166 
VICIOUS HORSES. 
GETTING THE BIT ON THE JAW. 
If a horse does this, and runs away afterwards, I fancy I can 
hear some one say, “ What a consummate and determined villain 
such a horse may be !—he cunningly holds the bit so that it cannot 
affect him, and then runs off.” Any one making such a remark 
jumps to a conclusion as quickly as the horse jumps off; a really 
erroneous idea runs away with him as fast as the horse could do. 
I beg, with permission, to give it as my opinion, that the getting the 
bit on the jaw has nothing at all to do with any premeditated re¬ 
solve to run away, though it will have a great deal to do with the 
run away if the horse does start off. The truth of the matter is 
this: the animal has a tender mouth (at least it is mostly tender¬ 
mouthed horses that have this trick); he finds the bit hurts him, 
and very wisely lays hold of it to prevent this. Now, a heavy, 
boring beast seldom attempts it; nor would the other with a bit 
that did not hurt him—at least very few would, unless it had 
grown a confirmed habit. We will say that from some cause a 
horse does run away, after having secured the bit: why does he 
so 1 Because, having the bit so that it cannot hurt him, he finds 
he can run away. If it was not there, it would prevent him. He 
feels that, so does not make the attempt; but feeling nothing to 
impede him, he does. But to suppose the horse actually lays 
hold of the bit for the purpose of enabling him to start off, is de¬ 
legating to him powers of reasoning that, sensible as horses are, I 
do not conceive they possess. 
It is no uncommon thing to see a horse, if taken from a carriage 
and left loose (while the other is being taken off), start off and run 
away. We might as well suppose he had all day contemplated 
running off, and only waited being taken from the carriage to do 
so. The case is, that while in harness habit and the weight of the 
carriage keep him in subjection; when taken from it he feels 
himself at liberty, and makes use of it: so when the horse has got 
hold of the bit he feels to a certain degree unrestrained; and then 
he, like many other wild young gentlemen, “ is in for a lark.” 
In mentioning, as I have done in this paper, some of the habits 
and tricks of what are termed vicious horses, I beg to remark that 
in doing so I have not attempted to point out the mode of either 
curing, correcting, or palliating such propensities—to do so would 
fill a volume; and then few persons have time, patience, per¬ 
severance, opportunity, and inclination, to undertake such a task; 
and all these are indispensable to effecting such a purpose: even 
supposing any one to have all these, it would then require years of 
practice to enable him to set about it properly and with a fair 
