132 '"'False''' Canter. 



universally true, in fact, and that is why I recom- 

 mend road teaching whenever practicable. 



It cannot be alleged that every horse will al- 

 ways use the proper foot in the lead. A horse 

 unused to cantering with a rider's weight upon 

 his back may do all kinds of awkward things 

 which at liberty, or when trained, he will not at- 

 tempt to do. But the above way of leading is the 

 natural thing, and that which a horse generally 

 does when at liberty ; and it is not hard to induce 

 him to do what comes naturally to him, nor by 

 practice to strengthen the habit. 



The action of the legs of the leading side is 

 higher in the canter and the gallop than that of 

 the other pair. A horse is said to be " false " in 

 his canter or gallop if he turns with a wrong lead, 

 that is, if he turns to the right until he alters his 

 lead to the right shoulder, unless he is already so 

 leading, or vice versa. This is true of sharp 

 turns, which may indeed cause a dangerous fall if 

 " false," but a horse can safely make turns with a 

 long radius and good footing without altering his 

 lead, and this is often convenient to be done. 

 But if the ground is slippery, it is a risk to turn 

 a sharp corner with a wrong lead. I have often 

 seen men punish a horse for slipping at such a 

 turn, when it was solely owing to the false lead 

 that he did so ; and the false lead was either the 

 lack of education in the horse or the rider, or 



