s very seldom happen,
yet if for the want of a little care and due management one should
happen in one hundred years, that one would be one too many: the lady
should pay great attention to the horse when going down a steep hill,
and endeavour to put him together and upon his haunches, and to perform
this, she must feel his mouth lightly and firmly with the bridle hand,
at the same time making use of some of the helps used to force him to go
forward, such as clicking with your voice, a gentle touch with the whip,
or the heel, so she stays him a little by the bridle hand at the same
time he is forced forwards by the other helps or aids and if properly
timed, by doing enough without over doing, he will be put together, and
of course kept on a light proper action which must be in the real action
of a trot, that is with his two corner legs in the air at one time and
two on the ground, by such means the horse will always be kept on a sure
ballance and never be in danger of falling, on the other hand if the
horse is sufferd to go loose and unasisted[+] by the bridle hand, and
the other aids as before described, when going down a steep hill he will
most commonly go into that unnatural pace called the amble which is
moving his side legs together instead of his corner legs, this pace is
very unsafe notwithstanding the ancients used arts in breaking the horse
to the amble, on account of its being so much easier than the trot, but
as it is a known maxim in physic that giving ease and performing a cure
are two different things, so here an easy pace and a safe one are as
diametrically opposite, and that the amble is an unsafe pace is easy to
be conceived by the horse losing so large a portion of his ballance, to
prove which only try these simple experiments. Take a wooden horse[+]
let his two corner legs be taken away and he will stand, but take away
his two sides leg and he falls, again one often sees at a farrier's shop
when a horse is wanted to be shod in haste, two smiths can work at the
same time, by taking each of them a corner leg, therefore how careful
should we be to keep our hackneys on a safe action, and awake under us
on all occasions.

The lady should endeavour to make herself acquainted with those objects
which horses are most subject to be alarmed at, and first of all is a
windmill in full sail, next some can never be brought to go comfortably
by a tilted waggon, especially if meeting it, others dislike asses very
much