68 BREAKING. 
made to walk and trot, turning right and left at the will of the 
rider, and cantered straight; and when so much is accom- 
plished, the colt may be considered sufficiently advanced to 
commence training—before which the tackling should be 
removed and a smaller bridle substituted. 
With regard to the age at which horses should be broke 
and ridden, it should be said at the outset that various and 
conflicting opinions are held on the subject. But though the 
question is often mooted, I think it is seldom discussed to 
a practical conclusion. 
On this point the naturalist Buffon says, in speaking 
of the horse, “ When two, or two and a half years old, they 
are mounted, never having before that period been either 
saddled or bridled.” He is here evidently speaking of the 
Arab, for he goes on to say, “ Every day from morning till 
night all the Arabian horses stand saddled at the tent doors.” 
Again he says, “At the age of three, or three and a half, we 
should begin to dress the colts to render them tractable.” 
And after giving special instructions for their care and culture, 
the author proceeds to say, “ They may then be mounted and 
dismounted without making them walk till they are four years 
old ; for before that period a horse has not strength enough to 
walk with a rider on his back ; but at four years old they may 
be walked or trotted at intervals.” 
If the natural strength of the horse has been here faithfully 
depicted, how weak they must have keen in the last century 
as compared with the horses of the present day! 
His description is corroborated in a very striking manner by 
Cuvier some fifty years later. In his “Animal Kingdom” 
he says, speaking of colts: “At three they are fit to be 
handled and accustomed tosome management.” How totally 
altered is the practice of to-day! For we know that they 
can not only be ridden without hurt hefore three years old, 
