156 THE ORANGE COUNTY 



BACKING OR GIBBING. 



One of the kinds of restiveness is backing or gibbing. 

 Some horses have the habit of backing at first starting. A 

 moderate application of the whip will usually be effectual 

 Others, after starting, exhibit obstinacy and viciousness, fre- 

 quently the effect of bad breaking. A hasty and passionate 

 breaker will often make a really good-tempered young horse 

 an inveterate gibber. Every young horse is at first shy of 

 the collar. If he is too quickly forced to throw his weight 

 into it, he will possibly take a dislike to it, that will show 

 itself in the form of gibbing as long as he lives. Resort to no 

 severity, even if the colt should go out several times without 

 even touching collar. The example of his companion will 

 ultimately induce him to take to it voluntarily and effectually. 

 A large and heavy stone should be put behind the wheel be- 

 fore starting, when the horse finding it more difficult to back 

 than to go forward, will gradually forget this unpleasant 

 trick. It will likewise be of advantage so to start that the 

 horse shall have to back up hill. This will soon make him 

 go forward. A little coaxing, or leading, or moderate flagel- 

 lation, will assist in accomplishing the cure. When, however, 

 a horse has been improperly checked or corrected, swerves 

 and gibs, and backs, it is a more serious matter. Persuasion 

 should first be tried; and, then coercion, but no cruelty. 

 The horse may, perhaps, be whipped into motion, but if he 

 has once begun to gib, the habit will be so rapidly and com- 

 pletely formed, that he will become insensible to all severity. 



It is useless and dangerous to contend with a horse deter- 

 mined to back, unless there is plenty of room, and, by tight 

 reining, the driver can make him back in the precise direc- 

 tion he wishes, and especially up-hill. Such a horse should 

 be immediately sold, or turned over to some other work. 

 As a wheeler, or, in the middle of a team at agricultural work, 

 he may be serviceable. The reformation will last while he 

 is thus employed, but, like restiveness generally, it will be 

 delusive when the horse returns to his former occupation. 

 The disposition to annoy will very soon follow the power to 

 do it. When a horse, not often accustomed to gib, betrays a 

 reluctance to work, or a determination not to work, common 

 sense and humanity will demand that some consideration 

 should be taken before measures of severity are resorted to. 

 The horse may be taxed beyond his power. He soon dis- 

 covers whether this is the case, and by refusing to proceed, 



