when one begins to ride them. By making them go fast, without having previously balanced them, one succeeds only in putting their weight more and more forward, and in prematurely spoiling them. Such animals carry the head low and the neck on a level with the withers, they are ugly, every effort in turning or stopping is painful to them, and they readily fall. Being able to place the head and neck as they like, they can effectively resist the aids. In fact the neck must be high and the head almost perpendicular, in order that the curb may act with all its power.

The curb loses the greater part of its action on the bars, when the head is low, in which case it is not much more severe than a snaffle, and the horse gets out of hand. It is acknowledged that a very large percentage of troop horses refuse to leave the ranks, which is a fact that proves that they are badly broken.

A horse which will not obey is not broken. What a poor result is obtained by a year or more of irrational work !

The military regulations ought to insist that the breaking should be conducted in such a manner that the remounts would be fit to go into the ranks on the 1st April, in case of mobilisation, which would entail a breaking of only three months' duration. But in time of peace this period of breaking is intentionally prolonged for an entire year, and the remounts are not sent into the ranks until the following year. To justify this practice, it is alleged that those regiments which put remounts into the ranks after three months' breaking, are those which use up most horses. This may be possible ; but I have my doubts.

The truth is that remounts which are badly prepared by insufficient food and exercise, are prematurely broken down by the mere breaking. Rational breaking is, on the contrary, much quicker, and so far from fatiguing them develops them.