198 THE PERFECT HORSE. 



situation, to jump streams, and climb hills, can ex- 

 plain the increased power of their loin and back. 



The Morgan horse is a wonderful illustration of this. 

 Such a weight-puller, when you consider his size, cer- 

 tainly was never seen in America, and, so far as we 

 know, never seen in the world. And to-day a colt 

 raised in Vermont, or the mountainous sections of New 

 Hampshire and New York, is almost invariably coupled, 

 at the junction of the spinal column with the hip-bones, 

 like a giant. Analogy and observation alike suggest 

 to the breeder and trainer that every young horse 

 should be put through a certain amount of up-hill exer- 

 cise. Do not trot your colts alone on the level stretch ; 

 above all, avoid the descending grade. Practise him in 

 the other direction ; and especially, when you come to 

 a hill, let him take it at the jump. For one, I am free 

 to say I prefer that my colts should be driven, while 

 being developed, along a road with a great many hills 

 in it. How often you see horses, when trotting a race 

 on a track that is not perfectly level, falter in their gait 

 when taking the rising stretch, lose the strength and 

 steadiness of their stroke, and drop behind! They 

 could trot, you see, down a descending grade; they 

 could move fast, even on level ground: but they were 

 too weak in the back and loins to force themselves up 

 the ascent. Had they been properly trained, and es- 

 pecial care been exercised to develop them at the 

 desired point, they would have kept their length of 

 stride and powerful stroke from bottom to top, and 



