THE HORSE. 17 



old : tlie consequence was that when his horses were 

 upwards of twenty years of age, upon their backs 

 he was able to beat any other cattle in the field in 

 hunting. All that is required for work are young 

 legs, and what are termed old mouths. This descrip- 

 tion of horse is absolutely necessary for the heavy 

 wagon and for four-vN'heeled carnages. 



It must nevertheless be admitted, that horses may 

 also be too old : but &o long as they are sound upon 

 their legs and keep up their condition, they are always 

 better suited for hard work than young ones. At the 

 present moment there is living a gray mare, the pro- 

 perty of a surgeon in the neighbourhood of Finsbury- 

 square, upwards of forty years old, yet which still 

 does her work in admirable style ! It is an attested 

 fact, that, at thirty-six years of age, this surprising 

 animal performed a distance of eighty miles a day, 

 two successive days, and one hundred miles in one 

 day; and that too without exhibiting any remarkable 

 symptoms of fatigue ! ! This, it will be said, is a rare 

 instance of the powers or the horse, and so it is ; but 

 it is so chiefly from the disposition of most owners 

 of horses to overwork them when young, and so wear 

 them out before they are old. The mare in question 

 is still perfectly straight on her legs, and free from 

 all complaint, except a slight asthmatical cough, ob- 

 servable only on foggy days, and then only on coming 

 out or ffoiufr into the stable. It occasions no real 

 inconvenience, and is merely a sign of the natural 

 effects of time on her constitution. 



It may be here worthy of remark, that many per- 

 sons are using very old horses, imagining them to be 

 much younger than they really are. For instance, 

 a gentleman keeps a horse until he supposes him to 

 be sixteen, or thereabouts. He then thinks of dis- 

 posing of him as being worn, and getting a younger. 

 The animal is accordingly transferred to a dealer, 

 who sees him well upon his legs and fresh for his age. 



9* 



