THE EQUESTRIAN ART. 26l 



the occafion ; even if the accident be unno- 

 ticed, or the mind otherwife engaged. Both 

 hands upon the bridle are neceifary and be- 

 coming, in riding faft down fteep defcents, or 

 ftoney ways ; and it is extreme folly to commit 

 the reins to the neck of the prefumed fafefl 

 horfe. 



Some fpeedy and jadifh horfes, will, after 

 " they have got their gruel," by being travelled 

 brifkly, thirty or forty miles ; at the next ftage, 

 fall into a flow trot, bend their necks, foam at 

 the mouth, refufe to bear an ounce upon the 

 bit, and keep perpetually upon the curvet, as if 

 they longed to be upon the parade. When- 

 ever this happens, the beft way of concluding 

 the bufmefs, is to walk them the remainder of 

 the journey, and then give them a week s reft : 

 You may choofe whether you will ride them 

 another. 



I have no apprehenfion at all of ridicule, for 

 writing a Treatife upon fore backfides ; fince I 

 am fure it will not proceed from the afflicted, 

 and my obfervations are not addreffed to the 

 clafs of found-bottoms. Serioufly, the dread- 

 ful manner in which fome people chafe, deters 

 them entirely from the moil pleafant and 

 healthy exercife in the world ; and, in fact., 

 makes a journey on horfe-back, of any length, 

 totally impracticable. Bracken's directions, in 

 this cafe, are excellent, and, I fhould think (for, 



s 3 happily, 



