284 RIDING VICIOUS HORSES. 



on a road, often cuts the fore part of his head and at the 

 same time does not injure his knees, shows that it is most 

 unwise to pull the reins when an animal stumbles ; because 

 a snatch at the reins would be very likely to prevent him 

 getting his head down and thus saving his knees. In such 

 cases, the injury to the head is usually trifling, and is 

 generally inflicted on one of the orbital arches, which are 

 the prominent bony arches that protect the eyes. On the 

 other hand, if a rider has his horse well up to his bridle 

 he can afford him aid when he trips by a judicious bearing 

 on the reins, without in the least " jobbing " his mouth, a 

 fact that is well known to all good horsemen. I entirely 

 disagree with a recent writer, who tells us that when a 

 horse stumbles we should let the reins slip through our 

 fingers ; for if we did so, and especially with young horses, 

 we should not have the animals going in a well-balanced 

 or collected manner. The performance of a young inex- 

 perienced horse over ridge and furrow for instance is a 

 series of stumbles and floundering until he has gained 

 experience, and it is absolutely necessary for the safety of 

 both that the rider should keep his pupil well in hand, 

 and thus steady and support his unbalanced efforts. It is 

 also self-evident that when riding over rough stony ground 

 we should keep a horse well up to his bridle and not let 

 him "slop" along in a careless manner. 



A rider should on no account punish a horse for stumbling ; 

 because that would have the effect of only making him start 

 and prance about, after the mistake had occurred, and would 

 not make him go more collectedly in future. Besides, the 

 habit of dancing about after a stumble is particularly dis- 

 agreeable to the rider, and it betrays to all spectators the 

 unpleasant fact that the animal had previously erred in the 

 same manner. As a horse never stumbles intentionally, pun- 

 ishing him for this accident is cruelty of a reprehensible kind. 



