142 METHOD OF HORSEMANSHIP. 



the superior vigor of the fore parts, the 

 motions of these parts, which receive the 

 shock and give the bound, in each case be- 

 come powerless, and in consequence render 

 the movement irregular.* There is, then, 



* I am not of the opinion of those connoisseurs who 

 imagine that the qualities of the horse, as well as his 

 speed in trotting, depend principally on the height of his 

 withers. I think that, for the horse to be stylish and 

 regular in his movements, the croup should be on a level 

 with the withers ; such was the construction of the old 

 English horses. A certain kind of horses, very much d la 

 mode, called steppers, are constructed after an entirely 

 different fashion ; they strike out with their fore legs, and 

 drag their hind parts after them. Horses with a low 

 croup, or with withers very high in proportion to their 

 croup, were preferred by horsemen of the old school, and 

 are still in favor nowadays among amateur horsemen. 

 The German horsemen have an equally marked predilec- 

 tion for this sort of formation, although it is contrary to 

 strength of the croup, to the equilibrium of the horse, 

 and to the regular play of his feet and legs. This fault 



