150 BREAKING AND TRAINING 



used to all kinds of road nuisances, and the uselessness 

 of fearing or shying at these should be carefully 

 instilled into him during breaking. 



Rigs and Troublesome Mares.— If, by 



the time a colt arrives at the age of two years, both 

 testicles have not come down into the scrotum, it is 

 usual to speak of such an animal as a " Rig " or 

 *' ridghng." It frequently happens that only one 

 testicle at first descends, and when the foal becomes a 

 3^earling it is, as a matter of course, usual to castrate 

 him, the single testicle only being removed. The 

 other may or may not have descended by the second 

 birthday, if it has not, the colt becomes a nuisance 

 to any mares that are left in the park with 

 him, often vicious. As harness horses, some 

 rigs are particularly dangerous during the breed- 

 ing season, at which time, indeed, no absolute 

 reliance can be placed upon them, even though they 

 have been steady workers for years. When a 

 horse shows any form of vice under the influence 

 of sexual excitement, suspicion immediately points 

 to the fact in all probability that he is a rig. 

 There arc some cases in which both testicles of the 



