FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE 



most of the time at a canter or jog-trot, a two- 

 hundred-pound man, a fifty-pound saddle, blank- 

 ets, " slicker " rope, pin, etc., about one-half his 

 own body-weight, and this on grass alone, and of 

 that only what he can pick up at intervals ; the 

 tiny burro lugs two-thirds his own weight and 

 often more ; yet we demand twelve hundred 

 pounds of horse, high fed and fairly bred, to carry 

 two hundred and fifty pounds of man and equip- 

 ments for an hour or two's gentle ride, or for a 

 forty-minute hand-gallop, with checks thrown in, 

 after hounds! Is there any reason in that? 

 Surely not, and in buying these huge horses 

 heavy men are seeking false types, and at unnec- 

 essary expense ; while in the fortunate lighter 

 divisions the separations into the different grades 

 of carrying ability are purely arbitrary, and use- 

 ful for show purposes only. Any horse that will 

 carry one hundred and sixty pounds properly 

 will handle one hundred and eighty pounds 

 just as well during the brief periods of use, 

 especially if the rider does what any thinking 

 man will, and slips off his gallant companion's 

 back at every check, — a feat which the tall horse 

 usually precludes. English types and require- 

 ments are different from ours, and we are neg- 



162 



