76 Value of Schooling. 



XXIII. 



I know of no better foundation for a man to 

 begin upon than the breaking-in to harness, 

 which an American horse has usually received at 

 the hands of an intelligent farmer, before he is 

 brought to the city for sale. Starting with the 

 horse, then, say at five years old, if you will 

 learn how to give him his saddle education, and 

 do it yourself, you will have, in ninety-nine cases 

 out of a hundred, a better saddle beast in six 

 months than any groom can, or any riding-master 

 is apt to make. 



There is somewhat of a tendency among the 

 English, and much more among their American 

 imitators, to decry as unnecessary the training of 

 horses beyond a mouth somewhat short of leather 

 and two or three easy road gaits ; or, in hunters, 

 the capacity to do well cross-country. But there 

 is vastly more to be said on the side of High 

 School training. By a three months' School 

 course stubborn horses may be made tractable, 

 dangerous horses rendered comparatively safe, 

 uncomfortable brutes easy and reliable. Vices 

 may be cured, stumbling may be made far less 

 dangerous, if the habit cannot be eradicated, 

 physical defects, unfitting a horse for saddle work, 

 may often be overcome, and the general utility of 

 the average horse vastly increased. All this, and 



