154 England's horses, 



which accordingly is rarely unsuccessful ; for it is a very wretched 

 quadruped, indeed, that does not possess force enough, if properly 

 husbanded and directed, to carry eleven or twelve stone over any 

 ordinary hunting fence, though such fence may not unfrequently 

 be seen to stop a clever hunter, when brought to the leap in an 

 animated state, and his propellers insufficiently advanced. Many 

 sad accidents I have seen to man and horse from this cause. I 

 once saw in one day's steeple-chasing, the death of five beautiful 

 animals from jumping short. All came to the point for taking off 

 in an extended and uncollected state (for a horse may be extended 

 and held well in balance at the same time) ; so that the spring 

 being, necessarily, more from the shoulders than from the haunches, 

 and consequently insufficient to propel the weight through a wide 

 enough space, caused them to fail in clearing the fence they were 

 endeavovxring to negotiate. 



The united state is that in which only the horse can be said to 

 be fully amenable to the control of the reins. The run-away 

 horse, as if conscious of the fact, invariably gets up his back, and 

 throws himself on his shoulders when breaking away, and in such 

 position it requires no inconsiderable skill nor slight exertion of 

 power to pull the animal up ; for the vertebrse of the neck are, in 

 such cases, stretched out very nearly in the same line with the 

 pull of the reins, and the fore hand cannot be got up, nor the pace 

 moderated, till the reins can be got to act on these vertebrre like abow- 

 string, which in that position is sometimes very difficult to effect. 

 But the fleetest and most spirited horse, if in balance, will be free 

 from this vice ; for the pull of a child's hand on the reins in such a 

 state of carriage tells more on the figure of the animal than that 

 of the strongest man against the outstretched neck of the " borer," 

 so that to the other advantages I have enumerated as flowing 

 from the system of tuition to horse and rider that I advocate, I 

 may justly add that of greatly increased safety to the weak or 

 timid, as well as increased ease, comfort, and satisfaction to all. 

 After my observations on the improved carriage of the horse, I 

 proceed to give my views as to what, it strikes me, are the 

 advantages derivable to the rider from instruction based on the 



