The Amble. 157 



had never restrained him from choosing his own 

 course. Who can deny that the pleasure to be 

 derived from such a horse for daily use does not 

 exceed that to be got from one who can only 

 trot on the road, or run and jump in the field ? 



Perhaps Nelly will never learn so much, for Pa- 

 troclus is an exceptionally intelligent and well- 

 suppled horse. But she can learn a good deal of 

 it. Patroclus had no idea of any gait but a walk 

 or trot when I bought him, nor did he start with 

 any better equipment than Penelope ; and in less 

 than a year he knew all that he knows now, and 

 much that he has forgotten. For in the many 

 High School airs which he once could at call 

 perform, he is altogether rusty from sheer lack of 

 usage. But the " moral " may remain, though the 

 fable may have long since passed from the mem- 

 ory. 



XLVII. 



Some horses, who trot squarely, will go natu- 

 rally from a walk into a little amble or pace, which 

 is sometimes called a " shuffle." Often this is an 

 agreeable and handsome gait, but not infrequently 

 far from pleasant. Often, too, it will spoil the 

 speed of the walk, as the horse will insensibly fall 

 into it if pushed beyond his ease. A slower rate 

 at a faster pace is always easier to a horse than 

 the extreme of speed at the lesser gait. It is 

 scarcely worth while in the East to try to teach a 



