236 THE HORSE. 



of the question, and any excitement by the voice or heel increases 

 the jog into a full trot, without passing through any intermediate 

 stage. The difficulty consists in the fact that for a perfect walk 

 the head must be at liberty, and when this is allowed to a generous 

 horse, he is inclined to go off at a rate faster than suffices for the 

 pace in question. The only plan, therefore, is to ride such horses 

 quietly, till they are leg weary, whatever the number of hours may 

 be required, and then it is possible to loose their heads without 

 their taking advantage of the liberty to go off " aii score.'' In- 

 deed, in the walk, the head should never be much confined, and 

 yet the rider should not entirely leave it uncontrolled; the finest 

 possible touch is enough, so that on any trip the hand is at once 

 informed of it by the drop of the head, when, by a sudden jerk of 

 the bridle, not too forcible, it rouses the horse, and prevents his 

 falling. It is not that he is kept up by pulHng the rein, but that 

 he is roused by it and made to exert himself, for many horses seem 

 regardless of falls, and would be down twenty times a day if they 

 were not stimulated by the heel and bit. Confinement of the head 

 in the walk is absolutely injurious, and more frequently causes a 

 fall than saves one. A good walker will go on nodding his head 

 to each step, more or less as it is a long or a short one; and if this 

 nodding is prevented by the heavy hand of the rider, the fore-foot 

 is not properly stretched forward, the step is crippled, and very 

 often the toe strikes the ground; when, if the head were at liberty, 

 it would clear it well. In horses which are apt to stumble in the 

 walk, I have generally found that a loose rein, with the curb held 

 ready for a check, is the safest plan ; and then the horse soon finds 

 that he is punished the moment he stumbles, and in a very short 

 time he learns to recover himself almost before he is reminded. 

 I do not like the spur or the whip so well, because the use of either 

 makes the horse spring forward, and often blunder again in his 

 hurry to avoid this kind of punishment. The check of the curb, 

 on the other hand, makes him recover himself without extra 

 progress, or rather by partially stopping him, and thus he is better 

 able to avoid his fall. The body is allowed to yield slightly to the 

 motions of the horse, but not to waddle from side to side, as is 

 sometimes seen. Some horses do not stir the rider at all, while 

 others throw him about and fatigue him greatly; and this may 

 generally be foretold when the tail sways much from side to side 

 in the walk, which is caused by the over-long stride of the horse, 

 a very desirable accomplishment in the race-horse or hunter, but 

 not in the hack. 



The jog trot is a pace that there is seldom any difficulty in 

 effecting, and on the contrary, as I have just observed, the rider is 

 often engaged for hours or days in breaking the young horse of it. 



The regular trot is generally easy to produce, but f Dmetimea 



