306 NATURAL SIS TOST. 



but that the method of training and perseverance of the latter have produced the best and fastest 

 trotters. He entirely disputes the idea of the trot being an artificial action of a Horse, and the 

 common notion that the only two natural paces of that animal are the walk and the gallop ; 

 and in vindication of his theory he asks, " Whether a colt can now be found anywhere that does 

 not trot sometimes, and that when he is by the side of his dam, before ever the hand of a man has 

 been laid upon him? If it is said that this results from the long domestication of his ancestors, 

 my reply will be that it happens among the produce of Horses whose ancestors for more than 

 two centuries have never been used for trotting, and were never taught to trot at all, if it is true 

 that the Arabs of the desert only use their Horses at the two so-called natural paces, the walk and 

 the gallop." He further remarks that other animals trot when wild, such as the wild Asses, Zebras, 

 and Quaggas, as well as the Deer and the Elk. He therefore considers that the most careful attention 

 should be given to the training of a young colt for trotting purposes ; and that, for a Horse to 

 become a trotter, he should at the early age of two years be broken in with a view to that pur- 

 pose especially, while his gallop or walk should, so to speak, be kept in the background. His 

 education altogether extends over several years, as both speed and durability have to be considered 

 in his capabilities ; sometimes he reaches the age of seven years before his finest powers can be de- 

 veloped. Some of the fastest English trotters go at the rate of a mile in three minutes ; while the 

 quickest in America, according to Mr. Woodruff, take only two minutes and twenty-five seconds, 

 or thereabouts, to do the same distance. The Trotting Horse has now become a product of great 

 commercial value to the Americans. 



THE DRAY HORSE. The huge Dray Horse, in its massive form and ponderous strength, and 

 slowness of gait, forms a striking contrast to the Racer and the Trotting Horse. It is as admirably 

 fitted for the slow carriage of heavy weights as the two last are for their elegant swiftness. It is as 

 good an example of the results of judicious selection on the part of man, for a definite purpose, as can 

 be offered by the study of any of the domestic animals. 



THE SHETLAND PONY. The smallest variety of Horses in the British Islands is the Shetland 

 Pony, which averages seven or eight hands in height, but yet is wonderfully strong, and capable of 

 enduring an immense amount of fatigue. Its wild, shaggy mane gives it somewhat the appearance, 

 as has been remarked, of a Skye Terrier. It is mischievous and skittish, and generally harder to ride 

 than a full-sized Horse. 



THE ARAB AND THE BARB. The two principal varieties of foreign Horses which are important 

 for us to consider are the Arab and the Barb. The Arab would not be acknowledged by every one 

 to be perfect in form. The head, however, is inimitable. "The broadness and sqiiareness of the 

 forehead," writes Youatt, "the smallness of the ears, the prominence and brilliancy of the eye, 

 the shortness and fineness of the muzzle, the width of the nostril, the thinness of the lower jaw, 

 and the beautifully-developed course of the veins, will always characterise the head of the Arabia 

 Horse. The body of the Arab may, perhaps, be considered as too light, and his chest too narrow : 

 but behind the arms the barrel generally swells out, and leaves sufficient room for the play of the 

 lungs. The neck of the Arabian is long and arched, and beautifully joined to the chest. In the 

 formation of the shoulder, next to that of the head, the Arab is superior to any other breed. The 

 withers are high, and the shoulder-blade has its proper inclination backwards. It is also thickly 

 clothed with muscle, but without the slightest appearance of heaviness. The fineness of his leg 

 and the oblique position of the pasterns, might be supposed by the uninitiated to lessen his apparent 

 strength ; but the leg, although small, is deep, and composed of bone of the densest character. The 

 tendons are sufficiently distinct from the bone, and the starting muscles of the fore-arm and the thigl 

 indicate that he is fully capable of accomplishing many of the feats that are recorded of hir 

 It is an error," continues Youatt, "into which almost every writer on the history of the Horse 

 has fallen, that the Arabian is bred in the arid deserts, and owes the power of endurance whicl 

 he possesses in his adult state to the hardships which he endured while he was a colt. The real fa 

 is, that the Arabs select for their breeding-places some of those delightful spots, known only in countrie 

 like these, where, though all may be dry and barren around, there is pasture unrivalled for its succi 

 lence, and its nutritious or aromatic properties. The powers of the young animal are afterwa 

 developed, as they alone could be, by the mingled influence of plentiful and healthy food, and sufficient 



