in.] EFFECT OF INDICATIONS. 47 



the case. If, indeed, you pull his head towards the 

 object of his alarm, and oblige him to face it, there is 

 every probability that he will run blindly backward from 

 it. And while his whole attention is fixed before him, he 

 will go backward over Dover cliff if it chance to be 

 behind him. Under such circumstances you cannot too 

 rapidly turn your horse's head and his attention from the 

 fancied, to the substantial ill. But on common occasions 

 the turning his head from what he shies at should be as 

 gradual and imperceptible as possible. No chastisement 

 should be allowed in any case. If he makes a start, you 

 should endeavour not to make a return start. You should 

 not, indeed, take more notice of a shy than you can 

 possibly avoid ; and unless the horse has been previously 

 brutalised, and to re-assure him, you should not even 

 caress him, lest even that should make him suspect that 

 something awful is about to happen. The common error 

 is the reverse of all this. The common error is to pull 

 the horse's head towards the object of his fear, and when 

 he is facing it, to begin with whip and spur. Expecting 



