HINTS ON HORSES* HARNESS. 
533 
it in his mind’s eye before being harnessed to it, whereas 
had he winkers he would be ignorant of the true cause of the 
clatter and more likely to be frightened. I shall be told that 
these horses, being ridden, are consequently more under com¬ 
mand ; but are not all railway and many “ bus” and cab horses 
worked without them ? It would not be wise, except with 
very docile horses, to discard winkers where they have always 
been used; but would for the future “ break in ” horses for 
harness without them, thus giving the young horse confidence 
by allowing him to see what he is doing and in some 
measure to use his own judgment. What would be the fate 
of tip-horses employed in the formation of railway embank¬ 
ments and other works, if one was so blufted as not readily to 
see the waggon he was galloping along with, and unable to 
clear out of its way ? He would sooner or later be overtaken 
by it and probably killed. 
For some years past there has been considerable agitation 
against the use of bearing-reins, which has not caused a cor¬ 
responding decrease in their use, which, perhaps, may be 
accounted for on the same principle as that clergyman under¬ 
stood who exhorted his hearers to do as he said and not what 
he did; for it occurs to me that a lady of good position, belong¬ 
ing to the Society of Friends and an advocate of the It. S. 
P. C. A. called upon me and left a small pamphlet treating of 
the cruelty inflicted upon horses by the use of bearing-reins, 
yet the animal in the carriage she was driving had its head 
constrained with, perhaps, as short a one as ever tortured a 
horse. 
Tight and continued reining causes poll evil, strains to 
deep-seated ligaments and muscles, and paralysis of the 
portio dura nerve. It assists the causes productive of me¬ 
grims, and induces vice—to wit, jibbing and rearing. This 
should be sufficient to discourage their use against anything 
that can be advanced in favour of their retention. 
We are told that it gives contour to the neck; but where 
breed is lacking no bearing-rein can remedy the defect by 
putting an arched crest upon a ewe-necked animal. 
Well, it keeps him up. Nonsense! A horseman keeps 
his eye warily upon the animal he is driving, and at the 
slightest trip reminds his charge by a slight sharp check, 
which has the effect, as “ Stonehenge” says, not of keeping 
him up, but of making him keep himself up. The reins, being 
held easily, though not carelessly, can be tightened or elongated 
to the easement of the horse when going down or ascending 
hill, or to allow for the play of the head caused by the 
motion of his body. But the bearing-rein permits none of this. 
