1.44 THE OVER- CHECK. 



himself if he stumbles: and he is cruel if, — observing 

 and kno"v\ing, he does not remed}- it. He is pompous 

 and vulgar if he prefers that his horses rear their heads 

 on high and rattle their trappings, to being dealt with 

 humane!}^ and reasonabh'. When I look at the coat-of- 

 arms on these carriages I know who are the greatest 

 fools in London in the upper classes. The idiot and 

 brute of a coachman likes to sit behind these poor, tor- 

 tured, faithful martyrs, with their tied up heads, but 

 his master ouo^ht to know better.'^ 



H. W. Herbert, in his ''Hints to Horse Keepers," 

 says: "The check, or bearing rein, is an unaccount- 

 able mistake in the harness invention. While it holds 

 the horse's head in an unnatural, ungraceful and un- 

 comfortable position, it gives the mouth a callous, 

 horny character, and entirely destroys all chance for 

 fine driving. The check rein is considered valuable 

 to prevent horses from grazing or lowering the head. 

 The same end may be equally attained by substituting 

 a siniplebridlp-reiii, fastened to the saddle with- 

 out passing tli rough the loops of the throatlatch." 



Another writer says: 



"Tying one part of an animaPs body to another 

 does not necessarily keep him on his feet. It is the 

 pull from the arm of the driver that makes the horse 

 regain himself when he stumbles. One might as well 

 say that tying a man's head back to a belt at his waist 



