92 HUMANE HORSE-TRAINING 



It is difficult to state the cause of this bad habit, but 

 many cases have been set up by sore shoulders and 

 the slippery London streets, where the horse is unable 

 to get a foothold on the tar-and-asphalt roads, eventually 

 falling to his knees when trying to start a heavy load. He 

 then becomes so nervous that he is afraid to move, and 

 feels much safer standing still. The jibbing habit is 

 soon developed at this stage. The streets nowadays are 

 made expressly for motor traffic, and the horse does not 

 even receive secondary consideration. 



My methods for handling jibbers are quite different 

 to those already described. I teach the horse the 

 meaning of the commands, " Whoa ! " and " Get up ! " 

 when driving in long reins ; then, when I see by his 

 ears that he intends to stop, I give the command 

 " Whoa ! " and a sharp jerk at the reins, by which 

 means he is stopped before he has the chance to pull 

 up of his own accord. This puts him into a thoughtful 

 mood, and when he hears the command " Get up ! " he 

 immediately starts forward. I make him stop at the 

 word " whoa," and take him quite unawares every time. 

 I then use my master rein, and when he shows the 

 slightest sign of stopping I pull the rein and bring him 

 to his knees. When he rises I give a light stroke with 

 the whip and he jumps forward ; I give the command 



