374 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY. 



will not start if their shoulders have been chafed with the 

 collar and has left a rawness, as the coldness of the collar 

 gives considerable pain ; but after the collar becomes of the 

 same temperature as the animal, then he will go on. To 

 prevent unpleasantness of this kind it would be well to 

 warm the collar at a fire before putting it on. Some horses, 

 which were inveterate gibbers, have been cured of this vice 

 by constantly wearing a false collar ; while others have 

 been reformed by keeping the ordinary collar on night and 

 day. This is, however, not to be recommended, as it inter- 

 feres with the animal's rest. 



Many horses are such determined gibbers that they will 

 never cure. When this is the case, they should be sold to 

 the owners of a stage-coach, in which four-in-hand are 

 driven, and if placed as the near wheeler, they will be 

 forced to do their work. Some have also been worked in a 

 team by farmers ; but nobody would think of keeping an 

 animal which can only occasionally be rendered serviceable. 



KICKING. 



The vice of kicking is too often caused by horses being 

 teased, tickled, and pinched by grooms, from wanton mis- 

 chief or thoughtless folly. The habit becomes habitual 

 with the animals, and what was at first only done in play, 

 is exercised in anger, and often too when one least expects 

 it. In short, it is a dangerous and incurable vice. 



Horses with an irritable or fidgety disposition kick the 

 stall or bail, and especially during the night. This is a 

 great annoyance to other horses in the stable, and breaks 

 their rest. Besides, the animal is liable to injure himself 

 seriously, and bring on swelled hocks or other malady. 

 Mares are more given to this than horses ; and in either it is 

 difficult to eradicate if once confirmed. As soon as it is 



