KICKING. — REARIXG. — RUNNING AWAY. 50[) 



fore-leg without loss of time. The horse must be thus driven upon three 

 legs for some distance, or until he has become completely tired and subdued. 

 If the vice be exhibited in a saddle horse, the rider in mounting should 

 always bend the head round nearly to the right flap of the saddle, and 

 will thus, by the strain upon the vertebra) of the neck, effectually prevent 

 the animal from completing his piirpose. In approaching- a kicking colt 

 in the loose box, have a pliable cutting-whip in the right hand, so that, 

 should he turn suddenly round to kick, the whip may smack well upon 

 liis hind legs, and thus make him more frightened than hurt. The whip 

 should be used but very rarely. 



UNSTEADINESS WHILE BEING MOUNTED. 



When this merely amounts to eagerness to start — very unpleasant, 

 indeed, at times, for many a rider has been thro-wn from his seat before 

 he was fairly flxed in it — it nray be remedied by an active and good horse- 

 man. We have known many instances in which, while the elderly, and 

 inactive, and fearful man has been making more than one ineffectual 

 attempt to vault into the saddle, the horse has been dancing about to 

 his annoyance and danger; but the animal had no sooner been transferred 

 to the management of a younger and more agile rider than he became 

 perfectly subdued. Severity will here, more decidedly than in any other 

 case, do harm. The rider should be fearless — he shotild carelessly and 

 confidently approach the horse, mount at the first effort, and then restrain 

 him for a while ; patting him, and not suffering him to proceed until he 

 becomes perfectly quiet. Horses of this kind should not be too highly 

 fed, and should have sufficient daily exercise. 



REARING. 



This sometimes results from playfulness, carried, indeed, to an unpleasant 

 and dangerous extent ; but it is oftener a desperate and occasionally suc- 

 cessful effort to unhorse the ridei% and consequently a \'ice. The horse 

 that has twice decidedly and dangerously reared, should, never be trusted 

 again, unless, indeed, it was the fault of the rider, who had been using a 

 deep curb and a sharp bit. Some of the best horses will contend against 

 these, and then rearing may be immediately and permanently cured by 

 using a snafHe-bridle alone. 



The horse-breaker's remedy, that of pulling the horse backward on a 

 soft piece of ground, should be practised by reckless and brutal fellows 

 alone. Many horses have been injured in the spine, and others have broken 

 their necks, by being thus suddenly pulled over ; while even the fellow, 

 who fears no danger, is not always able to exti-icate himself from the fall- 

 ing horse. If rearing proceeds from vice, and is unprovoked by the bruising 

 and laceration of the mouth, it fully partakes of the inveteracy which 

 attends the other di\dsions of restiveness. 



A rearing horse must be thoroughly tamed and subdued by a great 

 number of lessons, so that the voice of the operator will be perfectly familiar 

 to his ear. He will then be obedient to command, and mil desist from 

 rearing on the instant of being spoken to. 



RUNNING AWAY. 



Some headstrong horses will occasionally endeavour to bolt with the 

 best rider. Others, wath their wonted sagacity, endeavour thus to dislodge 

 the timid or unskilful one. Some are hard to hold, or bolt only during the 

 excitement of the chase ; others will run away, prompted by a vicious pro- 

 pensity alone. There is no certain cure here. The method which affords 

 any probability of success is, to ride such a horse with a strong curb and 



