270 RESTIVENESS : ITS PEEVENTION AND CUBE. 



riding the same dull round, either alone or in company 

 with other horses, will give rise to a whole string of 

 evils ; as, for instance, refusing to go any but a certain 

 way, or to leave their stable, or clinging to other horses 

 they meet with, &c. ; and this is just the reason why 

 so many cases of restiveness may be traced to the 

 stupidity or pig-headedness of a groom. Horses don't 

 like to be ennuye, and will rather stick at home than 

 go out to be bored ; they like amusement, variety and 

 society : give them their share of these, but never in a 

 pedantic way, and avoid getting into a groove of any 

 kind, either as to time or place, especially with young 

 animals. It is evident that all these things must be 

 taken into account and receive due attention, whether 

 it be our object to prevent or to get rid of some bad 

 habit a horse may have acquired ; and a little reflec- 

 tion will generally suffice to point out the means of 

 remedying something that, if left to itself, would grow 

 into a confirmed habit, or if attacked with the energy 

 of folly and violence, would suddenly culminate in the 

 grand catastrophe of restiveness. 



The method according to which a restive horse has 

 been originally handled must be also taken into con- 

 sideration before one can form a sound judgment as 

 to the best method of cure, as it makes an immense 

 difference in this respect whether the animal has been 

 treated on the English plan of merely gradually 

 *' habituating " it to go in the manner desired, and 

 leaving it very much to its own will and pleasure to 

 do so, or whether the Continental mode has been 

 adopted of endeavouring to obtain, by more stringent and 

 systematic means, a perfect mastery over its movements 

 in the first place. Each of these methods has its own 



