4i6 KINDNESS TO HORSES. 



course, he is demented. If the vast majority of 

 so-called vicious horses could write the story of 

 their lives, what terrible tales of suffering and Injustice 

 they would relate! A horse, unlike a dog, bears 

 punishment in silence, and any brutal creature may 

 with Impunity torture a horse, but if he tried to 

 hurt a dog in like degree, the yelping of the animal 

 would alarm the entire neighbourhood, and be almost 

 certain to call forth a strong remonstrance from 

 some lover of animals whose sympathy had been 

 excited by hearing such piteous cries. People who 

 are unacquainted with the Inner life of stables, have 

 no idea of the brutality which many grooms and 

 strappers inflict on the animals in their charge. 

 When we find a horse which is difficult to bridle, 

 owing to the objection he has to allowing his muzzle 

 or ears to be approached by the hand of man, we 

 may be almost certain that this vice has been caused 

 by the application of a twitch, either on his upper 

 lip, or on one of his ears, a method of restraint which 

 should never be employed. By laying down the law 

 on this point of horse control, I in no way pose as 

 an authority, but rely on what my husband, who 

 is a veterinary surgeon, thinks on this matter. He 

 tells me that during the two trips which he made 

 in 1 90 1 to South Africa in veterinary charge of 

 remounts, he examined the mouths of over seven 

 hundred horses and found that more than ten per 

 cent, of them had been permanently Injured, especially 

 on the tongue, by the inhuman application of twitches. 



