FALCON ON THE EOAD. 195 



making n Number One trotter of him. There is nothing to 

 direct about his management at present. You can gauge 

 him to any gait you wish, and the next two weeks we will 

 give him ten or twelve miles a day, at the rate of about a 

 mile in five minutes ; towards the last of that time, mov- 

 ing him somewhat faster. 



PUPIL. When he is driven on the track, I am afraid he 

 will change your opinion, giving further proof of the effect 

 of bad management in the first part of a horse's education. 

 The road, to him, has been a pleasant interlude to the tor- 

 tures of the course, and all his remembrances connected 

 with it are of a pleasant character. There he has been 

 treated with uniform kindness, and when he has been 

 allowed to extend himself in a little burst of speed, it has 

 been done without pulling at him ; or, if he happened to 

 leave his feet, there was no jerking or sawing, allowing 

 him to recover as suited his own humor. Of the track, his 

 recollections are not so pleasant ; pulling, snatching, and 

 fighting are his most vivid reminiscences of that period. 



PRECEPTOR. For that very reason we will confine him 

 to working on the track, and will only vary it with road 

 work when the course is too muddy to use. I know he 

 will jog there as kindly as on the road; and by letting him 

 time the short brushes to suit his own notions, we will get 

 him to reconsider the verdict that pronounces the track a 

 place especially invented for the torture of horses. I now 

 want to see Never Mind in the shafts; and in order to give 

 him as fair a chance to make a true impression as the 

 Falcon, will also drive him. 



PUPIL. He also has not been harnessed in several 

 months; and before you get behind him, I want to observe 

 that he never has been much used on the road. I tell 

 you this, so that you will not be prejudiced against him. 

 He is not a good road horse, and goes stumbling along at 

 a road gait that is very provoking. When on the track 



