SADDLE HORSES. 165 



teen miles an hour." And lie adds : " I once owned a 

 racker who could do a full mile in three minutes un- 

 der the saddle, and you could carry a tumbler full of 

 Wetter in your hand without spilling a drop of it." 



The trot requires no description. In this gait the 

 off fore foot and the near hind foot strike and leave 

 the ground exactly together, followed by the near 

 fore and off hind foot. 



The canter is not considered perfect in a Kentucky 

 horse until he can perform it at a rate no faster than 

 a fast walk. To " canter all day in the shade of an 

 apple tree," is a well known saying. On this head 

 an old trainer informs me, "I have taught horses 

 to canter around a pole which I held in my hand 

 with one end planted in the ground." A well-broken 

 Kentucky horse will of course change lead in the 

 canter, and start with either foot leading, at the will 

 of the rider. 



The gallop is an inartificial gait, and belongs rather 

 to hunters and to polo ponies than to the saddle horse 

 proper. " It may be used occasionally," states a high 

 school enthusiast, " but no one goes galloping along 

 the road except a Sunday rider." 



Of course it is no advantage to have a horse with 

 all these gaits unless the rider is skilful enough to 

 keep them separate. If the man is less instructed 

 than the horse, a sad confusion of paces is apt to 

 obtain. On the whole, a well-bitted, well-suppled 

 horse, with a good trot and a good canter, would be 

 more useful to the ordinary rider than would one of 

 these highly accomplished saddlers. 1 



1 The readiness with which Kentuckians accommodate them- 

 selves to the New York market may be gathered from the follow- 



