THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 65 



experiment on a filly not a year old, that had been re- 

 moved from her dam three months before, and since 

 that time had not been out of the stable ; he tried it, 

 too, under manifest disadvantage, for the filly, which 

 was quite wild, was in the open air, with several strang- 

 ers about her, and both the owner and the amateur 

 were rather seeking amusement from the failure, than 

 knowledge from the success of their experiment. It 

 was with great difficulty Mr. Ellis managed to cover 

 the eyes of the restive and frightened animal. At 

 length he succeeded, and blew into her nostrils. No 

 particular effect seemed to follow. He then breathed 

 into her nostrils, and the moment he did so the filly at 

 once desisted from her violent struggles, stood still and 

 trembled. From that time she became very tractable. 

 Another gentleman also breathed into her nostrils, and 

 she evidently enjoyed it, and kept putting up her nose 

 to receive the breath. On the following morning she 

 was led out again. She was perfectly tractable, and 

 it seemed almost impossible to frighten her. 



Shying is a very troublesome vice, and is only to be 

 overcome by a rider of great firmness and good tem- 

 per. Blows will scarcely ever cure vicious habits 

 originating in fear ; they will only increase them, for 

 the horse will be possessed with the dread of two evils 

 instead of one ; viz., the object itself from which he 

 starts away, and the punishment that is to follow. 

 Sometimes his shying is the consequence of defective 



