THE PASSAGE BACKWARD 



backward cannot be other than very limited. Very 

 few esquires have ever obtained the movement. I 

 know of only Baucher and Fillis, and even they 

 with only two or three horses each. Moreover, it 

 is absurd for any one to think that any horse can 

 do the backward gallop really well for more than a 

 few strides, because of the great energy demanded. 



I give (Figures 42, 43) as illustrations of the 

 movement, Fillis mounted upon " Germinal,'* and 

 myself upon "Why-Not," in order that the reader 

 may compare the leg action of the two horses at 

 the same gait. " Germinal" is fifteen hands, three 

 inches high: "Why-Not" is sixteen hands, three 

 inches. Although the backward gallop is the last 

 refinement of equilibrium possible to the horse, it 

 is in itself pleasant neither for the horse nor for the 

 spectator. "Why-Not" is the fourth animal from 

 which I have obtained it, not for my own satisfac- 

 tion, but for the sake of making a picture for this 

 book, in which I set forth nothing that I have not 

 myself done. 



And now, finally, at the end of this last chapter 

 on horse gymnastics, I beg the reader to review the 

 illustrations, and to compare the several pictures of 

 "Why-Not" before his training and at the various 

 stages of his development during the course and at 

 the end. These photographs prove amply the mus- 

 cular improvement accomplished during the horse's 

 education. 



307 



