MOUTHING, ETC. 457 



a horse that is to be driven in a low wagon will not be re- 

 quired to flex his neck to the extent that he would if the 

 reins were to be held by the driver at a higher point. The 

 position desired is one in which the bars of the mouth or 

 the cheek-pieces of the bridle are at right angles to the reins, 

 when the latter are taut. The horse should never be al- 

 lowed to flex his neck to such an extent as to impair his 

 breathing powers by partly closing the windpipe, and the 

 following extract is quoted to show that there are some 

 horses so formed that it is not only disadvantageous but cruel 

 to carry the flexing of the neck beyond certain limits : 



"There are some horses so peculiarly formed about the neck that they 

 have little more pliability in it than a pig. Yet is this horse wanted, and 

 by some expected, to carry his head in as good a place, or nearly so, as the 

 finer made one. To make him do this, or rather to attempt to make him 

 do it, his mouth is tortured and bored at till it becomes as hard as the hand 

 of a blacksmith or a bricklayer's laborer. Any judge of horses would see 

 whereabouts nature had intended and enabled the animal to carry his 

 head and neck, and would not attempt to make him do that which it was 

 impossible he could do ; and by allowing him to carry it in such place, the 

 animal's mouth would perhaps be as pleasant as that of any other horse." — 

 Charles Brindley, '^^ Practical Horsemanship,'' p. 88. 



A very little pressure should be used during the first 

 few days, and the lesson should not last more than a quarter 

 of an hour; but as the horse learns to flex his neck the 

 side reins should be gradually tightened. The effect of the 

 schooling is lessened if the horse is fastened to the pillar- 

 reins, as he soon learns to lean upon them. As soon as the 

 work has progressed to a point where the horse has learned 

 to hold his head in the desired position when standing, he 

 must next be taught to .carry it in the same manner when 

 in motion. For this part of the schooling a Blackwell's 



