FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE 



and necessary word), he has found but limited 

 favor in the East, and none at all in foreign coun- 

 tries except in Cuba and Mexico. The reasons 

 for this are plain and logical ; simply that the 

 saddle-horse is used for separate purposes in the 

 two localities, and that his adherents in the West, 

 and his detractors in the East, are, from their point 

 of view, both right. Your easterner rides gener- 

 ally for exercise, and for the deliberate and sole 

 purpose of jolting up that sluggish liver, or les- 

 sening the pressure upon that bulging waistcoat ; 

 he is also generally an individual of limited leisure 

 and to him the trotting hack presents the quickest 

 means of attaining his end ; moreover, all his tra- 

 ditions and associations are with the English style. 

 Your westerner, generally a man of spare habit, 

 finds his pleasure in the gliding motion, the nim- 

 bleness and the ease of the gaited horse, and his 

 theories and environment blind him to the fact 

 that he is compelling his animal to pursue his 

 course at artificial paces, usually of the most tiring 

 description, the rack — the favorite pace — being 

 most severe and exhausting, since to properly per- 

 form it the animal must go well up to his (curb) 

 bit, must bend himself thoroughly, and must use 

 hocks and knees as well as shoulders and stifles. 



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