VICE IN THE HORSE. 3 



lutely necessary in training well-disposed horses 

 for ordinary hack-work ; but the ' suppling ' and 

 * uniting ' that form the groundwork of the school 

 methods are of the highest importance, for by their 

 means the horse is most easily and quickly taught 

 to obey the bit and the heels, and to carry itself 

 gracefully and lightly. The few good horsemen 

 who do not follow the school method ride their 

 horses up to ' the union ' between gentle tension 

 upon the reins and cautious pressure of the spurs ; 

 but this takes much longer, and is more difficult to 

 accomplish than to bring about the union of the 

 extremities between hand and heels after the horse 

 has had the preparatory lessons on foot, by which 

 the meanings of the indication of the bit and spurs 

 are gradually taught. 



There are few cases of vice in the saddle-horse 

 that cannot be prevented or cured by the school 

 method of training, for by easy lessons the horse 

 is so disciplined that obedience becomes a habit. 



Nearly every horse finds certain forms of resist- 

 ance easier than others, and this is due in a great 

 measure to the conformation of the animal.^ Horses 



^ A horse with a stiff, unyielding jaw, and a horse with a tender mouth, 

 will be apt to rear; the first, because it opposes the hand until the bit hurts 

 it, the second, because even a slight pressure of the bit is disagreeable. A 

 horse with a ' roach back ' is more likely to plunge than one that has a 

 depression between the withers and the croup. As a rule, the horse with 

 a ' dished ' face is nervous, the horse with a Roman nose is headstrong, and 

 the horse with a small [jrotuberant eye is suspicious and excitable. 



