70 THEORY OF MOUTHING. 



should be perfect harmony between the respective action of 

 both fore and hind limbs, and even of each separate limb. 

 In the ordinary course of turning the saddle horse, for 

 instance, it is therefore illogical to act only on the mouth ; 

 for by doing so, the tendency will be to cause the hind legs 

 to revolve round the pivot formed by the fore ones, which 

 bear the greater proportion of weight, instead of the revolu- 

 tion being made by both pairs of legs on a pivot somewhere 

 between them. Riders who attempt to guide the horse 

 entirely by the reins treat him as if he had only one end, 

 namely the forehand. An admirable illustration of the 

 evil results of this incapable method is afforded by the 

 trick many horses have acquired, when they refuse or run 

 out, of yielding only the head and neck to the pull of the 

 reins, and not, as they ought to do, bringing their hind- 

 quarters round at the same time. It is manifest that the 

 control of the head and neck which the rider has in Fig. i, 

 is of no use to him in putting the horse straight to the fence, 

 so long as the animal retains command over the action of 

 his hind legs. The horse which has been taught to answer 

 the pull of the rein with both ends of his body will, on the 

 contrary, in the event of shying off or refusing to the left, 

 turn his hind-quarters round to the left at the same time as 

 his head is pulled to the right by his rider, and will thus 

 place the direction of his body at right angles to the 

 obstacle, as in Fig. 2. 



As the conformation of the horse meets his grazing 

 requirements as well as his locomotive ones ; we find, as a 

 rule, that for saddle purposes he is too heavy in front. 

 The goat, being a browsing animal, appears to be much 



