300 THE HORSE. 
with a plain snaffle only, and yet there are some which will go quietly 
enough in it, while the adoption of a curb will rouse their tempers at 
once. Of course they can only be ridden with great care and judgment, 
and must never be roused unnecessarily. Fortunately the mouths of horses 
are now made so much more carefully than in former times, and their 
management is so much better understood, that we seldom hear of or see 
an accident from this cause, either in the saddle or in harness. The most 
essential part of the treatment of a runaway is the proper selection of a 
bit, which should be sufficient to control him without exciting opposition 
from the pain it gives. For the majority of such horses I know nothing 
better than the Bucephalus noseband, which I have already described at 
page 287. 
STUMBLING arises from a variety of causes, and the nature of any 
particular case should be thoroughly investigated before any remedy for it 
is attempted. Sometimes it is merely dependent upon low or “daisy 
cutting” action, and then it is possible that it may not be attended with 
danger. I have known many horses which would stumble at least every half- 
mile, but yet they would travel for years with sound knees, the other leg 
being always ready to catch the weight. In other cases a stumble would 
only occur at rare intervals, but if the trip was made it was rarely 
recovered, and a fall was almost sure to follow. Again, it happens with 
some horses that when they are fresh out of the stable, their action is 
high and safe, but after a few miles the extensors of the leg tire and they 
are constantly making a mistake. Inexperienced judges are very apt to 
examine the action of the fore legs alone, while that of the hind quarter 
is of quite as much importance to safety, and is more so as regards the 
ease of the rider. Lameness is a frequent source of a fall, from the ten- 
dency to put the foot too soon to the ground in order to take the weight 
off the other. And lastly, upright pasterns will produce stumbling, when 
the shoulders are so formed that the foot is put down too near the centre 
of gravity. 
THE BEST PLANS FOR REMEDYING these several conditions are as follows. 
If the cause is weakness of the extensors no care can be of much service, 
all that can be done being to be on the look out for a trip and then to 
take the weight off the fore quarter as much as possible by sitting well 
back, at the same time using such an amount of sudden pressure on the 
bit as to cause the horse to exert himself, without any attempt to keep up 
the head by mechanical force, which is an impossibility. When laziness 
is the cause, the stimulus of the spur or whip will suffice, and it often 
happens that a horse is safe enough at his top pace while a slower one is 
full of danger. In lameness of course the remedy is to wait till the foot 
or feet are sound again. 
Curtine depends either upon the legs being set on too near together, 
or on their joints not acting in a proper hinge-like manner. Many horses 
cut when in low condition, but are quite free from the defect when in 
flesh, and in such cases it is only necessary to let them wear a boot until 
they have had time enough to become fresh. Wherever horses “ go close” 
care should be taken that the shoes do not project beyond the hoof, and 
the clenches of the nails should be carefully watched, the groom seeing 
that they are filed down by tke smith if they stand up at all above the 
level of the horn. Cutting may take place either on the prominent part 
of the fetlock-joint, or midway between it and the knee, or just below the 
latter, which is called “speedy cutting,” and is very apt to cause a fall. 
«\ boot should be fitted to the leg in either case, and worn till the part is 
