special Foi'ms of Restivcncss. 241 



will seldom bring the head down, an intermittent pull 

 on one rein will bring it to one side, after which it will 

 come down, the horse not being then able to stiffen its 

 neck at both sides. With the horse that carries its head 

 too low, the presumption being to the contrary of what 

 is stated above, the rider must use his own legs more 

 cautiously, and whilst he endeavors to bend the horse's 

 head to one side with one rein, he will try to work it 

 zipzaard with the other. This, of course, must be done 

 with the bridoon if the horse be bitted, otherwise with 

 the snaffle-rein ; indeed, it will be found that bringing 

 the bit and bridoon alternately into action is preferable 

 to using them simultaneously. It should be scarcely 

 necessary to add that the rider's weight must be always 

 thrown somewhat into the stirrup at the side you wish 

 to turn the horse toward, which is difficult when the 

 stirrups are hung very far from the seat. 



Bucking- or Plu7tgi7ig. — In bucking, the horse gath- 

 ers its legs under its body, puts its back up and its head 

 down, and then commences a series of see-saw move- 

 ments, throwing itself from the hind to the fore legs in 

 rapid succession, either without moving forward or in a 

 succession of bounds, which latter, however, is more 

 properly plunging. It occurs usually with young horses, 

 and is much less common with English ones than with 

 some foreign breeds, especially the Russian steppe 

 horses. Sometimes very tight girthing, or too heavy a 

 load on the horse's back, will cause it to buck ; or the 

 attempt to screw it up too suddenly into school form. 

 The best method of handling young horses that have 

 acquired this vice is on tiie lounge with the dumb-jocke}^ 

 the gi'eat object being to get them to move forward, and 

 prevent the head coming down. As the bucking or 

 plunging usually commences when the horse is put into 

 a trot, it should be kept as long as possible at a walk oil 

 the circle, which is best effected by letting a man go 

 21 Q 



