Seals. 91 



should observe this in difficult cases, and try to find out, 

 which he soon can, with which hind leg he should rise 

 or fall : men who have this instinct are able to ti-of- 

 horses that perfectly good riders fail with. 



Lieutenant-Colonel von Oeynhausen tells us* that the 

 veterinary surgeon Trager, of the famous stud at Tra- 

 kehnen, has observed that the near hind and off fore 

 legs of most horses are stronger than the other two ; 

 and he attributes some well-known but hitherto seem- 

 ingly inexplicable facts in connection with horses to 

 this circumstance — as, for instance, that they naturally 

 prefer, in cantering and galloping, to lead with the near 

 leg, the weight being then supported by the two strong- 

 est limbs (near hind, off fore) ; that spavin occurs more 

 frequently on the off than the near side ; and that horses 

 in wheeling about through restiveness always do so to 

 the left, on the near hind leg, etc. Mr. Trager advances 

 in support of his views the well-known fact that men's 

 right arms and left legs are naturally most relied on, 

 being also stronger ; and he believes this to be the case 

 with very many other animals — dogs, for instance, whose 

 method of going diagonally seems to prove it. Now it 

 is quite possible that this is also the cause of what has 

 been alluded to above — namely, that in trotting after 

 the English fashion the horse endeavors to accommo- 

 date the strong and weak pairs of legs to the rise and 

 fall of the rider in the saddle ; and if so, it is worth the 

 attention of practical men. 



It is, however, quite clear that if we desire to train 

 horses to perfectly equal action on both sides — as is 

 necessary for military purposes, where all must be 

 brought as nearly as possible to one standard of action, 

 or for draught, where the team should trot alike — it will 



* B. von Oeynhausen, KK. Oberst-lieutenant, etc.; " Der Pferde- 

 liebhaber" (Vienna, 1865), at p. 162 — a book that cannot be too 

 highly recommended. 



