HANDLING AND BREAKING. 235 



would not wittinEjly have done, with ladies 

 on board, for untold gold. 



But once I did pretty much the same thing 

 on Dartmoor, knowing what I was about. 

 A friend wanted to catch a train, the nearest 

 station then being at Horrabridge, seven miles 

 off. I said : " Well, I have only a pony 

 mare here Avhich is very quiet in saddle, 

 but so far as I knoAv has never been driven ; 

 if you like to chance it, I don't mind." 

 Chance it he did, and we accomplished the 

 journey in safety, down some steepish hills 

 too. Still this is not a sort of thing I 

 should recommend ; the results in either 

 case might easily have been A^ery different. 

 I cite these instances merely to show how 

 readily some good-tempered horses, when 

 quietly handled, will adapt themselves to 

 unaccustomed circumstances . 



So much depends upon the temperament 

 of the individual animal. Lately I had two 

 nice ponies, a black gelding and a bay mare, 



