147 



KICKING IN HARNESS. 



Kicking is generally the result of carelessness 

 and unkindness through overloading horses when 

 descending hills. On single vehicles where no drag 

 is attached the horse in many cases can scarcely 

 keep upon his feet by the undue weight which is 

 pressing him down from behind. Some men will 

 say, " Oh, there is no fear, nothing has ever gone 

 wrong yet " ; but some day a strap may break, the 

 trap will run forward an the colt's quarters, and thus 

 he will get a first lesson in kicking which he will not 

 readily forget. At the same time a well-trained horse 

 will not be so likely to kick in such circumstances 

 as a carelessly-trained one. If he has been carefully 

 educated to understand what undue pressure means 

 when he is broken he will remember it in an 

 emergency like this, and if he does not remain 

 quite passive at any rate he will not generally kick. 

 On the other hand, a horse that has not been similarly 

 trained will kick both trap and harness to pieces in 

 very few minutes. 



INCIDENT OF AN UNTRAINED HORSE. 



We knew a farmer who owned a valuable horse 

 that he had driven regularly for several years without 

 a single mishap having occurred. One day, however, 

 on going down a rather steep incline a strap gave 

 way and forward went the trap on the horse's 

 quarters, with the result that he kicked it to pieces 



