144 Training the Trotter, Coacher and Roadster 



while traveling. In some cases, the horse is pre- 

 disposed to the trouble, in which case it is often diffi- 

 cult to overcome, while in others it is excited by a 

 number of conditions which can be remedied, as a 

 rule, by rational treatment. Undue shortness of 

 body, fore pasterns disproportionately long, withers 

 lower than the croup and low heads are frequent 

 predisposing causes. Lack of strength, or fatigue 

 due to hard or fast work, a hard, unyielding, unre- 

 sponsive mouth due to bad hands, and soft footing or 

 heavy going, such as driving on soft earth roads, 

 particularly if the horse is used to the hard footing 

 of the city pavement, are frequent exciting causes. 

 To overcome the difficulty, first seek out and 

 remove the cause if possible. In the large majority 

 of cases, after the horse is put in good condition, 

 the mouth well made and the feet properly shod, there 

 will be no further difficulty. In some cases it may 

 be necessary to employ artificial means, though this 

 should be done only as a last resort. To remedy 

 over-reaching and kindred faults, the principle to 

 pursue is to hasten the action of the forefeet and to 

 encourage a slow or dweUing movement of the hind 

 ones, in order to allow the former to get out of the 

 way of the latter. The action of the forefeet can 

 often be hastened by slightly rounding off the toes 

 of the front shoes, as this has a tendency to encour- 

 age the horse to raise his feet quickly. On the other 

 hand, the action of the hind feet can often be retarded 



