CHINKED BACK. 81 



saddle she carried. She would gallop and leap 

 very cleverly for a brust of ten minutes ; but 

 after that she tired at once, nor would she recover 

 that day. She was tried a few times, always with 

 the same result. She was sent to Tattersall's. I 

 often afterwards saw her in the Park : there she 

 was at home, and there, like many other impo- 

 sitions on the public, looked a personage of great 

 consequence. I have no doubt, in this case, the 

 crouching was the effect of some latent injury to 

 the back or loins, and this it was that tired her 

 when put to continued strong exertion. 



" It is of no consequence," or " He feels no 

 pain from it," are opinions very prevalent with 

 many owners as regards their horses ; and these 

 opinions are often strenuously maintained without 

 being able to bring forward one good reason in 

 support of them; the horse no doubt would, if 

 he could, tell a diiferent story. They do not 

 pretend to be ill, lame, or in pain, from affecta- 

 tion or cowardice. As a case in point : 



A friend of mine once told me that a favourite 

 horse had contracted a habit, within a few weeks, 

 of always putting one foot forwards ; he was 

 " not lame or in any pain ;" was it not odd? jN^ot 

 particularly so, said I ; and there it ended. A 

 day or two afterwards I called on my friend, and 

 was shown the horse. There he was, sure enough, 

 nursing this favourite foot or leg under the 

 G 



