OVERDRAW CHECK. 



173 



kickers with the nervous system so weakened that the habit is in a 

 great measure involuntary. 



Overdraw Check. 



The overdraw check can be modified in various ways, according 

 to the case. Sometimes a simple overdraw check is all that is nec- 

 essary. If more power is desired, in addi- 

 tion to the check, the restraint can be car- 

 ried to the hips, thence to the .shafts^ (See 

 Fig. 235.) So that in the act of kicking, as 

 the quarters are elevated, the restraint will 

 be instantly brought upon the head, throw- 

 ing it so high as to disable. This princi- 

 ple of control was learned by the writer 

 under the following circumstances : In 1861, 

 when in Henderson, Jefferson Co., N. Y., a 

 half-witted fellow offered to instruct me how 

 to drive any kicking, runaway horse. He 

 said, " Bring the center of a slender rope of 

 sufficient length to the top of the horse's 

 head, and pass the ends down through the 

 rings on each side of the bit, and thence back 

 into the wagon as reins." I afterward used 

 this means of control, and found it would work well in some cases; 

 though not in all. , I gave the idea to a man named Hartman,,in 

 Lancaster, Pa., who modified it into what was afterward known as 

 the " Hartman reins," which he patented. A great improvement 

 in this for kickers, is to pass the reins over the hips to. the shafts 

 as explained. 



Checking the head high, will sometimes hold in restraint a 

 strong-willed, treacherous horse, that is liable to 

 lunge sideways,* or pull heavily. It will usually 

 Work well when a horse is a little irritable, and 

 simply heeds a little restraint to keep him inside 

 ' the point of resistance, the same as the tail-strap 

 acts in preventing the horse from kicking by keep 

 ing the tail confined and helpless. The simplest 

 and best way of checking the head high is to pass 

 the check rein through gag-runners, which should 

 be attached to the head part of the bridle well up 

 near the ears, and buckle into an extra bit, which 



Fig. 232.— Tail-strap. 



Fig. 233.— Tail-strap 

 Detached. 



is to be held up against the roof of the mouth by 



