MANAGEMENT OF THE REINS. 23! 



puller in hand. The change of stiffness to pliability of 

 neck and jaw is the usual way in which a puller intimates 

 to his rider that he is willing to obey. 



9. When a horse pulls so hard that we are not able to get 

 his head in by force, we may accomplish our object by giving 

 to him with such quickness that he will think that he has 

 overcome our resistance and will cease stiffening his neck 

 against us, and will consequently carry his head in an uncon- 

 strained position. As soon as we find him doing this, we 

 should take a pull at him, and if he makes another snatch at 

 the reins, we should again give to him ; and so on, until at 

 last he will probably think that he has gained the victory, and 

 will therefore cease hostilities. As a parallel case I may cite 

 the means by which we may circumvent a horse which has the 

 not uncommon trick in the stable of continually hanging back 

 against his head-collar chain. If we tie up the chain short with 

 a piece of twine when the animal is in his stall, we shall find 

 as a rule that when he throws his weight on the head-collar 

 and consequently breaks the twine, he will imagine himself free, 

 and will cease pulling against the chain, which still binds him. 

 Here I think we have got the explanation of the fact that 

 there are some men who are able to hold pullers, although they 

 are not particularly strong. They act according to the sound 

 though somewhat ambiguously expressed adage, that " if you 

 don't pull against a horse, the horse won't pull against you." 



10. Bumping up and down in the saddle is often due to the 

 rider maintaining too short a hold of the reins, which causes 

 him to be pulled forward at each stride. 



11. Reversed indications of the reins cannot be so easily 

 understood by a horse as direct ones ; they are less effective ; 

 and are more liable to be irritating. Consequently their 

 employment is apt to spoil the animal's temper, both by 

 exciting him to resistance and by imparting to him the 

 dangerous knowledge of his own power. I particularly wish 



