22 THE HORSE. 



elevated to the same height, without painfully interfer- 

 ing with the action and power of all parts of the body. 

 How unseemly and how barbarous is it, then, for some 

 ignorant trainers, riders, and diirers, to screw up all 

 the horses, no matter how diversified their shapes, that 

 unfortunately fall into theu' hands, to the same point, 

 for the pm-pose of gi^ang them what they are pleased 

 to call a graceful carnage ! Do such people ever 

 imagine that gi-acefulness results from a peculiar and 

 appropriate adaptation of the different parts of the 

 animal to each other, and not from a partial distortion, 

 such as we often see exhibited under the influence of 

 the heavy bit, or that most brutal invention, the bear- 

 ing-rein ? Were it not for its cnielty, it would be very 

 amusing to obsenT the manner in which some men 

 in riding or di'iving prop themselves up, for the pur- 

 pose of pulling, with might and main, at the poor ani- 

 mals' mouths, in the foohsh hope of being thus able to 

 keep them from falling, at the same time that they ren- 

 der them so much more attractive to the passers by. 

 Their task is certainly a very anxious and laborious 

 one, and, if persevered in, it is sm^e to end with broken 

 knees, and, perhaps, a broken nose. The horse is 

 placed in such an unnatural position, that his enthe ac- 

 tion is interfered with, and he gets such a habit of 

 leaning on his bit, instead of watching for himself, that 

 he is nearly certain of dropping the first moment his 

 governor forgets the pulling process. A sweet rein, 



