'HANDS' AND OTHER MATTERS 119 



that horses should be allowed to look out ! They 

 are also a gregarious race, and enjoy being able to 

 see, and, possibly (who knows?), to communicate 

 with each other. And yet, it is considered right 

 to place our horses in solitary confinement ! 



Personally, were I building stables, I would not 

 only have loose boxes looking out into the yard, 

 but I would have railings between the boxes, along 

 the upper half of the partitions, so that the horses 

 could always see each other, and know that they 

 had the company of their kind. These may be re- 

 garded as small points, but I believe that attention 

 to these kind of details repay us well. I have often 

 heard people say the horse is a stupid animal, but 

 what do we do to cultivate his intelligence ? Per- 

 sonally, I do not consider the horse a stupid beast. 

 He has much more intelligence than people believe. 

 It is our duty, and it should be our pleasure, to 

 develop it as much as we can. 



Bitting 



I have never been able to quite understand why 

 so much attention is paid to this subject. We 

 find in many people's stables a whole armoury 

 of bits, some with rough mouthpieces, some with 

 smooth, some with joints in them, and some 

 without. Sliding mouthpieces, gags, mohawks, 

 Hanoverians, pelhams, and snaffles of every kind 

 and description. 



And yet what is it all for? If you make the 

 horse comfortable, he will make you comfortable, 

 is an excellent rule, and it is obvious that the 



