MOUTHS AND MANNERS 



tive perception of what a horse is about to do, 

 and the instant frustration and correction of any 

 outbreak in just the proper degree, which is so 

 much a matter of instinct that it is automatic. 

 Therefore, it may be said, be he ever so assiduous 

 in practice, no man can ever acquire good hands 

 who is npt thoroughly sympathetic, and has not 

 that indefinable "horse sense" so necessary to 

 successful equine manipulation. It is this quality 

 that enables some men to get on amicably with 

 even the most determined rogues and pullers. No 

 special appliances for them, but just the exercise 

 of the gifts of sympathetic intelligence which 

 nature has granted them. 



With such hands a man handles his horse's 

 mouth with a touch that may sometimes seem 

 rough, and frequently is. He never yields until 

 the horse does, and then gives (rewards his sub- 

 mission) like a flash, but only to an almost im- 

 perceptible degree very often ; forcing the animal 

 up to his bridle by word and whip (or spur if rid- 

 ing). A " nagsman " handling a green and raw 

 horse may seem, as he " fishes " him along, to be 

 rough in his treatment, but, on the contrary, he is 

 using consummate skill with beautiful effect, and, 

 given a pHant and finished animal, no fingers will 



107 



