A three-and-a-half year old horse is more supple and can be more easily educated than a five-year-old. He has not been able to acquire the faults of temper which we find in him later on, and which are almost always the result of injudicious or cruel treatment by people about him. He has not the bad habit — which all horses left to themselves contract — of going on his shoulders, on which account the hind quarters become less developed than the forehand. We can then easily make him rely on himself, and put equal weight on all four limbs, which is of great importance ; because true equilibrium of the body is the one thing of all others which we should try to obtain in breaking and riding.

The horse ought to be neither on his shoulders nor on his haunches; but should have his own weight and that of his rider equally distributed on both ends. Only on this condition can he be light, active, and sure-footed, and capable of doing long and severe work without injuring himself, When a horse has been addicted for a long time to the habit of standing and moving in a state of bad equilibrium, his conformation becomes distorted and can rarely recover from its effects. If, as is the most frequent instance, the horse is on his shoulders, his hind quarters are soft and drag themselves along the ground, on account of want of exercise and development ; but the forehand works too much and becomes fatigued. Being overloaded and heavy, it has difficulty in changing its place, and the slightest mistake or weakness will involve the entire body. The limbs which are overworked become soon worn out. This is the only cause of the premature reductions which each year decimate the effective strength of cavalry squadrons, and put many horses out of work at an age when they ought to be in their prime.

The most essential part of breaking a horse is to teach him to balance himself properly. No one will deny that a horse can be more easily educated at three-and-a-half than at five