CHAPTER XXII 



VICIOUS HORSES 



Anybody who goes round a first-class trainer's 

 stud cannot help noticing the quietness of the 

 horses. Hardly any of them lash out or show 

 an inclination to bite an admiring visitor, for the 

 very simple reason that they are firmly handled, 

 never played with, or patted in a finniking way, 

 and made " soft." 



What valuable hints an average owner can 

 glean from watching the manner in which the 

 best blood-stock is managed ! Surely if valuable 

 racehorses do not have their tempers unneces- 

 sarily upset, ordinary hacks, chargers, and hunters 

 should be looked after on similar lines? In fact 

 the average horse can be made gentle or vicious, 

 according to how he is handled, ridden, and 

 driven, for unconquerable hereditary ill-temper is 

 quite the exception. 



Although instincts of vice are sometimes in- 

 grained in an animal's nature, the common 

 tricks, such as rearing, kicking, and jibbing are 

 usually acquired, and can therefore be traced to 

 bad riding or driving, or maybe a horse has been 

 stupidly harnessed, badly bitted, and has learnt 

 to resent being tortured unnecessarily. 



In some cases vices cannot be eradicated, but 



