of the former, as four to three, or nearly. (We are not to forget that the English race-horse carries a jockey, and frequently weights on his back, the Barb nothing). The horse that passed over a mile in a minute would evidently go faster than the wind, for the greatest swiftness of a ship at sea has never been known to exceed six marine leagues in an hour; and if we suppose that the vessel thus borne partakes onethird of the swiftness of the wind that drives it, the latter would still be no more than eighty feet a second, which would be two feet and a half less than the quantity of ground covered by Childers and Starling in that time. For this calculation, we are indebted to M. de la Condamine's Journal of a tour through Italy. Buffon, in his Natural History, mentions an example of the extraordinary speed of the English horse. Mr. Thornhill, the postmaster of Stilton, laid a wager that he would ride in fifteen hours three times the road from Stilton to London, the distance being two hundred and fifteen miles. On the 29th of April, 1745, he set out from Stilton, and after mounting eight different horses, arrived in London in three hours and fifty one minutes. Instantly leaving London again, and mounting only six horses, he reached Stilton in three hours and fifty-two minutes. For the third course, he used seven of the same horses, and finished it in three hours and forty-nine minutes. He thus performed his undertaking in eleven hours and thirtytwo minutes. Buffon observes, "I suspect that no example of such fleetness was ever exhibited at the Olympic games." A horse the property of a gentleman in Bilter Square, London, trotted on the 4th of July, 1788, for a wager of thirty guineas, thirty miles in an hour and twenty minutes, though allowed an hour and a half. These instances of speed arc

astonishing, even by ordinary horses. The four miles for the Union cup at Preston were run in very little more than seven minutes.

THE WALK.

THIS is the most gentle of all the paces, and would appear, at first view, to be the most easy; nevertheless, it is a remarkable fact, that not one horse in five hundred can walk well, or even walk at all. This may be attributed to various causes, but the principal one undoubtedly arises from the bad conformation of the animal.

The first point essential to the performance of a good walk, is, that the animal should naturally be so placed on his legs, when standing still, as to preserve a proper equilibrium in all parts of the body.

The head and neck, projecting beyond the shoulders and fore-legs, consequently occasion a greater weight mechanically than if they were replaced immediately above them; and this weight will be either increased or diminshed, according to the forward or backward position of the fore-legs.

In the first place, therefore, if the shoulders be upright, the fore-legs generally stand far under the body; hence the point of support is farther removed from the head and neck, and which must consequently increase the weight of those parts.

When the rider is mounted, and sitting on the centre of the horse's back, the fore-legs, if well placed, and in a perpendicular direction, will stand between his body and the horse's head and neck, whereby these

two weights will form a sort of counterpoise to each other; but when (as has just been observed,) the shoulders are upright, and the fore-legs incline inwards under the body, then the central point of support is lost, and the head and neck become heavier in consequence of that circumstance.

If, therefore, the fore-legs do not stand perpendicular and well advanced before the shoulders, it is almost impossible the animal should move them lightly and with sufficient freedom. The faculty of walking well is not, however, confined to the position of the forelegs alone, as it is necessary that the shape of the hinder quarters, and the position of the hind-legs, should also accord with that of the fore-legs to produce a proper harmony in their action.

Much, also, will depend on the back, and the muscular power of the haunches and thighs. A longbacked horse is generally easier to the rider than one of an opposite description, but he cannot be so strong, nor so collected in the motion of his limbs, as a shortbacked horse; and it may generally be observed, that a long-backed horse has a rocking vermicular motion of his body during progression. With all horses that walk firm, fast, and well, the hind-foot overreaches the mark of the fore-foot by some inches; and this arises from the animal being able to use his hind-quarters with freedom, and to advance his hind-legs well under his body, by which the fore-legs are greatly relieved; as the hind-legs in that case take more of the weight of the body than they would do when dragged after the animal: the hind-legs, therefore, should stand perpendicular under the round bone, which is the connecting joint of the thigh and leg with the body.

In that case their flexion and extension will be even and uniform, and the animal will move with

much less labour than he would under other circum. stances.

In the action of the walk, the horse moves his legs separately that is to say, one after the other. Thus, if he begins with the right he first raises the right or off hind leg, and advances it under his body; but before the foot reaches the ground, the right or near fore-foot, is raised and advanced, in order to make room for the hind-foot; which, in middling and slow walkers, alights upon the mark of the fore-foot; but in good and fast walkers oversteps it considerably, as has been just observed. As soon as the near fore-foot alights upon the ground, the off or left hind-foot is raised; the left or near fore-foot then rises to make room for the near hind-foot, in the same way as on the other side.

The walk, therefore, consists of a separate and successive action of all the four legs, beginning with a hind-leg; and in proof of this, the same remark will be found in an old author, "Borelli de Motu Animalium."

TROTTING

Is a quicker action than that of walking; for here the horse covers his legs at two intervals of time instead of at four, as observed in the last section.

A fore-leg and a hind-leg are moved simultaneously, but on opposite sides: as thus, when the near or left fore-leg leaves the ground, the off or right hind-leg is elevated at the same moment; and when these two come down, the others are moved in the same manner.

This is generally the pace required in horses destined to go in harness.

Trotting upon hard roads soon wears out the forelegs and feet, and there are few fast trotters at seven or eight years old that do not show signs of being the worse for wear.

In this pace, the body is propelled forwards in a straight direction, without that alternate rising and sinking of the fore and hind-quarters which takes place in the canter and in the gallop. Hence the whole weight and shock of the body is received by one fore-leg at a time only; whereas in the canter and the gallop, the hind-legs first sustains the weight, and thereby reduce the shock, which would otherwise fall on the fore-legs entirely.

The concussion arising from fast trotting upon hard roads, particularly in frosty weather, is sometimes so great as to occasion violent inflammation, producing what is called founder, or a sinking of the coffin-bones; and even, in some cases, to occasion a separation of the hoof altogether.

English horses are more subject to this inconvenience than foreign horses, because they go more upon their shoulders, and with their haunches more behind them, thus throwing all the weight forwards.

Foreign horses, on the contrary, bring their hindlegs more under their bodies, and bend their knees more; and instead of throwing out their fore-feet before them, they bring them down in nearly the same place from whence they raised them. This kind of action, of course, is not so speedy as that of the English horse, but it is much less injurious to the legs and feet, and at the same time is more easy and pleasant to the rider.

Foreign horses are generally longer in the pastern