57° 
E. A. A. GRANGE. 
In pronouncing upon the action of a horse as being good or 
bad, due consideration must again be given to the use the animal 
is intended for, because what might be looked upon as good 
action for one class of work, would appear rather indifferent foi 
some other ; take the saddle horse, and it is hard for the writer 
to conceive a more agreeable way of covering the ground than 
upon the back ol a horse that has a nice long easy swing in the 
trot, going rather close to the ground, but with sufficient knee 
action to carry the toe well clear of all irregularities in the road 
bed, this with energy and moderate speed, goes a long way 
towards the make up of a good saddle horse ; but the same style 
in a coach horse would hardly pass muster if intended for fash¬ 
ionable city driving ; in addition to this (for saddle work) we 
must have the horse to canter nicely, with a long easy stride, 
free from that short bucking motion so often noticed in badly 
trained or inferior animals ; the walk should be energetic, fast 
and smooth, with plenty of elasticity to modify concussion. In 
some localities and with some persons the running walk is indis¬ 
pensable in the makeup of a first class saddle horse. The har¬ 
ness horse should be a good walker, a free, bold trotter with 
plenty of knee as well as hock action ; the former must not only 
be high, but it must be far reaching so as to carry the foot 
through a telling space at every stride and do away with that 
short choppy action sometimes described by an old saying “that 
such and such a nag will trot all day in a bushel basket,” while 
the latter must bend the joint thoroughly, bringing the foot and 
curved pastern up from the ground in a sharp decisive manner, 
carrying them well forward and lowering them with energy and 
precision that reminds one of the movements of a clock, all 
jerky movements that indicate string halt being carefully 
avoided. 
For slow draft work upon the farm road, or in the city, the 
walking gait is even of more importance than any other, so 
much so that some agricultural societies award prizes for the 
best walker, an innovation to be highly commended. 
Having disposed of the external conformation of the horse 
