EESTIVENESS AND VICE. 143 



and such a thing as a punishing finish of a closely-con- 

 tested race is never forgotten. Cruiser himself did not 

 begin life as anything out of the way, as far as temper 

 went. No ; a vicious horse has had occasion to fear man 

 originally ; he ends by making most men fear him. For 

 this reason I have an idea_, grounded on experience, that 

 a vicious horse is often to be radically cured of vice, but 

 a restive horse seldom or never of his tricks. A resolute 

 man will cure a restive horse, as far as he is concerned ; 

 but the animal will try his tactics afresh with every 

 stranger who mounts him. Now, a vicious horse is to 

 be cured, not by punishment, but by kindness ; and, if 

 uniformly well treated, he will sometimes become recon- 

 ciled to the human race generally, even if he be suspicious 

 of perfect strangers. 



In harness the two chief misdeeds of which a horse is 

 capable are jibbing and kicking; the former I should 

 hardly call vice. The animal means harm to no one, but 

 does not wish to drag a load after himself. In pursuance 

 of this determination, he will, if remonstrated with, throw 

 himself down now and again ; but still he does not mean 

 to do mischief. Bully him and set him kicking, and 

 he does mean mischief, and no mistake. He means to 

 smash all behind him, and sometimes succeeds in doing 

 so j but he never would have kicked if he had not been 

 flogged. The whip had made him vicious for the time. 

 Nothing but patience pays with a jibber. Never let the 

 collar be cold to the neck at starting ; and if your animal 

 won^t start in single harness, put something behind the 

 wheels — or better still, if possible, let the carriage front 

 down hill. Strap up a fore-foot, and let the gentleman 

 stand, for a week at a time if he likes. Try this a few 

 times, and, if he is not something extraordinary, he will 



