THE HORSE WHICH BURIES ITSELF 



not draw the hind legs forward as the front legs are 

 extended. From these, the stiffness is commu- 

 nicated to the ilio-spinalis, which, stimulated by the 

 weight of the rider, contracts and paralyzes the 

 articulation of the coupling. This, in its turn, pre- 

 vents the separate action of the hind legs. These, as 

 a result, act together to raise the hind hand, ex- 

 tended and stiff. 



The remedy, therefore, is to keep the horse mov- 

 ing his legs alternately, and so'moving forward. If all 

 four limbs are acting to send the body forward, all 

 rearing and kicking are impossible. But if the 

 animal is allowed to stop, then any action of its legs 

 is open to it, and it can lie down as easily as it can 

 buck- jump. 



THE HORSE WHICH BURIES ITSELF 



SOME horses are by nature restive and violent, so 

 that they do not respond to kindness until after 

 they have been tamed by energetic treatment. This 

 native excess of bad temper leads such animals to 

 try every means of escape from the rider's domina- 

 tion; and before they finally submit, they some- 

 times, as a last effort, set their four limbs im- 

 movably so that no sort of persuasion can make 

 them stir. Sentener and s'immobiliser are names 

 for this action, which I have translated as "bury 

 itself." 



When a horse thus buries itself, the only correc- 

 tive is to apply the whip on the flanks during the 



349 



