IMPROVING ACTION 77 



stick his nose out, and when pressure is brought 

 to bear upon the lower jaw with the bit it slips up 

 in the mouth towards the grinders, and does not 

 exert leverage upon the jaw at a place of vantage 

 or so that the head can be bent upon the neck. 

 As a rule, ewe-necked horses show this inability, 

 but not all, by any means, for some of them are 

 clean-cut in the throttle, and the neck just above 

 the throttle is light, so that it can bend with ease. 

 In addition to the causes already explained, 

 temperament predisposes to pulling. A free, 

 courageous, determined horse is much more apt 

 to get into the way of pulling than one not over- 

 burdened with energy. Of the exciting causes 

 of pulling, insufficient work and over-feeding 

 are important; but really the most fruitful one 

 is the unskilful and heavy-handed driver. Some 

 drivers will make almost any horse pull. Many 

 have no sympathy with a horse, and if they do 

 observe evidences of discomfort in connection 

 with the mouth, which may be shown in some of 

 the ways already explained, they do not endeavor 

 to remove the cause. It is most important in 

 bitting horses to prevent them from getting into 

 bad habits of any kind. They get into bad habits 

 very quickly, which it may take a long time to 

 eradicate. The most rational principle to proceed 

 on is not to allow them to learn bad habits. Do 

 not place them in a position to learn bad habits. 



