110 ILLUSTRATED GUIDE. 



ing short of this last will prevent rearing; and even it 

 will fail in some cases, for there are some horses which 

 rear with their heads between their fore-legs. Neverthe- 

 less, happily, they are rare exceptions, and with the ma- 

 jority the martingale in some form is efficacious. It 

 should never be put on the curb-rein with rearers, and 

 indeed, a curb is seldom to be used at all with horses ad- 

 dicted to that vice ; they are always made worse by the 

 slightest touch of the bit, and unless they are very much 

 inclined to run away, it is far better to trust to a straight 

 bit or plain snafde, which, by not irritating the mouth, 

 will often induce them to go ' pleasantly, whereas a 

 more severe bit would tempt them to show their temper 

 by rearing. Breaking a bottle of water between the ears, 

 or a severe blow on the same part, may, in some cases, be 

 tried ; but the continued use of the martingale will gen- 

 erally suffice. There is also a mode of curing rearers, 

 sometimes attempted by letting them rise, and then slip- 

 ping off on one side and pulling them back; but it is a 

 dangerous feat for both horse and rider, and has often led 

 to a broken back on the part of the horse, as well as some- 

 times to severe injury to the rider. It is scarcely neces- 

 sary to remark that the rider should, in all cases, lean 

 well forward and relay the bridle while the horse is in the 

 air. 



Shying is sometimes the effect of fear and sometimes of 

 vice, and there are many horses which begin with the for- 

 mer and end with the latter, in consequence of misman- 

 agement. The young co]t is almost always more or less 

 shy, especially if he was brought at once from the retired 

 fields where he was reared, to the streets of a busy town. 

 There are, however, numberless varieties of shyers, some 



