238 EFFECT OF PRACTICAL SCHOOLING. 



I now adopted the same mode with him in his trot. 

 In this pace he blundered about at first as he had 

 done in the walk, but in one month his trotting action 

 was so high that I thought it unnecessary to proceed 

 further with him : he was, in fact, perfect. A Lon- 

 don dealer bought him of me, and sold him at a long 

 price to carry a nobleman. 



Though this was not the first time by many that I 

 had altered a horse's action whether the same mode 

 would succeed with all horses I am not prepared to 

 say; but I infer it would, and for this reason. Placed 

 in a similar situation to that in which this horse was 

 placed, they, like him, must either stand still or lift 

 their legs over the obstructions in their way, and 

 being made to proceed, they would have no alternative 

 but to do as he did. I do not mean to say this horse 

 on the road lifted his knee as high as he did among 

 the ant-hills ; his action would have been ridiculous if 

 he had : but he had got so much in the habit of going 

 high during his schooling, that he retained quite 

 enough of it to make his action as grand as could be 

 desired. With colts I am quite clear the same effect, 

 more or less, would invariably be the result of the 

 same proceeding, or a proceeding on the same prin- 

 ciple. 



In some corroboration of this opinion, I can mention 

 an instance in a friend's horse. He was a favourite, 

 but, though not unsafe to ride, always wore away the 

 toes of his shoes, My friend had occasion to go into 

 Wales for a few months : in those roads the horse really 

 was unsafe, and blundered most continually ; added 

 to which the jar occasioned by hitting the ground 

 with his toe was most unpleasant to the rider. I 

 conclude it was so to the horse, who, I suppose, began 



