104 THE HORSE OWNEr's 



he will generally be compelled to change his lead, which 

 is called " changing his leg." The seat for the canter is 

 a very easy one, the knees taking a very gentle hold of 

 the saddle, the feet not bearing strongly upon the stirrups, 

 and the body tolerably upright in the saddle. The hands 

 must not be too low in this pace, but should keep a very 

 gentle but constant pressure upon the bit, and should, if 

 there is the slightest tendency to drop the canter, rouse 

 the mouth by a very slight reminder, and also stimulate 

 the fears by the voice or whip. 



The gallop is the most natural of all paces, being seen 

 in all horses while at liberty, from the Shetland pony and 

 Indian "mustang," and the dray horse to the pure breed 

 race horse. It is a succession of leaps, and differs from the 

 canter in one important feature, which separates the one 

 pace from the other. In the description of the latter pace 

 I have said that one foot is always in contact with the 

 ground ; whilst in the gallop, whether fast or slow, there is 

 always an interval in which the whole animal is suspended 

 in the air, without touching the ground. Hence it is not 

 true that the canter is a slow gallop, nor is the gallop a 

 fast canter but the two are totally distinct paces as differ- 

 ent as walking and running in the human subject. There 

 is, however, the same variation in the leading leg, and the 

 same mode of compelling the lead of one particular leg, 

 as well as of causing the change of lead, though it is 

 much more difficult to effect these objects in the faster 

 pace than in the slower one. 



Tho proper seat in the gallop is either to sit down in the 

 saddle or to stand in the stirrups, according to circum- 

 stances. The former is the usual seat, and it is only in 

 racing or in the very fast gallop at other times that the 



