SELECTING A MOUNT. 41 



out for its signs. A horse that cuts or brushes with the 

 /^r^-le.gs is thoroughly unfit for saddle use : he may come 

 down like a shot at any moment. 



The training of a lady's horse should render him steady 

 in every respect : perfectly quiet to mount, light mouthed, 

 and ready to obey the smallest touch of the rein, with- 

 out showing skittishness. An animal that bounces about 

 when his mouth is felt, or whilst waiting to be mounted, 

 is anything but a treasure to possess. He should not 

 be a puller, though ridden in any description of bridle — 

 nor should his action when trotting be rough or jerky. 

 If this latter be not looked to, his rider will constantly 

 suffer from undue fatigue. 



That a lady's horse should be sound and healthy is 

 nothing short of a necessity — nor ought he to have any 

 glaring defects, or blemishes, visible about his person — 

 although a single one, if it be trifling— the result, say, of a 

 former wound, blister, or scar — need not cause him to be 

 rejected ; in fact, it often happens that some excellent 

 animals can be had quite cheap at the end of a hard 

 hunting season, because they have got a little bit knocked 

 about, although in many cases it does not tell against them 

 in the smallest degree. 



Very many persons— Irish at all events — will remember 

 the beautiful "Adonis " who created so marked a sensation 

 in the parade of prize-takers before the Lord-Lieutenant at 

 one of the last of the Dublin Horse Shows, that was held in 

 the grounds of the Royal Dublin Society in Kildare Street. 

 He had a conspicuous blemish on the right side of his 

 chest, the result of a car-shaft that had been driven through 



