318 BESTIVENESS : ITS PBEVENTION AND CUBE. 



be very likely to injure the horse severely in case of its 

 throwing itself back. Of course the reader will at once 

 perceive that the general plan of treatment will consist 

 in getting the animal to bend its hocks and neck in the 

 manner already described above ; and we may there- 

 fore confine our observations here to what should be 

 done when it actually does rear, which will be usually 

 at the moment one attempts to put it into a trot on the 

 circle ; for which reason bending lessons, when halted 

 or at a walk, must be persevered in at first. Supposing, 

 now, the horse to be on the lounge, and suddenly to 

 stop and rear up, the trainer, who must have an 

 assistant that knows well how to use the whip, should 

 shorten the line in coils in his left hand, holding it firmly 

 in the right, just long enough to keep him clear of the 

 horse's fore legs should it make a plunge forwards, and 

 placing himself exactly opposite to the animal's head, 

 so that, by stepping back a pace or two, he is sure to 

 retain a good " feeling " on the line when its fore legs 

 again touch the ground, the assistant with the whip 

 stepping meanwhile smartly up behind the animal. 

 The trainer should, in this position, merely keep a 

 feeling on the line, as one would with a heavy salmon, 

 never attempting to pull the horse's head forcibly down- 

 wards, or to jerk at the lounge, as the steady pull 

 would only serve to make it lean on your hand and 

 persist so much the longer in rearing, whilst a sudden 

 drag is very likely to knock it over a thing to be 

 avoided if possible. One must wait patiently, watch- 

 ing attentively the horse's movements, and taking care 

 always to preserve his own position, so as to be ready 

 when the moment for action arrives. But the assistant 

 with the whip should meanwhile deliver a few heavy 



