DKIVING 147 



perpetrate, we must look to the action he must have. This 

 is precisely that which, some tlity years since, would have 

 caused him to be rejected by any good judge as a " clam- 

 berer " — a style of going then considered as of the very 

 worst sort; and so, in fact, it is for use, for such goers 

 must tire. But the cab-horse is wanted for show ; so the 

 more parade he makes about what he does, the better he is 

 thought of. One animal of this sort, not long since, was 

 actually bought at seven hundred guineas, solely from his 

 lofty action. 



The learned and facetious author of " Adventures of a 

 Gentleman in Search of a Horse," whose sportive pages 

 contain more law, wit, and practical advice than scores of 

 more pretentious volumes, observes : " It is marvellous how 

 few people keep tixedly in mind the nature of tlie work 

 which they v/ill require the horse to perform. Not one horse 

 in fifty that is good under saddle is equally so in harness, 

 and vice versa. I once had a gallov/ay tliat rarely stumbled 

 in harness, though he could not have carried the best rider, 

 of feather weight, half-a-dozen miles without a sorry fall. 

 Yet he was perfectly sound, and continued sound for the 

 five years he remained in my possession.^ Many horses do 

 well in harness that are totally unsafe to carry weight ; 

 in fact, few of the most 'showy' and 'splendid' harness 

 horses of the dealers' stables are so broken until they have 

 proved their inability under saddle. For myself, I make it 

 a rule not to put a horse in my stanhope that I have not 

 taken a short trial of in saddle. When on his back, I am 

 his master ; when at his tail, he is mine ; and I like to 

 know something of his temper before I put myself in his 

 power." 



Harness work is, of course, at the same pace, much less 

 severe than weight-carrying, with a modern-built trap or 

 carriage, and good roads. It follows, therefore, that many 

 defects, unpardonable for saddle, are comparatively imma- 

 terial. Harness work, too, is done usually on the trot ; hence 

 it is of less consequence that he should walk or gallop well. 

 Still, there is no doubt that in proportion as the animal is 

 sound, and good in all his paces, his value is greater for 

 whichever service he is designed. 



Few people are very particular about driving a horse in a 

 boot, or with a blemished knee, while the blinkers will hide 

 ^ (Sir Georiie IStephen. 



