Shying in Horses and the Best Way 



to Remedy Fault 



(By Trainer) 



IT is a widely held opinion that defective 

 eyesight is a very common cause of shy- 

 ing in horses, but as a matter of fact, 

 such is by no means the case. Unques- 

 tionably defective vision not infre- 

 quently accounts for a horse being a shyer, 

 yet it is nothing like so frequently a cause of 

 shying as it is generally held to be. 



The principal and most usual cause of the 

 habit of shying in horses is nervousness or 

 fear, the horse shying at some object or other 

 because it is afraid of it, even though it can 

 plainly see it. Habitual shyers are usually 

 either of a highly strung or nervous tempera- 

 ment, such as is commonly met with in well- 

 bred horses, or they are of a very timid dis- 

 position. 



It is, of course, well known to horsemen that 

 by far the largest proportion of shyers are 

 mares. The habit of shying is nothing like 

 so often met with in geldings as it is amongst 

 mares, and entire horses are but very rarely 

 given to shying. The reason why this is so is 

 obvious when it is remembered that most usu- 

 ally the cause of shying is nervousness or fear. 

 Mares are as a rule of more excitable or nerv- 

 ous temperament, and more often of a timid 

 disposition than geldings, the latter generally 

 being of a more equable temperament than the 

 former, though there are exceptions, of course, 

 while entires are usually very high-couraged. 

 Hence one does not find an entire shying on 

 account of nervousness or fear, as a rule, and 

 geldings do so much less frequently than 

 . mares. 



A great many — in fact, it may be said, most 

 — young horses are more or less given to shy- 

 ing when they are first put to work, owing to 

 their being unfamiliar with many objects they 

 see, and consequently afraid of them. When 

 they are taken up to be broken in, youn 

 horses, moreover, are very commonly inclined 

 to be somewhat nervous at first, and this nat- 

 urally renders them very liable to shy on the 

 slightest provocation ; but as a rule they cease 

 the habit of shying as soon as they be- 

 come accustomed to the sights of the road, 

 and lose their erstwhile greenness and nerv- 

 ousness. Hence the fact that a raw and un- 

 made young horse shies very easily and fre- 

 quently is a matter of no importance, and no 



notice need be taken of it, seeing that it is 

 only natural it should do so in view of i 

 greenness, and that in all probability the habit 

 will pretty soon cease of its own accord whe 

 once the young animal's natural nervousness 

 and greenness wear off. 



Sometimes, however, this habit of shying at 

 unfamiliar or strange objects from pure nerv- 

 ousness or fear — which is so general among 

 young, unmade horses when they are being 

 broken in — persists long after the young 

 horse's education has been completed, and 

 proves itself to be quite incurable, it often- 

 times, indeed, gradually becoming worse in 

 such cases. Here we have the confirmed 

 sliver which nothing will cure. The habit, how- 

 ever aggravating it is, is the horse's misfor- 

 tune, not its fault, seeing that it is the result 

 of a highly nervous temperament, or of a too 

 timid disposition ; hence it should be kindly 

 and patiently dealt with. 



In some "fortunate case it may be possible 

 to cure it by dint of careful management and 

 patience before it gets too firmly rooted, but 

 more generally it is impossible to effect a com- 

 plete cure when the shying persists after the 

 horse has been thoroughly trained and become 

 fully used to the road; and mostly it is in 

 these circumstances a case of "once a shyer, 

 always a shyer." 



^\'hen once the habit of shying has become 

 firmly established, and when it is due to nerv- 

 ousness, the chances are much against the 

 horse ever being broken of it. It may, per- 

 haps, be improved, if the horse is in the hands 

 of a careful and patient rider or driver, who 

 knows how to deal with it, and takes the 

 trouble to do so. At best, however, one must 

 always be on the qui vive with such shyers, 

 and one is never safe with them, while in 

 many cases the habit is, or becomes, so bad 

 that the animal afflicted with it is a wholly 

 unsafe conveyance, and not fit to be in a pri- 

 vate stable. 



There is no doubt about it that in a good 

 many cases horses which shy on account of 

 nervousness are rendered worse in this re- 

 spect by improper or injudicious treatment ; 

 in fact, the habit is often established in young 

 horses solely in consequence of gross misman- 

 agement. It is but too common a thing for 



