ACCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH RESTRAINT. 139 



Getting Loose. — Some horses are very cunning and per- 

 severing in their efforts to get loose ; they often succeed 

 during the night, and wander over the stable in quest of food, 

 quarrelling and playing with the other horses, disturbing their 

 rest, and laming them. Some slip the halter over their ears ; 

 these must be tied by a neck-strap ; or the throat-lash, by be- 

 ing set out from the head-piece, can perform the office of a 

 neck-strap : others bite the rope through ; the only remedy 

 for them is a chain. In admitting a strange horse to a large 

 stable, it might be prudent to tie him up as if he were known 

 to be in the habit of getting loose ; it will soon be seen 

 whether or not the precaution be necessary. 



Hanging in the Halter. — Many horses attempt to get 

 free by falling back upon the haunches, and throwing their 

 weight upon the halter-rein ; there they hang for a while till 

 some part of the rein gives way, or till they find it too strong 

 for them. This is the true breaking loose ; cutting the rope 

 with the teeth and casting the halter are merely slipping loose. 

 Such a forcible mode of getting free, or attempting to get 

 free, is attended with some danger. If the tie suddenly give 

 way, the horse falls back with such violence that he is gen- 

 erally lamed or injured. The haunch bones are sometimes 

 broken, and the hocks seldom escape a severe contusion ; oc- 

 casionally the head is cut, either by the fall or by the strain 

 of the halter. I know of only two ways in which a cure is 

 attempted ; one consists in giving the horse a good fright and 

 a tumble, by freeing the rope at the moment he is trying to 

 break it. This, however, is not a cure ; it seldom prevents 

 the horse from repeating the attempt ; it only puts him on his 

 guard. against the sudden rupture of the tie ; he still persists 

 in his efforts to break it, but he takes care not to fall back- 

 ward. The other way is to tie him so strongly that no force 

 he can exert will free him. After he has made a few unsuc- 

 cessful trials, he appears to conclude that the thing is not 

 practicable, and he desists. For an experiment of this kind 

 a leather halter is too weak, the head-piece upon which the 

 stress falls, should be of strong rope, sitting close behind the 

 ears. If the manger is not sufficiently firm, the ring should 

 be sunk deep in the wall. 



I believe that the use of a neck-strap, instead of the ordi- 

 nary halter, deters many horses from this trick of breaking 

 loose ; I have seen it succeed in several cases. As additional 

 security, the halter may be put on too ; it keeps the head 

 straight, so that the neck may not be twisted when the strain 



