RIDINQ ON THE ROAD. 51 



hard, and leaning a great weight on the rider's 

 hands — so much so, that if the reins suddenly broke 

 there would be danger of their overbalancing them- 

 selves and pitching forward on their heads. 



I do not go so far as to say that every horse would 

 go safely and pleasantly when taught to go in the 

 manner I have here advocated ; but I am supposing 

 that the rider has got such a horse as I have endea- 

 voured to describe, as the proper sort to ride. 



A bad-shouldered, badly-proportioned, bad-tem- 

 pered horse will not go j)leasantly in this manner ; 

 but neither will he go pleasantly in any other form, 

 and he had better not be ridden at all. 



We now come to cantering and galloping. 

 Horses are not cantered on a road so much as they 

 are trotted, and are rarely galloped. 



!N"early the same observations will apply to- horses 

 cantering as to trotting. The horse ought to canter 

 with his head loose the pace you want him to go, 

 but he will probably want his mouth slightly feeling 

 at this pace. 



Horses canter with one leg in advance of the 

 other, both before and behind, and the right or off leg 

 is considered to be the proper one to liave advanced, 

 particularly for ladies, who use this pace chiefly. 

 Going with the right or off fore leg in advance is 

 called cantering with the right leg first; and going 

 with the near or left leg in adva,nce is called going 

 with the wrong leg first. I do not, however, think 



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