28 HORSES AND RIDING. 



to give him his head and let him walk a hundred 

 yards on a footpath. If he can do that without 

 trip]3ing it is all that is required.' 



When I first read the above I was rather sceptical 

 as to the wisdom of this advice ; and having a mare 

 whose shoulders I knew were not very good, I 

 determined to put the plan to the test. I accord- 

 ingly rode her a mile away from home where there 

 was a good flat raised foot^Dath on the side of the 

 road, and then put her on the footpath and let her 

 walk home with the reins on her neck. She stumbled 

 twenty times in the course of the mile, and convinced 

 me that 'Mmrod' in this particular was right. If E 

 had ridden her in the middle of the road that dis- 

 tance she probably would not have stumbled once. 



It does not at first strike one as apparent why a 

 horse should be more likely to stumble when walking 

 leisurely along a footpath than when walking along 

 the road, but the reason I take to be this, that 

 although there are inequalities on the footpath 

 they are not so apparent to the horse's eye as those 

 on the road, and the horse consequently does not 

 make the same effort to avoid them, but walks in a 

 more natural, not to say slovenly, manner, and thus 

 shows any defect in its action, and consequently in its 

 shape, more quickly and more distinctly. 



This method recommended by 'Mmrod' is a very 

 good one, but I have found the following to be as 

 good or better : Ride the horse along the road until 

 you come somewhere where there is a footpath or 



