344 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY 



his command — permitting his mouth to be opened, 

 and any person's hand to be introduced into it — in 

 short, he was as quiet as a lamb. 



*'At the same meeting, on the Curragh of Kildare, 

 he won a race, and continued his docihty for three 

 years ; but again broke out, and having killed a man 

 in one of his furious fits, he was ordered to be 

 destroyed." 



As I have before said, there is little chance of 

 reclaiming a bad-tempered horse by harsh treatment, 

 as I believe it will always be found to have an 

 opposite tendency. An ill-tempered groom should 

 never be allowed to enter a stable, however fit he 

 may be for his business in other respects. For a 

 surly, bullying fellow is sure to frighten horses so 

 much that as soon as he enters the stable they will 

 jump from side to side at his approach. Many a scar 

 has been inflicted by such a man, by using his pitch- 

 fork instead of soothing the animal for a fault ; and 

 if asked how the horse cam.e by the blemish, he 

 invents a falsehood to account for it. 



REARING. 



Rearing is one of the worst vices in a horse, and 

 is practised with the intent to throw the rider off. 

 Sometimes it is the result of playfulness, but even 

 then it is a dangerous and unpleasant fault. The 

 use of a deep curb and sharp bit will, in some 

 instances, cause even a quiet horse to rear, and when 

 this is the case, immediate recourse must be had to 

 the snaffle bridle. 



As in kicking, however, this is seldom or never 

 cured. Horse-breakers have attempted it by absurd 

 and dangerous means, namely, that of pulling the 

 horse backward on a soft piece of ground. This has 



