47 1 



BREAKING AND TRAINING. 



if tlie shoe was formed of the very best metal, as the animal is invaria- 

 bly exercised upon turf, need not be much heavier, if at all weightier, 

 than the present racing plate. Any diflTerence which possibly should 

 exist would, however, be counterbalanced by a healthy condition of horn 

 induced by the greater freedom that must be consequent upon an adop- 

 tion of the proposed plan; while if a slight additional burden be im- 

 posed, that must be much more than counteracted by the new organs to 

 be brought into activity. The frog and the heels, which are now made 

 useless, would lend lightness to the tread, and an ease of motion would 

 thereby be secured. 



Another evil is produced by the peculiar notions which the order of 

 trainers have for ages stubbornly adopted, and which gentlemen of edu- 

 cation seem to have implicitly accepted. Man himself is not more gre- 

 garious than the horse. Men congregate in towns ; but it is not unusual 



SUMMERED. 



to encounter the individual whose delight is solitude. The equine race, 

 when free to exercise a choice, are always seen in flocks ; and a solitary 

 animal is never to be met with. Yet it has been found that the severity 

 of eight months' solitary imprisonment cannot be sustained by human 

 culprits. The trainer, however, permits his countenance to radiate un- 

 der the smiles of benevolence, when he talks of turning an animal into 



