240 HORSE AND MAN. 



Now suppose that we sum up the arguments in 

 favour of the bearing-rein and against it. 



On the one side, the bearing-rein is said to impart 

 an appearance of mettle to the horse, and to make it 

 look imposing. It is said also to save the horse from 

 stumbling or falling, and to prevent it from running 

 away. If these statements could be proved, no 

 owner of a horse would be justified in refusing to 

 confer such a benefit upon his horse. But how does 

 the case really stand? 



In the first place, the appearance of the horse is 

 not improved, except to the professional eye, which, 

 not many years ago, demanded that the ears should 

 be cropped and the tail docked and ' nicked ' be- 

 fore that eye's requirements were satisfied. To the, 

 eye of the naturalist or artist the artificially dis- 

 torted attitude of the animal becomes a deformity. 

 6 Imagine,' writes a correspondent of the ' Animal 

 World,' ' a Landseer being asked to paint one of 

 these deformed fore-quarters and straddling bodies 

 while suffering from the gag-rein ! ' 



Secondly, we have seen that if the bearing-rein 

 has any influence upon the tendency of the horse to 

 fall, it rather increases than decreases that tendency ; 

 while the assertion that it holds up a horse from 

 falling, by tying his head to his back, is so glaringly 

 absurd as to require no refutation. 



