CONTENTS. xiii 



PAGE 



railway buffers — Arrangement of a train — The martingale — 

 Rattling of harness and tossing of heads — Sir Arthur Helps' 

 opinion — Effect of the gag bearing-rein on the spine and feet — 

 The ' burr ' bit of America — Mr. Henry Bergh's work — The 

 locomotive and the horse 198 



CHAPTER XIII. 



The bearing-rein continued — The locomotive and the brake — Proba- 

 tion of an engine driver — The bearing-rein and the break — 

 Leading reins converted into bearing-reins — Railway companies 

 and the bearing-rein — Theories as to the bearing-rein — Its 

 supposed use in preventing the horse from falling — Bearing- 

 reins and hills — Harness in Scotland — The bearing-rein in 

 Bristol — Mr. Cracknell's testimony — The bearing-rein and 

 runaway horses — A grievous experience — The shoulder injured 

 by the bearing-rein — Testimony of more than a hundred veteri- 

 nary surgeons — 'Roaring' caused by the bearing-rein — Mis- 

 taken zeal — Summary — 'Free Lance's' check for a runaway 

 horse . . . " 222 



CHAPTER XIV. 



The blinker and its supposed uses — Cropping of ears — Alleged 

 necessity for cropping — Contradictory temperament of the 

 horse — Courage and timidity — Inquisitiveness — Rarey's prin- 

 ciple — The kettle-drummer's horse — Mr. C. H. Tamplin's 

 experience — Obstinacy of a coachman — Value of the 'master's 

 eye '— Waterton at Walton Hall— Letter from ' C. F. W.' to 

 the Field newspaper — ' Jockeying ' adviser — Modified blinkers 

 — Eye of the horse — Cruel superstitions — The third eyelid, or 

 'nictitating membrane,' and its use — The groom's rashness and 

 its effects 244 



CHAPTER XV. 



The mane and the practice of ' hogging ' — The tail and its office — 

 "What man does to the tail — Docking — A puzzled JP. — The 

 professional eye again — Docking and lock-jaw — Nicking — An 

 unexpected ally — 'Conducive to human safety' — The tail and 

 the crupper — Winter and summer coats of the horse — Clipping 

 and singeing — American horses in winter — Fashion with man 

 and horse — The groom's real reason for clipping — Mayhew and 

 Lupton's opinions of clipping — The ' moulting ' of birds . . 264 



