204 



Restiveness: its Prevention a?zd Cure. 



truth of the matter is this : whatever particular form of 

 restiveness a horse may have recourse to " to defend 

 itself," the one great patent fact in all cases is disobedi- 

 ence ; and therefore the one great object to be attained 

 is complete mastery over the animal's movements, and 

 not merely over its body by means of straps and ropes. 



We have stated that the English system of handling 

 young horses is less likely of itself to produce insubor- 

 dination directly, v^hile the school system may, if 

 abused, tend to this result. On the other hand, we 

 must rely on the latter for the correction of restiveness ; 

 and the object of this chapter being to endeavor to show 

 how vice may be prevented and cured^ it seems advisa- 

 ble to lay before the reader a brief general sketch of 

 both systems, pointing out, as we proceed, what is use- 

 ful for our purpose in each, as also the means by which 

 the one may be made to work into the other. 



In the English method the first step is usually to put 

 a very thick, and consequently a very gently-acting, 

 snaffle into the young horse's mouth, over which a 

 cavesson is placed ; a surcingle is then buckled round 

 the animal's body, to the rings of which, right and left, 

 the snaffle-reins are attached loosely, but still short 

 enough to keep the neck and head nearly straight and 

 encourage the animal to lean on the mouthpiece. A 

 judicious horse-breaker will then lead the young horse 

 about, at first in a quiet place, and gradually on to 

 roads, etc., where various objects present themselves, 

 as horses, vehicles, houses, etc., to which his pupil 

 becomes accustomed — a matter of great importance, as 

 many accidents occur where a young one that has 

 scarcely learned to tolerate a burden on its back is 

 brought, under a rider, all of a sudden in contact with 

 strange objects and imaccustomed noises. Moreover, 

 the horse oecomes habituated to follow the trainer, and 

 obey the lounge and reins in a gradual and gentle 



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