H E -:- H O R S E 



X CHAPTER VII. 



Habits of the horse, natural and acquired Getting up and 

 lying down Balking A useful method of treating it Roll- 

 ing How to prevent it Pawing Rearing Striking Kicking 

 Biting Cinch Binding Shying How to make a shying 

 horse go past the object of his terroi Stumbling Falling 

 Prancing Plunging Crow-hopping Bucking, buck jumpers 

 and how to ride them Some general remarks about equine 

 idiosyncrasies. 



Getting Up and Lying Down. A horse 

 rising from a lying position on the ground 

 will straighten out his forelegs first, raising 

 the forepart of his body until he is almost 

 in a sitting position, and then, by a contrac- 

 tion of the muscles, bring his hind legs under 

 his body, and raise his hindquarters from 

 the ground. When preparing to lie down, a 

 horse will often first go to his knees, and 

 will always nearly touch the ground with 

 his nose, letting the forepart of his body 

 rest on the ground first. 



Balking. Balking, ordinarily, is the pre- 

 rogative of the mule. It is an unfortunate 

 inhibition on the part of an animal and dis- 

 turbs the less philosophical rider. The ani- 

 mal in this case stands perfectly still and 

 refuses to move in any direction. 



Some well-meaning persons advise as a cure 

 the building of a fire under the balking ani- 

 mal, or some other measure equally drastic. 

 Such treatment, however, is not be be en- 

 couraged, because although it will undoubt- 



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