INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 15 



are in themselves perfectly correct, they do not admit 

 of too rigid an application to the horse as a motor. In 

 fact it is less a question of determining in what direc- 

 tion and under what angle the power can be most 

 advantageously applied to a wheeled vehicle ; than, in 

 what direction and under what angle can the horse 

 exert his power of traction with least inconvenience 

 and fatigue to himself. And the consideration of this 

 question naturally led to an examination of the collar, 

 the hames, the trace, the pole and pole-chains, and the 

 wheel itself, as the most important parts of the harness 

 and carriage, as far as the best mode of utilising the 

 horse's power is concerned. 



The fom'th and last part of the book is devoted to 

 the " Prevention and Cure of Hestiveness." Violent 

 measures are seldom successful for the latter purpose, 

 and more likely to produce than to prevent insubor, 

 dination. In fact, what is generally required is a com- 

 plete course of re-training, under circumstances differ- 

 ent from those under which the restiveness is usually 

 exhibited. The question then arises. On what system 

 this re-training should be undertaken — the usual Eng- 

 lish one, or some modification of the school method ? 

 The first named, taken alone, is inadequate to the 

 purpose ; if for no other reason, from being generally 

 carried out on the roads, fields, &c. — that is to say, 

 just where provocation and opportunity for conflicts 

 present themselves at every corner. Nevertheless, it 

 has its own peculiar advantages, which should be 

 utilised. The school method is much better adapted 

 for the correction of restiveness, because it affords more 

 direct and efficient means for acquiring perfect control 

 over the horse's movements. It is, however, from a 



