28 HORSES AND ROADS. 



they admit that a horse should have ' the use of his 

 head ' at certain times, yet they do not know where 

 to draw the line, although nothing is easier to draw, 

 if common sense were appealed to. 



The cart horse should always have the free use 

 of his head at a walk, as it should and does govern 

 his stride ; and if a rein of some sort is necessary 

 for carters to lay hold of occasionally, the measure 

 of the length of that rein is easily found. It is just 

 the length that will allow a horse to use his fullest 

 exertion up hill without bearing upon it. To 

 this they object again that a rein of that length 

 would hang unequally on the sides of the horses' 

 necks and be troublesome and unsightly. This only 

 shows them to be short of inventive faculties. They 

 have only to sew on a ring just at the double of the 

 reins, at their determined length, and hitch this 

 ring on the hames, when they would find the reins 

 to hang equally and gracefully, and always ready to 

 be caught hold of; although the best carters lay 

 hold of the cheek strap, above the bit, and thus 

 manage their horses better than those who take 

 their hold below the bit. 



We won't quarrel over the last point; but, in 

 the name of common sense, let a horse always have 

 his natural stride it is essential to his economical 

 work. Yet cart horses are to be seen, in town and 

 country, pegging away with reduced strides, expend- 

 ing on a four-mile journey the same exertion that 

 they would, if allowed, only use on a five-mile one. 

 Their owners handicap them. 



