ROAD HORSES. 1383 
for him to perform his work; but if the check be too 
tight, it becomes a hindrance and a vexation, instead 
of a help. 
Charles Marvin relates an experience with a year- 
ling which shows the very great importance of not 
checking a horse too high : — 
“There was a certain colt at Palo Alto that showed 
remarkably well in the paddock, but after we got him 
in harness we found that he could not exhibit a trace 
of respectable speed. I drove him one day, and found 
that he could not trot a three-minute gait... . After 
vain and discouraging work I gave him up for that 
day, thinking that perhaps he was out of humor, and 
sulky, and a little bit tired. The next day I tried him 
again, but with no better results. . . . So I unhitched 
him and turned him loose on the miniature track, and 
away he went as well as ever. A little study showed 
how he carried his head and how he balanced himself. 
I changed the check, harnessed him again, let his 
head free so that he could carry himself in his own 
way, and that same day he showed me a quarter in 
better than forty seconds.” ? 
It is natural for some horses to carry their heads 
low, for others to carry them at a medium height, and 
for a few to hold them high. But the check rein as 
commonly used disregards these natural differences, 
and pulls up the head of the unfortunate animal to a 
point which suits the whim or vanity of his owner. 
Even horsemen of great experience frequently err in 
this matter. The owner of Lady De Jarnette, a beau- 
tiful Kentucky mare, a noted prize-winner, always 
drove her with a particularly short, over-draw check, 
1 Training the Trotting Horse, page 218. 
