904 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE, 



This ostracism which banishes from the stable of the wealthy the 

 " double -purpose" horse is justified by the peremptory reason that the 

 true rider is averse to mounting an animal which has not been dressed 

 and trained with a view to saddle- work. How, indeed, can this animal 

 act properly and balance himself, if he has not been initiated into the 

 means that will be used to guide him, if he is incapable of understand- 

 ing the meaning of the indications given by the legs and hands, and 

 if he cannot draw himself in or gather himself up readily, an attitude 

 indispensable to most of his manoeuvres? The saddle-horse which 

 has been satisfactorily trained understands a special language, that of 

 the hands and legs, and his conditions of equilibrium are changed. A 

 part of his weight is thrown upon the haunches, as the riding-master 

 says, because, in his case, the centre of gravity has been displaced 

 backward and brought nearer the posterior quarters. This result is 

 evidently obtained by education, but it must not be forgotten that the 

 new aptitudes acquired by a subject are transient and require a daily 

 practice if it be desired to preserve them. 



On the contrary, the driving-horse or light-draught horse is the 

 outcome of an entirely different training, if not, indeed, of a quite 

 opposite training. Accustomed to bear against the collar, he soon 

 carries his head and his neck more horizontally in order to displace the 

 weight forward upon the harness, which relieves him very much. The 

 animal is balanced upon the shoulders, and not upon his haunches, as in 

 the preceding case. Besides, the action of the driver is different ; the 

 hands no longer give the same indications, and the legs are here out of 

 the question. In this condition the head and the neck are always but 

 little " drawn in " as to the " gather" attitude, it no longer exists. It 

 is therefore natural that the animal should be less supple, harder on 

 the hand, less manageable, and that the means of utilizing him should 

 be fewer and less diversified. 



How, then, can he, if he be constantly worked in the shafts, acquire, 

 in a lasting degree, the attitude and qualities required for the riding ser- 

 vice ? All attempts made in this direction, meaning confusion for him, 

 will succeed only in spoiling him, so that the time will come when in 

 all respects he will only be an ordinary horse ; not only will he have 

 learned almost nothing, but he certainly will have lost with regard to 

 the aptitude in which he formerly gave the most satisfaction. We 

 understand and approve the sportsman who refuses to lend his favorite 

 horse to others, and who obliges his servant to lead him by the hand 

 when any accidental occurrence prevents his customary outing with the 

 owner on his back. Nothing is easier than to notice, in the case of a 



