AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
215 
his art. This, too, had been a troop Horse, and it was 
supposed, not without reason, that after regimental disci- 
pline had failed, no other would be found availing. I ob- 
served that the animal appeared terrified whenever Sulli- 
van either spoke or looked at him; how that extraordinary- 
ascendancy could have been obtained, is difficult to con- 
jecture. 
“In common cases this mysterious preparation was un- 
necessary. He seemed to possess an instinctive power of 
inspiring awe, the result, perhaps, of natural intrepidity, 
in which, I believe, a great part of his art consisted; though 
the circumstance of the tete-a-tete shows that, on particu- 
lar occasions, something more must have been added to 
it. A faculty like this would in some hands have made a 
fortune, and I understand that great offers were made to 
him, for the exercise of his art abroad. But hunting was 
his passion. He lived at home in the style most agree- 
able tohis disposition, and nothing could induce him to quit 
Duhallow and the fox hounds.” 
Mr. Castley witnessed the total failure of the younger 
Sullivan. He says, “We have in the regiment a remarka- 
bly nice Horse, called Lancer, that has always been very 
difficult to shoe, but seven or eight years ago, when we 
first got him, he was downright vicious in that respect. 
When the regiment was stationed at Cork, the farrier- 
major sought out the present Sullivan, the son of the cele- 
brated Whisperer, and brought him up to the barracks in 
order to try his hand upon Lancer, and make him more 
peaceable to shoe; but I must say this person did not ap- 
pear to possess any particular controlling power over the 
animal, more than any other man. Lancer seemed to pay 
no attention whatever to his charm, and, at last, fairly beat 
him out of the forge. Time, however, and a long perse- 
verance in kind and gentle treatment, have effected what 
force could not. The Horse is now pretty reasonable to 
shoe.” 
BACKING OR GIBBING. 
One of the first species of restifness, taking them in 
alphabetical order, is Bx\.cking or gibbing. These are so 
closely allied that we hardly know how to separate them. 
Some Horses have the habit of backing at first starting, 
and that more from playing than desire of mischief. A 
moderate application of the whip will usually be effectual. 
Others, even at starting, exhibit considerable obstinacy 
and viciousness. This is frequently the effect of bad 
breaking. Either the shoulder of the Horse had been 
wrung when he was first put to the collar, or he had been 
foolishly accustomed to start in the break up-hill, and 
therefore all his work coming upon him at once, when it 
being much more difficult to draw the break up-hill, than 
to back and let it run down-hill, he gradually acquired 
this dangerous habit. 
A hasty and passionate breaker will often make a really 
good-tempered young Horse an inveterate gibber. Every 
young Horse is at first shy of the collar. If he be too 
quickly forced to it, he will possibly take a dislike to it, 
that will occasionally show itself in the form of gibbing as 
long as he lives. The judicious horse-breaker will resort 
to no severity, even if the colt should go out several times 
without touching collar. The example of his companion 
will ultimately induce him to take to it voluntarily and 
effectually. 
A large and heavy stone should be put behind the wheel 
before starting, when the Horse, finding it more difficult 
to back than to go forward, will gradually forget this 
unpleasant trick. It will likewise be of advantage, as 
often as it can be managed, so to start that the Horse shall 
have to back up-hill. The difficulty of accomplishing this 
will soon make him readily go forward at once. A little 
coaxing, or leading, or moderate flagellation, will assist in 
accomplishing the cure. 
When, however, a Horse, thinking that he has had 
enough of work, or has been improperly checked or cor- 
rected, or beginning to feel the painful pressure of the 
collar, swerves, and gibs, and backs, it is a more serious 
matter. Persuasion should here first be tried; and, after- 
wards, reasonable coercion, but no cruelty: for the bru- 
tality which is often exercised in attempting to compel a 
gibbing Horse to throw himself habitually into the collar, 
never yet accomplished the purpose. The Horse may, 
perhaps, be whipped into motion, but if he has once be- 
gun to gib, he will have recourse to it again whenever any 
circumstance displeases or annoys him; and the habit will 
be rapidly, and so completely formed, that he will become 
insensible to all severity. 
It is useless and most dangerous to contend with a Horse 
determined to back, unless there is plenty of room, and, 
by tight reining, the driver can make him back in the pre- 
cise direction he wishes, and especially up-hill. Such a 
Horse should be immediately sold, or turned over to some 
other work. In a stage-coach as a wheeler, and particu- 
larly as a near-wheeler; or, in the middle of a team at agri- 
cultural work, he may be serviceable. It will be useless 
for him to attempt to gib there, for he will be dragged 
along by his companions whether he will or no; and, find- 
ing the inutility of resistance, he will soon be induced to 
work as well as any Horse in the team. This reformation 
will last while he is thus employed, but, like restifness 
generally, it will be delusive when the Horse returns to 
his former occupation. The disposition to annoy will very 
