78 KICKING WHILE SHOEING. 



skinned horse : use a brush. I should want a horse to 

 kick a man out of the stall, who would use a currycomb 

 with needless severity, or be otherwise needlessly harsh. 



KICKING WHILE SHOEING. 



If at the start the colt were subjected to the simple 

 course of subjection, and the feet handled and taken up 

 gently, there would be no trouble whatever. Nothing 

 is done until the colt is taken to the shop to be shod, 

 when, possibly excited by fear, and the rude efforts of 

 the smith to shoe him, he will learn to kick and fight with 

 energy. The moment you take a horse's foot, and he 

 learns he can kick you away, it is not safe for you to try 

 to control him by main strength ; for if a strong, coura- 

 geous horse, he is not only liable to injure you, but defy 

 your efforts. We once in a while get horses of this char- 

 acter that are wholly unmanageable ; frequently old horses 

 that are so bad they never have been shod. 



Any ordinary case will yield readily to the war-bridle. 

 If this will not do, try the double hitch ; but few will resist 

 this ; and it will do the work so quickly and safely, that, 

 so far as it goes, it is unrivalled. If this fails, then subject 

 to passive treatment. In the mean time, attach a rope or 

 strap around the hind leg, and with it, pull the leg back 

 and keep pulling it, so long as the horse will kick and re- 

 sist. When the foot is given back freely, then pull it 

 forward until submissive. Take it now with the hand. 

 As there is submission, let up. At the last, use the dou- 

 ble hitch or war-bridle, which will give you all the control 

 you need. Each foot must be treated alike. We control 

 the worst horses before the class, by this treatment, in 

 from five to twenty minutes. Any ordinary colt or horse 

 will stand to be shod gently by blindfolding, or tying a 

 blanket over the head, so that the horse cannot see. 



KICKING IN STALL. 



This is one of those habits that require care and judg- 

 ment to guard against danger. Let the horse know, by 

 some signal or command, of your presence and intention to 

 approach. Many horses of the gentlest character would 

 kick if approached suddenly and unexpectedly ; and again, 



