140 FORM AND ACTION. 



It is easier to point out defects in a horse's walking than to define 

 in what good or proper walking should consist — like many other 

 things, we know it when we see it, but we hardly know how to 

 describe it. Good walking will be found one thing in the cart- 

 horse, another thing in the hackney or hunter, and a third thing 

 in the race-horse ; and no one or single description will apply to 

 the walks of all three breeds or kinds of horses. Again, foreign 

 horses — Arabians, Spaniards, Dongolas, &c. walk in quite a dif- 

 ferent style from British horses. There is a variation in the walk 

 even beyond this. Two hackneys or riding horses will not walk 

 alike, though both may be acknowledged to walk well : one will 

 have the true hackney action, the sharp or quick lift, the grace- 

 ful turn in the stay, and the flat and firm grounding of the foot, 

 which we all so much admire, and which by writers in general on 

 this subject is described as the proper manner in which a horse 

 should walk, as though there were no other ; while the other 

 hackney — displaying perhaps more breeding — will, race-horse 

 like, lift more leisurely, and, instead of twirling his foot, will cast it 

 pointedly forward in a horizontal line, and place it daintily upon 

 the ground, as if he took every pains to do so with precision ; and 

 withal will step, perhaps, with perfect safety, and advance as fast 

 as the quick-actioned hackney. Supposing, therefore, we assume 

 good walking to consist in speed and safety, adding thereto even 

 elegance or gracefulness, there are manifestly two, if not more, 

 ways of accomplishing it ; and these two, being so different, are 

 sufficient to set at defiance any single rule we may lay down for 

 its performance, or any single definition we may give of it. So 

 that a horse's walk be neither slow nor unsafe, nor (to the rider) 

 uneasy, we shall not widely err in regarding it as good, let it be 

 performed in whatsoever manner it may. However fast it may be, 

 if insecure, it is seriously faulty ; and though fast and safe, still, 

 if rough or unpleasant to the rider, it is objectionable. In fine, the 

 walk of a horse should be estimated rather by its effects and pro- 

 ducts than by the manner or method in which the animal per- 

 forms it. 



Faulty or defective walking may proceed from various 

 causes. It may be natural or acquired. A horse may be so 

 formed that all the pains in the world cannot make him walk pro- 



