yo HAND-BOOK FOR HORSEWOMEN, 



bad order. A few flexions of the jaw and neck will 

 tell me at once if the mouth is the cause of the 

 trouble ; but I must make sure that this bad state of 

 the mouth is the cause, and not the consequence. 



The sight of a horse is often defective ; the sun 

 in his eyes dazzles and frightens him ; or else a de- 

 fective lens makes objects appear larger to him than 

 they really are ; or he may be near-sighted, and con- 

 sequently nervous about what he can not see ; and 

 a moving bird, or a bit of floating paper, is enough 

 to make him bolt. 



Sometimes the throat is sore inside, and then the 

 horse suffers from the effect of the bit on the ex- 

 tremity of his neck when he gives his head. Bolting 

 is often caused by suffering in some internal organ; 

 and in that case the breathing is apt to be op- 

 pressed. 



But in -seven cases out of ten the cause of a 

 horse's running away is to be found in his hind 

 quarters. The loins are too long, weak, and ill-at- 

 tached, so that when he carries a heavy weight the 

 spinal column feels an insupportable pain. What 

 man would not become mad if he were forced to 

 walk, trot, and gallop, carrying a weight which caused 

 him frightful suffering .? The remembrance of an 

 old wound made by the saddle is sometimes enough 

 to cause a nervous and sensitive animal to bolt. The 

 legs are sometimes beginning to throw out curbs or 

 spavins, or they may be too straight and narrow, 

 lacking the strength necessary to carry the horse at 



