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CHECKING AND BLINDERS. 



A running horse, called upon to do his best, never has his 

 head tied up, and no one would think of doing so, because it 

 would probably lose him the race. I copy from the " London 

 Horse Book," which says : — 



"The check rein is in nearly every case pjtinful to the an- 

 imal and useless to the driver, because it fastens the head in an 

 unnatural position, and as the horse's head and shoulders fall to- 

 gether, cannot be of 

 any real support in 

 stumbling. When, from 

 some defect in the ani- 

 mal or other cause, the 

 check rein is used, it 

 must be slackened, be- 

 cause, in addition to an 

 easier position of the 

 neck, a greater portion 

 of the weight can be 

 thrown onto the collar, 

 thus saving a great and 

 unnecessary expendi- 

 ture of muscular power. 

 That the check is incon- 

 sistent with the action 

 of the horse's head, is 

 clearly shown by the 

 fact that when the horse 

 Fig. 32(5. — A dog bitten and chewed in pieces, res- falls it is always bro- 

 cued by Mr. Bergh, of N. Y. Drawn from life. I^pn " 



Dr. Fleming, the highest English authority, says : — 

 " I think nothing can be more absurd than the check reins ; 

 they are against reason altogether. They place the animal in 

 a false position ; the horse stands with a check rein exactly as 

 a man would stand with a stick under his arms behind his back 

 while trying to write. It is also extremely cruel. I have no 

 doubt if the public could only realize the fact that it throws 

 away a large portion of the horse's power altogether, and is very 

 cruel besides, this rein would be discontinued. It is not only 

 his head that suffers, but from his head to his tail, from his shoul- 

 ders to his hoofs, and over his whole body he suffers more or less." 



