146 England's horses, 



can find it ; and the reason why he needs it is simply this, that 

 his forehand has fallen below its proper limit in the scale of a 

 just balance, and so has to support an undue share both of his own 

 weight and that of his rider. The consequence is, as has been 

 already shown, that his fore legs fall back, and in their turn force 

 back the propellers ; the haunch no longer works through the 

 whole of its proper space of action, for it cannot close completely 

 up without bringing the propellers fully forward, and they, as we 

 have seen, cannot get fully forward on account of the impediment 

 offered by the displacement of the fore feet, which, in their turn, 

 are equally unable to recover their proper position, while the 

 shoulder continues depressed; the drooping head must be sup- 

 ported, no matter at what cost of pain to the "bars" of the 

 poor animal's mouth. But raise the shoulder, get the fore feet 

 out of the way, set the haunch to work, in other words, " unite" 

 your horse and bring up his propellers, and you at once find his 

 balance restored, his action extended, his speed and strength some- 

 times nearly doubled, and his head, which used to hang with so 

 irksome a weight upon the arm of his rider, erect, free, light 

 upon the hand, and perfectly sensitive to every admonition of 

 the bit. 



Such, in at least nine cases out of ten, is the true explanation 

 and cure for the so-called "hard-mouth," as well as of the 

 "uneven mouth," so termed when the horse pulls by one side of 

 his mouth and moves obliquely. In the remaining cases, the 

 cause is usually to be found in some malformation or acquired 

 distortion of the vertebrae of the neck, causing the head to incline 

 to a particular side, and so offering an obstinate resistance to the 

 rein, which pulls in an opposite direction. Putting the horse on 

 his haunches will not, it is true, cure this defect; but if the 

 animal be not in balance, it will facilitate the cure, by leaving the 

 head and neck free to the unimpeded operation of such other 

 remedies as the skill of the breaker may enable him to adapt to 

 the varying circumstances of each case. 



To elevate the anterior extremity of the spine, then, with a 

 view to restoring the animal to a proper state of balance, is the 



