230 HORSE AND MAN. 



possible for the horse to recover its feet unless the 

 bearing-rein be removed. In fact, as Mr. S. Gill 

 very rightly says, ' To imagine the animal is prevented 

 from falling by this reining up of the head is an error. 

 The pressure on the veins and arteries impeding 

 the flow of blood, it is impossible for the animal 

 stumbling to recover himself.' 



It is a remarkable fact in the history of the 

 bearing-rein that in England hilly ground is always 

 made an excuse for the employment of this rein. 

 Here, close to the Crystal Palace, the absence of 

 level ground is always brought forward when anyone 

 tries to persuade a driver to remove the bearing-rein. 



It is not so in Scotland, and yet Scotland is far 

 more hilly than England. Any of my readers who 

 know Edinburgh, for example, and have been obliged 

 to walk from the New Town to the Castle against 

 time, must be tolerable judges of a hill. Yet during 

 the whole time that I was in Edinburgh I saw 

 scarcely a bearing-rein in use. The very few that 

 I did see belonged to gentlemen's horses, and had 

 been imported from England. 



The Scotch are far too canny to act so foolishly. 

 They know the value of a horse's work, and do not 

 choose to hamper the animal with a contrivance 

 which prevents it from putting forth its full 

 strength. 



