no THE HORSE 



too long a time; but nothing could be more cruel or 

 irrational than the promiscuous use of the overdraw 

 check. Not one horse in twenty requires an overdraw 

 check, and in nineteen cases out of twenty the over- 

 draw check causes discomfort and even pain. 



The overdraw check is especially cruel upon a horse 

 who has any weight to pull, even a moderate weight. 

 The natural position for a horse pulling any weight 

 more than that of a mere sulky is the position in which 

 his neck is somewhat arched, and the overdraw check 

 almost wholly prevents the arching of the neck. 



Moreover, a horse cannot look his best, in fact, can 

 hardly be beautiful unless his neck is somewhat arched, 

 and for this reason again the side check is far prefer- 

 able to the overdraw check. Let any person who loves 

 beauty in horses look first at a carriage or driving horse 

 driven without a check, or with an easy side check, and 

 then go to the race course and see the trotters with 

 their necks stretched out straight and their heads drawn 

 up by overdraw checks. The beauty is almost wholly 

 taken out of them. 



The overdraw check may be necessary on most trot- 

 ters, but there is no question that many and many a 

 trotter would go faster if he were not checked so high. 

 This is a matter of frequent remark among experts in 

 the training business. John Splan, the noted trainer 

 and driver, drove Lady De Jarnette three seconds 

 faster than her record simply by lowering the very high 

 overdraw check which her owner had always supposed 

 it was necessary for her to wear. Lake Queen for- 

 merly wore a severe check, and the best she could do 



