82 HUMANE HORSE-TRAINING 



require patience and persevering efforts to make it as 

 obedient and affectionate as the erstwhile nervous colt. 

 Most horses kick, not on account of a bad disposition, 

 but because their owners were ignorant, and really taught 

 them to kick by bad breaking and training. 



If a horse kicks when the breeching-straps accidentally 

 break going down a hill it is only an indication that he 

 was not educated properly when a colt. Kicking when 

 the reins get under the tail is another indication of bad 

 training in colthood. I cannot place too much emphasis 

 upon the necessity for thorough colt -training. 



The way I handle a nervous kicker is quite simple. 

 I throw him on the ground (this usually takes place in 

 a field, and I have plenty of litter about). When the 

 horse shows complete subjection by throwing, I use him 

 to being touched all over with the whip ; then a sack full 

 of hay is pulled over his body and rested on his hind- 

 quarters, until he shows no resistance at all when touched. 

 I then put the horse in a loose-box and pole him all 

 over with a long stick (like a broom-stick). He is next 

 harnessed and driven in long reins, commencing at a 

 walk. The continual feeling of the rein dangling uses 

 the horse to being constantly touched behind, the place 

 where most kickers resent being touched, and the place 

 where a good many grooms fail to clean them when 



