166 THE HORSE. 



considerable, To put the horse into a canter, a touch 

 of the left heel and a gentle pull of the right rein, for 

 which the right hand may be used, is the proper 

 method. The canter is a natural pace, in which the 

 off or right foot takes the lead, though horses, when 

 they come to be worked, will lead indifferently with 

 either foot, and change from one to the other to 

 ease themselves, in either canter or gallop: and, 

 though the canter be a natural pace, which all foals, 

 whilst at large, are seen to practise, yet many, when 

 brought into use, seem to have forgotten it, or to- 

 practise it reluctantly and require to be accustomed 

 to it, in which case they should be used to lead na- 

 turally with the off foot. There are trotting hacks 

 and cantering hacks, that is to say, from inclination 

 or use; comparatively few of the latter willingly con- 

 tinue the pace to any great distance, and it is, per- 

 haps the most unsafe of all the paces, unless the nag 

 be very adroit at it and a naturally safe goer. In 

 the canter the horse should proceed in a straight 

 line, and not in the sideways or crab-canter, a habit 

 chiefly with battered hacks; after all, however, to 

 speak of seasoned horses, the mode of performing the 

 canter is better left to themselves, granting they per- 

 form it with ease and safety. A steady cantering 

 hack will start into that pace from the walk, either 

 habitually, or from a concerted signal between him- 

 self and his rider; my old signal was tapping the 

 horse's neck with the but end of the whip, and a 

 horse may be accustomed to drop from the canter 

 immediately into the walk ; but the trot is the most 

 natural and safe pace from which either to commence 

 or finish the canter. 



