140 UNASKED ADVICE. 



The tricks of a restive horse always are put in practice 

 with the greatest spirit and perseverance when he is 

 fresh, and it is generally a question of spirit and per- 

 severance between the horse and his rider who shall be 

 master. Now a restive horse is more or less an intel- 

 lectual one. You are riding him, we will suppose, and 

 come to four cross roads : one road leads towards home, 

 or the horse thinks that it does for they are not always 

 quite accurate in their geography and he stops short. 

 If a beginner, he may avail himself of the excuse of a bird 

 moving in the hedge, or some such trifle; if an old 

 offender, he will stop without any apology. In either 

 case he "reverses his front," as soldiers say (almost 

 always "left about"), and would be for going home, or 

 down the desired path ; but by this time you, the rider, 

 have recovered your surprise, and, taking up the reins, 

 pull him up. This is signal enough for a real old offender 

 to begin, whatever may be his peculiar vanity in the way 

 of resistance, but a tyro will stop, and then you try to 

 turn him round again. He declines, and shakes his head. 

 The rider spurs him; he kicks. Ditto repeated two or 

 three times. Next, the biped probably gives the qua- 

 druped one down the shoulder with his whip. That the 

 latter will convert himself into a biped for the time by 

 rearing straight up is one of the " few certainties out." 

 So far, so good. If the rider be timid he probably gives 

 in, and the horse scores a victory ; if otherwise, sup- 

 posing that the ground is favourable for the neighbour- 

 hood of a deep blind ditch or some such thing often 

 makes a fight impossible the rearing and kicking con- 

 tinue for sometime. The horse may rear and come back ; 

 but he may rear very often and very high without doing 

 so, and if he does it will not be on purpose. The bold 



