2oS Rcstlvcncss : its Prevention and Cure, 



which, of course, as has been shown, tlirows an addi- 

 tional portion of the weight on the fore legs. When, 

 at a later period too, a curbed bit is used, this is put so 

 high up in the horse's mouth that the action of the curb 

 becomes more painful than that of the mouthpiece (see 

 Part II. of this book), and consequently induces the 

 horse rather to lean on the bit than yield in the direc- 

 tion of the rider's hand. Finally, this latter is, both 

 with the snaffle and the curb-bit, held as low as the 

 horse's withers will permit and quite steady — that is to 

 say, without much varying the pull on the reins. Of 

 course a judicious breaker or trainer will endeavor to 

 prevent his horse acquiring a dead hard leaning on the 

 bit, and seek to restrain this within the bounds of a 

 firm, decided one. Under the circumstances, however, 

 this is not an easy matter, and is precisely the rock on 

 which so many riders split, who then have recourse to 

 sawing, which frequently becomes the primary invita- 

 tion to restiveness. 



We may sum up the whole by saying that the English 

 method of training young horses consists in doing the 

 whole work on the forehand, leaving the backhand al- 

 most totally uncontrolled to perform the simple function 

 of propulsion — for all the trotting and galloping work 

 is done on straight lines ; and there can be no doubt 

 that, where merely go-ahead, straightforward work is 

 demanded, this system is perfectly judicious. It is, how- 

 ever, another question, and one already sufficiently en- 

 tered into in previous chapters, whether its application 

 be not too one-sided, for all saddle-horses are not required 

 to do this sort of work ; and it is positively objection- 

 able in this respect, that it uses up the horse's fore legs 

 with frightful rapidity and to an extent that none but 

 English purses can endure. 



It is, however, with its bearings on the subject of the 

 prevention and cure of vice that we have here to do. 



