70 THE HORSE 



He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth 

 he back from the sword. 



The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and 

 the shield. 



He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage ; neither 

 believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. 



He saith among the trumpets, ha, ha ! and he smelleth the 

 battle afar off, the thunder of the captains and the shouting." 



THE TROTTING HORSE 



The trotting gait is natural to nearly all kinds of 

 domestic animals, and also to many wild varieties, as 

 the deer, the elk, the wolf. The wild horses on the 

 plains of South America and on our western prairies 

 go at a trot when moving neither very slowly nor at 

 full speed. It is definitely known that since Greek and 

 Roman times trotting has been the ordinary gait of 

 the domesticated horse. Some exceptions should be 

 mentioned. At an early date in England, fully six 

 hundred years ago, ambling -horses were in use chiefly 

 for women to ride. "Uppon an amblere esely sche sat" 

 (Chaucer). We would now call them racking or pacing 

 ponies, as their gait was a slow, irregular pace, or what 

 was called, previous to the last forty years, a rack, and 

 the horse in England, until as late as the year 1500, 

 was rarely above thirteen hands. 



As, in later times, riding on horseback by women 

 ceased as a custom, the ambler, racker or pacer went 

 out of use and is not now found anywhere in England. 

 The trotting -horse there completely occupies the field 

 for riding, drawing coaches and light vehicles. Within 



