I am far from saying, indeed, that because an animal fails to perform
all these parts to perfection, he must straightway be rejected; since
many a horse will fall short at first, not from inability, but from
want of experience. With teaching, practice, and habit, almost any
horse will come to perform all these feats beautifully, provided he be
sound and free from vice. Only you must beware of a horse that is
naturally of a nervous temperament. An over-timorous animal will not
only prevent the rider from using the vantage-ground of its back to
strike an enemy, but is as likely as not to bring him to earth
himself and plunge him into the worst of straits.

We must, also, find out of the horse shows any viciousness towards
other horses or towards human beings; also, whether he is skittish;[8]
such defects are apt to cause his owner trouble.

[8] Or, "very ticklish."

As to any reluctance on the horse's part to being bitted or mounted,
dancing and twisting about and the rest,[9] you will get a more exact
idea on this score, if, when he has gone through his work, you will
try and repeat the precise operations which he went through before you
began your ride. Any horse that having done his work shows a readiness
to undergo it all again, affords sufficient evidence thereby of spirit
and endurance.

[9] Reading {talla dineumata}, lit. "and the rest of his twistings and
twirlings about."

To put the matter in a nutshell: given that the horse is sound-footed,