304 HORSE AND MAN. 



more than there is in a child swinging its legs if 

 compelled to sit still on a form or chair when its 

 natural instinct urges it to run, and jump, and shout, 

 in order to let off its superabundant energy. 



In the one case the groom, and in the other the 

 teacher, looks upon these restless movements as a 

 sort of wilful vice, which must be checked by punish- 

 ment. Yet, the fault does not lie with the horse or 

 child, but with those who deprived it of its natural 

 amount of exercise. 



As to crib-biting, a vice which is mostly thought 

 to be incurable, it is almost wholly caused by the 

 narrowness of the stall, and the confinement of the 

 movements of the animal. I never heard of a horse 

 beginning this vice in a loose box. It may from 

 custom continue it, though the reason for it has 

 been taken away ; but, as far as I know, the evil 

 habit has never originated in a stable where the horse 

 could move about. 



I have seen a very ingenious form of manger, 

 which was invented in order to cure horses which 

 were given to crib -biting. A galvanic battery was 

 connected with metallic plates which ran above and 

 below the edge of the manger. As long as the horse 

 uses the manger for its legitimate purposes, he has 

 no reason for supposing that it is not like any other 

 manger, but, as soon as he seizes the edge with his 



