24 



allium or alUon, and which, as it was not in any sense a slioe, could not 

 affect materially the inductions of tlie experinient. Choosing the dryest. 

 part of the read, I airived at Maidenhead about two o'clock, for in all 

 my experiments I found it made a very great difference indeed, whether 

 the roads were wet or dry, the foot sliding about in the wet caused the 

 wear to be greatly increased, in coming to the ground, the foot would 

 slide forward, and in leaving the ground backward again, which the dry 

 ground, by retaining the hoof firudy at once, did not occasion; this 

 farther exteusion of the journey she did without material inconvenience; 

 but her feet by the wetness of the road were rendered very supple, so that 

 their e;cpansion at the heels and quarters was rendered plainly evident 

 to the eye. She also, with nearly every horse I ever possessed, favoured 

 the near leg: this appeared here to arise from an injury done to the point 

 of the Shoulder from a kick, or soine carelessness or negligence in hei-; 

 brino-ing up, from gates or doors left half shut, or violence of some kind. 

 The frequency of the near or left limb being affected more than the right, 

 I do not undertake to account for; but notice it as a remarkable fact. 

 wish to attract people's attention to these objects in buying young horses, 

 and put them on their guard, as they are led to suppose from their youth 

 tbatthey must infalliblybe sound, and surrender their understandings too 

 easily on these subjects. 



As I had in view, in these experiments, the restoration of my injiired 

 health, as well as the experiments themselves, so I often dismounted in 

 the course of the journey, and walked by the side of my horse, to relieve 

 myself, and to observe various things I wished to know. In doing this 

 I was led to remark the natural and unconquerable dislike that horses 

 have to being led by the head; persons ignorant of this, are often ofTending 

 their horses, and by endeavouring to enforce obedience in what seems so 

 simple a measure, get completely foiled and out of humour, and employ per- 

 haps a good deal of unmerited abuse ; for, the more the horse's head is puUed, 

 the more disposition does he exhibit to run back; the pressure of the head- 

 stall upon the foretop is perhaps one cause of this, and also perhaps from 

 its being the very opposite means to what he has been taught to move for- 

 ward with, and the bits in the mouth acting against the upper, instead of 

 the lower jaw. He soon was taught to follow me, or run agreeably by my 

 side, by keeping always a slack rein, and with a whip behind me in my 

 left band having a lash of some length, with which I could, without bis 



