50 THE PERFECT HOKSE. 



wish to breed colts with an " enormous stride " as ear- 

 nestly as any one ; but I wish that these colts blessed 

 with an " enormous stride " should have the knack also of 

 gathering quickly. A long stride and a quick recovery 

 is what I desire to see in the colts bred on my farm. 

 But, in respect to the length of stride, I have this to 

 say, — that it is not in any way the result of the length 

 of back. What we wish is a long stride and a quick 

 gather ; and the latter you can never find in connection 

 with a long back, and the former you can find in connec- 

 tion with a short one. It is not the length of the back 

 which gives length of stride, but the position of the 

 pasterns, the slope of the shoulders, and the position 

 of the great bones of the hind-legs. There must be 

 length somewhere, I admit, or else the horse cannot 

 stride far; or, if he attempts it, he will be forever 

 *' over-reaching," or '' forging" as the phrase goes. But 

 where should the length be located? That is the ques- 

 tion to be answered ; and we say. The length should 

 be located heloio, and not ahove. The length should be 

 put in between the shoulder-joint and the hams of the 

 horse. There is where it was put in Flora Temple, and 

 which gave her such a tremendous stride for so small an 

 animal; and there, too, is where you find it in Dexter, 

 Fearnaught, and Taggart's Abdallah, whose stride on a 

 sandy track I have measured,' and found to be twenty 

 feet! If that is not an " enormous stride," enough to 

 satisfy any one, I should be pleased to know what is ; 

 and yet Abdallah has a short, muscular, Morgan-like 



