BOLTING AND RUNNING AWAY 



It is, therefore, very nearly impossible to stop a 

 horse when once the bolt is under way, though it is 

 comparatively easy to prevent his entrance into 

 the state, except where the habit is already formed 

 as the consequence of defective eyesight or the 

 memory of pains from over-hard whippings or the 



RUNNING AWAY 



too severe use of sharp spurs. One should, then, 

 endeavor to find the reason for the bolting, and 

 remove this. This done, the fault will sometimes 

 disappear. 



When a horse is bolting, its vertebral column 

 from atlas to coupling becomes stiff. The neck is 

 rigid. The bit is without effect. It is sometimes 

 possible, under these conditions, to release the con- 

 traction of the neck by lifting the horse's head, but 

 not so high that it cannot see out in front, and saw- 

 ing with the snafHe rein. But if the rider feels that 



335 



