118 STABLS MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



forcible means ; and if the driver is resolved to use 

 compulsion, we would recommend that it should not be 

 attempted unless there is a wide space, where by tight 

 reining the driver may back him in the particular direction 

 which he wishes, and it would be very desirable to do so 

 up-hill if the ground inclines in the neighbourhood. But 

 still there is danger in the attempt. 



We believe many horses are such determined jibbers that 

 they will never cure. V/hen this is the case, they should 

 be sold to the owners of a vehicle in which four-in-hand or 

 unicorn are driven, and if placed as near wheeler they will 

 be forced to do their work. Some have also been worked 

 in a team by farmers ; but nobody would think of keeping 

 an animal which can only occasionally be rendered 

 serviceable. 



Kicking. — In a former page we noted this as a stable 

 vice ; under saddle or in harness, however, it is far more 

 dangerous to rider, driver, and the public. In saddle, get 

 well hold of his head, lift it Urmly and determinedly, then 

 bring the whip smartly down the shoulder. Mind his head 

 is well up when you deliver the blow, or he may get his nose 

 down and lash out again. When the animal proves an 

 inveterate kicker, a gag-snaffle will serve to keep his head up. 

 The gag-snaffle is not, unless the horse wilfully hangs on it, 

 more severe than a common snaffle, while, if he will have it 

 so, it acts through the pulley-like attachment of the rein 

 with augmented power, drawing the angle of the mouth 

 above the usual seat of the bit. It is valuable, too, with 

 *' pullers " who " bore " in the hunting-field. 



In harness, as we have said, a kicker may be yet more 

 dangerous and mischievous. Horses that are fidgety in 

 the stable are most apt to do this on the road. 



The slightest touch on such animals' quarters, even by 

 the reins touching, will set them kicking ; and in many 

 instances the front of the carriage will be driven in, or a 

 gig may be battered to pieces, the horse frequently coming 

 off with a broken limb, or the driver may sustain serious 

 injury. With kicking horses, the greatest care should be 

 taken not to allow the harness to pass under the tail, as the 

 moment they feel it the tail is pressed suddenly and tightly 

 down, so much so, that it is difficult to extricate the reins, 

 and the more the driver pulls the more the animal kicks 

 and plunges. When the driver finds that the reins are so 



