416 ON THE HABITS AND VICES OF HOUSES. 
Biting is another vicious habit or propensity that horses some¬ 
times shew in the stable. I have known several quiet enough in 
other respects, but never to be trusted when within reach of their 
teeth. A horse of this sort will not put back 1ns ears, or give you 
warning like one in play; but the moment you take your eye off 
his, or turn your back to him, he will give you cause to remember 
him. I recollect once buying a horse, and being greatly in love 
with him, as men generally are at first, I had°just*got him 
home into my own stable, and was looking over him with an eye 
of admiration, and indulging in a feeling of satisfaction natural 
enough on such occasions, when, happening to take up the 
animal s foot, to see perhaps if he wanted shoeing’, he instantly 
took that opportunity of seizing me by the ribs, and giving 
me the rudest embrace I ever had in my life, which in a moment 
dispelled my illusion, and cured me of my love; and yet he 
was a quiet horse in every other respect. Whilst I had him, 
however, he was always a source of annoyance. I always felt 
alarmed lest he should hurt somebody seriously. I could never 
trust him amongst strangers; and if I put him up at an inn, he 
was almost sure to bite one of the hostlers or people. This habit 
is quite incurable; and I am almost inclined to think that it is 
an involuntary act in the animal. I have seen a horse beat for 
it, I may say, unmercifully; yet a few minutes afterwards, if he 
had an opportunity, he would do the same thing again, as if he 
was quite unable to resist the temptation. 
Being vicious to clean is, with many people, a very objectionable 
thing in a horse. Mares are perhaps more apt to fall into this 
habit than horses ; but many geldings, as well as mares, become 
very troublesome to clean. Being of an irritable temperament, 
they wdl never suffer their bodies to be brushed, or even wisped, 
without kicking so violently all the time as to endanger the limbs 
of the groom; a matter of so much consideration with some 
masters, that they will often get rid of a horse on that account 
alone. One of this very irritable kind should never be brushed 
at all. A soft wisp, patience, and gentle treatment, afford, 
perhaps, the best chances of doing any good in such cases. 
Being vicious to shoe is another very great annoyance; for, 
besides the trouble always attending this circumstance, and the 
fear of laming the smith, it may sometimes also cause serious 
inconvenience. A man cannot always calculate upon the services 
of a horse that has acquired this habitual vice. Every time the 
animal wants shoeing he will find it a source of vexation and 
trouble and many horses are got rid of on account of this fault. 
It is a circumstance that one cannot always be aware of at the 
tunc of purchase; and one of those little secrets about a horse thatone 
