224 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[CHAP. 



torture it occasions, it causes a large proportion 

 of the horse's power to be lost, from the animal 

 being unable to get its head and neck down, 

 and thus to throw more of its weight into the 

 collar. 



"9. The powerful muscles that pull forward 

 the shoulders and, indirectly, the fore-limbs, 

 and which are attached to the head and neck, 

 are by it placed in the least favourable position 

 for exercising their function, so that the horse's 

 action, as well as its speed and strength, are 

 impaired by this mechanical disadvantage. 



" 10. It causes pain and distress in breathing. 



" 11. It tends to distort the upper part of the 

 windpipe and cause roaring. 



" 12. It frets the temper of nervous and excit- 

 able horses, and shortens the lives of all." 



888. The late Professor Axe, of the Royal 

 College of Veterinary Surgeons, said : " It is 

 responsible for poll evil, abscesses, sprung knees, 

 paralysis, and disorders of the brain and 

 muscles." 



Wm. Pritchard, President of the Royal 

 College, says : " An act of great cruelty is daily 

 perpetrated, and often by good people who know 

 not what they are doing." 



Senator Stanford, a well-known American 

 horseman, some years ago abolished the use of 

 the overhead check-rein on his racehorses. 



John Splan, in " Life with the Trotters," 

 says : " A great many people think that a trotting 

 horse should be driven with an over-check. I 

 used to have this opinion, but know now it is 

 a serious mistake. I have seen one or two horses 

 choked to death with their use." 



Professor Norton Smith, the noted horse 

 trainer, said : " The overdraw check should be 

 prohibited by law." 



Dr. McEachran, P.R.C.V.S., says: "Never 

 cause pain and discomfort by bearing-reins ; the 

 overhead check is a disgrace to civilisation." 



H. W. Herbert, in "Hints to Horsekeepers," 

 says : " The check-rein or bearing-rein is a mis- 

 take in harness invention ; it holds the head in 

 an unnatural, ungraceful and uncomfortable 

 position ; it gives the mouth a callous character, 

 and entirely destroys all chance of fine driving." 



Sir Arthur Helps said : " Whenever I see a 

 horse suffering from a tight check-rein I know 

 the owner is unobservant, ignorant or cruel." 



Charles Sheard, M.D., M.R.C.S., says: "I 

 can testify to the cruel barbarity imposed upon 

 horses by the over-check. It should be con- 

 demned by law." 



J. Algernon Temple, M.D., says: "The over- 

 check-rein is both injurious and barbarous, and 

 ought to be prohibited by law." 



Wm. Mole, M.R.C.V.S., says: "If horsemen 

 could see and understand the effect of its insidi- 

 ous work on the respiratory organs and glands 

 of the neck, they would cease to use them." 



Dr. Rutherford, formerly Veterinary Director- 



General of Canada, writes : " Except on a few 

 vicious and otherwise uncontrollable horses, and 

 on some which, through bad training, have 

 become habituated to it, I consider it not only 

 useless but cruel." 



Dr. James, of Ottawa, writes : " I consider it, 

 when applied tightly, as it usually is, to be most 

 cruel, causing interference with the proper 

 action of the organs of respiration and locomo- 

 tion." 



Dr. Harris, of Ottawa, says : "They are pro- 

 ductive of disease, and greatly hinder horses 

 from employing their full strength." 



A Glasgow man was heard to say : " We 

 dinna use them. You winna get half their 

 power with them crimped up so." 



The Daily Graphic said : " One of the sights 

 of the City is to see the absence of bearing-reins 

 on the beautiful, long-tailed four-in-hand of the 

 Lord Mayor." 



889. New York Life says: "To the kind- 

 hearted amongst horse owners, and those with 

 independence or standing enough to do as they 

 please, a little enlightenment on the subject 

 would do much good. How soon the small fry 

 would follow suit if a score of prominent people 

 would condemn its use ! " 



The Lancet says : " We are glad to find that 

 this needless and mischievous piece of harness 

 is being discarded by the best drivers. Whether 

 on grounds of policy or of humanity, a system 

 which has conclusively been shown to be in- 

 jurious, and to produce an ungainly, exhausting 

 and unsafe carriage of the head, is likely to be 

 given up." 



The Toronto Mail says: "The Toronto 

 Humane Society is to be congratulated in the 

 effort it has made to abolish this senseless and 

 cruel piece of harness." 



The Duohess of Portland, the well-known 

 horsewoman, says : " For some time I have 

 thought the evil consequent upon the abuse of 

 this rein only required to be pointed out to 

 owners of horses to induce them to dispense 

 with them altogether." 



E. P. Flower, in "Bits and Bearing-Reins," 

 says : " A horse in harness without a bearing- 

 rein has free command of its limbs under the 

 direction and control of its driver. If the driver 

 has good hands, the horse yields a prompt 

 and ready obedience, and a most perfect sym- 

 pathy exists between him and his master. A 

 slip or stumble is not likely to occur, and, should 

 it happen, recovery is easy." 



890. Land and Water says : " We do not 

 mean to say that coachmen should be flogged the 

 way they flog their horses, but we do say that 

 if their masters took the trouble to see that they 

 obeyed their orders with regard to the bearing- 

 rein, horses would be far less fretted and would 

 last a great deal longer." 



The Spectator says : " A large number of self- 



