RIDING ON THE ROAD. 131 



sentences in flowers and satin ribbons, instead of suffering 

 the plain meaning of them to appear, I may go on writing 

 for many months to come, and yet fail to make myself 

 properly understood in the end. 



You must bear in mind that the trot is the horse's natural 

 pace, and that when not overpressed he will go further and 

 with less fatigue to himself when regulated to it, than at 

 either a canter or gallop. At the same time, he must not 

 on any account be urged beyond the limit of his powers, 

 for such a course is not only cruel, but dangerous — inas- 

 much as an animal going a hard pace cannot, if he makes 

 a mistake, recover his balance as rapidly as if proceeding 

 at the even rate of eight, or from that to ten miles an hour. 

 I consider the latter excellent going indeed ; too fast, in 

 fact, unless the remainder of your party happen to be as 

 well mounted as yourself — for nothing on earth is more 

 indicative of bad taste than riding perpetually in front of 

 those who are in company with you. 



I am not, as a rule, at all in favour of allowing a horse to 

 break from a trot to a canter, or from one pace of any 

 kind to another, but there are times — when going long 

 distances, for instance — at which a humane rider will 

 permit her mount to do so by way of rest and change, 

 rather than keep him perpetually going at precisely the 

 same pace, in order to gain for him the name of an excep- 

 tionally fine trotter. 



Your rise and fall in the saddle should be light, graceful, 

 straight, easy, and accurately in time with the movements 

 of your horse's forelegs. By attending to this rule when 



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