HORSE DOCTOR. 39 



feisure when blindfolded ; others when they have the 

 fcarncss bridle on ; some will best take their own way, 

 and a few may be ridden through the doorway that 

 cannot be led. By quietness and kindness, however, the 

 horse will be most easily and quickly subdued. 



SLIPPING THE COLLAR, 



This is a trick at which many horses are so clever 

 that scarcely a night passes without their getting loose. 

 It is a very serious habit, for it enables the horse some- 

 times to gorge himself with food, to the imminent danger 

 of staggers; or it exposes him, as he wanders about, to 

 be kicked and injured by other horses, while his rest- 

 lessness will often keep the whole team awake. If the 

 web of the halter, being first accurately fitted to his 

 neck, is suffered to slip only one way, or a strap is at- 

 tached to the halter and buckled round the neck, but 

 not sufficiently tight to be of serious inconvenience, thei 

 power of slipping the collar will be taken away. 



TRIPPING. 



He must be a skilful practitioner or a mere pretender 

 who promises to remedy this habit. It arises from a 

 heavy forehand, and the fore legs beirtg too much under 

 horse, no one can alter the natural frame of the animal: 

 if it proceeds fiom tenderness of the foot, grogginess, or 

 old lameness, these ailments are seldom cured. Also, if 

 it is to be traced to habifual carelessness and idleness, 

 no W'hipping will rouse the drone. A known stumhler 

 should never be ridden, or driven by any one who values 

 his safety or his life. A tight band or a strong-bearing 

 rein are precautions that should not be neglected, al- 

 though they are generally of little avail ; for tlie ir)- 

 vftterate stumbler rarely is able to save himself, and 

 the tijjht rein may sooner and further precipitate 

 the rider. If, after a trip, the horse suddenly starts for- 

 ward, and endeavors to break into a sharp trot or canter, 



