REARING. 269 



curb reins. I have described in Illustrated Horse-Breaking an 

 easy and effective means for combating this vice. 



KICKING. 



The first thing to do, if practicable, is to see that the 

 saddle or girths do not pinch the horse. If we are on his 

 back at a time that he is indulging in this vice, we should 

 keep his head raised, speak to him, " shake him up " by 

 pulling the bit through his mouth from side to side, so as 

 to lighten his fore-hand, and if necessary, hit him about the 

 shoulders with the whip or cane for the same object. 



REARING. 



My experience among rearers in many countries is that 

 pain inflicted by the bit (whether by a severe bit or by 

 rough handling) is the great cause of this vice. Hence we 

 find that in countries like England, where curbs are in general 

 use on ordinary riding horses, rearing is much more common 

 than in countries like Australia, where the snaffle is chiefly 

 employed. Also in England, there is a far larger percentage 

 of rearers among hunters, which are almost always ridden in 

 double bridles, than among racehorses, which hardly ever 

 go out in any other bit than a snaffle. Furthermore, I have 

 invariably found both in my own case and in that of others 

 whose performances I have witnessed, that a touch of the 

 curb is the best means to make a horse which is that way 

 inclined, " stand up straight on end." I would therefore 

 advise that a curb should not be employed when riding a 

 rearer. Many men who in obedience to the dictates of 

 fashion, use a double bridle on every kind of horse, are 

 unable from want of skill and coolness to discriminate 

 between the curb reins and the snaffle reins on a sudden 

 emergency, or even under ordinary conditions of riding. If 



