PREPARING FOR DEFENSE 



extends it forward, while by carrying the head low, 

 it neutralizes the effects of the bridle. The hind 

 legs are not together, but one of them is too much 

 under the body while the other is extended too far 

 to the rear and does not support its share of the 

 weight. Commonly, the horse stops of its own will, 

 and refuses to advance or to change its position at 

 the ordinary effects. The rider feels as if he were 

 mounted upon an unsteady wooden horse. 



Sometimes this condition of fear or stupor is the 

 result of defective eyesight, and is brought about 

 by the sensation of some object the effect of which 

 has spread from the brain to the entire body. The 

 sound of a locomotive or of an automobile some- 

 times, though not often, has a like effect. In the 

 first instance, the correction is through the treat- 

 ment of the horse's eyes by a veterinary. In the 

 second, the procedure is to accustom the horse 

 to the noise and to build up its confidence in its 

 rider. 



But where the state is the result of an evil will 

 and the desire to refuse obedience, the corrective is, 

 without loss of time, to separate the reins into the 

 two hands, and with right hand and right leg, or 

 vice versa, force the horse to turn round and round 

 in a very small circle. 



The horse, thereupon, from fear of falling, will 

 move its legs and relax all its body. After this treat- 

 ment, it will remember the result of its rebellion 

 and will very seldom repeat the offense. 



351 



