204 RAGE IN HORSES. 



too far, rouses the lion in him, and turns him from 

 the forbearing friend and servant to a lasting and 

 ruthless foe. 



Mild and gentle as is the natural disposition of 

 the horse, I can assure my reader I do not know a 

 more terrific animal than a thoroughly enraged one. 

 I would rather face half a dozen tigers in succession ; 

 these would spring on you as the cat does on the mouse, 

 not in rage, but to get a dinner. A blow or two 

 would probably cow the tiger, because he might prefer 

 foregoing his meal to getting a repetition of them ; but 

 the attack of the horse is rage, and, when thus excited, 

 his attack is like that of the maniac, which nothing 

 but death or the being rendered powerless can 

 restrain: 



This most fearful kind of rage and antipathy to 

 man I saw in two horses, both sires and both Arabs. 

 What made one of them so I do not know, nor did 

 the man in charge of him ; he only knew the horse 

 was so when he first saw him, and remained so to the 

 day he Avas shown me. The moment the half of the 

 box-door was opened, he rushed towards it like a 

 tiger at the bars of his cage, and would have attacked 

 any man living who went near him. He always wore 

 a very strong head-collar ; to this was attached a rope, 

 passing through a ring on the manger, and then 

 brought along the side wall of the box and out behind. 

 When any thing was v>'anted to be done to this savage 

 — feeding, watering, or any thing else — by means of 

 this rope his head was brought to the manger, and se- 

 cured there while the man was in the box. If wanted 

 to be led out, a long strong iron bar was fastened to 

 the head collar : by means of this he could be brought 

 round : liis head was then fastened to the door-post, 



