Uselessness of Bearing- Reins. 
75 
is a fact witliin every one's observation : we have only to per- 
suade the first waggoner we see (he is sure to have all his horses 
tightly borne up) to undo his bearing-reins, when down will go 
every horse's head, so as to relieve the wearisome strain upon 
his muscles, and give the weight of his body its due and natural 
power of overcoming resistance ; and thus each horse becomes 
enabled to his work as comfortably and easily as nature intended 
he should do : for nature never intended a heavy animal like a 
cart-horse to perform slow work only, or chiefly, by strain of 
muscle, but, on the contrary, by the power of weight as the rule, 
assisted by strength of muscle as the exception, when extra 
resistance has to be overcome. Thus, when we curb up a 
horse's head with our senseless bearing-reins, and make him as 
ewe-necked as we appear anxious to do, we are inverting the 
rule and order of nature ; we are evidently trying to prevent his 
using the full unrestrained power of his weight, and are com- 
pelling him to overstrain and over-exert constantly those very 
muscles which should be kept in reserve for extra difficulties — 
such as greater inequalities in the road, new-laid stones, &c. 
Now, any one can see that, to an old, worn-out, half-starved, 
overworked animal, as too many, ay, by far the greater propor- 
tion, are, this must be intolerable cruelty. It is a mistake to 
think a bearing-rein can be of any service whatsoever, unless, as 
a very exceptional case, to a very young, headstrong, unbroken 
horse. It is a mistake to think it improves a horse's appearance — 
nothing contrary to nature can ever really do this ; it is a mis- 
take to think it can ever prevent a horse's falling down, though, 
it has been the means of preventing many an old one recovering 
from a stumble ; but until our horse-owners be taught to look at 
this matter in its true light, the light of common sense, and 
until it be taken up by the influential landowners and more en- 
lightened and more considerate of the tenant-farmers amongst 
us, it is in vain to hope for any mitigation of this but too- 
universal cruelty. Hundreds of humane men, employers of 
horse- labour, there are in all our counties and our towns, who, if 
their attention were but called to the senselessness and cruelty 
of the practice, would at once see the necessity of the only 
prompt remedy ; and in these go-a-head days Prejudice and 
Custom have but tottering foundations : the one is fast yielding 
to common sense and Lord Ashburton's much-to-be-desired 
" knowledge of common things ;"' and the other will not long 
stand its ground unless it has something more than the prestige 
of mere antiquity in its favour. We ourselves have entirely 
done away with bearing-reins among our own heavy draught- 
horses ; and though our carters were at first rather astonished 
at being desired to discard them entirely and substitute a loose 
