330 THE HORSE 



at a rate much slower than they could walk. Here resti^aint by tha 

 bridle is out of the question, and any excitement by the voice or heel 

 increases the jog into a full trot, without passing through any intermediate 

 stage. The difficulty consists in the fact that for a pei-fect walk the head 

 must be at liberty, and when this is allowed to a generous horse, he is 

 inclined to go off at a rate faster than suffices for the pace in question. The 

 only plan, therefore, is to ride such horses quietly, till they are leg weary, 

 whatever the number of hours may be required, and then it is possible to 

 loose their heads without their taking advantage of the liberty to go oflf 

 " at score." Indeed, in the walk, the head should never be much con- 

 fined, and yet the rider should not entirely leave it uncontrolled ; the 

 finest possible touch is enough, so that on any trip the hand is at once 

 informed of it by the drop of the head, when, by a sudden jerk of the 

 bridle, not too forcible, it rouses the horse, and prevents his falling. It is 

 not that he is kept up by pulling the rein, but that he is roused by it and 

 made to exert himself, for many horses seem regardless of falls, and would 

 be down twenty times a day if they were not stimulated by the heel 

 and bit. Confinement of the head in the walk is absolutely injurious, 

 and more frequently causes a fall than saves one. A good walker will go 

 on nodding his head to each step, more or less as it is a long or a short 

 one ; and if this nodding is prevented by the heavy hand of the rider, the 

 fore-foot is not properly stretched forward, the step is crippled, and very 

 often the toe strikes the ground ; when, if the head were at liberty, it 

 would clear it well. In horses which are apt to stumble in the walk, 

 I have generally found that a loose rein, with the curb held ready for a 

 check, is the safest plan ; and then the horse soon finds that he is punished 

 the moment he stumbles, and in a veiy short time he learns to recover him- 

 self almost before he is reminded. I do not like the spur or the whip so 

 well, because the use of either makes the horse spring forward, and often 

 blunder again in his hurry to avoid this kind of punishment. The check 

 of the curb, on the other hand, makes him recover himself without extra 

 progress, or rather by partially stopping him, and thus he is better able to 

 avoid his fall. The body is allowed to yield slightly to the motions of the 

 horse, but not to waddle from side to side, as is sometimes seen. Some 

 horses do not stir the rider at all, while others throw him about and fatigue 

 him greatly ; and this may generally be foretold when the tail sways much 

 from side to side in the walk, which is caused by the over-long stride of the 

 horse, a very desirable accomplishment in the race-horse or hunter, but not 

 in the hack. 



Tripping or stumbling is often a matter of conformation, and for hacking 

 a horse should never be chosen if he has a disposition to turn out his toes. 

 Many thoroughbred horses have this defect to a glaring degree, but as it 

 does not affect them in the gallop, and their capacity to win races is too 

 often the sole merit desired, it is to be feared that this malformation will 

 continue to be disregarded. 



The jog-trot is a pace that there is seldom any difficulty in effecting, and 

 on the contrary, as I have just observed, the rider is often engaged for 

 hours or days in breaking the young horse of it. 



The regular trot is generally easy to produce, but sometimes when the 

 canter has been much adopted, it is not so readily effected. The best plan 



