— 35- 



My readers will, I doubt not, receive with kindly feelings not 

 only the instructions on the ini})ortant points of educating their 

 horses to break olf bad habits, but will profit by the ideas 

 and examples given of the various means adopted by horse- 

 handlers to create these habits. In the present Instance, it is 

 rarely, if ever, known that horses acquire the habit of rearing 

 themselves, but are prompted so to do by the means used, viz., 

 starting and stopping suddenty; pulling sharply on the reins, 

 and then striking the animal with the v>hip, either of which is 

 a sure and certain means of producing the result of causing 

 the horse to rear up whenever you desire to move off. 



The inconvenience and unpleasantness of such a habit are too 

 plain to need more than a mention, besides its often occasioning 

 great alarm to a timid driver ; and the simple yet practical 

 means I have given for breaking up the habit, will be found suc- 

 C3 5sful whenever it is tried, as it ,always should be where the 

 habit exists. 



To Educate and prevent a Horse from Cribbing. 



Build a manger on the floor or from the floor up. In many 

 cases this will prevent a horse from cribbing by gettiug his 

 mouth below his chest. 



Another method, snre to be effective, is to place a piece of sheep- 

 skin of long wool, eight inches wide and about three feet long, 

 or long enough to reach from one side of the stall to the other 

 and on the skin sprinkle cayenne pepper ; take soft soap and rub 

 it on any part of the stall where the horse will be likely to crib. 

 If the above instructions are strictly adhered to, and the horse is 

 fed regularly, three times a ddj, there will be little danger of his 

 ever becoming a cribber. The slight trouble which this remedy 

 involves will be repaid a hundred-fold by the satisfaction felt iii 

 the prevention or cure of a most disagreeable habit, and one 

 which, like every other fault, le-sens the value of a horse. In 

 using the cayenne pei)per, a small quantity will l)e sufficient. 



There are more bad results accruing from cribbing than many 

 are aware of. From cribbing the horse maj^ become a crib- 

 sucker, which often results in colic, or, as it is sometimes termed, 



