236 DRAUGHT AND HARNESS. 



out of him, and wear out his legs sooner. It is, there- 

 fore, quite impossible to lay down any general rule in 

 these matters the manner in which the work must or 

 may be done is the safest guide. 



There is, however, one point more to which our 

 attention has been called by a paragraph in a letter 

 received from a gentleman whose opinion is of great 

 value, and to whom our best thanks are due ; it is 

 this : Very many people find it their convenience to 

 use a horse alternately in light draught and under 

 the saddle, but the animal is never so pleasant nor 

 so safe for the latter purpose after having been used 

 for the former. Is this inevitable ? and if not, where 

 does the fault lie ? in our method of harnessing or 

 in our mode of training and riding ? Let us clear 

 away the ground a little. In the first place, before we 

 endeavour to give an answer to these questions, it must 

 be understood that the horse in question is really fit for 

 the saddle ; and, secondly, that it is neither put to very 

 heavy draught nor overworked. Then, again, it will 

 make a great difference whether the work is to be 

 changed daily or at least frequently, or, on the other 

 hand, only at longer intervals. We may say, then, that 

 it is by no means inevitable that a horse should be 

 spoiled for the saddle by having been put into draught, 

 either occasionally or for stated periods ; and with re- 

 gard to the second part of the question, there can be 

 no doubt that the fault lies partly in our method of 

 harnessing, and partly in our mode of training and 

 riding. Let us take the latter first. It has been 

 shown in Part I. of this book that overweighting a 

 horse's forehand, although it may, under certain cir- 

 cumstance, favour speed, can never conduce to either 



