STUD BOOK. 159 



ineffectual, to demolish the vehicle, for the shafts or the kick- 

 ing-strap may possibly break, and extreme danger may ensue. 

 The man, however, who must come within reach of a kicker 

 should come as close to him as possible. The blow may thus 

 become a push. 



UNSTEADINESS WHILE BEING MOUNTED. 



When this merely amounts to eagerness to start, it may 

 be remedied by an active horseman. Severity will here, more 

 decidedly than in any other case, do harm. The rider should 

 be fearless he should carelessly and confidently approach 

 the horse, mount at the first effort, and then restrain him for 

 a while; patting him, and not suffering hi to proceed until 

 he becomes perfectly quiet Horses of this kind should 

 have sufficient exercise. When the difficulty of mounting 

 arises, not from eagerness to start, but unwillingness to be 

 ridden, the sooner that horse is disposed of the better. 



REARING. 



This sometimes results from playfulness, but it is oftener a 

 desperate effort to unhorse the rider, and consequently a vice. 

 The horse that has decidedly reared, should never be trusted 

 again, unless, indeed, it was the fault of the rider, who had 

 been using a deep curb and a sharp bit. The horse-breaker's 

 remedy, that of pulling the horse backward on a soft piece of 

 ground, should not be practised. Many horses have been 

 injured in the spine, and others have broken their necks, by 

 being thus suddenly pulled over. 



RUNNING AWAY. 



Some headstrong horses will occasionally endeavor to bolt 

 with the best rider. Others with their wonted sagacity en- 

 deavor thus to dislodge the timid or unskillful one. Some 

 are hard to hold, or bolt only during the excitement of the 

 chase; others will run away, prompted by a vicious propen- 

 sity alone. There is no certain cure here. The method 

 which affords any probability of success is, to ride such a 

 horse with a strong curb and sharp bit; to have him always 

 firmly in hand; and, if he will run away, and the place will 

 admit of it, to give him (sparing neither curb, whip, nor 

 spur) a great deal more running than he likes. 



