130   DRIVING FOR PLEASURE.

ral and more graceful, and he will be less likely to fall, and, if he does fall, will be better able either to recover his balance or get up again. A horse, when he starts a load or mounts a hill, when left to himself, lowers his head and throws his weight into the collar ; but if his head is held up in the air he can not employ the same mechanical force. Even on descending a hill a horse needs the free use of his head to act as a counterbalance ; and it may be remarked by anyone who has observed a horse turned out in a field on the slope of a hill, that, when he gallops downhill his head is not stuck up in the air so that he can not see where he is going, but is held in a natural and suitable position, and one best qualified to maintain his balance. A horse when down on the ground always raises his head before attempting to rise ; were his head confined by a bearing rein when in this position, I doubt if he could get up at all. A horse is certainly not so liable to stumble when he has no bearing rein as when he has one."