SADDLE HORSES. 149 



It is usually thought that high-stepping horses are 

 less likely to fall than low steppers or " daisy-cut- 

 ters,"' but this I believe to be an error. Some horses 

 occasionally fall, but otherwise never stumble, whereas 

 a low-stepping horse may stumble frequently, but 

 never come down, always saving himself with the 

 other leg. It is a matter chiefly of legs and feet, and 

 of courage ; but a nag who puts his toe down first is 

 almost sure to be a stum bier. 



I need not say that the saddle horse, above all 

 others, being necessarily an intimate companion of his 

 master, should possess intelligence and good temper ; 

 he should have fine, well-bred ears, a large, expressive 

 eye, a tapering nose, and nicely cut, expansive nos- 

 trils. To bestride a lop-eared, coarse-headed beast 

 would give little satisfaction to a person of proper 

 equine susceptibilities. But it is astonishing what 

 small importance professional horsemen commonly 

 attach to this vital matter of intelligence, the reason 

 perhaps being that they take the purely mechanical 

 view of the horse, considering him merely as a crea- 

 ture who is able, or unable, as the case may be, to get 

 over the ground and to carry a weight. I have known 

 many instances where jockeys or dealers, being em- 

 ployed to buy a horse for a customer, have picked 

 out an animal which had all the requisites except the 

 saving one of good sense. 



I remember one case in particular where a keen 

 judge of horseflesh was sent to Kentucky for a saddle 

 horse. The man paid a large price and came back 

 with an admirable beast, young, sound, thoroughly 

 taught, good in harness as well as under saddle, fast, 

 and, except for the shape of his head, very handsome. 



