68 THE HORSE : ITS TAMING 



window, at a cost of £^o to his owner. He broke the 

 reins while being driven in the ring, but after one 

 lesson I could, and did, drive him anywhere, in a plain 

 snaffle. I hope I shall live to see the snaffle supersede 

 all other bits, then the decrease in the number of 

 accidents on the road and in the hunting field will be 

 so great as to convince all horsemen that they would 

 have been wise to have adopted it before. 



HOW TO EXAMINE A HORSE AS TO 



SOUNDNESS. 



The ability to judge a horse as to soundness is 

 almost instinctive in some people. You will find an 

 entirely uneducated man detect a defect, almost at a 

 glance, that has been passed over by one thoroughly 

 conversant with the anatomy of the horse. In 

 Australia we have not the vet. always to fly to when 

 purchasing. The buyers there (with few exceptions) 

 buy solely on their own judgment — and very frequenth' 

 eye judgment alone — as in the case of entireh- 

 unbroken colts it is an impossibility to get your hand 

 upon them. But this I will say, that the Australian 

 horses are much freer from lameness and disease than 

 those in Pmgland. This is, of course, partly owing to 



