234 RESTIVENESS : ITS PREVENTION AND CURE. 



hand, so that if the horse makes a bolt it may run out 

 without entanglement ; and seizing the line about three 

 or four feet from the cavesson-ring with your right 

 hand, place yourself in front of the horse, the groom 

 standing behind you. 



Before proceeding further let us consider for a mo- 

 ment what position restive horses generally assume at 

 the moment they defend themselves. In almost all 

 cases it will be found that they gather, their legs under 

 their body, sinking their croup, which may be seen 

 from the position of the tail, getting their head and 

 neck well down, and putting their back up like an 

 angry cat. If the reader will now refer to Plate I., 

 and compare this with fig. 4, he will at once see what 

 the object of this position is. The horse's body is bent 

 round the centre of motion (fourteenth vertebra) like 

 a bow pulled to the archer's ear, ready to exert the 

 whole of its elastic power. If the arrow be once dis- 

 charged, your control over it is gone so, too, if the 

 horse makes the plunge it contemplates ; therefore your 

 first task will be to unstring the bow. 



The first step to this is to get the horse to stretch 

 itself. Try to get the head up a little ; if you meet 

 with opposition, give way, as if you did not perceive 

 it, and try again. In proportion as you get the head 

 and neck up gently the back will flatten down, "and 

 the horse will move one or both hind legs backwards, 

 or one or both fore legs forwards. The horse does so 

 merely to save itself from falling ; you will do wisely 

 by giving it credit for a first act of obedience, therefore 

 pat its neck, rub its head, speak kindly, and give it 

 something. If it has only moved one hind or one fore 

 leg, by bending the head and neck gradually towards 



