52 



WHIMS AND VICES. 



To prevent a horse from tearing the blanket with his teeth, 

 a leather shield, as shown in the picture, is sewed to the halter 

 which does not interfere with the animal eating, but does with 



its habit of tearing its blanket. 

 The shield should extend four 

 inches below the nose. 



The habit of shying may come 

 from timidity or defective eye- 

 sight. If the latter, it cannot 

 be entirely cured ; if the former, 

 gentleness and good sense in 

 the driver will in a great meas- 

 ure overcome the difficulty. 

 Never whip a shying horse past the object which frightens it. 

 This only confirms the habit. Go slow ; let the horse have 

 time to see the object and learn that it will not hurt him. 



A very bad habit in a horse is that of sudden starting 

 when harnessed, and often leads to broken traces, swingle- 

 trees, and to runaways and smashups. The fault is usually 

 taught the horse by a fool driver who cuts him with the whip 

 unexpectedly. A vice of this kind, in a horse that is afraid 

 of the whip, is rarely cured, but may be mitigated by gen- 

 tleness. 



Running aivay is the worst of vices. Carelessness is the 

 mother of the runaway horse. \Vhen the fault is once 

 established it is difficult of cure. All runaways, or horses 

 hard to hold, should be only used with a safety bit, one that 

 will be severe enough to make it painful to attempt to run. 

 By the careful use of such a bit some horses may be grad- 

 ually cured c ' the habit of running away. 



