184 KIOKIKG. 



great improvement in this for kickers, is to pass the reins 

 over the hips to the shafts as explained. 



Checking the head high will sometimes hold in restraint 

 a strong-willed, treacherous horse, that is liable to lunge 

 sideways, or pull heavily. It will usually work well when 

 a horse is a little irritable, and simply needs a little restraint 

 to keep him inside the point of resistance, the same as 



FIG. 161. The horse as disabled when there is an effort to kick. 



the tail-strap acts in preventing the horse from kicking by 

 keeping the tail confined and helpless. The simplest and 

 best way of checking the head high is to pass the check- 

 rein through gag-runners, which should be attached to the 

 head part of the bridle well up near the ears, and buckle 

 into an extra bit, which is to be held up against the roof 

 of the mouth by means of a strap passing over the nose. 

 This form of checking the head up and back will be found 

 very effective. 



A common method in use years ago for kickers was to 



