252 A CTION, HA NDINESS A ND CLE VERNESS. 



ground. A race-horse should, like a ballet dancer, move as 

 if he had no knees. I may, however, qualify my praise of 

 low action by remarking that a horse who bends his knees a 

 little, is better suited for going up a hill, than a " daisy 

 cutter " ; as his " round " style of going will aid him in climb- 

 ing the ascent. Heavy shoes on the feet have a marked 

 infiuence in making horses go "high" in all their paces, a 

 fact which has been largely utilised by American trainers in 

 regulating the action of their trotters. As this tendency is 

 detrimental to the speed of race-horses, light tips of suffi- 

 cient substance to stand wear, should, as pointed out to me 

 by Mr. Tom Jennings, the well known trainer, be much more 

 extensively employed, than they are at present. In India, 

 where but very little rain falls during the racing season, I have 

 trained and run many of the horses I have had in my stable, 

 without shoes of any kind. I have mentioned on p. 83, 

 that curb bits are objectionable for use with race-horses, on 

 account of their tendency to make horses gallop " round," or 

 to "fight" in their action. In the former case, the animal 

 will carry his head low and bring his chin into his chest with 

 the object of transferring the pressure, as much as possible, 

 to his poll, over which the head-piece of his bridle passes, 

 and will consequently bend his knees too much. In the latter 

 case, the animal will keep his head stuck up in the air, 

 probably, in the vain attempt to get his jaw away from the 

 painful contact of the curb chain. 



If we observe a "true" galloper, we may note that he 

 holds his head and neck in a more or less uniform position 

 [see pp. 84 and 85), so as to enable the muscles of the neck to 

 work in a machine-like manner. 



The hind legs, at the gallop, should be brought well for- 



