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CHAPTER XV. 



BAD STABLE HABITS. 



Having' now dealt with most of the bad habits 

 pecuHar to horses whe'n at work, we shall proceed 

 to consider some of the more notorious vices which 

 they practice in the stable. 



BITING. 



Biting is a bad habit in horses which is generally 

 acquired in the stable by grooms and others teasing 

 them while they are being groomed. Grooms, for 

 what reason is best known to themselves, frequently 

 appear to consider it part of their equine profession 

 to tease horses in this way, and it often happens 

 that if a perfectly quiet horse is put into a groom's 

 hands, in one week he will be tearing and rattling 

 the manger with his teeth, and pawing the floor 

 with his fore feet all the time he is being groomed. 

 It does not generally happen that the individual who 

 teaches the horse to bite is the one who ultimately 

 suffers, but the horse is very likely to take hold of 

 any stranger going up beside him in the stall, if the 

 stranger is not aware of the horse's peculiarity, and 



