TO DRESS A VICIOUS HORSE. 415 



but an expert fellow may manage them, without using any re- 

 straint. A switch held always^in the hand, in view of the 

 horse, and lightly applied, or threatened when he attempts to 

 strike, will render others comparatively docile. A few permit 

 their hind quarters to be cleaned while their clothes are on. 

 Some there are, however, that cannot be managed so easily. 

 They strike out, those especially that lead idle lives, so quickly 

 and so maliciously, that the groom is in great danger, and can- 

 not get his work properly performed. There are two remedies 

 — the arm-strap and the twitch. Where another man cannot be 

 spared to assist, one of the fore legs is tied up ; the knee is bent 

 till the foot almost touches the elbow, and a broad buckling- 

 strap is applied over the forearm and the pastern. The horse 

 then stands upon three legs, and the groom is in no danger of a 

 kick. Until the horse is accustomed to stand in this way, he is 

 apt to throw himself down ; for the first two or three times the 

 leg should be held up by a man, rather than tied with a strap. 

 The horse should stand on a thick bed of littei-, so that he may 

 not be injured should he fall. In course of time he may per- 

 haps become quieter, and the arm-strap may be thrown aside. 

 It should not be applied always to the same leg, for it produces 

 a tendency to knuckling over the pastern, which, in a great 

 measure, is avoided by tying up each leg alternately, the right 

 to-day, the left to-morrow. Even the arm-strap will not prevent 

 some horses from kicking ; some can stand on two legs, and 

 some will throw themselves down. The man must just coax the 

 horse, and get over the operation with as little irritation as pos- 

 sible. Upon extraordinary occasions the twitch may be em- 

 ployed, but it must not be applied every day, otherwise the lip 

 upon which it is placed becomes inflamed, or palsied. When 

 restraint must be resorted to, the man should be doubly active 

 in getting through his work, that the horse may not be kept for 

 a needless length of time in pain. He may, in some cases, give 

 the horse a very complete dressing when he is fatigued, and not 

 disposed to offer much resistance. 



Irritable, high-bred horses, often cut and bruise their legs 

 when under the grooming operations. They should have boots, 

 similar to those used against speedy cutting. 



Utility of dressing. — It improves the horse's appearance ; it 



