THE WALK. 141 



perly or well ; and the best walker may be rendered otherwise by 

 mismanagement, or from unsoundness, or age. That man will act 

 wisely who refuses to purchase or to have any thing to do with 

 the natural bad walker : if he cannot walk well, he cannot trot 

 well, and will most likely prove insecure in one or both paces ; and 

 though by a judicious system of manege he may and will probably 

 turn out susceptible of improvement, still he will, as I said before, 

 by no pains be convertible into a good or safe walker and trotter ; 

 and, therefore, the best counsel I can give a man who wants a 

 horse for riding purposes is, I repeat, to refuse the purchase of the 

 natural bad walker. But good walking may be destroyed or con- 

 verted into bad walking by injudicious training or riding. It is 

 surprising what a difference — a difference known only to horse- 

 men — proper and improper riding makes, even in horses that are 

 by nature excellent walkers. I have often heard my father — who 

 was a good horseman — say, he could tell when another man had 

 been riding his horse from the difference he felt (the next time he 

 rode, himself) in his horse's walking : the hand and the leg have 

 so much to do in inciting the walk, Avhile they restrain the shuffle, 

 and prevent any attempt at a trot. Such a horse, bad or no walker 

 from habit, will shew no natural deformity : his make will be that 

 calculated to produce good walking, and he will perform faultlessly 

 in his trot, and most likely in his gallop as well ; all which will 

 go to shew that his walking pace is bad through mismanagement, 

 and not from natural incapacity. His walking, however, may not 

 be destroyed ; it may, by the method of riding, be but altered. 

 From being a free and far stepper he becomes a short stepper, 

 dwelling upon his steps in consequence of being reined in, prolong- 

 ing his stays, and thus, altogether, altered in his walking action 

 from what he originally was, affording an example of what may 

 be accomplished through difference of riding. Foreign-bred horses 

 step short by nature ; nor is it possible, I believe, through any sys- 

 tem of manege, to make them step a VAngloise : they manifest a 

 good deal of action in lift — throw their legs about much — have a 

 longer stay than our horses, and put down their feet too little in 

 advance of the spots from which they were lifted to make much 

 progress. Again ; stepping short, either by nature or from habit, 

 must be distinguished from the short, tender, or cramped step of 



