I04 THE HORSE: ITS TAMING, 



hole through one end, and a piece of cord put through 

 and tied, making a loop about three inches long ; a 

 piece of the nose or the ear is pulled through the 

 loop, and the stick is turned round and round until 

 that piece of the nose is nearly cut off, or the ear 

 treated in a similar manner. I have often known the 

 ear to be permanently injured, the muscle for erecting,, 

 moving, and keeping the ear erect, having been so 

 injured that the ear would fall and flop about without 

 apparently any life in it ; and with horses frequently 

 twitched on the nose, they have so rapidly developed 

 vice that to put a halter or a bridle on them was 

 almost an impossibility, and could rarely ever be 

 done without danger to the person. 



I am quite justified, I think, in saying that, my 

 twitch is an improvement upon the foregoing, because 

 in many cases, by a continuance of its use on vicious 

 horses to groom, I have got them so quiet that just a 

 twist of the halter shank in the mouth was enough to 

 keep them quiet. I might mention, to substantiate 

 this statement, the vicious blood horse, " North 

 Riding." My man, when he heard that this brute 

 was coming to me, went round to the stable to see 

 the horse. The operation of taking him out of his 

 box was just commencing — one man with a hooked 

 pole had got hold of one side of head collar, then 

 another man with a similar implement got hold of 

 the other side. The lower box door was then opened 



