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As to a substitute for horses, furely nothing could be a more proper one, than the polled Galloway breed of oxen, which, if held too fmall for the purpose, might be improved by polled bulls from England. I can think of no better method of ameliorating the breed of Highland horses, than by the introduction of the smallest and hardieft Suffolk ftallions; a race between these and certain mares from the northern parts of the continent, which I have feen, I apprehend would make very suitable plough and cart-horfes for the Highlands of Scotland. I have heard great commendation of a breed of fmall and hardy cart-horses, chiefly dun or chefnut-coloured, to be found upon the New Foreft, Hampshire; but know nothing as to the fact.

The inveterate folly of ploughing with a fu perfluous number of horses, and a fupernumerary man, and that in times when an improved fyftem of husbandry, and an encreased population, demand a proportional increase of affiftance, although giving ground, by degrees, yet ftill fubfifts in too many parts of the country. Mr. Bakewell contributed much to the improvement of his neighbourhood in this particular, as have many of the numerous disciples of Mr. Young, in different counties. There do not now want inftances of an acre of land being plowed in a day, by a fingle pair of horses,

and

and one man only; upon which fame acre, the labour formerly was not performed, without the help of two horses, four oxen, a plowman, and a driver.

This matter is, as ufual in such cases, ftrangely mifrepresented by the prejudiced; they affert, that the advocates of the new husbandry, pretend to plow all forts of foils with only two horses, which is by no means true. Nobody objects to an additional number of horses upon heavy and stubborn foils, such as, for instance, Pinner, in Middlefex, and many other places which might be named; they only request leave to smile at the burlefque of employing four or five great black horses, and two men, to plow in a day, an acre of land, which two good jack-affes would ftir in the same space of time; and to be informed that many a farmer, in a hurrying time, has ranfacked his whole neighbourhood to hire horses, and even loft a part of his feed-time, rather than degrade himself by fending a plough into the field, with one horse lefs than the quota eftablished by the custom of the country.

The chief difficulty of new regulation in respect to ploughing, perhaps, lies with the labourers. Many farmers I have known, in different counties, defirous enough of ploughing as they do in Effex and Suffolk, without having influence enough over their men, to induce

them

them to attempt it; and ploughmen from those counties, introduced on purpose, have foon degenerated into the habit of the country, and become unable to plow without affistance. I once attempted to bribe an old man of mine (and he was one of the most intelligent of his class) by an increase of wages: but all in vain ; the man was incorruptible. The idea of ploughing with lefs than three horses, and in particular, with reins, and without a companion, was, to him, an abomination. I really believe I fhould have found it a much easier task, had I thought such a thing worth while, to have perfuaded the old man to change his religion.

What I have farther to say upon the management of cart horfes, will be found in a fubfequent chapter.

CHAP. VII.

ON THE MANEGE.

ICAN pretend to no other knowledge of managed Horses, than that limited fpecies which is derived from curfory reading, and occafional flight obfervation. This art may, I think, be divided into the grand and petit manège; the former, or management of the great

horse,

horse, intended purely for purposes of parade and fhew; the latter confined folely to the utile of military tactics.

The grand manège, confifts in teaching a horse, already perfectly broke in the common way, certain artificial motions, the chief of which are called, the Terra a terra, Demi-volt, Corvet, Capriole, Croupade, Balotade, and the Step and Leap; which last is a motion compounded of three airs, namely, the Terra a Terra, Corvet, and the Leap, by which the motion is finished. When a horse is perfect in all these, he is styled a full-dreffed, or managed horfe.

The petit manège, is that drilling or training, by which the army riding-masters fit the horse for military fervice, in the ranks. The chief objects of it are to fet him upon his haunches, and make him rein well, to give him a cadenced pace, to teach him to rein back, or retreat, to move fide-ways, to ftand fire, and to leap.After these, a horse will foon become capable of all the neceffary military evolutions. The common business of our town riding-schools, is to teach grown gentlemen and ladies, and to fet ill-broken horses upon their haunches.

It is well known, that the grand manège has been long out of fafhion in this country, and farther, that it has for years past been upon the decline in every other. I look upon

it as a re

lict of that fuperftition in all things, which is

the

the characteristic of barbarous times. It is unneceffary to any good or ufeful purpose, because all fuch, whether of parade or business, may be fully answered by the common, rational, and uninjurious management: whereas there is always more or lefs cruelty practised in completing the full-dreffed horfe; fuch, for inftance, as fevere whippings, the meaning of which the horse cannot poffibly comprehend, and which are therefore unnatural and illegiti mate measures; the labour and irritation alfo, are exceffive, and after all, the natural paces of the horse are spoiled, and he is rendered unfit for common business; the only compensation for which is, that he has learned fundry harlequin tricks ; two of them are, to fkip like a goat, and kick up behind like an ass.

It is vexatious in the extreme, to read the directions of the old Italian writers, for teaching the horse their different manœuvres. Their method of learning him to yarke, or kick up behind, (a trick, I fhould conceive, much more probable to be attended with mischief, than either pleasure or profit) was as follows:—the rider sat spurring and curbing his horse, whilst one or more persons on foot were, with equal wisdom, employed in whipping or beating him behind with rods; and this hopeful discipline was daily repeated, either abroad, or in the ftable, until he could yarke, forfooth.

I lately

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