Age — Shying. 201 



boots entirely made of india-rubber, the material contracts with cold and expands with heat. A 

 hunter with india-rubber boots on his fore-legs has been observed to be quite crippled after 

 standing for some time at covert side, fetlock deep in mud, on a cold da)'. 



These faults of cutting and brushing are much aggravated by forcing young raw horses 

 beyond their pace. When first noticed the shoes should be carefully examined and altered by 

 an intelligent smith. The great point is to stop the defect before it becomes a habit. If, 

 however, a horse in trotting or galloping strikes the inside of one fore-leg with the shoe of the 

 other — in technical phrase, "speedy cuts" — have nothing to say to him for saddle or for 

 harness in a two-wheeled carriage, for he may come down at any moment as if shot. It is a 

 fault which, if not incurable, is too dangerous for experiments by amateurs. 



AGE. 



Aged horses, if sound in legs and wind, are the best for harness, because they are seasoned, 

 and safe from a variety of ailments and diseases incident to juvenile horseflesh. An organised 

 system of tampering with the teeth, in the breeding counties, make three-year olds seem four, 

 and four seem five. An honest seven, or nine, or ten, with good legs and wind, is cheaper 

 than a dishonest five. Few veterinary surgeons can detect the deception. 



SIGHTS AND SOUNDS. 



Shying, when it amounts to a full stop or a complete turn round, is vice, and most 

 dangerous ; but there are many intermediate stages. Shying arises either from ignorance, or 

 defective eyesight, or freshness, or a confirmed vicious habit. Colts shy from ignorance, 

 because they are afraid of almost everything they meet, and continue to shy at various objects, 

 until, by practice and gentle treatment, they have learned that nothing is going to hurt them. 

 With pains and patience, almost any horse may be trained to meet without flinching railway 

 trains, military parades, elephants, camels, and other most alarming objects. But it is not only 

 colts that are ignorant ; aged horses, if brought from the country to the town, or brought in 

 contact with troops in scarlet uniforms, omnibuses, windmills, or road locomotives, will generally 

 turn round, and often try to run away. 



If, as is not uncommonly the case, a horse shies because his eyesight is defective, eitlver 

 from a sort of short-sightedness or from the commencement of blindness, the fault is incurable, 

 and the only resource is to put him in harness with very close winkers. I once had a mare 

 of an extremely placid temperament that always started and shied violently at the sight of 

 anything white — a white horse, a cow, a hen, or dog, in the road threw her into mortal terror, 

 although nothing else seemed to disturb her. This was no doubt the result of some defect 

 in her eyesight. 



Some horses will shy when they are very fresh, just as they will kick up their heels on 

 coming out of the stable, and after an hour or two's work take no notice of the objects which 

 at first seemed to alarm them. If, then, a horse shies, take means to ascertain whether there 

 is any defect in his eyes. If he shies at objects on one side only, the probability is that the 

 eye on that side is aff'ected. Dark stables have a tendency to make horses shy. I once 

 observed that all the hunters of a hard-riding farmer shied, and found on inquiry that he kept 

 them in loose boxes in a dark barn. A horse that has been some time in use, and shies at 

 everything he meets, especially if it is coming towards him, has most probably defective eye- 

 sight. A good horseman may continue to use him in the country, but it is madness to ride 



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