AUSTRALIAN HORSES. 67 



liimdred miles, doing from thirty to fifty miles 

 daily, lie will walk four and a-half miles an 

 hour. In fact a bushman knows to a mile how 

 far he has gone by consulting his watch only, 

 for he is able to tell through experience the 

 pace his horse is walking at, just in the same 

 way that a jockey judges the speed of his race- 

 horse. At all the largest horse-shows in the 

 Australian Colonies, special prizes are given for 

 the best walking horses. 



To teach a horse to walk well is a very 

 easy matter, only requiring patience, time, and 

 a certain amount of knack. The reins must 

 not be drawn up tightly, but on the contrary 

 they must be slack, and only so drawn up as 

 just to feel the colt's mouth and no more. A 

 horse cannot extend himself and walk fast if 

 he has not his head, which holds good with re- 

 spect to any pace, for a horse can neither gallop, 

 trot, or walk at his best, if his head is confined. 

 When commencing to teach a horse to walk, 

 the only thing to be done is to prevent him 

 from indulging in the jig-jog ; and to prevent 



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