132 



METHODS OF HORSE-CONTROL. 



temper, and not a bad one, like the ordinary twitch ; by its 

 application we can dispense with its use in favour of a 

 simple word of command ; and it does not make the horse 

 shy of having his muzzle or mouth touched. The fact of 

 numbers of horses being rendered difficult to bridle by the 

 employment of the ordinary twitch will naturally occur 

 to the reader. The general substitution of the rope-twitch 

 (see following paragraph) for the ordinary one is highly 

 desirable. I may point out that if, when the ordinary 

 twitch has been twisted up tightly, its stick be struck or 

 jerked, on the animal moving, it will doubtless have a 

 deterrent effect, as well as that produced by the needless 

 infliction of continued pain. 



Fig. 40. — Noose which will 

 not "run." 



The rope -twitch. — Every- 

 thing I have said in the pre- 

 ceding paragraph in favour of 

 the halter-twitch, applies still 

 more strongly to the rope-twitch, 

 described in Mr. O. S. Pratt's 

 book, ' The Horse's Friend,' 

 which was published at Buffalo 

 in 1876. Mr. C. G. Frasier, who 

 was Pratt's assistant for some 

 years in America, tells me that 

 this twitch was not invented by 

 Pratt, long before whose time it 

 was in use. He thinks that it 

 was probably the idea of the 

 " horse-tamer," Fancliion, who 



