22S Rcstlveiicss: Us Prevention and Cure, 



it contemplates ; therefore your first task will be to un- 

 string the bow. 



The first stejD to this is to get the horse to stretch 

 itself. Try to get the head up a little ; if you meet with 

 opposition, give way, as if you did not perceive it, and 

 try again. In proportion as you get the head and neck 

 up gently the back will flatten down, and the horse will 

 move one or both hind legs backward, or one or both 

 fore legs forward. The horse does so merely to save 

 itself from falling ; you will do wisely by giving it credit 

 for a first act of obedience ; therefore pat its neck, rub 

 its head, speak kindly and give it something. If it has 

 only moved one hind or one fore leg, by bending the 

 head and neck gradually toward the other one this too 

 may be got backward or forward : by degrees the horse 

 will be got to stretch itself; the bow is unbent. It will 

 altogether depend on the time and trouble required to 

 get thus far whether the first lesson should be further 

 extended or not. After a quarter of an hour or twenty 

 minutes it will be time to reward the horse by loosing 

 all the straps, leaving it to the groom to lead it about 

 for exercise and then home. Better take the trouble of 

 giving two short lessons each day, after which all par- 

 ties remain on more friendly terms, than one long one 

 ending in a fight. 



Having explained at length the method of proceed- 

 ing, it will now suffice to indicate briefly the successive 

 steps to be taken. When the horse has learned to stretch 

 itself willingly, the next object will be to get it to move 

 in obedience. If it refuses to go forward, by edging 

 over its head and neck in the proper position, it will 

 step sidewise to save itself from falling ; reward it again. 

 In a day or two it will follow your hand forward for 

 the sake of the oats you show it ; then by degrees it will 

 learn to circle with- the croup round the forehand ; you 

 will "unfix" the feet and flatten the back by degrees, 



