96 DRIVING. 



Tramway, Omnibus and Railway Companies, brewers, maltsters, 

 S:c. They are approved by the Society for the Prevention of 

 .Cruelty to Animals and by eminent veterinary surgeons, and in no 

 single instance where the collars have been used have they failed 

 to gain approval, and to establish their superiority over those 

 hitherto in use. 



In connection with the above, and a few other new inven- 

 tions which will be noticed in the course of this chapter, it 

 must be understood that we do not claim to have tried them 

 (unless otherwise specified), or to have formed any opinion 

 concerning their merits or demerits. We have let the inventors 

 tell their own story for the benefit of those who may see fit to 

 try them ; and notice of the various patents has been made 

 simply and solely with the view of making this portion of the 

 book as complete as possible, and of bringing it down to date ; 

 though at the same time we do not pretend to include every- 

 thing which ingenious and sometimes unpractical man has 

 invented. 



Kicking-straps are most useful in all kinds of single-harness 

 work ; but the attempts which have from time to time been 

 made to apply them to double harness have generally resulted 

 in failure. A horse that requires a cradle or kicking- strap in 

 double harness is not fit to be put to a gentleman's carriage, but 

 should be relegated to omnibus, van, or coach work, where, with 

 a good thick elm-board behind him, he may let fly to his heart's 

 content without doing much damage except to his own hocks. 

 In single harness a kicking-strap is useful in more ways than one : 

 it need not be heavy-looking, and must not be put on tight ; if 

 so it is worse than useless, and will make a horse kick, instead 

 of preventing him from doing so. If properly fixed it will at 

 once stop almost any horse who jumps up from play or from 

 vice, when the sharp application of the whip over his ears a 

 few times will quickly bring him to his senses again. Should 

 a horse slip up, either in a two- or four-wheeled vehicle, the 

 strap will help to keep him from getting his hind legs over the 

 shaft. They are also ornamental as well as useful, for they im- 



