OF FARRIERY. 



467 



The case of shying should be particularly 

 attended to by tlie breaker. Many broken 

 limbs and lost lives mio'ht thence have been 

 saved. It arises from three causes : actual 

 fear, skittishness, and roguery. The more 

 racing blood a Horse has, the less he is subject 

 to this infirmity or vice. The only remedy in 

 the case is, hold hard and be quiet. As to 

 the whip and spur, and the silly checking a 

 really fearful Horse with a sharp curb, as 

 though the intent were to break liis jaw bone, 

 it is truly a noodling; unthinking, as well as 

 cruel practice. It is, in fact, an excellent re- 

 cipe to advance the nag in tiie noble accom- 

 plishments of shying and starting, since, in 

 association with the object, he naturally expects 

 the whip and spur. Mr. Lawrence says : — 



" With affected shyers, some severity may be 

 necessary. These chaps generally fix upon 

 some particular shying but : for example, I 

 recollect having, at different periods, three 

 hacks, all very powerful ; the one made choice 

 of a windmill for the object or but, the other 

 a tilted waggon, and the last & pig led in a 

 string. I was once placed in a very dangerous 

 predicament by this last, on a road filled with 

 carriages. It so happened, however, that I 

 rode the two former when amiss from a violent 

 cold, and they then puid no more attention to 

 either windmills or tilted waggons, than to 

 any other objects, couvincing me that their 

 shying, when in health and spirits, was pure 

 affection. It is a thing seldom, perhaps never, 

 thought of or attended to, which however 

 detracts nothing from its consequence, to 

 accustom colts, during their breaking, to all 

 the chief object of terror, which occasion the 

 vice of shying. After a colt shall have been 

 ) considerable time in hand, and his education 

 nearly finished, should he be a careless and 



blundering goer, not sufficiently bending hjj 

 kness, he should be frequently, but with great 

 care, (beware broken knees) exercised daily 

 in a slow trot, over rough and uneven roads. 



" To connect vices with their anomalies 

 together, I once had a fine hunting mare, an 

 incorrigible biter; as a proof of which, before 

 she came into my possession, but I was un- 

 apprised of it, she had killed a stable boy ; 

 yet her biting was entirely confined to the 

 stable, nor did she ever show either that or 

 any other kind of vice abroad, riding perfectly 

 quiet." 



CASTRATION. 



The period at which this important opera- 

 tion will be best performed depends much on 

 the breed and form of the colt, and the pur 

 pose for which he is destined. For the 

 common agricultural Horse, the age of four or 

 five months will be the most advisable, or, at 

 least, before he is weaned. Very few Horses 

 are lost when cut at that age. The weather, 

 however, should not be too hot, nor the flies 

 too numerous. We enter our decided protest 

 against the recommendation of some valuable, 

 but incautious agricultural writers, that " colts 

 should be cut in the months of June or July, 

 when flies pester the Horses, and cause them 

 to be continually moving about, and thereby 

 prevent swelling." One moment's reflection 

 will convince the reader that nothing can be 

 more likely to produce inflammation, and con- 

 sequent swelling and danger, than the torture 

 of the flies hovering round and stinging the 

 sore part. 



If the Horse is designed either for tlie 

 carriage or for heavy draught, the larmcr 

 should not think of castrating him until he be 

 at least a twelvemonth old ; and, even then, 



