80 A YOUNG JOCK AND AN OLD PHENOMENON. 



The fact is, he cannot walk at the rate of three miles 

 an hour without putting his muscles to their utmost 

 stretch : he would tire at the pace in a walk in a 

 quarter of a mile ; whereas he will trot along cheer- 

 fully at an increased rate of going, and gambol before 

 you into the bargain. Eeasoning by analogy, the 

 horse finds out the same thing, and this so often 

 induces him voluntarily to endeavour to canter in 

 harness. In my humble opinion, trotters much 

 oftener rise in their trot from distress than people 

 fancy, who are apt to impute their doing so to im- 

 patience. It may be in one sense of the word from 

 this feeling, but it is not from impatience to go faster ; 

 for, probably from habit, such horses as Dutchman, 

 Confidence, Wanky, and many others, can trot a mile 

 nearly as fast as they could gallop it : it is impatience 

 under the aches and pains they feel in their limbs 

 and muscles from having been kept at their top speed 

 for a length of time, which they try to ease by 

 breaking into a change. It is difficult to get some 

 irritable horses to settle to the trot at first, and im- 

 patience of temper causes this : but when old prac- 

 tised horses, such as I have mentioned, after having 

 settled to their pace, do rise, I am quite satisfied it 

 generally arises from the cause I mention. I may be 

 wrong : but such has ever been my opinion. 



As some proof of this, when quite a young 

 boy I was put on old Phenomenon, whose owner 

 assured a gentleman present that, from practice in 

 her trot, and never being allowed to be cantered or 

 galloped, she positively could trot at a greater rate 

 of speed than she could gallop. Whether this was 

 the case or not I cannot say, but I will state what 

 occurred ; the reader will then draw what inference 



