HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP 13 1 



on his horse's back before he finds out that something is wrong, 

 and on taking off the saddle and examining the pannels, may 

 find the cause, as for instance that a nail had been driven farther 

 into the horse's back than it had ever been into anything else. 

 Grooms,* and all who have to do with horses, cannot be too 

 careful in examining everything the horse has to wear. In 

 most cases the rider of a horse that is being thus tormented 

 will find out that something is amiss, in the same way as the 

 rider of the horse hurriedly saddled, girthed up too tight, and 

 mounted at once as before described, that is to say, by getting 

 a spill, or at any rate having to do all he knows to avoid one. 



The best way to deal with a horse when he has taken to 

 this sort of amusement, if good saddling and allowing him to 

 stand with the saddle on for some time before mounting have 

 not had the desired effect, is to put a cavesson on him and get 

 a good man to hold him while being mounted, for it is nearly 

 always on first being brought out and mounted that horses will 

 buck. After he is mounted let him stand for a short time, then 

 lead him forward quietly, in fact treat him exactly on the same 

 lines as when backing the young horse for the first time. The 

 man holding the cavesson must be on the alert so as to catch 

 him in time if he attempts to get his head down, and prevent 

 him by a sharp pull upwards with the cavesson rein. Then 

 lead him about quietly until he has quite got his back down, 

 when the cavesson may be taken off. This does not always 

 put the matter right, especially if the horse has got the best 

 of it a few times. He may appear to have forgotten all about 

 it, and have gone for a few days as well as could be wished, 

 and then without any reason, as far as one can see, will be as 

 bad as ever. When once a horse has got his head away, if he 

 really means bucking and can do it well, if he only keeps on 

 long enough he can put down the best man that can be found. 

 It is a question of whose wind lasts the longest, let the man be 

 as good as he may be. The best sort of punishment to reclaim 

 a brute of this kind is to get an assistant on foot with a good 

 longeing whip. The man who holds the cavesson should help 



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