210 THE HOKSE AND HIS RIDER. 



either in the snow or on a verdant plain — have, for ages, 

 been in the habit of, as it were, riveting them to the 

 ground, by tying together their two fore fetlocks by a 

 pair of hobbles, to the centre of which is affixed a nar- 

 row strap that buckles over the hock of one hind leg. 

 By this triangular apparatus (weighing less than one 

 pound), which out of four legs leaves only one at liberty, 

 the animal physically and morally is completely para- 

 lysed ; indeed he is not only unable to move away, but 

 after his first fall is afraid again to try to do so. 



2. In South Africa, farmers and sportsmen of all de- 

 scriptions have long been in the habit of what they 

 term " anchoring" their horses by a lump of lead, from 

 three to five pounds in weight, carried in a small pocket 

 buckled to the outside of their near or left holster. 



To this " anchor " is attached a piece of cord about ten 

 feet long, wliich, passing and running freely through both 

 rings of the curb bit, and hanging from them like a 

 loose rein, is fastened to a D or ring on the off-side of the 

 saddle. 



No time need be lost in displacing the lead from its 

 pocket when necessary, as it can be jerked out on the 

 ground in the act of dismounting. 



When a horse has been thus anchored, if he attempts 

 to move on, his nose is brought down to his breast by the 



