Th!-: Hack fok an Adult Pupil. 259 



The horse on which a grown man should commence his lessons may have faults and de- 

 fects which would reduce his money value in the open market to a very low figure, but he 

 must have certain qualifications of form and temperament. He may be nine or ten years old, 

 or more, if he has not, from over-work, lost that elasticity of motion which makes horse exer- 

 cise wholesome and pleasant. He may be a whistler, or, in horsey phrase, " make a noise," 

 whenever pushed beyond a very moderate pace. If he can walk well, evenly, and willingly, four 

 miles an hour, and trot or canter six miles an hour safely and pleasantly, that is quite fast 

 enough to begin with. There are very noble and distinguished statesmen who have never ridden 

 faster in their lives. 



He may be such a delicate feeder, badly ribbed up, or, to speak in grooms' vernacular, 

 so "herring-gutted" and "washy," that two hours' exercise are as much as he can stand. He 

 may be severely fired for spavin, and rather stiff in his hind -legs on leaving the stable, al- 

 though not positively lame. He may be plain in his quarters, with a rat tail ; indeed, he may 

 be an ugly brute all over, with a great cofiin head, so long as he has not the evil eye of a 

 vicious horse. Two eyes are by no means essential, so long as the remaining organ is thoroughly 

 sound. 



But he must be of a placid and sensible temperament. He must have good fore-legs 

 and feet ; and neither stumble, drop, nor shy. He must be a free mover, ready to walk on at 

 a word, not requiring whip or spur, and yet not inclined, when regularly exercised, to increase 

 a walk to a trot and a trot to a wild gallop. He must have a good but not too light a 

 mouth — a mouth that will bear the hauling of a heavy hand on a smooth snaffle. His head 

 and neck should be properly set on, so as to require neither martingale nor manipulation to 

 bring both to the right angle ; in sporting phrase, he must bridle well. His sloping shoulders 

 and well -arched neck must give the timid rider the feeling of "plenty before him." 

 There are first-class hunters who never seem to raise their heads except when they 

 go at a fence, and valuable cobs with necks nearly as straight as a donkey's, but 

 the invalid's horse must bear himself well, and carry head and neck like the coloured 

 portrait of the Earl of Pembroke's chestnut, ridden by Mrs. Reynolds. A star-gazing or 

 ewe-necked brute is as objectionable as the horse who carries his head in the form of a 

 costermonger's " moke." As a matter of course, he must have a back and withers formed to 

 carry a saddle in its proper place without a crupper, even if the girths become rather slack ; 

 and he should have, whatever be his deficiencies of tail, enough mane to hold on by on the 

 occasion of any crisis. With these qualifications, he should be well up to the lumpy weight 

 of a raw rider. 



Thus it will be seen that for a special purpose what all dealers and most horsemen would 

 call " an old screw " may be a very valuable animal. 



As a matter of course, a suitable animal is much to be preferred if he can be described 

 like the charger of a volunteer lieut. -colonel — " He is a screw and a roarer, but he can 

 walk five miles an hour, trot seven, stands fire like a rock, and looks like a gentleman ! " 

 There are many people who could not be happy riding a really ugly horse, however excel- 

 lent in temper and paces ; but the invalid adult commencing horse exercise must make 

 utility and fitness the first ; beauty of form, the neat head, the flowing mane, the good 

 colour, the second consideration. 



It must also be remembered that horses have a wonderful instinctive knowledge of their 

 rider's qualifications, and that an animal that would be perfectly quiet with a real horseman 

 will very soon begin to play tricks with a nervous or awkward rider. 



