300 THIS HORSE 



The American, or jockey style of holding the reins is 

 not only bad in form but ruinous to a horse's mouth; 

 because, with the arms extended and a grasp of each 

 line in separate hands, the weight of the arms and hands 

 is constantly resting against the horse's mouth. Pulling 

 hands make pulling horses, because, when a man takes 

 hold of the lines with extended hand, although he is 

 not conscious of pulling at his horse's mouth and is not 

 in reality doing so by a muscular effort, the weight of 

 his hands and arms resting on the reins amounts to the 

 same thing. So much for the constant pulling on a 

 horse's mouth; that of necessity makes it calloused or so 

 hardened as to be insensible to pressure, until the driver 

 has simply to pull his head about by main force to let 

 him know what is required. When the driver pulls at a 

 horse's mouth, it hurts. He finds, however, that if he 

 gives in to it he is touched with the whip to make him, 

 as we say, "drive up to the bit," so we will have some- 

 thing to rest the weight of our arms and hands against. 

 The horse soon learns, also, that the harder he makes 

 the driver pull at his mouth, the less painful it is; 

 because, when the pressure is great enough, it shuts off 

 the circulation and the parts become numb or deadened 

 to the pain. Thus it comes about that pulling hands 

 make pulling horses. 



On the plow, we see horses dragging along a 

 plowman who has the reins about his body; again, 

 with a pair of hands as heavy as lead, arms extended, 

 the horses are made to pull the driver along in addi- 

 tion to the harrow, and the driver is by far the most 

 fatiguing pull of the two. You may say that he has 



