THE STABLE. 
75 
fastened with a halter having a throat latch. This 
will make a double security. If the door be left 
open, .the halter will detain him; if the halter be 
slipt or broken the close stall prevents escape. But 
with all this security he will do mischief, when 
not in hard work. It is poor economy to keep such 
a horse. He may be most valuable as a worker, 
but he may very easily ruin a horse just as good as 
himself, and he may min himself. His only place 
is in a large coaching establishment, where eternal 
work keeps him subdued in energy, till death ends 
both life and kicking. 
A different kicker is he who does it from badness 
of temper; in him it is malice; he kicks to do in¬ 
jury and gratify his violence of disposition. This 1 
kind of kicker is the most dangerous of all. He I 
cannot be guarded against; work does not subdue 
him, but seems to make him more violent. If groom 
and horse keep away from him, he will not often 
seek them; but he will suffer no opportunity to 
escape him to inflict a blow if they come within 
reach. He will have favorites, and them, whether 
groom or horse, he will not touch; he will have 
antipathies, and against those he hates he is ever 
vigilant and never spares them. In the stable he 
w r iil kick as he goes to and from the stall, or as 
others pass him; in the pasture he will be kind to 
his favorites and savage to those he dislikes. Un¬ 
less he fancies his groom, there is constant war be¬ 
tween them; all the operations of the stable are of a 
nature to make him worse. Such a horse can only 
be managed by a groom that is a favorite with him, 
and he should have none but favorite companions 
both for the stall and the harness, about him. With 
these precautions he may be rendered measurably 
harmless, but is never safe. At times he will lose 
all his likings and kick grooms and companions. 
This will happen whenever he is hungry, and is not 
fed as soon as pleases him, or is sick or tired. This 
kind of kicker is sometimes without a single re¬ 
deeming or manageable quality. He will have no 
favorite. He is then worse than useless. His 
destiny should be a coaching establishment, where, 
as a wheeler at hard work, he may soon wear out 
a dangerous existence. 
Many horses are taught to kick; for this the 
horses should not be punished, but the groom. If 
they be not old, and be treated kindly and punished 
for the fault, and all arts to make them kick be dis¬ 
continued, they will soon lose the habit. Most 
horses in training will kick; the constant use of 
the brush and curry-comb, with the teasing of idle 
boys, brings on the habit; yet after they are re¬ 
moved from the exciting causes, the vice ceases. 
This kind of kicking is never dangerous ; the horse 
will rarely attempt to injure, he merely threatens; 
yet sometimes when much irritated will do mischief. 
The vice in him may be removed by the omission of 
all teasing, by kind treatment, and punishment 
when deserved. In all such cases hold the groom 
responsible, and the horse will be what he should. 
Some horses only kick at others, and never at per¬ 
sons ; keep such separate and they are harmless. 
Kicking horses are frequently so valuable that, 
like savage biters, they are to be kept at all hazards. 
Such are good stallions and brood mares. These, 
as they must be kept, must be guarded against. 
All others had better be placed where rapid work 
will end life and vice together, that as short a 
period may be given as possible to endanger the 
lives of grooms and safe horses. 
Our cut this month illustrates a method of man¬ 
aging a kicker. A rope is attached to the head- 
stall of the halter, and passes directly back to the 
post of the stall partition. When the groom is to 
enter the stall he pulls the horse’s head by the rope 
back to the post, and then seizes him by the head. 
When he leaves the stall he carries the head back 
with him till he can safely escape. Another method 
is to have a small door in the partition at the head 
of the horse ; through this the groom enters and 
comes out safely. When this can be done it is the 
best mode ; and where it cannot be the rope should 
be used. 
Stall for a Kicker.—Fig. 17. 
In the management of kickers nothing but cou¬ 
rage will answer. The horse discovers timidity 
very quickly, and is not slow to avail himself of the 
advantage it gives him to carry his point. The 
groom should be bold, and when he approaches the 
horse should give him warning; the whip or the 
loud voice will intimidate, and the horse should be 
placed on the one side of the stall when it is en¬ 
tered. Directly the horse sees there is no fear of 
him, and that he will be punished, he submits if he 
be not a ferocious one. Still he is to be watched; 
for if he be not, he will soon know it, and a blow 
will be the result. Many give warning; they flirt 
the tail and raise the leg; such are easily avoided ; 
others give none, and strike very rapidly; others 
only when the groom leaves the stall, or when his 
back is turned. In all these cases the management 
is the same ; constant watching, decision, threaten¬ 
ing and punishment, if these will deter; and if not, 
then the reliance must be on the door by the head, or 
the rope. In all cases the gror m should keep near 
his horse, so that the kick will be a push instead of 
a blow; and all kicli<rs should be shod with fat 
shoes without caulks. 
