ACCIDENTS OF WORK. 



313 



Fig. 22. 



seldom needs assistance to rise ; but if old, stiff, exhausted, 

 lying in an awkward position or upon ice, he may not be able 

 to get up without help, and the rider should know how to af- 

 ford it. Almost every horse rises with his head first; he be- 

 gins by throwing out his forelegs, one by one ; he can not 

 rise when they are below him ; he elevates the head, and then, 

 by a sudden and single effort, he springs to his feet. If assis- 

 tance be needful, it must be given by supporting the head. 

 Do not stand before the horse, nor on the side to which his 

 feet are lying. Go to the back, seize the reins close to the 

 mouth ; when the horse elevates his head, endeavor to keep 

 it up, to render it a fixed point from which the muscles may 

 act in raising the body ; while one hand is supporting the head, 

 place the other on the withers or shoulder, and push the horse 

 off you, so as to set the body over the legs. It requires a 



