PUNISHMENT. 45 



In making a horse quiet, or in regulating his movements, 

 we should naturally avoid, as far as possible, the use of any 

 kind of pain which, while accomplishing its special purpose, 

 produces in other respects a bad effect on the horse. The 

 ordinary twitch furnishes us with a good illustration ; for 

 although it may make the horse stand steady while it is 

 being employed ; its application, whether on upper lip or 

 ear, will almost certainly render him subsequently more or 

 less difficult to handle near the former seat of pain. The 

 same objection may be urged against the use of the 

 cavasson (see page 142) for inflicting blows on the horse's 

 nose, with a like object. The practice of jerking the reins 

 so as to hurt the *' bars " of the animal's mouth, with the 

 intention of punishing him for unsteadiness, is still more 

 reprehensible ; for as long as the reins are associated in his 

 retentive mind with the idea of pain, so long will he receive 

 with suspicion, fear, or resentment, all orders conveyed to 

 him through the reins, and consequently his usefulness will 

 be more or less impaired for any service that demands 

 pluck and ''cleverness." These remarks apply to the 

 employment of the spurs, and to the whip in all its forms. 

 In fact, the use of all such " aids " or indications, as we 

 shall see more fully in the following chapters, should be 

 reserved, as far as practicable, for its legitimate work of 

 telling the horse what his master wishes him to do. If we 

 accept the axiom that one of our chief duties as breakers 

 is to establish a clearly understood code of signals between 

 ourselves and the horse, we should not increase the 

 difficulty which all horses have in comprehending these 

 signals, by rendering their meaning ambiguous to him, as 



