HORSE— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



43 



Thus, there are many horses which never 

 shy at meeting tilted wagons, or other 

 similarly alarming objects, but which al- 

 most drop with fear on a small bird flying 

 out of a hedge, or any other startling 

 sound. These last are also worse, be- 

 cause they give no notice to the rider, 

 whereas the ordinary shyer almost always 

 shows by his- ears that he is prepared to 

 turn round. 



The best plan of treatment which can 

 be adopted is to take as little notice as 

 possible of the shying, and to be espe- 

 cially careful not to show any fear of its 

 recurrence when a wagon appears in the 

 distance. When the horse begins to show 

 alarm, and not till then, the rider should 

 speak encouragingly to him, and, if neces- 

 sary, with a severe tone, which may even 

 be supported by the use of the whip 

 or spurs, if his own onward progress 

 cannot be otherwise maintained. The 

 principle which should be carried out is 

 to adopt such measures as will get the 

 horse to pass the object at which he shies 

 somehow or other, and this should be ef- 

 effected with as little violence as possible, 

 always commending in an encouraging 

 tone as soon as the purpose is gained. 

 Nothing has so great a tendency to keep 

 up the habit as the plan so common 

 among ignorant grooms, of chastising the 

 shyer after he has passed the object of his 

 alarm. If he can be persuaded to go quiet- 

 ly up to it and examine it with his muz- 

 zle as well as with his eyes, great good 

 will be effected ; but this can seldom be 

 done with moving wagons, and heaps or 

 stones are generally only alarming from 

 defect of vision, so that each time they 

 assume a new phase to the active im- 

 agination of the timid animal. 



HORSE, REARING, How to Manage. 

 — In the British Sportsman we find the fol- 

 lowing hint respecting the management of 

 a rearing horse, which strikes us as being 

 worthy, as it is easy, of a trial. Whenev- 

 er you perceive a horse's inclination to 

 rear, separate your reins and prepare him. 

 The instant he is about to rise, slacken 

 one hand and bend or twist his head with' 

 the other, keeping your hands low. This 

 bending compels him to move a hind leg, 

 and of necessity brings his fore feet down. 

 Instantly twist him completely round two 

 or three times, which will confuse him 

 very much, and completely throw him oft 



his guard. The moment you have finished 

 twisting him around, place his head in the 

 direction you wish to proceed ; apply the 

 spurs, and he will not fail to go forward. 

 If the situation be convenient, press him 

 into a gallop, and apply the spurs and 

 whip two or three times severely. The 

 horse will not perhaps be quite satisfied 

 with the first defeat, but may feel disposed 

 to try again for the mastery. Should this 

 be the case, you have only to twist him, 

 etc., as before, and you will find that in 

 the second struggle he will be more easily 

 subdued than on the former occasion ; in 

 fact, you will see him quail under the op- 

 eration. It rarely happens that a rearing 

 horse, after having been treated in the 

 way described, will resort to the trick a 

 third time. 



HORSE, Rolling.— This is a very 

 pleasant and perfectly safe amusement for 

 a horse at grass, but cannot be indulged 

 in the stable without the chance of his 

 being dangerously entangled with the hal- 

 ter rein and being cast. Yet, although 

 the horse is cast, and bruised, and half 

 strangled, he will roll again on the follow- 

 ing night, and continue to do so as long 

 as he lives. The only remedy is not a 

 very pleasant one to the horse, nor al- 

 ways quite safe ; yet it must be had re- 

 course to, if the habit of rolling is inveter- 

 ate. "The horse," says Mr. Castley, 

 "should be tied with length enough of 

 halter to lie down, but not to allow of 

 his head resting on the ground; because, 

 in order to roll over, a horse is obliged to 

 place his head quite down upon the 

 ground." 



HORSE, for Kickers, except when the 

 habit is merely a mode of letting off su- 

 perflous spirits, severity is the only rem- 

 edy, and a strong application of the whip 

 down the shoulder the best means of using 

 it. At the same time the snaffle-reins ought 

 to be firmly held, and by their means the 

 head kept up, for there is always a ten- 

 dency to lower this part in the act of 

 kicking; the gag-snaffle is very effectual 

 for this purpose. 



HORSE, Plunging may be described as 

 a series of bounds into the air, which 

 when they are made up and down in the 

 same place, or nearly so, are called "buck- 

 ing," from their resemblance to the play- 

 ful antics of the deer. A bucking horse 

 is very difficult to sit, but by sawing the 



