126 Curb, Snaffle^ and Spier. 



freedom. Restraint and control must be irk- 

 some to all animals, and it is natural that the 

 high-spirited horse should attempt to escape 

 restraint and control. It is in the injudicious 

 endeavors to combat these efforts of the horse 

 to avoid the tyranny of man that the vices, 

 tricks, and faults of the animal have their 

 origin. If in its early mutiny the horse is 

 foiled, it will soon forbear ; but one success 

 will be remembered through scores of defeats. 

 When discipline has become a second nature 

 to the horse, the man can depend upon its 

 obedience, until by accident or carelessness 

 the animal is shown by what a slender chain 

 it has been enslaved. It is far more difficult 

 to restore discipline with these spoiled horses 

 than to establish it from the first in the 

 unbroken colt ; but it is not impossible. 



It is when it is in that state of nervous 

 irritability known as "freshness," from want 

 of work, that most of the disorderly conduct 

 of the horse has its beginning. A horse that 

 is "fresh" should be treated with great care; 

 and if it gives a few plunges when first mounted, 

 or is shy of objects with which it should be 



