Chapter XI 



THE SADDLE-HORSE 



WHILE the comparatively recent in- 

 terest in all outdoor exercises has 

 given renewed impetus to the glo- 

 rious pastime of riding, and while 

 fashion originally conferred upon it the seal of 

 approval because it was English, and therefore 

 proper, no nation has from necessity been more 

 generally a user of saddle animals than Americans. 

 From the early days of settlement, the pacer of 

 the Providence Plantations and the more or less 

 thoroughly "gaited" horse of other sections were 

 the regular means of locomotion throughout all 

 our great country, until gradual civilization and 

 adequate road provision made possible traffic 

 upon wheels. 



Just in proportion as the possibility of vehicu- 

 lar transportation increased, the care for, and the 

 attention to, the saddle beast decreased, until the 

 advent of railroads and decently kept highways 



140 



