246 THE HORSE 



of the treatment of a runaway is the proper selection of a bit, which 

 should be sufficient to control him without exciting opposition from 

 the pain it gives. 



Stumbling arises from a variety of causes, and the nature of 

 any particular case should be thoroughly investigated before any 

 remedy for it is attempted. Sometimes it is merely dependent 

 upon low or " daisy cutting" action, and then it is possible that it 

 may not be attended with danger. I have known many horsea 

 which would stumble at least every half-mile, but yet they would 

 travel for years with sound knees, the other leg being always ready 

 to catch the weight. In other oases a stumble would only occur 

 at rare intervals, but if the trip was made it was rarely recovered, 

 and a fall was almost sure to follow. Again, it happens with some 

 horses that when they are fresh out of the stable, their action is 

 high and safe, but after a few miles the extensors of the leg tire, 

 and they are constantly making a mistake. Inexperienced judges 

 are very apt to examine the action of the fore legs alone, while that 

 of the hind quarter is of quite as much importance to safety, and 

 is more so as regards the ease of the rider. Lameness is a frequent 

 source of a fall, from the tendency to put the foot too soon to the 

 ground in order to take the weight off the other. And lastly, 

 upright pasterns will produce stumbling, when the shoulders are 

 so formed that the foot is put down too near the centre of gravity. 



The best plans for remedying these several conditions are 

 as follows. If the cause is weakness of the extensors no care can 

 be of much service, all that can be done being to be on the look 

 out for a trip, and then to take the weight off the fore quarter as 

 much as possible by sitting well back, at the same time using such 

 an amount of sudden pressure on the bit as to cause the horse to 

 exert himself, without any attempt to keep up the head by me- 

 chanical force, which is an impossibility. When laziness is the 

 cause, the stimulus of the spur or whip will suffice, and it often 

 happens that a horse is safe enough at his top pace while a slowei 

 one is full of danger. In lameness of course the remedy is to wail 

 till the foot or feet are sound again. 



Cutting depends either upon the legs being set on too near 

 together, or on their joints not acting in a proper hinge-like manner 

 Many horses cut when in low condition, but are quite free from 

 the defect when in flesh, and in such cases it is only necessary to 

 let them wear a boot until they have had time enough to become 

 fresh. Wherever horses " go close" care should be taken that the 

 shoes do not project beyond the hoof, and the clenches of the nails 

 should be carefully watched, the groom seeing that they are filed 

 down by the smith if they stand up at all above the level of the 

 horn. Cutting may take place either on the prominent part of the 

 fetlo^k-joint, or midway between it and the knee, or just below 



