358 VICES AND DEFECTS OF THE HORSE. 



Dut he must be always on his guard, or in a moment of carelessness he may be seri- 

 ously injured. 



It is seldom that anything can be done in the way of cure. Kindness will aggra- 

 vate the evil, and no degree of severity will correct it. " I have seen," says Professor 

 Stewart, "biters punished until they trembled in every joint, and were ready to drop, 

 but have never in any case known them cured by this treatment, or by any other. 

 The lash is forgotten in an hour, and the horse is as ready and determined to repeat 

 the offence as before. He appears unable to resist the temptation, and in its worst 

 form biting is a species of insanity."* 



Prevention, however, is in the power of every proprietor of horses. While he 

 insists on gentle and humane treatment of his cattle, he should systematically for- 

 bid this horse-play. It is that which can never be considered as operating as a re- 

 ward, and thereby rendering the horse tractable ; nor does it increase the affection 

 of the animal for his groom, because he is annoyed and irritated by being thus inces- 

 santly teased. 



GETTING THE CHEEK OF THE BIT INTO THE MOUTH. 



Some horses that are disposed to be mischievous try to do this, and are very expert 

 at it. They soon find what advantage it gives them over their driver, who by this 

 niancEuvre loses almost all command. Harsh treatment is here completely out of the 

 question. All that can be done is, by some mechanical contrivance, to render the 

 thing difficult or impossible, and this may be managed by fastening a round piece of 

 leather on the inside of the cheek of the bit. 



KICKING. 



This, as a vice, is another consequence of the culpable habit of grooms and stable- 

 boys of teasing the horse. That which is at first an indication of annoyance at 

 the pinching and tickling of the groom, and without any design to injure, gradually 

 becomes the expression of anger, and the effort to do mischief. The horse likewise 

 too soon recognises the least appearance of timidity, and takes advantage of the dis- 

 covery. There is no cure for this vice ; and he cannot be justified who keeps a kick* 

 ing horse in his stable. 



Some horses acquire, from mere irritability and fidgetiness, a habit of kicking at 

 the stall or the bail, and particularly at night. The neighbouring horses are disturbed, 

 and the kicker gets swelled hocks, or some more serious injury. This is also a habit 

 very difficult to correct if suffered to become established. Mares are far more subject 

 to it than horses. 



Before the habit is inveterately established, a thorn bush or a piece of furze fasten- 

 ed against the partition or post will sometimes effect a cure. When the horse finds 

 that he is pretty severely pricked, he will not long continue to punish himself. In 

 confirmed cases it may be necessary to have recourse to the log, but the legs are 

 often not a little bruised by it. A rather long and heavy piece of wood attached to 

 a chain has been buckled above the hock, so as to reach about half-way down the leg. 

 When the horse attempts to kick violently, his leg will receive a severe blow: this, 

 and the repetition of it, may. after a time, teacli him to be quiet. 



A much more serious vice is kicking in harness. From the least annoyance about 

 the rump or quarters, some horses will kick at a most violent rate, and destroy the 

 bottom of the chaise, and endanger the limbs of the driver. Those that are fidgety 

 in the stable are most apt to do this. If the reins should perchance get under the 

 tail, the violence of the kicker will often be most outrageous; and while the animal 

 presses down his tail so tightly that it is almost impossible to extricate the reins, he 

 continues to plunge until he has demolished everything behind him. 



This is a vice standing foremost in point of danger, and which no treatment will 

 always conquer. It will be nltogether in vain to try coercion. If the shafts are very 

 strong and without flaw, or it' they are plated with iron underneath, and a stout kick- 

 ing-strap resorted to which will barely allow the horse the proper use of his liind 

 limbs in progression, but not permit him to raise them sufliciently for the purpose of 

 kicking, he may be prevented from doing mischief; or if he is harnessed to a heavy 

 «art, and thus confined, his efforts to lash out will be restiained : but it is frequently 



* Stewart's Stable (Ei-onomy, page 160. 



