312 FAULTS OF MOUTH. 



painful form of discipline to a point which might be dan- 

 gerous to the animal. I believe I have been the first to 

 employ the method of making a horse lie down, in com- 

 bination with driving on foot, as a remedy for jibbing. 

 By adopting the means I have described, the breaker, if 

 he be patient and expert, ought to succeed in making any 

 jibber obedient in saddle after a lesson of a couple of hours' 

 duration. Each succeeding lesson would be of decreasing 

 difficulty, until the habit of obedience is established in a 

 short time. All such desired effects can be produced much 

 easier in a secluded enclosure than in the open. 



It is not uncommon to meet with, especially in the 

 mounted branches of the Army, horses which will go any- 

 where in company, but which will refuse to quit their 

 companions, or to act as single riding horses. This pecu- 

 liarity, the habit of trying to press the rider's leg up against 

 a wall, tree, or other convenient object, and all other forms 

 of jibbing, may be treated in the manner just described. 



Jibbing in harness is a far more difficult fault to over- 

 come than jibbing in saddle ; for the presence of the cart 

 greatly favours the " defence " of the horse. Before trying 

 to eradicate the vice, we should satisfy ourselves that it 

 is not caused by any ailment, such as sore shoulders, 

 which should be cured before we proceed further. As 

 our first object, when contesting the question of supremacy 

 with the horse, is to gain the best kind of victory we can 

 over our opponent, even if he has no direct bearing on the 

 point at issue ; we should put the horse (of course, without 

 the cart) through exactly the same course of discipline 

 as I have recommended for the jibber in saddle. We may 

 then harness him to a light, empty, two-wheeled trap 

 inside a manege or other suitable enclosure, if possible 

 and working him on the track on which we had previously 

 handled him, try to circle him with the long reins (see 



