JOBBING THEIR MOUTHS. 419 



very great provocation to " play up." Here again 

 Jorrocks' advice to know your horse comes in, for 

 our stable friendship with our animals establishes a 

 bond of unity which they will always remember and 

 appreciate. Horses are very sporting animals, and 

 the love of competition is inherent in them all, from 

 the hack to the steeplechaser. When it is a question 

 of a gallop, an old nag will put his best foot foremost 

 and try to outdistance his companion, even though 

 his chances of so doing may be extremely small. In 

 hunting and racing we see horses gamely struggling 

 on, often under severe punishment. To my mind, 

 half the pleasure of witnessing equine competitions 

 of speed and staying power is lost by the brutality of 

 jockeys who, possibly from rage and disappointment 

 at losing a race, often unmercifully punish their 

 animals with whip and spurs, even when the first three 

 horses have passed the winning post. 



One of the most fruitful causes of bad mouths 

 is the practice which many servants adopt of jerking 

 the reins, when a horse which they are holding 

 becomes restless, even when the inquietude consists 

 merely in looking at passing objects. Men who 

 adopt this barbarous method of control, never 

 accompany the action of their hand with the voice, 

 and, consequently, the unfortunate animal does not 

 know why he is punished. He naturally connects 

 any pressure of the mouth-piece on the bars of his 

 mouth with the idea of pain, from which he tries to 

 escape by throwing up his head. Hence, instead of 



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