68 BREAKING. 



made to walk and trot, turning right and left at the will of the 

 rider, and cantered straight ; and when so much is accom- 

 plished, the colt may be considered sufficiently advanced to 

 commence training — before which the tackling should be 

 removed and a smaller bridle substituted. 



With regard to the age at which horses should be broke 

 and ridden, it should be said at the outset that various and 

 conflicting opinions are held on the subject. But though the 

 question is often mooted, I think it is seldom discussed to 

 a practical conclusion. 



On th:s point the naturalist Bufifon says, in speaking 

 of the horse, " When two, or two and a half years old, they 

 are mounted, never having before that period been either 

 saddled or bridled." He is here evidently speaking of the 

 Arab, for he goes on to say, " Every day from morning till 

 night all the Arabian horses stand saddled at the tent doors." 

 Again he says, " At the age of three, or three and a half, we 

 should begin to dress the colts to render them tractable." 

 And after giving special instructions for their care and culture, 

 the author proceeds to say, " They may then be mounted and 

 dismounted without making them walk till they are four years 

 old ; for before that period a horse has not strength enough to 

 walk with a rider on his back ; but at four years old they may 

 be walked or trotted at intervals." 



If the natural strength of the horse has been here faithfully 

 depicted, how weak they must have been in the last century 

 as compared with the horses of the present day ! 



His description is corroborated in a very striking manner by 

 Cuvier some fifty years later. In his "Animal Kingdom" 

 he says, speaking of colts: "At three they are fit to be 

 handled and accustomed to some management." How totally 

 altered is the practice of to-day ! For we know that they 



