74 KICKING 



more army practice ; yet it is not forbidden, 

 and being easily tested is well worth trying 

 before it is condemned. 



Having nearly cured my horses of kicking, I 

 am still extremely anxious to persuade young 

 horsemen to get as close as possible to a horse 

 while grooming him, so that no kicker has 

 room to deliver the full force of the blow, 

 which may be fatal. Horses are very careless 

 among themselves, kicking each other for fun 

 while they forget that the iron shoe may break 

 a leg. I have noticed also that a horse who 

 deliberately gets himself disliked will very soon 

 be the victim of organized attack, a comrade 

 being told off by the rest to lay for him. In 

 this way during the last six months I have 

 been obliged to have four horses shot for 

 fractured legs. 



Horses in pasture will often stand in pairs, 

 head to tail abreast, so that each with his 

 whisk of tail can keep flies from the other's face. 

 One will nibble and lick along the other's neck 

 and withers out of kindness, adding a bite or 

 two for fun. So in the stable, horses bite one 

 another for fun, but if they apply the treatment 

 to a man it is a sure sign they are badly educa- 

 ted, and liable to get their noses smacked for 

 their pains. 



