118 THE HORSE. 



sters are worn out, or broken down, or otherwise disqualified 

 animals of higlier caste, which, because they have once held a 

 better, are still supposed equal to a secondary situation, when 

 they are in truth fit for none, and are dangerous in any posi- 

 tion. 



To this admirable quality of the American horse, which, 

 from what cause soever it arises, cannot be doubted or disputed, 

 must be added his extreme good temper and docility, in which 

 he unquestionably excels any other horse in the world. I can 

 give no reason for this want of vice ; but there it is — a fixed and 

 established fact. From the first childhood of the animal, until 

 he is fully put to work, he requires little or no breaking, and 

 for the most part receives none — ^unless he shows qualities, 

 which promise such speed or endurance as to render it advisable 

 to break, or rather to train, him as a trotter. And when this is 

 done, it is for the purpose of developing his powers, getting him 

 to exert himself to the utmost, and teaching him how to move 

 to the best advantage ; and not to render him submissive, easy 

 of management, or gentle to be handled. 



Such a thing as a professional horse-breaker is unknown ; 

 colts are rarely, if ever, put upon the breaking bits, lounged or 

 subjected to any of the processes of handling, without which 

 the young horse of Europe is, in nine cases out of ten, particu- 

 larly if he have any pure blood in his veins, a wild, headstrong, 

 ungovernable, and almost indomitable savage. 



There is scarcely ever any difficulty in saddling, in har- 

 nessing, in backing, or in inducing him to go. He may be awk- 

 ward at first, uncouth, shy and timid, but one may say never 

 violent, splenetic, and fierce ; never making those wild bounds 

 and plunges by which he strives resolutely to divest himself 

 of his trappings, and to get rid of his rider, as one almost in- 

 variably sees a young animal do in Europe, while in the break- 

 er's hands. 



It is true that they are treated for the most part with supe- 

 rior judgment and greater humanity in the United States, un- 

 less in very exceptional instances ; that the whip is little used, 

 and the spur almost unknown ; but the whole of this remarka- 

 ble diflPerence in temper, on the part of the American horse, 

 cannot be attributed to the diflPerence of treatment, for it cer- 



