MR. RAREY'S MODE OF SUBDUmG HORSES. 17 



seen him cantering, apparently careless and unconscious 

 of his state, alongside of the horse artillery gun from 

 which he had just been cut adrift. 



But although in the hunting-field, on the race-course, 

 or in harness, a horse will generally, from sheer pluck, 

 go till he drops, yet, whenever he encounters physical 

 strength greater than his own, our hero all of a sudden 

 acts like an arrant coward. 



For instance, in the mail, it apparently matters not to 

 the spirit of the horses whether there be one passenger or 

 six — light bags or heavy ones ; on the contrary, the 

 greater the weight, the more eagerly do they strain to 

 force it to follow them. The faster they are allowed to 

 go, the harder do they pull, until, if the reins were to 

 break, they would enjoy the opportunity by running away, 

 not as in the days of Phaeton with the chariot of the 

 sun, but with say a ton and a half, of they know not 

 what, at their heels. And yet, if on the following day 

 the same high-flying, high-spirited, high-mettled horses 

 were to be hooked to a sturdy living oak tree, after two or 

 three ineffectual snatches to move it, no amount of punish- 

 ment would be sufficient to induce them to go to the end 

 of their traces ; in short, to use a well-known expression, 

 they would all "y?5." Again, if a horse in harness, how- 

 ever resolutely he may be proceeding, slips upon pave- 

 ment, and falls heavily on his side, after vainly making 



B 



