CHAPTEK XLII. 



THE CHECK-REIN. 



Taut checking injurious — The overdraw check — The natural beauty of the 

 horse — Stumbling. 



A TAUT check-rein is painful to the horse and useless to 

 the driver, as a rule. It fastens the head in an un- 

 natural position, and as the head and shoulders fall together, 

 cannot be of any real support in case of stumbling. There is 

 a difference between a tight check-rein and a tightened rein, 

 although perhaps not generally understood. The first is in- 

 jurious and cannot help the horse if he should stumble ; the 

 last often saves him. That the check-rein is inconsistent with 

 the action of the horse's head is clearly shown by the fact that 

 when a horse falls it, or the check-hook, is always broken. 



If a man has a heavy load to push or to pull he always 

 lowers his head by bending forward and throws the weight of 



his body against or to propel 

 the load; so does the ox or 

 the horse under similar cir- 

 cumstances, if permitted. If 

 a man's head were tied to a 

 belt around his body so that 

 he could not bend forward, 

 he would lose the advantage 

 of his weight and could only pull or push with the muscles ; so 

 also with the ox or horse. 



If the man's head were thus kept in a perpendicular posi- 

 tion he could not so readily see where to step, and would be 

 more apt to stumble ; so, also, with the ox or the horse. ~No 

 one in the saddle would thus tie up his horse's head. The 



horse is thus prevented oftentimes from throwing his weight 



(332) 



