be brought to a standstill, and coaxed up gradually to it, that he may assure himself of its harmlessness by smelling and feeling it with his nose and lips, if possible. Punishment by whip or spur-what is called cramming" him up to a thing-is a vile error.

When a horse is found to evince a confirmed objection to passing a particular place, and that he keeps bolting and turning viciously in spite of all ordinary efforts to prevent it, take him at his own fancy, and keep turning and turning him till he is so tired of that game that he will only be too glad to go forward past the objectionable spot. A horse's sense of smelling is very acute, and sometimes a dead animal in the ditch or field by the side of the road, though unseen, will cause an abrupt and very unseating sort of a shy, with an ordinarily quiet beast of sensitive olfactory nerves.

SELLING.

If the horse you wish to dispose of be a fancy one, either for beauty, action, or disposition, and a fancy price be required, efforts must be made to obtain the fancy customer to suit, and time and attention must be devoted to that object. But if he be of the ordinary useful class, unless a purchaser be found at once, let the owner, directly he has made up his mind to part with him, think of the best market available, whether public auction, a fair, or private sale by commission.

The public auction, with a good description of the animal's merits, if he has any, is the readiest and least troublesome mode of disposing of all unsuitable property; and from my own experience, I should say that

the better plan is to make up one's mind positively to dispose of such the first time it is put up by the auctioneer, having, of course, placed a reasonable and rather low reserve price on it, and provided that the sale be fairly attended by purchasers; otherwise I should not allow my property to be offered until a more favourable opportunity.

A valuable and fancy animal, if his owner is not pressed to sell, had better be disposed of by full advertisement and private sale at his own stable. It is bad management to exhibit for sale an animal that is out of condition; it always pays to make your horse look as well as possible before he meets the eye of a customer. There is an old and true saying, "no meat sells so well as horse meat"-of course animal flesh is here alluded to.

CAPRICE.*

All horsemen know how whimsical horses are, and the best riders feel a certain amount of diffidence, and even awkwardness, on beginning with any new mount, until a more perfect acquaintance is established between man and horse.

A horseman who identifies himself with his steed will

* A suggestion has been made by one of the ablest reviewers of the first edition of this work, to add a chapter on caprices of horses; and doubtless such would be so extremely interesting, that the temptation to insert notes under this head in my first edition was only overcome by the determination to avoid being led into anecdote, which has been strictly observed throughout, as being out of keeping with the concise style in which it was intended that the book should be produced. A few practical hints are, however, here classed under the head of "Caprice."

sometimes by a mere fluke hit off the means of having his own way with a capricious though perhaps really well-disposed animal, if one only knew the way to manage him.

For instance, a first-class hunter of my own (Baronet), whose excellent performance in the field, where I had seen him tried, induced me to purchase him, soon gave evidence of a peculiarity for which, unknown to me, he had made himself remarkable. No ordinary means could prevail upon him to go through any street of a town except such as he pleased himself, of which he gave me evidence the first day I had occasion to try him in that way, walking on his hind legs directly his will was disputed on the subject, even to the extent of a mere pressure on the rein at the side he was required to turn. In my difficulty, instinct prompted me to drop the reins and gently direct his progress with the point of the whip at the side of his nose, and in this way he went ever after as quiet as a sheep with me. Having discovered his caprice, I was always provided with a handle of a whip or a switch of some kind for his benefit. Riding him one day into Dycer's, an old acquaintance of his, well aware of his propensity, exclaimed in terms not complimentary to Baronet at my possession of him, and was much amused when I told him my simple method of managing this self-willed gentleman.

The same sort of what I can scarcely help terming "instinct" that has often taught me, and doubtless hundreds of other practical horsemen, to meet the whims of their steeds so as to suit themselves, produced a victory somewhat similar to the foregoing over an animal that, in the presence of a large assemblage interested in his performance, most determinedly refused to trot,

though ridden successively by the most skilled nagsmen Dycer's yard could produce, as well as by Dycer himself.

I proposed to try my hand, and the animal at first start pursued the same uneasy half-canter with me; but perceiving that he seemed particularly desirous to take a drink from a trough that happened to be in the way, I allowed his attention to be distracted by taking as much water as he pleased from it; and then turning him in the opposite direction from that in which he had so obstinately persisted in his own gait, patting and doing all I could to reassure him, dropping the bit-rein altogether, and taking a very light and lengthened hold of the snaffle-rein, I let him move off at his own pace, which, to the surprise of every one present (my own, I admit, included), proved to be a walk, which he immediately changed into a jog-trot all up the yard, winning for me a bet of twenty sovereigns to one from the late Edward Dycer, that the horse could not be made to trot within a quarter of an hour of the rider mounting.

Now, it is only caprice that can account for the likes and dislikes of horses about going lead or wheel in four-in-hand. One horse will not stir till removed from the wheel, and another will be equally unmanageable if assigned the leader's part, while an exchange of places will perhaps render both animals perfectly tractable.

In double harness it may sometimes be observed that an animal, while working by itself, or with others not faster, will casually show great spirit, but when coupled with another possessing more life and action, it will seem at once subdued from its former liveliness, and go along like a slug, quite out of sorts at finding itself outpaced, &c., while its more sprightly neighbour

will exhibit a double ebullition of spirits, as if in reproach to say, "Why can't you come on?" To prove such cases of whimsicality further, replace the apparent sluggard by coupling with our vivacious steed a more lively and active animal, and you will see the latter in his turn become subdued and "shut up," in comparison with his previous sprightliness.

Again, although the animal is decidedly gregarious, a horse, from some dislike to its companions or other whim, will absolutely pine and cease to thrive in a stall stabled with others, and be restored to its usual spirits and health on removal to a loose-box. Such animals are generally restless at night, and show great ability in smashing their head-collars.

On the other hand, most horses like company, and will pine away if kept alone.

These things should be studied.

IRISH HUNTERS, AND THE BREEDING OF GOOD HORSES.

Much attention has latterly been attracted to the deterioration in the superior breeds of horses, having reference more to a decline of power and endurance than to diminished swiftness.

There is no reason why our old fame for breeding good horses of every kind should not be maintained. Unrelaxed attention must nevertheless be given to some well-known and established rules respecting breeding, and more marked encouragement might with advantage be in every way afforded to the production and rearing.