AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



215 



stantiated on reasonable grounds, the presence of the owner 

 being frequently a complete refutation to the assertion. 



Horses usually evince attachment towards those who use 

 them kindly. His late Majesty, Geo. HI. had a favourite 

 charger named Adonis. Whenever the King, on visiting 

 his stables, chanced to pass near enough for Adonis to hear 

 his voice, the animal would commence whinnying with joy, 

 and his recognition of his master was always accompanied 

 with so much noise, that, to quiet him, His Majesty would 

 invariably command him to be saddled and led forth. 

 Having rode him for a few minutes round the premises, 

 the gratified animal would then return peaceably to his 

 quarters; but had the King not humoured his wish, the 

 animal would have become uproarious. Napoleon was 

 very fond of horses. Count Las Casas relates an anecdote 

 of a horse belonging to the Emperor that always showed a 

 considerable degree of pride and pleasure when carr}ang 

 him, which was never observed when a groom or any ordi- 

 nary person rode him. 



Till within a very short period, I was not aware any per- 

 son had publicly treated on the subject of humanity to 

 horses with the same views entertained by myself; but I 

 perceive with pleasure, in a review of a work printed on 

 the Continent, that the author justifies my opinion, and cor- 

 roborates the truth of my remarks. One extract I have 

 preserved, which I cannot do better than quote. 



" It is justly asserted, in the best works of rural economy 

 and the veterinary art, that no horses are naturally vicious. 

 When they become vicious, the reason is, because we pay 

 too little attention to the horse, and do not study his nature 

 Bufficiently; and hence rather resort to the whip and spur, 

 to signify our wishes to this noble animal, than to kind and 

 gentle treatment. In a word, we know not how to make 

 ourselves intelligible to the horse. It seems truly astonish- 

 ing, that horses in general are not more obstinate; and that, 

 in the consciousness of their strength, they do not strive 

 more to rid themselves of their slavery, when we consider 

 how severel}'^, cruelly, and barbarously, these generous 

 beasts are treated. How often are they beaten and ill- 

 used, frequently without any cause! and how seldom, on 

 tlie other hand, are they addressed in terms of commenda- 

 tion and encouragement, and still less rewarded! and yet 

 attentive observers have ascertained, that the horse, like the 

 elephant and dog, possesses a sensibility of the nerves which 

 might be termed a sense of honour, and which is equally 

 susceptible of praise and blame." 



Crib-biting is often produced by injudicious cleaning. It 

 is a common practice in racing and hunting establishments 

 to dress horses with an ash stick in hand, which is held at 

 them in terrorem whilst undergoing that process, and occa- 

 sionally applied to their bodies with rigour. This practice 



is not only foolish, but betrays a want of judgment which 

 nothing can extenuate; for the unruly conduct of the ani- 

 mal is mainly attributable to mismanagement and ignorance 

 on the part of the attendants themselves, wlio very unjustly 

 make the horse pay the penalty of their own awkwardness, 

 as I can easily show. Grooms and stablemen often disre- 

 gard the irritation they cause to horses in passing too 

 roughly with comb, brush, or whisp, over the bell}^, flank, 

 and under the web of the arm, which on those tender parts 

 produces extreme titillation. The animal, unable quietly 

 to endtire this, oftentimes prolonged excitement, in the 

 agony of his suffering, naturally enough resists, and evinces 

 his displeasure of the treatment by reiterated attempts to 

 kick and bite the party inflicting the torture, as well as laying 

 hold of the manger with his teeth, which in many instances 

 is undoubtedly the forerunner of crib-biting. On these 

 occasions, the ash stick is brought into unmerciful requisi- 

 tion, thereby spoiling the temper of many of our best and 

 finest horses, who, compelled diurnally to undergo this 

 teazing ordeal, generally become spiteful and ill-natured, 

 and, in addition to other vicious propensities, imbibe a mis- 

 chievous habit of kicking on the approach of any person 

 towards them. Now, if the groom would only reflect for 

 a moment, he would be immediately convinced that his own 

 improper conduct was the cause of the trouble experienced, 

 and that his irrational proceeding must ultimately ruin the 

 most docile and quiet horse; but the despotic character of 

 man misleads him to imagine, that the brute animals must 

 implicitly obey and acknowledge his supremacy as a law of 

 nature, and submit to his will subserviently, even though 

 intimated to them in a somewhat ambiguous manner. I 

 cannot, with propriety, be contradicted, when I state, that 

 so long as this baneful system of stable-management and 

 discipline be allowed to be pursued with impunity by ser- 

 vants, gentlemen may always make sure of possessing crib- 

 biters and vicious horses. 



The precaution which I invariably observe is, never to 

 dress, buckle or unbuckle girth or roller, with the head to 

 the manger, or, if in the open air, within reach of any 

 thing the horse can snap at or lay hold of; uniformly taking 

 care that he be soothed and kindly used when undergoing 

 the operation of cleaning; and, should resistance be opposed 

 when passing even as lightly as possible over the parts 

 above mentioned, I never allow any violence to be enforced. 

 By this usage, the animal is not only less troublesome to 

 the attendant, but the kindness of his disposition is pre- 

 served unbroken. 



Vicious habits may likewise be ascribed to imperfect 

 training. For instance: a horse is entrusted for that pur- 

 pose to the care of a person totally unacquainted with the 

 manner of treating him, consequently incapable of judging 



