AN IMPORTANT MANIFESTO. 235 



tunity of denouncing it. In classifying horses which 

 are crippled by injudicious treatment, he proceeds 

 as follows : ' A fourth set are rendered cripples by 

 the unfeeling use of the bearing-rein, which disables 

 the organs of respiration, and renders the lightest 

 draught a terrible burden, by throwing the work on 

 the muscles of the limbs, while it compels these 

 agents to contract at a terrible disadvantage. 



' Those who delight in a lofty crest may accom- 

 plish more by attention to the health and diet than 

 by the absence of humanity. The strongest bearing- 

 rein and the sharpest bit cannot exalt the head of a 

 spiritless horse.' 



In another part of the work he shows by a series 

 of diagrams how the best shoulder is ruined by the 

 bearing-rein, and how the horse, from having its 

 head raised abnormally and prevented from seeing 

 the ground, by degrees acquires a step which is 

 almost identical with that of a blind animal. 



Youatt, in his well-known work, writes equally 

 strongly on the subject, and so does Fleming. 



If any other argument could be required, it may 

 be found in an important document which was issued 

 a few years ago : — 



' We, the undersigned, are of opinion that the 

 use of the bearing-rein, when tightly applied, is pain- 

 ful and irritating to horses, is directly or indirectly 



