794 VETERINAEY HYGIENE 



It is not possible to guard against stampedes ; strange 

 sights and noises, such as army horses usually never notice, 

 and which it is part of their daily life to encounter, may 

 quite suddenly be the means of frightening them. 



Fear is rapidly communicated from one horse to another; 

 it runs along a line like wildfire, and if at such a moment 

 it is possible for the men to stand to their horses the 

 situation may be saved. 



Occasionally a stampede occurs while the men are with 

 their horses, but as a rule it happens when the animals 

 are by themselves, and generally at night, though we have 

 known one take place in broad daylight. 



It takes horses some time to forget a panic, and the 

 recurrence of a stampede must always be borne in mind. 



Running Atvay. — Closely connected with stampedes is 

 ordinary running away, excepting that in this case an 

 individual horse and not a body gets frightened and 

 starts off. 



In the first instance running away may be really due to 

 fright either under saddle or in harness ; some unusual 

 noise or sight, or the breaking of something which leads to 

 loss of control ; but there are some horses that never 

 forget their dash for liberty, and running away then 

 becomes a vice, and a most dangerous one. Some animals 

 will do it from freshness, others from nervousness and 

 excitement. There are many nervous army horses that 

 cannot stand the squeezing they get in the ranks, and 

 shoot out as soon as a gallop or charge occurs. No bit 

 will hold this class of horse, and like the ' stampeder ' he 

 will run into any obstruction. There are others that run 

 away from lightness of heart, a consciousness of their 

 strength, and the inability of the man to control them. It 

 is a dangerous frame of mind for any animal to be in, and 

 fortunately a rare one, for most horses regard man as their 

 master and behave accordingly. 



Eunning away under saddle is probably impossible to 

 prevent, excepting by some arrangement for closing the 

 nostrils ; but a horse used for draught might have the 



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