HARNESS AND VEHICLES. 97 



CHAPTER YIII. 

 HARNESS AND VEHICLES. 



A MATTER of the first importance is to have well-made and 

 well-fitting harness, and every part of the wagon and outfit in good 

 order. The head-stall should be adjusted to bring the bit down 

 to the angle of the mouth, so as to rest easily there, instead of 

 drawing it into a sardonic grin, as it will if too short. Blinders are 

 an abomination on a single horse. Every argument in favor of 

 using them with a pair of horses falls to the ground if applied to a 

 single one. There is absolutely no more reason for using blinders 

 on a horse in harness, than on one under saddle. Fancy a party of 

 red-coated gentlemen galloping across the country with blinders on 

 their horses ! Yet habit alone has taught us to tolerate them in one 

 case more than in the other. If a horse is driven without blinders 

 from the first, he will go better single without them. They afford 

 no protection against shying, for the horse never shies at an object 

 which he fully recognizes. They often cause blindness by pressure 

 against the eyes, and by retaining dust and heat. If a horse has 

 long been accustomed to bhnders, it is not advisable to leave them 

 off all at once. The flaring half-blinders may be substituted, until 

 the animal regains the natural use of its eyes. 



The check-rein is a source of great abuse and suffering. For a 

 short overdraw check, which holds the horse's head in a star-gazing 

 position, with the nose pointed forward, there is no excuse what- 

 ever. A check of any kind should never be reined uncomfortably 

 high. It tires and stiffens the neck and destroys all elasticity and 

 freedom. The horse is surer footed when its head is free, and if it 

 should stumble, throwing its head down greatly assists in recover- 

 ing. It is absurd to suppose that a tight check-rein helps to hold 

 up a horse. It is like a man's trying to Uft himself off the ground 

 by tightening his suspenders. A writer of acknowledged authority 

 says : " One of the most prevalent abuses ; one that causes the 

 greatest torture ; one that diminishes the value and shortens the 

 lives of more horses than any other, is perhaps the use of over- 

 checks tightly drawn during long intervals, and at times when the 

 horse most needs freedom for the full exercise of his lungs, neiwes 

 and muscles of the neck and head. Any thoughtful person who 

 examines the anatomical structure of the head and neck of the 



