128 HORSEMANSHIP. 



doubt, are unpleasant, but surely no rider in his senses 

 would punish the mettlesome, frolicsome, dumb animal, for 

 having his bit of a lark. 



An habitual shyer can be told the moment he exhibits his 

 \'ice j he ^vill, from having been frequently punished, make 

 a long, and possibly dangerous rush past the object that 

 alarms him. Such an offender is difficult to deal with. 

 When the indications of an impending shy are evident, a 

 good plan is to immediately pull him up and to let him 

 stand looking at the object of his fear, speaking kindly to 

 him in a reassuring tone. Finding it does not move, he 

 will soon approach it, though perhaps giving it a wide berth, 

 and, like the Priest or the Levite in the parable of the good 

 Samaritan, passing by on the other side. On no account 

 force him on ; let him stand and look at it till he has not 

 only ceased to fear it, but to take any interest in it. He may 

 pass the dreaded obstacle without any signs of timidity, but 

 should he still show any aversion or nervousness, appease 

 his apprehensions by talking to him and patting him, and in 

 approaching it incline his head away from it. Once past it, 

 turn him round and walk him by it again, and when his 

 dread of it has disappeared, coax him up to it, let him walk 

 round and round it, smell it, paw it if he ^^'ill, feel it with his 

 upper lip, and if possible walk him over it. 



The usual and most unhorsemanlike method is, by dint 

 of bridle and spur, to force the horse up to, or hold his head 

 towards, the object of his dread, to " cram " him past it, 

 and then to flog and spur him, so that, on the principle of 

 adding fuel to the flame, he has two fears to contend against 

 — that of his own imagination, and the reality of certain 

 punishment. When his head is forcibly directed toward 

 the object, his hindquarters are naturally turned from it, 

 and in that position, he with the greatest ease shies or backs 



