VICES PROPERLY SO CALLED. 873 



are not useless. Were not their vice a grave one, they would be as 

 good as other horses, for they are neither indocile nor lazy. On the 

 contrary, fatigue, privations, and bad treatment are of little concern to 

 them. That is why there is but little hesitation to use them. Many 

 of them perform the most laborious work. It is customary to work 

 them on the lead, or to place them between horses with which- they 

 have no desire to fight. But they must always be watched. The 

 simplest way to protect one's self against their attacks is to muzzle 

 them ; in the stable, they can be secured by means of the necklet or 

 neck-cradle, or by tying them on both sides of the stall, or with the 

 side-rod fastened to the surcingle, a nose-band, a muzzle, a rope pass- 

 ing through the mouth and the hind pastern. When they are very 

 troublesome, it is well to make use of the muzzle. 



6th. Horses which rear and strike with the Fore-Feet. 

 There are some horses which only rear ; others rear and at the same 

 time strike with the fore-feet ; still others strike without rearing. The 

 first, or rearers, raise themselves suddenly upon their hind-feet for the 

 purpose of defence or attack, by a sudden impulsion of the anterior mem- 

 bers. This act, which is often only the result of excessive playfulness 

 or restlessness, may unfortunately also assume the character of a very 

 dangerous vice. The saddle-horse, when rearing, sometimes strikes the 

 rider with his head and injures him either in the face or on the chest. 

 The blow is in some cases so violent that the rider is dismounted and 

 under the horse's feet. Besides, the animal himself often loses his 

 balance and falls over backward, crushing the rider under his body 

 and causing serious fractures of the ribs, the pelvis, or the limbs. 



Some rearers, as soon as they are standing up, avail themselves of 

 this attitude to strike out with their fore members at neighboring per- 

 sons or horses. Some have been seen, after throwing off their rider, to 

 kneel down upon him and crush him in the most horrible manner. 

 Under similar circumstances, there are some which attack the groom 

 with their teeth, a habit which is popularly characterized in a singular 

 way by the expression, they are in love with the man ! Are not these 

 actions rather the result of a premeditated vengeance directed against 

 those who have been violent and brutal in their treatment of the 

 animals intrusted to their care ? 



This vice is tolerably easily remedied. When in the stable the 

 horse may be prevented from rearing by a short halter-strap ; in the 

 shafts or mounted, by the use of the martingale. When he simply 

 strikes in front, this habit is sometimes corrected by the manger being 



