KICKING. 77 



heels), will render the rearing position so insecure that, to 

 support it, the horse will have to keep frequently changing 

 it. The danger of falling backwards which the animal incurs, 

 if he gets too erect, will naturally help to deter him from trying 

 to assume a comparatively vertical position. Hence, he will 

 have to keep the joints of his hind limbs more bent than 

 if he was not exposed to this risk of falling backwards. 



The hocks are particularly liable to injury from rearing, 

 owing to the great strain thrown on them when the animal 

 assumes an upright position. '' Curbs " and other enlarge- 

 ments are of frequent occurrence among circus horses which 

 are trained to walk on their hind legs. 



Kicking. — The term '' kick " is usually restricted to a 

 blow given by one or both hind legs (Fig. 54). A horse is 

 said to *' strike out" with one or both fore legs. We may 

 regard both these movements as kicks. 



A horse can kick in three ways : (i) To the rear with 

 one or both hind legs ; (2) to the front with a hind leg ; and 

 (3) to the front with one or both fore legs. Unlike horned 

 cattle, a horse is unable, without moving the body, to kick to 

 one side, except to a slight extent, owing to the presence of a 

 ligament which connects the thigh bone to the pelvis, and 

 which greatly restricts the side action of the limb. If a horse, 

 therefore, wants to kick a man who is standing a little away 

 from its side, it will have to turn round to do so. For this 

 reason, if a person wishes to stand in safety by the side of 

 a horse's hind-quarters, as for instance when examining its 

 hocks, he should get an assistant to stand on the same side, 

 and to draw the head round to it a little, so that the animal 

 will not be able to turn round to kick if so inclined. If the 

 horse be a vicious kicker, the advisability of getting the fore 

 leg of the side at which one is standing, held or tied up, will 

 be self-suggestive to any one who has had experience with 

 horses. The forward kick with a hind leg (called a cow kick) 

 has a good deal of range ; as a horse can, in this manner, hit 

 a man who is standing at its shoulder. 



