OVERPACING CONDEMNED. 123 



It is desirable that the riding horse be able to walk at 

 the rate of five miles an hour, for if he be unable to do 

 this, and should chance to go in company with a fast 

 walker, he will be compelled to ( jog, 5 which, however 

 gracefully performed, is but a slovenly performance. 

 And if in company with slow walkers, he will carry 

 himself in no way worse by walking well within himself. 



The riding horse should never be allowed to trot at 

 a greater rate than eight miles in the hour, so that he 

 may go collectedly and well, and have time to place his 

 feet just where he or his rider may think fit. Nothing 

 looks more plebeian and butcher-like than to see a 

 riding horse over-trotting himself, and reaching along 

 with his head out, like a pig on a spit. 



The riding horse should always be nicely bent and 

 collected when in motion, or he never can present an 

 aristocratic or graceful appearance. 



THE LADY'S HORSE. 



The lady's horse should resemble the gentleman's 

 riding horse in every particular save in the trotting 

 pace ; at which pace, for many reasons, no real horse- 

 woman would condescend to ride ; therefore trotting in 

 the lady's horse should not be suffered for an instant ; 

 but he should start from the walk to the canter, and 

 return from the canter to the walk without a break. 

 To see a horse jolting in a trot before settling down 

 from the canter to the walk, tells sad tales of the horse's 

 education, at any rate, to say nothing of the rider's. 

 Therefore it will be understood that a lady's riding 



