92 WONDERS OFTEN CEASE TO BE WONDERS. 



bring them comparatively slow at the finish ; but if 

 he is this, I should consider him a safe horse to 

 back when properly placed, and a most useful one 

 to own. 



It may be asked why such horses as (we will say) 

 Bay Middleton might not go on running as long as 

 the more useful sort ? They might, it is true ; and 

 much better would it be for their owners if they did : 

 but they don't (speaking of course in a general way). 

 They might perhaps go on if their age did not ; but 

 we cannot stop that, and its consequences stop them. 

 They are not generally formed to go long lengths or 

 to carry weight, both of which they must do when 

 they become older, or not run at all, or only, as I 

 have before said, for handicaps. 



I have stated the numberless trials it would require 

 to exactly ascertain what (taking all things into con- 

 sideration) is a horse's true forte, and I quite feel con- 

 vinced this is scarcely ever ascertained. We get 

 perhaps with the generality of horses a sufficient insight 

 into their qualifications to partially answer the purpose : 

 with many I am sure we do not, and with some their 

 very best forte is never known. To elucidate this I 

 will suppose a case begging it to be borne in mind 

 that I am not supposing, and still further am I from 

 proposing the kind of trial I shall mention as one 

 practicable, or at least judicious to attempt with a 

 race-horse, for the idea would be preposterous. I 

 merely state the case to show the difficulty of getting 

 at what we want to know a horse's best. 



We will suppose we have an untried three-year-old : 

 let us see how many trials we should want to learn 

 his true forte. We try him as to time with 7st. at 

 one, two, three, and four miles, to ascertain his best 



