32 Patroclus' Trot, 



will lose the other gaits. A perfect all-day racker 

 or a speedy single-footer can scarcely be aught 



else. 



V. 



I did not mean to apply that rule to you, Pa- 

 troclus ! We both of us know better. For the 

 exceptional horse can learn to rack or single-foot 

 without detriment to his other paces, if he be not 

 kept upon these gaits too long at any time. 



Half a mile ahead of us is the little grass- 

 grown lane, where we can indulge in a canter or 

 a frolicsome gallop. Shall we quicken our speed 

 a trifle ? Simply a " Trot, Pat ! " and on the 

 second step you fall into as square and level a 

 trot as ever horse could boast. I know how 

 quickly you obey my voice, old boy, and but one 

 step from my word I am ready to catch the first 

 rise, and without the semblance of a jar we are in 

 a full sharp trot. How I love to look over your 

 shoulder, Patroclus, and see your broad, flat knee 

 come swinging up, and showing at every step its 

 bony angles beyond the point of your shoulder ; 

 though, indeed, your shoulder is so slanting that 

 the saddle sits well back, and your rider is too 

 old a soldier to lean much to his trot. And you 

 will go six to — I had almost said sixteen — miles 

 an hour at this gait, nor vary an ounce of pres- 

 sure on your velvety mouth. How is it, Patro- 

 clus, that you catch the meaning of my hands so 

 readily } 



