CARRIAGE HORSES. 81 



fact, I would advise that a trial should be made, and the 

 purchaser become his own judge ; for which purpose have 

 them hitched to a carriage, aud driven several times up and 

 down the steepest hill that the road may cross, which is 

 most convenient. If they have any tricks, or are not true 

 draft horses, it can be readily discovered. Next, for the 

 purpose of discovering if they have ever been alarmed in 

 harness, frequently open and shut the carriage door, also 

 move and rattle the steps. If they have ever been fright- 

 ened in harness you will very soon be compelled to desist j 

 then by coming to their front, and with attention observ- 

 ing their ears and eyes, you will be informed to your en- 

 tire satisfaction if they are safe. Horses that have been 

 once alarmed in harness, so soon as they hear any rattling 

 noise behind them, begin to grow restless, sinking or squat- 

 ting behind, holding the head high, snorting, fetching long 

 breaths, moving the ears with great quickness, at the same 

 time showing the whites of their eyes. Let me warn the 

 reader against the purchase of such horses : they are unfit 

 and unsafe for the use of a family. 



Horses for harness, that are fiery and fretful, are very 

 objectionable, and should always be avoided; but great 

 care should be taken to distinguish between animals of this 

 description and those that are eager and spirited ; the for- 

 mer begin to prance and fret the moment they are out of 

 the stable, until they exhaust themselves with fatigue; but 

 the latter endeavor only to be first in the chase, or fore- 

 most in the field, and are truly valuable ; possessing those 

 qualities that resemble prudence and courage ; the others, 

 intemperate heat and rashness. Whenever carriage horses 

 are driven, they should be moved off fifteen or twenty steps 

 in a slow walk, without the cracking or flourishing of a whip, 

 which is so much the custom, and which is very frequently 



