KICKING 



destroy one pain, it is rational to inflict another 



more severe." 



It is, nevertheless, to be noted that the same 

 grand master, after setting forth this theory, goes 

 on to say that his own experience proves that, after 

 a horse has been forced by severe correction to ap- 

 proach the particular object which was the cause 

 of the initial fear, it will shortly commit the same 

 ecart for another object. This, in turn, having been 

 corrected by the same procedure, the horse finds, in 

 still another object, the reason for still another 

 ecart; and so on for any number without limit. The 

 Duke's theory is interesting and his experience 

 practical. But as instruction for other riders, he 

 leaves a good deal to be desired. 



For the fact is, a young horse, not yet sufficiently 

 educated, may, from mere gayety and exuberance, 

 be surprised by the sight of some object, which, 

 though quite harmless, is not familiar. The animal, 

 therefore, fearing physical pain, at once jumps aside. 

 It is a simple matter for a rider to accustom his 

 horse to any particular object; and then to observe 

 whether the ecart occurs with one object only, or is 

 produced by several objects of different appearance. 

 If the trouble is simply youth and a too exuberant 

 life, the rational corrective is to have patience, to 

 inspire confidence in the horse, and in the mean- 

 time to increase the amount of exercise. But if the 

 horse commits the fault for different objects, and 

 for objects which it has before passed without shy- 



361 



