202 Rest{ve?tess : its Prevention and Cure, 



or pig-headedness of a groom. Horses don't like to be 

 ennuye^ and will rather stick at home than go out to be 

 bored ; they like amusement, variety and society ; give 

 them their share of these, but never in a pedantic way, 

 and avoid getting into a groove of any kind, either as 

 to time or place, especially with young animals. It is 

 evident that all these things must be taken into account 

 and receive due attention, whether it be our object to 

 prevent or to get rid of some bad habit a horse may 

 have acquired ; and a little reflection will generally suf- 

 fice to point out the means of remedying something 

 that, if left to itself, would grow into a confirmed habit, 

 or if attacked with the energy of folly and violence, 

 would suddenly culminate in the grand catastrophe of 

 vestiveness. 



The method according to which a restive horse has 

 been originally handled must be also taken into consid- 

 eration before one can form a sound judgment as to the 

 best method of cure, as it makes an immense difference 

 in this respect whether the animal has been treated on 

 the English plan of merely gradually "habituating" it 

 to go in the manner desired and leaving it very much 

 to its own will and pleasure to do so, or whether the 

 Continental mode has been adopted of endeavoring to 

 obtain, by more stringent and systematic means, a per- 

 fect mastery over its movements in the first place. 

 Eachof these methods has its own peculiar advantages, 

 and, as regards the prevention and cure of restiveness, 

 disadvantages also. The English plan is, no doubt, 

 much less likely than the other to lead directly to con- 

 flicts, simply because it avoids them, but it does not 

 afford that degree of control over the horse's movements 

 that is indispensable for combating insubordination suc- 

 cessfully ; and if the horse does slip into bad habits, 

 the temptation to use violent measures, which some- 

 rimes succeed, but as frequently drive things to extremi- 



