REVIEW— PRACTICAL HORSEMANSHIP. 
409 
of action. His step should be light, as if he was stepping on hot 
iron; perfectly quiet and placid, yet so free, that a motion of the 
leg, or a sound from the mouth, is enough to set him going. He 
should take to the trot or canter at once, on the proper indication 
from the rider ; have a light delicate mouth ; and be so handy, that 
the rider, with his reins in one hand only, could, by a turn of the 
wrist or the pressure of a finger, twist and turn him in any direc- 
tion. In his walk, he must step fast and gracefully. His canter 
should be elegance itself. And if with these he can trot hand- 
somely at the rate of a dozen miles an hour, it is fast enough ; and 
on such a horse I consider a man is carried like a gentleman on 
the road.” 
Speaking of “bits” and “ bit-makers,” Harry Hieover has de- 
tected an error they (the latter) are very apt to run into when applied 
to, to alter or change a curb-bit for a runaway horse. To render the 
bit “ more powerful ” they lengthen its leverage ; and in so doing, 
not content with making the lower branch longer, they must like- 
wise increase the length of the upper one ; “ doing which he cer- 
tainly made a larger bit, but diminished (instead of increased) the 
effect of the lever ; for lengthening the upper branch, only made 
the curb chain act higher up the hind part of the jaw, and, to 
make that purchase equivalent to the former bit, a longer lever 
below was necessary. Now, had he diminished the height above 
from two and a quarter inches to less than two, and added two to 
the lever below, the horse’s mouth, if properly curbed, would have 
been in all but a vice.” 
With this extract we shall conclude. We have, we feel quite sure, 
given specimen enough to convince those least acquainted with our 
friend Harry, that in the present work he has, to say the least of it, 
been “riding his hobby.” Never has he been more “at home;” 
— never more felicitous in his attempts to please, while he has 
laboured to render himself useful as a guide to the tyro horse- 
man. To the man who is beginning to ride, and who is desirous 
of being able, creditably and without risk of danger, to do so, 
the present little work, aiming only at teaching the truly useful 
in riding, will prove a valuable acquisition. 
3 I 
VOL. XXIII. 
