HORSE— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



i3£ 



squealing when any approach is made to 

 their elbows to tighten the surcingle, and 

 others when the strap No. 2 is slipped 

 through it. Few, however, plunge much ; 

 and if they are made to hop on three legs, 

 they are able to go on for so long a time, 

 without producing the necessary amount 

 of fatigue, that the 

 operator would be 

 tired before his pu- 

 pil. It may be 

 observed that with 

 a violent horse, it 

 is always better to 

 let him feel his 

 want of power for 



doingmischief with Fig. 30.— Mr. Rarey's Strap, 



the near fore leg strapped up, and the 

 slight degree of fatigue which a few min- 

 utes' hopping will produce, before the 

 second strap is called into play, especially 

 if the operator has not acquired great 

 skill in the use of the apparatus. When 

 this is done, and the second strap is ap- 



plied, and slipped through the surcingle, 

 as shown in figure 31, taking care to put 

 a stout glove on the right hand, the left 

 rein is taken in the left hand, and gently 

 jerked — using, if necessary, the usual slight 

 stimulus with the tongue, to make the 

 horse move, which he can onlyjdo by 

 raising the off fore 

 leg off the ground 

 in the action known 

 as hopping. The 

 moment this be- 

 gins, the right hand 

 firmly draws the off 

 leg up to the sur- 

 cingle, and keeps 

 No. 2. it there, when the 



horse must either bound into the air 

 on his hind legs, or he must go down 

 on the ground, supported from falling 

 on his side in the attitude of kneel- 

 ing. To avoid mischief, therefore, the 

 loose box or yard where the operation is 

 carried on should be thickly bedded with 



Fig. 31. — The Horse in the Power of his Master. 



straw ; for no knee-caps are stout enough 

 to protect the joints from injury on hard 

 ground ; nor, if they escape being bruised, 

 will the shock to the body on falling be at 

 all safe. Even straw can hardly be relied 

 on, if the floor beneath is of brick, stone, 



pebbles, or hard natural soil ; for it is apt 

 to give way during the struggles of the 

 horse, and allow the knees to reach it 

 without the intended protection. When, 

 therefore, there is no tanned riding-school, 

 or other similar surface, at command, a. 



