SILENT SUFFERING. 219 



fact that the incessant tossing of head and rattling of 

 harness are sure proofs that their horses are suffer- 

 ing from ceaseless pain. A dog would yelp and a 

 cat would scream if such pain were inflicted upon it, 

 and so would force its tortures upon the ear when 

 the eye took no notice. But the horse neither yelps 

 nor screams. It suffers silently, and its owner is too 

 thoughtless to see that it is in pain. 



As to the white foam which is thought to be the 

 result of exuberant spirit, the blood-stains with 

 which it is often flecked ought to tell their own story 

 to an observant eye, even though the spectator knew 

 nothing of the habits of the horse. I regret to say, 

 however, that the generality of carriage-owners know 

 nothing of their horses, but consider them simply as 

 machines which pull the carriage, and leave them 

 wholly to the servants. 



The gag bearing-rein furnishes another example 

 of the fact that interference with one part of an 

 animal is injurious to the other parts. When the 

 horse is standing with its legs outstretched and its 

 spine contracted, the weight of the body rests on 

 the heels of the front hoofs, and not on the flat 

 surface. 



Not only that, but the horse, in addition to its 

 weight, is exercising a muscular pressure on the 

 heel. Thus, as was pointed out by Mr. Darby, the 



