ROAD HORSES. 133 



for liim to perforin his work ; but if the check be too 

 tight, it becomes a hindrance and a vexation, instead 

 of a help. 



Charles Marvin relates an experience with a year- 

 ling which shows the very great importance of not 

 checking a horse too high : — 



" There was a certain colt at Palo Alto that showed 

 remarkably well in the paddock, but after we got him 

 in harness we found that he could not exhibit a trace 

 of respectable speed. I drove him one day, and found 

 that he could not trot a three-minute gait. . . . After 

 vain and discouraging work I gave him up for that 

 day, thinking that perhaps he was out of humor, and 

 sulky, and a little bit tired. The next day I tried him 

 again, but with no better results. ... So I unhitched 

 him and turned him loose on the miniature track, and 

 away he went as well as ever. A little study showed 

 how he carried his head and how he balanced himself. 

 I changed the check, harnessed him again, let his 

 head free so that he could carry himself in his own 

 way, and that same day he showed me a quarter in 

 better than forty seconds." * 



It is natural for some horses to carry their heads 

 low, for others to carry them at a medium height, and 

 for a few to hold them high. But the check rein as 

 commonly used disregards these natural differences, 

 and pulls up the head of the unfortunate animal to a 

 point which suits the whim or vanity of his owner. 

 Even horsemen of great experience frequently err in 

 this matter. The owner of Lady De Jarnette, a beau- 

 tiful Kentucky mare, a noted prize-winner, always 

 drove her with a particularly short, over-draw check, 



1 Training the Trotting Horse, page 218. 



