LECTURES ON HOUSES. 
345 
so much to do in inciting the walk, while they restrain the shuffle, 
and prevent any attempt at a trot. Such a horse, bad or no walker 
as he is, will shew no natural deformity : his make will be that 
calculated to produce good walking, and he will perform faultlessly 
in his trot, and most likely in his gallop as well ; all which will 
go to shew that his walking pace is bad through mismanagement, 
and not from natural incapacity. His walking, however, may not 
be destroyed ; it may, by the method of riding, be but altered. 
From being a free and far stepper he becomes a short stepper, 
dwelling upon his steps in consequence of being reined in, prolong- 
ing his stays , and thus, altogether, altered in his walking action 
from what he originally was, affording an example of what may 
be accomplished through difference of riding. Foreign-bred horses 
step short by nature ; nor is it possible, I believe, through any sys- 
tem of manege, to make them step a V Angloise : they manifest a 
good deal of action in lift — throw their legs about much — have a 
longer stay than our horses, and put down their feet too little in 
advance of the spots from which they were lifted to make much 
progress. Again ; stepping short, either by nature or from habit, 
must be distinguished from the short, tender, or cramped step of 
the horse that has been for any length of time in a state of disuse, 
or standing in the stable without exercise, as well as from that of 
the foundered or groggy horse. In cases where any doubt exists 
in the mind of the examiner, whether the short-stepping walk 
proceed from one cause or the other, a trot will commonly dispel it, 
and exhibit the case in its veritable light. 
The LIFT of the foot in walking may be insufficient, or it may 
be greater than is required for the purpose of progression. In the 
former case, the horse will be likely to hit his toe against any 
stone or prominence in his way, occasioning him to stumble ; and 
through the effort he makes with the opposite fore leg to save him- 
self, will run great risk of again faltering and falling ; the foot 
coming to the rescue of the other, not perhaps prepared to come 
flatly down, descending upon its toe, upon which the imposition of 
weight is sure to cause knuckling over, and so down inevitably the 
horse must come. But there may be too much lift — over much 
action in the air : the animal may in his walk even, and more still 
in his trot, throw his legs about, cross them probably, in that manner 
that he makes but short advances in progression, being after all 
but a slow walker, and moreover is extremely likely to strike one 
leg with the opposite foot, either at the fetlock or beneath the knee, 
the latter being what is called speedy-cut. Independently how- 
ever of the liability to strike, it by no means follows, because 
a horse has high or free action in his walk, ergo, that he is a safe 
walker. Some of the foreign horses are any thing but secure 
