THE DEFENSES OF THE HORSE 



together has been employed successfully by the au- 

 thor to cure the fault of "making forces," discussed 

 just below, and also to correct the habit of putting 

 the tongue over the bit. In either case, the horse 

 will bite its tongue, and having done this two or 

 three times, will desist forever. Such bites of the 

 tongue are not serious. A little salt or sugar, helped 

 by the saliva, will heal the wound in a day or two. 

 The corrective of stammering is to complete 

 the progressive work of the flexions. The direct 

 flexion will always reestablish calm in the general 

 organism. 



FAIRE DES FORCES 



A HORSE is said to "make forces " when it takes a 

 wrong position of the lower jaw and resists the 

 effects of the rider's hand. This may take the form 

 of shutting the lower jaw against the upper at the 

 effect of the bit, of opening the mouth too wide and 

 keeping it thus, or of carrying the jaw to the right 

 or left at the solicitation of snaffle or bit and hold- 

 ing it there against the effect of the rider's hand. 



The fault is generally the result of bad conforma- 

 tion of the hind legs or of weakness of the loins. In 

 a well-conformed animal, it arises from incorrect, 

 too severe, or badly adjusted bits, from roughness 

 of hand and irregular gaits, and sometimes from too 

 sharp teeth on one side of the mouth. In this latter 

 case, the only remedy is to have the teeth filed by 

 a dentist. 



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