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JIBBING, 



" Good words are better than bad strokes." 



Shakespeare says — " We cannot all be masters ; " — 

 therefore if it should happen, as it sometimes does, 

 particularly with strange horses, that the animal be un- 

 doubtedly master of the position for the time, and will not 

 go forward, brute force should never be resorted to by 

 the driver, it not only being as a rule labour in vain, but 

 serious risks are involved, particularly in streets and 

 crowded thoroughfares, as the horse is very apt to rear and 

 plunge, and sometimes to suddenly bolt, after backing 

 through shop fronts, and overturning the occupants of the 

 vehicle. On a horse becoming stupid in the shafts, the 

 holder of the ribands, if an amateur, should first ask himself 

 the question — Is it my bad driving ? A new purchase that 

 had previously been handled with a light hand, kindly 

 spoken to, and considerately driven, is particularly sensitive 

 to the jerking and bustling of an inexperienced whip. 



On being satisfied that the sudden obstinacy of the 

 horse is from no fault of the driver, the harness should 

 be carefully examined, it not unfrequently being the case 

 that the collar will prove too short, or the traces twisted, 

 and, like the curb, too tight, or a breechband is required, or 

 may be dispensed with altogether, according to the 

 vehicle in use ; the whole bearing of the harness and 

 load should be carefully noted, and if found satisfactory, 

 the horse is either a jibber, or is not as yet familiar with 

 the strange handling above referred to. The first 

 business, after the horse has given repeated illustrations 



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