54 ROAD, PARK, AND SCHOOL 



bearing upon the hand, it is as far advanced in its 

 education as the majority of horses ever get. 



By a course of physical training, such as prepares 

 the athlete for his feats, and a kindly enforced disci- 

 pline, in which resentment is never aroused and 

 compliance becomes a fixed habit, the horse is 

 rendered ready and willing to give prompt obedience 

 to every demand of its master ; an artificial balance 

 is acquired, so that the horse carries its rider in easy 

 and united paces, and a thorough understanding 

 between the man and the horse is established. 



As there is no man that cannot be improved by 

 the exercises of the gymnasium, so there is no horse 

 that cannot be improved by school work. There 

 are few horses so ill-formed that, by suppling and 

 collecting, they cannot be made light and graceful 

 in carriage and action ; there are no horses that will 

 not show striking change for the better. There is 

 no doubt that the old method of schooling, in which 

 the forces of the forehand were thrust back upon 

 the hind-quarters by heavy hands and powerful bits, 

 taught the horse to shun extended strides ; but I do 

 not see why a horse schooled by the mild and easy 

 system I have recommended should refuse to extend 

 itself, although the whole of its education is directed 

 to the point of obtaining united action. I have 

 always been of the opinion that schooling a horse 



