GIBOINO.] 



^I D E 11 N V K r !•: K 1 N A K Y V R A (J 1' 1 C E. 



[UITINQ. 



tleues3 or humanity, whether applied to mnn J 

 or bea.st, ia ii imich better breuker-iu than . 

 cruelty or barbarity. This new systt-m ollVrs 

 every advantage that ean be desired ; it breaks- 

 in the horso quiekly, without fatiguing liim in 

 the least ; develops his powers, enlarges his j 

 action, iuereasea his speed ; renders him supple ^ 

 and elegant, gives him a perfect mouth, and ^ 

 makes him also docile and conlident with men. j 

 There is also another very material point — that 

 "the breaking-iu of the horse, and the iustruc- , 

 tion of the mau are so intimately connected, 

 that while training the animal, the mau cannot 

 fail to teach himself." 



"U'e will now proceed to remark upo^ some 

 of the most prominent vices of the horse. 



AVhen a horse begins to gib, persuasion 

 should be first tried ; and, afterwards, reason- 

 able coercion, but no cruelty ; for the brutality 

 which is often exercised in attempting to 

 compel a gibbiug horse to throw himself 

 habitually in the collar, never yet accom- 

 plished tlie purpose. Such an animal may be 

 put in an omuibus as a wheeler, and particu- 

 larly as the near-wheeler ; or in the middle of 

 a team at agricultural work ; and iu these situa- 

 tions he might be serviceable, but nowhere 

 else. It will be useless for him to attempt to 

 gib there, for he will be dragged on by his 

 companions whether he will or not ; and find- 

 ing the inutility of resistance, he will soon be 

 induced to work as well as any other in the 

 team. This reformation will last while he is 

 thus employed ; but, like restiveuess generally, 

 it will repossess him when he returns to his 

 former occupation. Some instances of com- 

 plete reformation have taken place ; but they 

 are the exceptions to the rule. 



AVheu a horse, not accustomed to gib, be- 

 trays a reluctance to work, humanity will de- 

 maud that some examination should take place, 

 before measures of severity be resorted to. 

 Sometimes the withers are wrung, and the 

 shoulders sadly galled; and the pain, which, 

 even with a fair draught, may be intense on level 

 ground, becomes iusupportable when going up 

 a steep acclivity. These things should be ob- 

 served, and, if possible, rectified; for, under 

 such circumstances, severe punishment might 

 produce obstinacy and vice, but not willing 

 obedience. 



A horse, with raw shoulders, or that have 



frequently been bo, will not start with a cold 

 collar. AVhcn the collar has acquired the 

 warmth of the parts on which it preHses, the 

 animal will go without reluctance. Sonjo de- 

 termined gibbers have been reformed by con- 

 stantly wearing a false collar, or strip of cloth 

 round the shoulders, so that the coldneay *jf 

 the collar should never bo felt ; and others 

 have been cured by keeping on the collar night 

 and day, although the animal is not able to lie 

 down so completely at his ease, as without it; 

 aud this a tired horse ought always to be able 

 to do. When an animal gibs at his work, it 

 has sometimes been useful to lino the collar 

 with cloth instead of leather ; the perspiration 

 is more readily absorbed ; the substance which 

 presses on the shoulder is softer, and it is more 

 readily eased ofi" at a tender place. 



Biting may often be the consequence of 

 natural ferocity; but it is a habit frequently 

 acquired from the foolish and teasing play of 

 grooms and stable-boys. "When a horse is 

 tickled and pinched by thoughtless and mis- 

 chievous youths, ho will first pretend to bite 

 his tormentors. By degrees he will proceed 

 farther, and actually bite them ; and very soon 

 after that, he will be the first to challenge to 

 the combat, and, without provocation, seize 

 some opportunity to gripe the incautious 

 groom ; and then, as the love of mischief is a 

 propensity too easily acquired, this war which 

 commenced half playful and half in earnest, 

 will becomo habitual to him, and will degene- 

 rate into absolute viciousuess. Nothing can 

 here be done in the way of cure. Kindness 

 would aggravate the evil, and no degree of 

 severity will correct it. Prevention ia in the 

 power of every proprietor of horses. TVhilo 

 he insists on gentle and humane treatment ot 

 his animals, he should systematically forbid 

 this horse-play. It is that which can never 

 be considered as operating as a reward, and 

 thereby rendering the animal tractable ; nor 

 does it increase the affection of the beast for 

 his groom, because he is annoyed and irritated 

 by being thus incessantly teased. 



Kicking, as a vice, is another consequence 

 of the culpable habit of teasing the horse. 

 There is no cure for this vice ; and the owner 

 of kicking horses cannot be justified iu keeping 

 them. " I have seen," says Professor Stewart, 

 in his Stable Economy, " biters punished until 



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