ILLUSTRATED GUIDE. 109 



horse touching one leg with the other shoe or foot, and 

 it may be either of the ankle or pastern joint, or of the in- 

 side of the leg, or just below the knee, which last is called 

 the speedy cut. It arises from the leg's being set on 

 slightly awry, so that the action is not straight-forward ; 

 and this is aggravated by weakness or want of condition, 

 so that a horse often cuts when poor, though he is quite 

 free from the vice when high in flesh. The cutting may 

 be either of the fore or hind leg. The remedy is either to 

 alter the shoeing or to apply a boot. 



Rearing is a coltish trick, which is generally lost as 

 the colt grows older ; it is not nearly so common as it 

 used to be, and a bad rearer is not often seen. When in 

 an aggravated form, it is a frightful vice, and with an in- 

 experienced rider may be attended with fatal mischief. 

 In slight cases, it consists in the horse's simply rising a lit- 

 tle before, and dropping again, as if from play only ; but 

 in the worst, it is a systematic attempt to throw the rider, 

 and sometimes the horse goes so far as to throw himself 

 back as well. The remedy for this vice is the martingale, 

 which may either be used with rings running on the snaf- 

 fle-rein, or attached directly to that bit by the ordinary 

 billet and buckle; or again, by means of a running-rein, 

 which commences from the breast-strap of the martingale, 

 and then running through the ring or the snaffle, with a 

 pulley-like action, it is brought back to the hand, and it 

 may thus be tightened or relaxed according to circum- 

 stances, so as to bring the horse's head absolutely down 

 to his brisket, or on the other hand, to give it entire lib- 

 erty, without dismounting. It is a very good plan with 

 an experienced horseman, but its use should not be at- 

 tempted by any other. With a determined brute, noth- 



