lo idon dealers; ihcy know the deception, and 

 insist upon its being done by the country dealers. It is requisite to be done some months 

 before the London dealers finally sell them "or use, or the tooth which denotes a horse to 

 be five years old would not be grown, consequently the deception could not have taken 

 place. 



6001. The training of cart and plough horses commences with taming before they are 

 a year old, with walking and rubbing them down in the stable when they are two, and 

 with training to work when they are of three years growth. They should be placed 

 under the cliarge of a very steady careful servant, who will teach tliem to back, and to 

 go into the shafts. They ought not, however, to be made to draw any other than a very 

 liglit empty cart, till their fourth or fifth ytar; nor ought they to be put into the shafts 

 of a threshing machine before their fifth year. The first work to which an agricultural 

 horse may be applied, is harrowing; but this during the fourth year only half a day at a 

 time, or with a light harrow the whole day. Next he may be put to plough with similar 

 care and caution in regard to strength. In general, agricultural horses require very 

 little training ; but one tiling is too often ntglected, and that is, teaching plough hor.ses a 

 quick step, and keeping them at that step e/cr after in working them. By not attending 



