66 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[chap. 



when walking-, can move so large a load with 

 the muscles of one hindleg, because, normally, 

 when a horse is walking only one hindleg is 

 on the ground at once, and each leg is off the 

 ground for the same length of time that it is on 

 the ground. But when a horse is drawing a 

 very heavy vehicle the time that his feet are off 

 the ground is comparatively much shorter ; in 

 fact, most of the time all four legs are drawing 

 the load, each leg being moved rapidly forward 

 to a fresh position whenever the weight of the 

 body is so far forward that it prevents further 

 advance. A horse, when starting a heavy load, 

 will use both hindlegs and both forelegs 

 together. 



258. Poles. — The poles or tongues of vehicles 

 are generally rigid, so that their weight is not 

 borne on the horse's neck. With some vehicles, 

 especially wagons, the whole weight of the pole 

 is taken on the collars. (See P. 104c.) This 

 should not be allowed, and can easily be avoided 

 by the use of a spring attached to the front of 

 the vehicle bearing the weight of the pole. The 

 other end of the spring is attached sometimes 

 near the front of the pole and sometimes about 

 one-third along the pole. In the latter case a 

 spring must be exceedingly strong, as it will 

 become more easily broken. 



259. Loads. — A horse has been known to pull 

 over fifty tons on a level railway, and I have 

 known a draught horse to pull sixteen tons in 

 a level yard. Normally, a horse should not be 

 expected to pull more than a ton on good country 

 roads, but on city streets he can pull double this 

 with ease. Two horses working together can 

 generally pull proportionately larger loads than 

 they can separately, as they help one another. If 

 one ceases to pull for a moment, the load does 

 not stop and have to be restarted, as is likely to 

 happen with a single horse. Provided that all 

 the horses work together, we get proportionately 

 more work out of a span of horses, and the 

 horses will become less fatigued. The only 

 really economical way to harness up two, four, 

 or six or more horses is side by side by means 

 of "eveners." (See P. 36&.) This method is 

 adopted for ploughing and reaping in Canada and 

 the United States. If harnessed in tandem forma- 

 tion, i.e. one in front of the other, the leading 

 horse is too far away from the load, which 

 means loss of power, and, unless all the horses 

 are pulling all the time, there will be further 

 loss of power. With " eveners," if one horse 

 drops back a little, his traces still remain tight. 



260. Overloading. — A very common form of 

 cruelty daily seen on the streets and country 

 roads is that of overloading horses. Much of 

 this form of brutality, I am glad to say, has been 

 eliminated through the work done by the various 

 S.P.C.A.s, but there is yet much to be done. 

 The motor truck has relieved and will relieve 

 many horses of this form of cruelty ; but, as a 



rule, the type of horse-owner who overloads a 

 horse is the one that is unable to purchase a 

 motor truck, and so he will continue to overload 

 and probably underfeed our equine friend until 

 the law puts him in his right place. A horse 

 that is well cared for and is making good pro- 

 gress with an overload is not such a pitiful sight, 

 but when we see the driver thrashing a worn-out 

 horse who is doing his utmost, not only should 

 the law, with its trifling fines, intervene, but the 

 penal code should have a say in the matter. 



261. Driving. — The amount of ignorance dis- 

 played daily in the streets by so-called drivers 

 is positively appalling. The reader should study 

 Chapter III. closely if he is not quite sure that 

 the best way to manage a horse is by kindness. 

 Xenophon, centuries before the Christian era, 

 told us that horses were taught and managed by 

 gentleness, and not by harshness. Why is it 

 that drivers cannot realise this? The commonest 

 fault of all is the use of the whip, when the horse 

 is doing its best, and jerking the horse's mouth 

 with the reins. Personally, I think that it is 

 far more enjoyable to drive a good horse than 

 it is to drive an automobile ; but, unless the 

 driver has any love for the horse, there is no 

 doubt that it does not appeal to him to the extent 

 that it should, and in such cases he had better 

 resort to the motor. It requires far greater skill 

 to drive a horse properly than it does to drive 

 a car. It takes the average man but a few 

 months to become a good motor driver, but no 

 man has learnt to become a first-class whip in 

 less than five or six years, and even then he is 

 always learning. Not one in a thousand of 

 those who drive horses can be called expert 

 drivers. The man who can cut a good style in 

 the show-ring is not necessarily a good driver ; 

 he may have, and probably has, in the first 

 place, bad hands. Besides having good hands, 

 he must have perfect control over his temper, 

 perfect sympathy for the horse, perfect know- 

 ledge of the horse's powers and intelligence, 

 knowledge of the manner of accustoming the 

 horse to objects that he is afraid of, the use of 

 the whip, etc. 



A horse must never be hurried unless it is 

 absolutely necessary to do so, because a few 

 minutes gained may mean a large loss in con- 

 dition or even bodily harm. He should be 

 walked up hills, especially if a load is heavy or 

 the hill is steep, and walked down, unless the 

 vehicle has brakes. Trotting downhill, without 

 brakes on the wheels, does a great deal of harm 

 to the horse's legs, and is responsible for a great 

 many horses being "over in front." Frequent 

 watering, if the horse is not hurried for ten 

 minutes afterwards, will help the horse very 

 much on long journeys. In hot weather, city 

 authorities should supply oatmeal-water for 

 horses. This is done in many cities. It should 

 be remembered that a horse requires to get his 



