CHAPTER VIII.

THE SO-CALLED “INCAPACITATING VICES,” WHICH ARE THE RESULTS OF INJURY OR OF DISEASE.

The word “vice,” when applied to the horse, represents any quality which may annoy the prejudices of the groom, or may prove displeasing to the expectations of the master. It is purely ridiculous to suppose the animal can possibly be “vicious.” The simple nature of the quadruped is gifted with no power to distinguish good from evil. It lacks the imagination to conceive those acts which man esteems to be heroic or to be grand. Were the creature able to embody ideas, the race would possess the ability to combine; anything approaching to the present patient docility would then be exchanged for open rebellion against the earthly tyrant.

Human intelligence, however, seems to derive a strange pleasure from regarding the obedient and most forgiving horse as a “vicious,” a savage, and a most relentless “brute.” There seems to exist some happiness in the exhibition of those cruelties which such notions alone can justify. It is true that such unseemly contests do not invariably terminate in favor of him who always originates the strife. The master, who could by mildness have retained his power, by resorting to blows occasionally becomes worsted; but the horse, although it should prove victorious, always has to grieve over its triumph. The prowess of the quadruped draws down the heaviest punishment of other members of the race, an individual of which the animal has defeated.

A great many “accidents” would be avoided, and, probably, the amount of happiness permitted to mortals would not be materially lessened, could the populace be instructed to think a horse was endowed with senses, was gifted with feelings, and was able, in some degree, to appreciate motives. Such powers are enjoyed by all the higher grades of animal life. In asserting this, there is not the most distant desire to confound the living creature with the intellectual being. Reason believes in and can contemplate a futurity. The human eye takes easiest cognizance of forward objects. The vision of the horse does not behold objects directly in front of its head, but glances backward, without necessarily turning the face. Man can imagine events ere they are embodied facts. An animal’s ideas are strictly limited by its individual experiences. By these, its mind is moulded and its conduct is shaped. It has no power to forget. The past, with it, is the present. To suffer once, is to endure a constant dread of suffering again. To be pained, is always to fear a repetition of the agony. What has been, is, so long as memory shall last; for the quadruped can conceive no future on which to fix its thoughts, or in the contemplation of which to escape from the misery that begirts its existence.

Would those persons who have no interest in any contrary opinion, adopt the above view of the subject, how very much of danger and of unpleasantness might the good people escape! It is not unusual to behold an elderly gentleman, of the highest respectability, flog most unmercifully, in the public street, some inoffensive steed, until a reddened face announces temper to be lost. Foot passengers look on the spectacle; but no one, even in thought, condemns the needless severity. Hospital surgeons, however, can testify to something more permanent than temper being occasionally sacrificed through these unseemly contests. In such cases, man has provoked his fate. Reason, in vain, shows a broad and pleasant path, where dwells security. Passion blinds humanity, pride justifies passion, and the refuge is unheeded!

Will the reader kindly grant the author patience while the present subject is pursued a little further? To prove the horse cannot, in any accepted meaning of the word, possibly be “vicious,” it is only necessary to comprehend that vice of every form, whether it be lewdness, drunkenness, gluttony, or malice, always, in some gratification, seeks for a personal reward. It is no more than the concentration of selfishness. It always presupposes an intention. The difference between crime and insanity lies only in the idea of some recompense to be secured by the commission of a particular act and in sin without a motive. When the horse was created without ability to comprehend a future, the power to be “vicious” was, with the possibility of a contemplated motive, withheld. The creature, being unable to anticipate consequences, lacks incentive; therefore it can display no “vice,” though it may exhibit insanity. The animal, however, may not always please its master; it is the “vice” of authority to call trivial offenses by harsher names than the actions in fairness should receive; but no man has, hitherto, stigmatized the horse, which he deems “vicious,” as insane.

Having premised thus much, the author will attempt to explain some of the worst forms of equine “vice.”

“Rick of the back” and “chink of the back” are terms which represent some indefinite injury to the spine of a horse. The quadruped is essentially a beast of burden. The load is commonly supported on the back. It is so, entirely, when the creature is used for saddle purposes; and, in the heavier species of draught, the balance always inclines toward the back of the “wheeler,” while the spines of some coarse horses are sadly tried when they are obliged to trot back with a heavy, springless cart, after the load has been delivered.

It is the general custom of this country to place young cart-horses between the chains, or, in other words, to employ such animals only in the capacity of leaders. The practice is equally wise and humane. The draught is not easier as the propelling force is situated distant from the load, but the pull then is entirely upon the collar, and no weight is allowed to rest upon the immatured and yielding spine of a youthful body. These benefits, however, are all rendered nugatory by the conduct of most carters. Such men are, generally, of Herculean proportions, and are conspicuous for no lightness of person.

The cart, dray, or wagon leaves the office with the driver in his proper place, walking beside the horses. Here he continues until the load is delivered; but, on the return journey, he is apt to experience fatigue. He does not reflect how far his individual sensations are likely to be shared by the animals which have been drawing some heavy burden during the time he has been simply walking at their sides. No! Seeking his own ease, he casts his body upon the back of the most forward, and, therefore, upon the youngest horse of the team. His seat is the loins, or directly upon the weakest portion of the vertebral chain. There he rides, squatting with his legs dangling upon one side. No doubt, the situation is pleasant; but where all is conjecture, the reader must decide how far the repetition of such an act may account for rick of the back being common among the heavier kind of horses.

It was otherwise with the old fly wagons of a former day. The driver of those vehicles used to have fastened behind his load a stout pony. When fatigued, the man would mount the supernumerary animal, and, riding beside his horses, would rest his own legs while he continued to guide his team; an act which the London carter is, by his position, disqualified for performing. While the driver rests, the “luck which attends on ignorance” must take care of the vehicle.

The spine of the horse, in a natural state, is characterized by a highly elastic property. As every form of mechanism is exposed to injury in proportion as it approaches to perfection, man should not feel surprised if the delicately-organized back of the animal is not exactly equal to all the usages unto which civilization has compelled it to submit. Indeed, when we feel how unscrupulous the human being can become, if urged onward by the pursuit of gain or prompted by a sense of personal indulgence, it will hardly provoke wonder that the creature doomed to be the helpmate of the avaricious, should occasionally suffer in their service.

Rick or chink of the back is among the most common and the least understood of equine affections. Its symptoms are confounded--one and the same name being employed to indicate every stage of the disorder, thus confusing inquiry. Those effects which result from organic change are regarded as the promptings of that “viciousness of spirit” with which it has pleased mankind to credit the horse. The liberality of mortal imagination is extreme, especially where causes have to be assumed. Grant man the right to conjecture, and there is no mystery in nature for which he cannot account. Thus, the sharp pangs of agony which induced the contortions of a dumb creature were conjectured to be the gratification of an innately “vicious disposition.” This pretended explanation has remained unquestioned for ages, abusing the intellect of mankind and hardening the hearts of those whom it was thought to enlighten. No doubt many very worthy people will feel much inclined to quarrel with the book which presumes to question the interpretation that generations have approved and time has sanctified.

However, to expose the manner in which the personation of meekness has been abused by the arrogance of ignorance--certain animals are supposed to indulge a morbid habit, or “vicious” propensity, which is, by the lower orders, spoken of as “kidney dropping.” Creatures thus viciously disposed are generally aged, and are devoted either to heavy draught or to harness purposes. They are sometimes met in those stables where horses are let out by the “hour, day, or job.” One thus afflicted will be drawing a gig along some pleasant country road when “the vice” shall be suddenly displayed. The attacks may appear in rapid succession, when they render the life worthless; or they may only come on at distant intervals, being separated by long periods of apparent soundness. No jockey, however knowing he may be in his vocation, or however boastful he may be about “my ’sperience ’mong ’orses,” can, by any visible sign, announce the day or foretell the hour when a particular quadruped will be afflicted with an attack of “kidney dropping.”

The horse shall be harnessed to some light vehicle, within which may be seated some tradesman, by whose side smiles the eldest daughter of a numerous family. The animal is not overloaded, and seems to be journeying pleasantly at its own pace. He who holds the reins is delighted; while she who sits beside him ever and anon leans forward to pat the croup of “the dear pet.” The sun is shining; the birds are singing; the trees are bright with new foliage; and the country smells most pleasantly fresh; when, suddenly, the gig is brought sharply up, and “the wicked beast” is discovered squatting upon its haunches like a dog.

This is an unnatural position with the horse. It is perfectly true, animals are made to assume it in the circle of most amphitheaters; but if the reader remembers, he also beheld men, in the same place, put their arms and legs in positions which were quite as unnatural to humanity in general as sitting on their haunches possibly could be to the community of the equine race. What, therefore, may have been exhibited at a circus signifies nothing, when regarded in its fitness for universal application; in all other spheres, sitting on the haunches, when exemplified by the horse, must be accepted as proof of bodily derangement.

If the attitude of the animal be observed, the hind limbs will be seen to have fallen in such positions as suggest no notion of comfort or of design. They may cross one another, or they may be sprawled out on either side of the body; they are never arranged with that grace and care which indicate the attitude to have been deliberately assumed. Moreover, should the skin be pricked with the point of a pin, no sign of sensibility is usually elicited from the hind quarters. Strike the prostrated members, and no evidence of pain follows the blow. The posterior portions of the body, obviously, are dead to this world and to its malice.

However, do not fuss about the horse; allow the sufferer to remain undisturbed where it has fallen. Have patience with the distress which no cruelty can quicken. Loosen the harness; remove the shafts; procure some water, and permit sensibility to allay its parching thirst. After a short space, the quadruped may get up of its own accord. No time has been lost; but disease has not been aggravated by needless torture. When the creature rises, the fit has passed; but the author doubts if the recovery can then be pronounced complete. He would, certainly, brave “an accident” who should essay to drive a horse but recently recovered from an attack of “kidney dropping,” though this hazard may be frequently incurred with apparent impunity.

Allow the injured quadruped to remain in the stable, undisturbed for the night. The following morning will be time enough for its examination; for the disease under which the horse languishes is of a nature that cannot be affected by the lapse of a few hours.

The next day, having selected a piece of clear ground, cover the spot thickly with straw, and have the horse led on to it. The services of a veterinary surgeon are not imperative. The proprietor may himself conduct the investigation: or, should he feel distrustful of his own ability, any person possessed of the necessary amount of confidence may undertake the active duty. All idle spectators should be first requested to retire. Then the investigator takes his position as close to the quadruped as possible. He runs the forefinger and thumb gently over the superior spinous processes of the vertebral chain, or down the center of the back. This action is repeated several times, additional force being brought to bear with each succeeding trial, until the whole strength of the operator is exerted. While he is doing this, the person who undertakes the investigation fixes his attention on the head of the horse. If, upon pressure being made on any particular spot, the ears are laid upon the neck, or the crest is suddenly elevated, the fact must be mentally noted. The trial should be renewed, and if the like symptoms be elicited, the conclusion naturally is, that the seat of injury lies immediately under or very near to the place indicated.

This point being ascertained, the operator puts a hand on either side of the tender part, and casts his full weight suddenly upon the spine. Such a proceeding, to be demonstrative, must be rapid and energetic. Horses, under the sudden pang thus produced, have shrieked in agony. Generally, animals crouch under the torture, and burst forth into copious perspirations. The author knows of no instance where a desire to employ the teeth has been exhibited, although there is no predicting in what manner a creature may behave under the powerful wrench of actual torment. He, however, who undertakes such an inquiry, must be prepared for every eccentricity; and, while regretting the necessity which obliges agony to be inflicted on a gentle and a timid creature, he should also be far above those coarse and brutal punishments which are too frequently indulged to check the writhings of the potent suffering.

The affair is thus decided. The spine has been injured, and the spinal cord which it sheathes is also involved in the lesion. Horses in such a condition are commonly, with that utter want of morality which in every species of horse transactions appears equally to sway all degrees of the human mind,--such animals are commonly cast upon the market, or publicly disposed of by auction. The cause of sale is willfully concealed: the purchaser is designedly imposed on, and his life is knowingly endangered. Persons of every class, from most noblemen to the ordinary tradesman, engage in this form of arrant cheatery. They swindle their sense of rectitude by giving no warranty at the time of sale; but the law presumes that everything sold contemplates a fitness for certain purposes; whereas a horse liable to an instantaneous loss of power in its limbs is dangerous in any employment. Yet so flimsy an excuse seems to justify the reputedly honorable man extracting, possibly, the last penny from the pocket of or imposing upon some struggling and needy individual.

The animal, being sold, is soon found to be worthless; it speedily becomes the property of the lower class of horse-copers, to whom that which they call a “kidney dropper” is a real prize. The quadruped is sold “cheap” to people of worldly respectability; but it is seldom retained long by its new owners. It is rebought, for little more than its real value, by its former proprietors, to be once more palmed off on some aspiring equestrian. After such a manner--selling in the dearest market and buying in the cheapest, a maxim of very questionable morality--a large profit has been realized by a carcass which was actually worthless.

The author, never having dissected the spine of a “kidney dropper,” cannot positively say in what condition of parts the disease resides. A knowledge of anatomy, however, aided by a comprehension of the symptoms, demonstrates the vertebral chain is the seat of injury; while the want of motion which affects the hinder limbs indicates the spinal marrow to be suddenly pressed upon. Subsequent recovery likewise proves the injury to the nervous center is of no more serious a character; while the perfect restoration of the animal’s power shows that the pressure is either caused by displacement, or by such a partial fracture as rest will enable nature to surmount. This explanation, deduced from observation, and based upon inferences drawn from the study of effects, will to most persons appear so probable as to be perfectly satisfactory. Still, there do exist minds whose faith in an antiquated name it is hardly possible for any argument to destroy; the generality of readers, therefore, must grant the author patience, while he, most probably in vain, attempts to disabuse such persons of their strange belief.

The term “kidney dropping” is an ignorant combination of words to which no absolute meaning can be attached. The kidneys are no more than the renal glands. The horse which falls exhibits no sign of urinary disease. These organs are usually healthy; of that fact the writer has positive information. The kidneys, moreover, are not specially endowed with motor nerves; no physiologist has hitherto asserted that these glands are in any way concerned in the movements of the body. The renal organs have, by the French, been unwarrantably removed, without the general sensation or the body’s motion being affected. When the horse drops, not only is motion gone from the hind limbs, but sensibility is lost. The quarters have dropped, not in accordance with the will of the creature, but because the posterior division of the body was released from the control of the sensorium, or was suddenly cut off from the influence of volition.

The spinal marrow regulates the motions of the limbs, being subject only to the dictation of the brain. Volition and motion are in these organs associated, but not absolutely united. They both are capable of separate existence, though the mechanical derangement which destroys the one usually puts an end to the other. Nevertheless, they can exist apart. Convulsion exhibits motion, as independent of the will; while painful paralysis displays sensibility increased, although power of movement has been lost. In “kidney dropping,” consciousness is retained; but motion and sensibility have departed from one-half of the trunk. This result indicates the nervous current to be partially checked, and points to the great medium of transmission as the seat of injury.

There is, however, another form of chink in the back, where the spinal marrow is in no vast degree involved, and in which the animal exhibiting the affection is not generally devoted to harness purposes. The horse is commonly showy in appearance, and is usually disposed of exclusively for saddle uses. But the existence of a disease is not denoted by any outward sign; therefore its presence is sneered at as a positive impossibility. Quadrupeds, thus disordered, are, by the generality of horsemen, condemned as “irreclaimably vicious.”

One of the bones of the spine has been rendered loose in consequence of the ligaments being overstrained; the animal has been abused in some manner. The ligaments, when in this condition, are acutely painful; though no visual disorder may be observable to the post-mortem examiner, nevertheless the slightest weakness in such a structure may, during life, occasion the severest agony. The bone is not fractured; but one of the vertebræ, through the leverage of its superior spinous process, may have been wrenched slightly to one side. This may not affect the appearance of the quadruped; neither may it elicit signs of pain when the weight is evenly seated upon the back; therefore, only during the act of mounting, the drag then being entirely to one side, it occasions the most poignant anguish.

The horse, being dumb, of course cannot explain its sensations; nor can it appeal to the forbearance of its master. Its ailments are entirely subjected to the merciful consideration of man. The animal’s actions, therefore, are always liable to be misconstrued; the promptings of torture are frequently confounded with the exhibitions of the worst forms of “vice.” Thus, a creature with the ligaments of the back strained is always condemned as an inveterate kicker; because the drag, produced by the weight of the rider resting on one stirrup, occasions so sharp an agony as alarms the quadruped, and naturally excites a determination to repel some imaginary enemy. The creature, consequently, commences to “lash out” with its utmost energy. This violence is repeated so often as the owner has occasion to remount. The action is always sudden, and not to be inferred from the previous aspect or behavior of the nag. It is, therefore, attended with the greater danger, not only to the proprietor, but also to those who may be collected about the horse.

A good illustration of the above facts occurred a few years back, in front of certain spacious “rooms,” then much frequented by “the fashionable world.” A cavalry officer, recently returned from India, went to hear a morning concert at the place just alluded to. There he met some old friends, who had changed their residence since he had left the country, being then located at Richmond. The party had ridden to London; the military gentleman was pressed to return, and to spend a pleasant day at the suburban villa. A servant was dispatched to hire a horse; the man soon returned with a rather small, but very showy, black nag. The officer thought, before the concert was ended, he would retire and form the acquaintance of an animal he was shortly to ride for several miles. It was well he did so; for no sooner was his foot placed in the stirrup, than what previously appeared to be a remarkably steady quadruped began to “lash out.” The action was continued, creating terrible confusion among the crowd which thronged the street, and ultimately throwing the would-be rider. The military gentleman was probably more hurt in feelings than in person by the incident; although the latter circumstance formed an excuse for not journeying to Richmond, and the occurrence, on the following morning, was circulated throughout London as a newspaper paragraph, bearing a heading of “Serious Accident to a Cavalry Officer.”

Violent, however, as may be the resistance provoked while the foot is in the stirrup, the seat of the saddle is no sooner attained than composure is restored. When the rider is once fairly on the back, the steed assumes its natural timidity, its docility, and its obedience. It is then transformed into all the most fastidious proprietor could desire. That circumstance has induced some horsemen who were more thoughtful than the generality of the race, to change the habit usual in this country. Such persons have tried the effect of mounting upon the wrong side; this has usually, for a certain time, been attended with perfect success; but the custom, after a space, has seemed to involve the sound ligaments, when the kicking has been renewed with more than double vehemence. A horse which kicks in the way described, should always be transferred to harness work, when no vast weight being upon the back, the quadruped generally behaves admirably.

Rick or chink in the back is, however, the common property of creatures of heavy draught, and, with such a description of horse, the consequences are usually more marked and much more severe. The reader will readily imagine that a “kidney dropper,” falling suddenly while pulling a weighty load, can hardly escape “accident.” Therefore, quadrupeds of the coarser breed, and thus afflicted, rapidly come into the possession of those who do not scruple to trade with misery; and, as this form of disease enables the sufferer to appear with a blooming coat, as well as with a carcass carrying a quantity of fat, the copers often reap a rich harvest by their unscrupulous dishonesty.

A common cause of these accidents is the thoughtlessness or the greediness of horse proprietors. It has become almost a custom, with needy masters, to send out one-horse carts upon two wheels with long reins attached to the harness. The motive which induces such silly behavior is obvious enough. The tradesman imagines that by the animal being hurried back after the load is delivered, time can be saved. He does not consider that the limbs, which have been strained dragging some fearful weight to a particular spot, may, before another task of magnitude is imposed, possibly require the comparatively easy walk back to recover the full use of their functions. He probably, and it is hoped actually, has never reflected that perpetual fatigue soon exhausts, and ultimately disables, animal energy.

The cart horse, moreover, being forced to quicken its pace, is urged beyond the habits and the uses for which man has bred the creature. It is compelled to execute a duty for the performance of which its bodily formation renders it totally unsuited. The poor animal that is called upon to fulfill opposite uses, generally endures the shorter period: because of the excessive labor it is obliged to undergo. The custom, therefore, accords with the saying, which illustrates waste and extravagance, by supposing a candle to be lighted at both ends. The wretched horse is now a cart horse, loaded to the extent of its ability; next, it is expected to display the activity of a gig horse, although it is harnessed to what badly represents the lighter vehicle; while, the long day of continued toil being ended, the slave is required to trot briskly homeward with a crowded load of human laborers.

The dismissed cart is generally well burdened, after the hour for striking work has arrived. The men usually leave off their toil as the first stroke of the clock is heard; but no such relaxation is permitted to the creature which, of the many over-worked bodies, has toiled the hardest and needs rest the most. The quietude of London suburbs is regularly broken with the thud! thud! thud! produced by the heavy shafts pulling down the chain, which has been jolted upward by the ungainly trot of the tired slave. The sound declares the force which falls every few moments upon the same part of a living spine. The falling of a single drop of water, long continued, on the same place, can occasion direst agony. The Inquisition illustrated that fact. But the cart is heavier than many drops of water. Any one who has beheld a spectacle of this description, can have hardly failed to observe the faintness, mingled with suffering, which propels the load. The driver commonly stands up near to the front; he jags the reins and loudly cracks the long whip, that fright may quicken the movement of those limbs which tire seems to glue to the stones over which they pass.

Rick or chink in the back is, generally, generated by that want of sympathy shown by the community of proprietors in regard to their property in horse flesh. It would be a legitimate cause for wonder, were horses not a hazardous investment, when breathing and living frames are subjected to the united effects of ignorance and of prejudice. Upon the earliest indication being perceived of the spine having been badly injured, the horse should be instantly thrown up for at least six months. The animal ought not to have a layer of pitch, rosin, etc. smeared thickly over the back, and be turned out to take its chance upon a green diet. But it should be placed in a roomy, loose box: it should have the hair cut off close over the seat of injury, and the place should be constantly moistened by means of cloths dipped in a lotion, composed of tincture of arnica, two ounces, and water, one pint. This remedy, with softened food of the most supporting kind, should constitute the treatment for the first month of recovery.

At the end of that period, we may assume that inflammation has been subdued; thereupon the measures adopted may be changed. Some compound soap liniment should be rubbed on the surface every morning. Should the application blister the skin, the liniment must be withheld for a time; but so soon as friction can be quietly endured, the stimulant must be renewed. All this while, the quadruped should be well fed; but medicine should be strictly withheld, grass and bran mashes being solely employed to regulate the bowels if their action be sluggish.

When morbid sensibility no longer exists in the spine, and moderate pressure with the fingers can be borne upon the back, the liniment may be discontinued; but the restoration is to finish with the repeated use of liquid blisters. One side of the spine, near to the seat of injury, is first to be acted upon; when the action of the vesicatory appears to be subsiding, the other half of the back should be attacked. This plan must be pursued till the fifth month has expired, the horse being sustained upon the best and most nutritive food. After this period has elapsed, a handful of ground oak bark should be mingled with each allowance of provender. The animal, during all this time, never being flurried, or allowed to leave its ample stable.

Upon recovery, the quadruped ought never to be employed for that same kind of service in which the injury was received. No weight should, subsequently, be placed upon the back; for the spine which has been once injured, can never, by human art, be restored to its pristine soundness. However greatly the animal may have been prized, even as a hunter, it is safer and much more profitable to doom the steed to the collar, in which last employment old hunters particularly delight in exhibiting their highly-prized excellences of action. Many a horse that appears in the London streets running before some brougham, and which, by the gayety of its spirit, excites the admiration of the foot passengers, will, after death, be found to have one or more bones of the spine joined by osseous deposit, proving that the back, during life, must have suffered serious injury.

Horse owners, however, should be very careful, not knowingly to risk chink or rick of the back; for such an “accident,” according to its intensity, may reduce the animal of fabulous price to an article which shall literally be almost valueless. It brings down the steed which excited universal envy, to the cripple which no honest man would sell, and which no prudent man would keep. The mischief once established, too often sets science at defiance, for the rick, when bad, is terribly apt to terminate in fearful fracture of the spine.

The above illustration is copied from the heading to a bill which announces a patented invention, which is manufactured by Messrs. Gibson & Co., of Coventry Street. The novelty consists in the shafts being so made as to render the employment of traces unnecessary when the animal is driven in single harness. The weight of the vehicle, or so much of it as usually rests upon the back, is dependent entirely from the collar. For horses troubled with any of those “vices” which indicate the spine to be affected, this kind of harness affords, at all events, the most rational hope of working such creatures without provoking the annoying and the dangerous symptom.

When it is remembered that all animals which have been worn out under the saddle, old hacks and hunters, are doomed to end their lives in the more ignoble duties of propulsion, it is not surprising to find many of the quadrupeds, sold for double or single harness, are affected with those complaints which indicate the back to be disordered. The worst exhibitions are confined to gig horses. Few carriage or brougham horses are thus disabled; that fact almost proves the author’s inference, as well as demonstrates the utility of that novelty which was in the last illustration introduced to the notice of the reader.

As heavy quadrupeds are likely to be similarly diseased, the carter should be informed of the fact, and cautioned against ever riding on the backs of his teamsters. So also with lighter animals, the groom should be forbidden to mount the horses which are very liable to this misfortune. The shafts of a cart are of course calculated to aggravate this malady; but such a horse may perform easy or reasonable labor between the chains for a long succession of years; only, when the pull is severe, the driver should go to the head of the disordered teamster, to prevent any undue strain upon the back, or it would be certainly better if, during the period of exertion, the chains were unhooked.

It is strange, when the importance of the spine to the utility of the animal is considered, and when the well-known fact is regarded that the lowest class of copers make a species of property out of horses suffering from rick of the back, that this particular region receives no special attention during a quadruped’s soundness being subjected to the test of an ordinary veterinary examination! The creature’s head, tail, eyes, teeth, shoulders, haunches, limbs, feet, etc. would all be scrupulously investigated; but the back, on the soundness of which the utility of the body must depend, would probably be only honored with a passing notice.

Animals, however, which are ricked in the back, are generally sold through one of those Horse Auction Marts that abound in the metropolis. Such places offer great facilities to dishonest practices, and afford much encouragement to the class of copers. These persons never care to possess a sound horse. They have always some bargain ready to be imposed upon a novice; and the ignorant in horse flesh are ever eager to snap at any supposed “awful sacrifice.” The uninitiated is a frequenter of auctions. Being there, he walks down the gangways, staring at the equine chattels; going dangerously near to their heels, but not venturing up to the head of any quadruped. It is not long that this person is permitted to stroll unattended in such a sphere. His notice is soon directed to “one of the right sort.” The groom is ordered to bring the animal into the yard, and show “its action” to the gentleman.

While the groom is putting on the bridle and removing the cloth, the uninitiated accompanies his new companion into the yard. The coming of the animal is soon announced by the cracking of numerous whips. The poor creature is hurried and flurried about the little space outside the stables, or it is made to prance and caper along the public street. The intention is not to exhibit the natural pace, for no person possibly could judge of a horse when the animal is thus circumstanced. Fear will conceal the presence of disease, and the symptoms of alarm are, in the quadruped, readily mistaken for the evidences of spirit.

The novice should shun such society; and the gentleman deserves small pity who ventures into such a locality. Let the person who desires to possess a horse, and who can afford to pay for the luxury he covets, enter the premises of some respectable dealer. Let him be prepared to exchange a fair sum for a sound and serviceable animal. Let him never walk into the yard, and wait the appearance of the quadruped; but rather let the would-be purchaser remain near the stall, and observe attentively the groom while the man is putting on the bridle. Some creatures are alarmed when a hand approaches the head--an indication, either that the sight is imperfect, that severe punishment has been inflicted, or that the brain may be diseased. This symptom also warrants other suspicions; and it is never suggestive of health or of good treatment. The precautions taken by the man, when going toward the head, will also be characteristic, and may inform the spectator of very much concerning the educated temper and disposition of the nag he contemplates acquiring.

Such things, however, being noted, the stranger must still retain his situation. Some horses, though not absolutely “ricked,” are nevertheless stiff in the back. Such quadrupeds are unpleasant to the rider, and are unable to turn in the stall; but whenever their removal becomes imperative, they are backed out on to the gangway, and then turned toward the door. A stiffened spine can be no recommendation, but it may fairly be accepted as evidence that the animal has either been overweighted or has, in its time, done some hard work. It is invariably detrimental to the value; for, the vertebræ being the base of the anatomical body, their healthy condition is of the greatest possible importance toward even an approach to soundness.

It is highly improbable that an animal with a decided rick of the back should find admission into the stables of any respectable dealer; but there are numerous places, termed Commission Stables, which a novice unacquainted with names and localities may, from outward appearances, easily mistake for premises of the purest character. Should the imaginary personage, whose conduct the author has supposed to be the subject of remark, have entered such a stable, much art will be employed to persuade him to leave the building. If the gentleman should be firm, and refuse to retire, possibly the proprietor may be seized with a sudden fancy to show another horse; but any trick of this nature will be readily detected, and the fresh animal, though subsequently led into the yard, should never be looked at.

A horse cannot turn in the stall without twisting the back. Some animals, however, can turn quickly in one direction, whereas an attempt to flex the body the contrary way will produce the acutest anguish. Therefore, when the groom bids the horse come round, the gentleman should observe the mode in which the act is accomplished. Should the quadruped’s head be turned from the door, such a fact may be regarded as suspicious; for grooms always prefer the shortest roads, and trivial matters, where horses are concerned, often lead to important discoveries.

The diseases of the horse are not yet thoroughly understood. Mankind have acquired a habit of accepting words, without insisting that the ideas such terms represent shall be strictly defined. No word is more common in the mouths of horsemen than “jibbing.” It, however, does not specially imply one act; for there are many kinds of behavior which are designated as “jibbing.” Thus, a horse which is unable to start, is called “a jibber.” A quadruped which, in the middle of a journey, shall be suddenly impelled to move in a backward direction, is said to “jib.” The animal which, upon hearing the command to proceed, will commence throwing up its head, and, spite of chastisement, shall bear in the opposite direction, is also supposed to have learned the “vice” of “jibbing.”

“Jibbing” of every kind appears to be no “vice,” but a nervous disorder,--a sort of equine epilepsy. A word, spoken sharply, can summon the attack, which generally deprives the animal of all power of motion, or forces it to move in a direction the opposite of the road on which it wishes to proceed. The movements are independent of the will; and if any person will attentively inspect the countenance of the horse, when in the act of “jibbing,” the author imagines the real character of the supposed “vice” must be recognized. When “jibbing” is exhibited, a spasmodic fit has possession of the frame. It is useless to flog or to inflict other tortures. The attack will last a certain time, and then, perhaps, suddenly vanish. No brutality can shorten its duration, though cruelty, possibly, may lengthen the convulsion.

On such occasions, however, various cruelties are commonly perpetrated; but severity has then lost its power to quicken timidity. The lash has ceased to influence; while the human voice, though sent forth in volume and exerted in the bitterest execration, no longer is invested with the attributes of authority. The body is acted upon by a power higher than mortal sway. The creature is then carried by disease above this world’s malice. The whip or the signal to proceed may elicit only a staggering motion, or a backward movement. At last the spell is broken. The ability to guide the limbs suddenly is regained: but the brain is congested and the senses confused. The creature, upon the first partial recovery, may exhibit a desire to bolt--may, for an uncertain period, be all but unconscious. Sometimes it will recover its powers suddenly, almost as though its previous condition had been assumed. On other occasions it may, under some impulse, tear onward, regardless of the road, as though it sought to fly the scene of its late suffering, or endeavor to lose the agony of convulsion in the rapidity of motion.

The probability that such an act may conclude the fit of jibbing, instructs us in the folly of adding the irritation of man’s cruelty to the pain necessarily accompanying acute disease. Severity can only lend violence to the impulse which is almost certain to succeed the attack. It may endanger the life of the driver, but it cannot shorten the duration of the fit. Every kind of brutality has been speculated in without effect. Such treatment, most probably, has prolonged insensibility; for noise, confusion, or agony is not likely to be sedative to the nervous system which a word has morbidly excited. Yet such practices are generally adopted. Nay, the author has heard of a professional man who, residing near London, possessed a fine animal which was thus afflicted. This person actually had some straw kindled under his quadruped’s body, and, to quicken what he called “an obstinate vice,” partially roasted the breathing flesh of his living property! So monstrous an artifice was successful on the first occasion; but, upon repetition, it ceased to operate. Such a custom is not unusual among the uneducated boors of distant villages; but the writer had hoped that no vexation could have induced an individual, possessing the most distant claim upon the name of gentleman, to adopt so inhuman and useless a resort.

The horse is a gentle creature; it has no courage; it can display no resolution. Its impulses always incline it to flee from danger. It is made up of alarms, and a child’s puny hand may guide its huge strength. But the history of the animal supplies too many instances where the perversity of mankind has mistaken the prompting of disease for the display of malice. It is disgraceful to the boasted civilization of the present age that, while knowledge has much benefited every sphere of human legislation, the errors, the practices, and the brutalities of the last century should be in full operation,--where the scant necessities of the most gentle, the most submissive, and the most valuable of man’s earthly helpmates are concerned.

Jibbing is most common among harness horses, the faces of which are disguised and partially concealed by the blinkers. Were the countenance exposed, its expression could hardly be misinterpreted by any person who cared to observe its indications. But nothing can obscure the comprehension of mankind like prejudice. This weapon has been frequently employed against the life of human beings; but animals, to this hour, are tortured by its operation. Could the countenance of a horse, when in the act of jibbing, be calmly contemplated, all belief in “voluntary vice” would be at once dispelled. The eye is strained inward; the teeth are firmly set; the nostrils are dilated; the breathing is spasmodic; and the muscles are rigid.

There is, however, one symptom which, although expressive of terror, agony, or faintness, all horsemen are agreed in regarding as the declaration of a “vicious intention.” Such an indication is the backward position of the ears, or the laying of those organs upon the animal’s neck. The forward carriage, or the “pricking” of those members is recognized as expressive of delight, of gayety, or of attention. What, then, should the backward position truthfully signify? What ought sense to imply, from the falling of a part the upright bearing of which is interpreted to be the sign of liveliness? Yet, how many tender-hearted gentlemen, abused by the prejudices they inherited, will, when they observe the ears laid back, unhesitatingly cause the lash to sting the body which, probably, was far from contemplating mischief!

When an animal is thus afflicted, never pursue the course which is usually adopted. All noise should be prevented; no flurry near to or about the creature should be permitted. Do not use the whip or jag the reins: relinquish both. Order those within the vehicle immediately to dismount. Undo the bearing-rein: loosen the harness. If possible, remove the quadruped from the shafts. Go to the head; speak soothingly; pat and caress the agitated frame. Procure some cold water; soak a thick cloth in the liquid, and lay it over the brain and upon the eyes. Sponge out the mouth and nostril; then empty the vessel, by dashing the remaining fluid into the animal’s face. When the incapacitating stage is subsiding, have ready two powerful men, who, placed at the head, shall prevent the disposition to bolt from being indulged. This done, return the horse to the stable. Never hazard riding behind a creature which has recently been afflicted with “equine epilepsy.”

Such an animal is best put out of its misery at once, as the attempted remedy occupies too much time, is too expensive, and is far too uncertain in its result, to be prudently adopted. However, should the horse be young, it may be kept on prepared food for eighteen months--not turned out to grass; but stabled, properly exercised, and fed on the best, in the hope that nature will, with maturity, banish the disease. Such persons, however, as will drive a jibber, which merely exhibits a tardiness at starting, should be particular never to have the coat singed or clipped; for cold, acting upon the large surface of exposed integument, is very likely to provoke an attack. The horse, when brought to the door, should be briskly walked, and the journey, when commenced, should never start off at a tearing pace; but should begin most gently, and very gradually become more speedy. Such treatment, with carefully prepared food, plenty of old beans, bran mashes for laxatives, and an occasional tonic, is the best means the author knows of to render the quadruped ultimately useful.

The power of kindness is, perhaps, shown most strongly in the case of the horse thus affected. The love of the creature for the individual who is fond of it, is not well or truly characterized when spoken of as affection: it is something more than such a general term can represent: it amounts to positive devotion. Even when the fit is strongest, and all ordinary sounds are lost to the animal’s sense, the voice of the person who has been constantly kind will evidently be responded to. His caresses will soothe at a moment when the most potent pangs would be powerless: his presence will restrain the wildness which naturally ensues upon the first dawn of reviving consciousness. Whereas he who is habitually a careless or a harsh master, in whose hand whip and reins are equally instruments of torture, may, only by his appearance, induce the attack; and his foot upon the vehicle is likely to generate the agitation which shall assuredly bring on the disease.

But the man who would win the love of his steed, and is fond of the animal, should be a frequent visitor to its abode. That simple or negative quality which consists in the absence of actual cruelty, will answer no end. The human being, thus distinguished, only elicits the passive indifference by which his treatment is characterized. It is feeling, which even in animals, responds to feeling. The horse and the dog love those who like to take pains with them, or submit to trouble for their sakes. The two animals are alike in this respect. How fond the dog, which may for years have slept before the fire and grown enormously fat upon the plentiful meals supplied by an indulgent but an indifferent master,--how attached the animal speedily becomes to any person who, though a stranger, will devote some time to the teaching of little canine tricks! So also with the horse; the best way, indeed the only way, to win the entire love of this creature, is to expend some labor in brightening its intelligence.

To return to the matter at present especially under consideration. The jibbing which is confined to a delay at starting may be annoying, but it is seldom dangerous. The animal which merely moves backward, when commanded to proceed, may vex the driver, but the malady, being known, its consequences can, in a great measure, be guarded against. There is, however, one form of this disease which renders any animal very far from a safe possession. It is, where the horse will suddenly stand still in the middle of a journey, and commence backing. The more inopportune the place for such an exhibition, the more likely is the visitation to be brought on. A crowded thoroughfare or a dangerous road,--any incident calculated to excite or to alarm the steed, will assuredly produce a display of the worst symptoms.

A medical gentleman, of whose acquaintance the author is justifiably proud,--and whose practice laid upon the western coast,--one evening, after a hard day’s work, which had tired all his horses and fairly knocked up their master, was, before his boots were pulled off, apprised that a wealthy lady, and resident eighteen miles distant from his pharmacy, required his immediate attendance. There was no choice but to obey such a summons. The gentleman’s own horses he could not think of compelling over such a distance. Therefore the place was scoured, and at last an individual was discovered who was willing to lend, for a consideration, “the very best horse in the whole country.” The doctor was soon mounted, and progressing to his destination, at the rate of twelve miles an hour. The distance had nearly been accomplished, when the road ran close to the sea. It was in fact no more than a broad ledge cut in the side of a precipitous cliff. This spot being reached, and the heart of the rider made glad at the prospect of soon accomplishing his journey, the steed suddenly came to a stand. It first trembled all over. The gentleman endeavored to soothe the creature, which he perceived was suffering, but which he concluded was alarmed. He was thus engaged, when the nag commenced to back toward the sea. Whip and spur were tried to no purpose. The impulse could not be checked or altered; and the writer’s friend, perceiving his danger, had barely time to throw himself out of the saddle, when the horse toppled over the cliff, and was discovered a mangled mass on the following morning.

The various aspects which disease can assume, of course are multiform, and unfortunately, these, when exhibited by the horse, are all exposed to the arbitrary conclusions of prejudice. Men of education appear, in all that concerns the stable, to passively resign their intellects into the hands of the groom, and to be swayed by the hardihood of assertion, or to be ruled by the conjectures of selfishness. Thus the declarations of morbid sensibility are accepted and spoken of as the antics of the “rankest vice.” “Jibbing” has been punished as the instigation of malice; the chastisement has been inflicted without mercy, and has continued for many ages; but cruelty has not been able to check the exhibition of disease. The symptom is to this hour as general as it was in previous centuries. It still delays the vehicle, after the driver is ready to start: it often propels the wheels in a contrary direction to that the coachmen desire they should travel: it commonly stays the wayfarer, when eager to conclude his journey. At the door of the mansion, in the public street and on the high road, the signs of the malady are frequently to be witnessed.

So it is with the indications of various disorders. The horses of the existing race of proprietors are, for a life, doomed to subsist on the same substances: four or five times a day, dried grass, oats, and a few beans are placed before them: some have chopped straw, and, in exceptional cases, prepared food; but that being only allowed for the last meal on Saturday night, does not interfere with the monotony of diet. Now, a sameness in the articles consumed, as medical men now recognize, disorders the digestion; but when aided by a want of exercise, a total absence of amusement, and an impure residence, perhaps no better means could be invented to derange the tenderest radicles of being. The sympathy which exists between the stomach and the skin is now so universally understood that it will generate no surprise if the creature, thus housed, imprisoned, and sustained, should be occasionally troubled with an obstinate cutaneous affection.

Stabled horses often are the victims of an acutely sensitive condition of the integument. Yet the possible existence of such a state is never admitted by the groom, because the affection is unaccompanied by any outward sign. There is no tenderness displayed when the hand is laid upon the body. The coat looks bloomingly. The scurf is not developed in increased quantity. The hair does not prove loose or fall off. There is nothing visible for ignorance to perceive. The animal feeds well, and seems in the highest possible condition. The groom cannot, therefore, believe in the presence of disease. Nevertheless, the quadruped may acutely suffer, especially during the spring and autumn. It may even, by the irritation, be provoked to gnaw large patches from the sensitive covering of the body; but the more common form of the disease urges the poor horse to destroy the heavy rug in which stable attendants are fond of wrapping their charges, before quitting them for the night.

What precise form the irritation assumes, it is impossible to ascertain; but no sooner is the quadruped clothed up, than it begins to fidget. Its legs are in almost perpetual motion, and the body repeatedly leans with violence against the trevise. The creature is evidently uneasy, and the animal’s eye watches the groom until that individual, having finished his work, retires to the consolation of the adjacent public house.

No sooner is the animal certain of being alone, than it commences to tear off the hateful clothing. Large portions are seized between the teeth, and these are rent off with an energy which borders upon madness. Nor is the mental fever, which actuates the horse, to be pacified, so long as a vestige of the hated envelope remains to be removed. The passion seems to be very engrossing while it exists; for, during the period, anybody may enter the building, and even approach the irritated quadruped, without his presence being observed. But, the feat being ended, the creature looks around, seems to recover its recognitions, nibbles different portions of its coat, licks the coolest parts of its manger, being evidently thirsty, and ultimately lies down, apparently well satisfied with its recent performance.

The recognized remedy for such a condition does not regard the morbid state out of which the destruction arises; but it consists in placing upon the back of the horse a garment which shall pain the lips, tongue, palate and gums when it is grasped by the teeth. Cloths of such a description are manufactured of coarse horse-hair, and are commonly kept by most harness-makers, so general is their adoption. After such a fashion, the biting impulse may be sometimes checked; but there are quadrupeds which seem to be goaded to still greater violence by the device. Other animals, though the cloth of hair acts as a preventive, become restless, and evidently pine under the remedy: their appetite fails: their spirit vanishes, and their flesh wastes: nay, the author has known the introduction of the favorite cure to be followed by an internal and a fatal form of disease.

Why should all inhabitants of the stable be subjected to a sameness of treatment? Why should all horses be expected to consume the same food; to eat the like quantities of provender; to drink a particular amount of water, and to be clothed in uniform, when left for the night? It may please the eye of the groom to behold the animals all wrapped up and bedded down to match, as he quits the stable for the night; yet, where life is concerned, something stronger should regulate arrangements than the gratification of a servant’s prejudice.

To propitiate the inclinations or the whims of a retainer, constituted no part of the motive which caused the stables to be erected. Such places are professedly built for horses, and the animals, therefore, should be primarily regarded. Yet, wherefore oblige a quadruped to be covered up with a rug, when the creature, by a nightly destruction of the wrapper, asserts the envelope to be objectionable? Why compel an unwilling steed to endure that which is not requisite on the score of decency; which cannot be adopted on any plea of appearance; and which, in the most emphatic manner, is declared not pleasant to the life on whose body it is suspended?

It is impossible to comprehend that the groom possesses any excess of modesty which can be offended at the notion of a horse sleeping naked in the stall; and if the absence of covering is agreeable to the party which is principally concerned, it seems odd a reasonable being should insist that a contrary practice shall be adopted. Still, persist these individuals certainly do; and even carry their persistence to other particulars. The skins of the equine race are as various in degrees of sensibility as can be those of human beings. There do exist many men who, for pleasure, first soak their bodies in warm baths, and subsequently polish the cuticle with the hardest possible of flesh brushes. Others would only be gratified were they daily rubbed down with brick bats. On the contrary, there exist individuals on whom a ruck in the finest linen will inflict a discomfort which, in its intensity, almost amounts to an agony.

So there are horses possessing hides to which may be applied with impunity the sharpest and coarsest of curry-combs. But there also live many animals having skins to which the oldest and bluntest of those antiquated scratchers will occasion a sensation the acuteness of which is testified to by the violence of resistance with which the morning’s dressing shall be accompanied. Yet, rather than obey the hint so energetically conveyed, or discard the employment of anything with which use has familiarized them, the least venturesome of grooms will brave daily danger. In vain does the irritated quadruped writhe, frisk, stamp, kick, snap and bite, under the infliction; the servant has been taught that a curry-comb is an instrument to be applied to the skins of horses. The head will be tied up--the leg-strap employed; nay, the hobbles and the twitch will be applied, before the lesson he has learned to regard in his youth shall be discarded. Such tools of the lowest routine are the ignorant in everything which does not involve their personal gratifications.

The consequence is, that because the animal, while being dressed, cannot forbear biting at all objects which are near to it, the incisor teeth rapidly lose the cutting edges, and become rounded. Such a shape of the nippers used to be viewed as indicative of crib biting; but the fallacy of this notion having been exposed, the idea is generally abandoned. Nevertheless, an animal having rounded front teeth would fare badly at an equine banquet where the provender had to be cropped from the earth. It is, therefore, only prudent to prevent the creature from spoiling its mouth. To accomplish this, remove the curry-comb; for, should it be allowed to remain in the stable, the chances are very strongly against the groom’s favorite tool being discarded. Have the skin dressed with a penetrating brush; or, should that prove too sharp, order it to be groomed very gently with the wisp and water brush. Animals possessed of extremely sensitive skins generally carry very fine coats; therefore they can well afford to dispense with very much labor from their stable attendant.

The snapping may, from long indulgence, have become confirmed as a habit. In that case, nevertheless, ameliorate the dressing; but, before the groom undertakes the cleansing of the skin, the quadrupeds should be fixed by two strong pillar-reins, each of which is of sufficient length to reach, from opposite sides, to the middle of the dressing stall. The head, thus bridled, is comparatively fixed, and is, of course, fastened away from any substance which might be seized by the teeth. However, the skin is sometimes, when thus tender, loaded with a scurf which no curry-comb, however long it may be applied, will do aught but increase. In this case, always change the provender, and particularly see the food is properly prepared ere it is presented. Give, daily, one ounce of liquor arsenicalis, in a pint of cold water; and every morning damp the skin, not the hair, with a mixture composed of animal glycerin, one part; rose-water, two parts.

For an animal that destroyed its rugs, the first measure is, to refuse all further supply of such articles. Then attend to the food, after the method already advised; next anoint the body with glycerin and rose-water, subsequently employing a hay wisp regularly night and morning. Place the animal in a cool, loose box, and, if possible, leave both window and half the door open. When night arrives, permit the quadruped, at its pleasure, to move in or out of the stable--allowing a piece of rather closely bitten meadow land for exercise, when the sun is down and the flies are at rest. Take the animal in before insects begin to throng, which they seldom do till the sun has gained full power. By way of medicine, daily give one ounce of liquor arsenicalis, in a pint of cold water, together with one quart of good (not publican’s) beer. Keep the bowels regular with bran mashes or with green meat. There can be no necessity why all labor should be relinquished: the work, however, ought not to be excessive, or the pace too exhausting; for any extraordinary exertion is apt to lead to excoriations which are, in their turn, disposed to end in large and obstinate sores, when the skin is in an irritable condition.

Every part of the horse is of importance to the owner: the teeth are not secondary to the feet; the legs are of no less value than the lungs; and the skin cannot be esteemed more lightly than the eyes. Indeed, every rider ought to make himself acquainted with the appearances natural to the healthy eye of the horse; for a shying steed will effectually destroy the pleasure of an entire day. The horseman should notice the eyes of every animal he intends to mount. As a precaution, such a measure is imperative; for, being forewarned, he may be prepared to encounter the danger into which defective vision is almost certain to lead the rider. For the method of proceeding, when examining the eyes of a horse, the reader is referred to the “Illustrated Horse Doctor,” (pp. 49 and 56,) wherein the proper plan is amply detailed.

The reason for recommending what the reader may regard as a troublesome acquisition and a strange knowledge for a gentleman to bore over, is, because those livery stable-keepers who let horses out to strangers, can hardly be expected to maintain a very valuable stud for such purposes. It is not asserted that these tradesmen knowingly send out very defective animals; but they could not, perhaps, in the way of business, warrant, as decidedly sound, any inhabitant of their stables. The eyes are the parts which generally fail. Exposed to a tainted atmosphere and fixed close to a whitened wall, when at home; wearing blinkers unpleasantly near to the organs, when abroad; while, at other times, they carry a saddle, having the eye exposed to the full glare of the sun,--it is not a subject for wonder that bodies so sensitively endowed and delicately organized should become diseased.

Added to the natural results of such causes is the treatment experienced from brutal and ignorant fellows, whom a few shillings have invested with a whip. Such persons are fond of slashing the horse over the head, and may thus produce partial opacity of the cornea. (See “Illustrated Horse Doctor,” p. 46.) The effect of imperfect vision is to create alarm in a highly imaginative but an excessively timid animal. Shying is the consequence, and this act is as various in its developments as its causes may be numerous. Probably this will be best explained by relating a circumstance which, a few years ago, occurred to a friend of the author’s.

A young gentleman, native of Ireland, complained one street was so like another, that though he should live a thousand years in London, he should still see nothing of the town. He wished to view the suburbs to ascertain the situation of the metropolis; with this purpose in view, he, one afternoon, hired a horse at a West End livery stables, and trotted upon the Uxbridge Road. Everything went pleasantly till steed and rider had reached Ealing Common, when, there being nothing in view, the gentleman gave the quadruped its head, and allowed it to proceed at its own pace. The pair, however, had only gone a short distance, when, from some motive not recognizable to human perception, the creature was seized with a violent fit of “swerving;” or, in other words, it suddenly left the road, and, moving sideways, began describing a rather wide semicircle upon the common, which was, at the place, fortunately smooth and level.

But Ealing Common appears to be a favorite spot with laundresses, who there hang out their wet linen. The rider was dragged under one of the lines, loaded with damp clothes, while his horse pushed against an elderly washerwoman, and, spite of her screams and resistance, propelled her a considerable space. The gentleman, almost thrown by the unexpected motion of his nag, and half smothered by the wet garments, which clung about his head, was wholly at a loss to comprehend the cause of the female screams, rendered yet more discordant by the shrill cries of her terrified grandson.

When, however, he understood everything, a donation calmed the agitation of the female, while, hastening to a roadside inn, he found a man who was willing to take the horse back to the livery stables. The rider returned by another conveyance, and he has never since trusted himself outside an unknown animal.

Swerving, however, is no more than a mild form of shying, when compared with the numerous evils which result from defects of the visual organs. Every possible variety of eccentric gait is not to be imagined, much less is it to be described. One consequence of this peculiarity, perhaps the worst shape it can assume, is bolting or running away. When a horse is thus impelled, it is, as was insisted upon in the “Illustrated Horse Doctor,” useless to tug at the reins or to slash with the whip. Such acts may aggravate the peril, but they cannot check the movement, which originates in a dread that lifts its victim above all earthly restraints. The brain is then excited and confused; the pain, which the body shall fail to recognize, nevertheless may prove an additional stimulant to the wildness that approaches near to positive despair.

The quadruped is not to blame. It has been guilty of no fault. Its behavior may displease its present master; but the horse has no ability to struggle with a fear which was generated by disease. The alarm was the offspring of a cause beyond the aid of medicine and removed from the help of surgery. Such an animal, however, should not be left entirely to its fate; for “running away” is apt to become more frequent upon repetition. The eyes, thus afflicted, should be covered when the quadruped is taken abroad; for it is safer to sit behind a creature which is sightless, than one which is possessed only of a dangerous or of an imperfect vision.

Then, to explain the motives for that forbearance and to render clear the prudence of that gentleness which the reader has been recommended to practice. Let it be inquired, can pain be esteemed a corrective of terror? It was an apprehension of suffering which created the alarm. To render such a dread a reality, does not appear to be the readiest method of dispelling the feeling which has been generated by the imaginary possibility of agony being encountered. The quickest plan by which any particular sensation can be destroyed, certainly is to excite another emotion that is the opposite of the one we are desirous should be dispelled. Then awaken an assurance of security, and, of course, alarm is annihilated. It may not be a popular or an heroic line of treatment which the author has presumed to propose; but, assuredly, the safest way to destroy a fear is to kindle an emotion which shall be antagonistic to that it is desirable to remove.

Such conduct, however, would be directly opposite to what is at present generally exemplified by the majority of mankind. A horse bolts, or it runs away, and the act is hastily concluded to originate in a “vicious propensity” which the animal delights in indulging. The creature is spoken of as a “bolter.” The topmost speed and the blindest flight is, by equestrians, regarded as the gratification of a malicious spirit, and, thus considered, only elicits a firm resolution to subdue its exhibition at every hazard. The reins are sawn and the whip is plied, until agony has driven terror to madness, and some awful disaster puts a termination to the unsightly proceeding.

The following is intended to be an accurate representation of an incident which the author witnessed, some years ago, in the neighborhood of Holloway. In the issue, however, no person was injured; even the horse escaped unharmed. It would have been difficult to say which of the principal actors was the most frightened. Probably the alarm of each was as great as it was possible to be; but the breakage of the shafts, the rupture of the traces, and the snapping of the reins mainly secured the immunity of all. No one, having seen the aspect borne by the event at one time, could have foretold how it was to terminate; assuredly the fortunate result was not facilitated by the gentleness or the self-possession of the driver. That person did his best, no doubt without the intention of whipping up a catastrophe: he acted according to the recognized rules; but it was owing to the reflection such a scene gave rise to that the author was led to recognize the folly of that behavior which is generally displayed under the like alarming circumstances.

Before concluding the present chapter, the reader is earnestly counseled to discard the many foolish tales he may have heard about the horse being naturally a “vicious animal.” What reward is reaped from the indulgence of the creature’s imaginary designs? Death, injury, or disfigurement! Such consequences might ensue upon the promptings of insanity; but no one, however, has supposed that madness instigated the conduct which man recognizes as “vice” in the horse. There is, in the world’s opinions, a wide distinction separating the mad horse from the “vicious brute.” The attributed “vice” is certainly not recognized as madness, although it may be accompanied by the temporary absence of consciousness. The vicious acts display too great a similarity throughout the entire equine race, distributed over the world, to be reconciled with the presence of recognition; while they are too regular in their development and far too heedless in their execution to accord with the promptings of any wicked disposition which would be dependent upon individual inclination.

Then, the sameness which pervades the entire group of supposed “equine vices,” cannot be reasonably accounted for in accordance with the popular belief. In the human being, each example of a vicious disposition is conspicuous for adopting an independent and an eccentric course of action, though it occasionally practices imitation. Can animals instruct or mimic one another? Have horses, only, the power to communicate “vice” to their companions? Can they, only, teach self-mutilation, and learn suicide? That is not to be credited. But will the reader, viewing them as inferior beings, consider the conduct of all as regulated by the impulses of instinct, generated by sudden emotion? Then, sameness is by no means extraordinary. Eating is in man an instinctive act. The modes of preparing food are various, and the methods of its division are as dissimilar in different nations,--for these actions are shaped by conviction or by reason; but the manner in which the instinctive portion of the act is performed, the way in which the sustenance is masticated and is swallowed, though in some degree influenced by refinement, is mainly similar in all regions, and in every race of human beings.

To run away from danger is an instinct in a horse. The animal does not fly from battle, only because man has deceived it into a faith that there is no danger where gunpowder is consumed. Terror renders the animal blind and unconscious. It has no more power to check the last effect than it has ability to contend against the first consequence. Pain induces a natural desire to escape from the cause of suffering. Its wish may be gratified at the sacrifice of property; but property is an artificial institution, of which most animals have hitherto refused recognition. Sameness of cause generally induces like results. Idleness leads to mischief; satiety promotes waste; terror generates alarm; and itching provokes scratching. These acts in the animal may be imprudently indulged; but the horse, having no conception of a future, of course cannot nicely calculate probabilities. Thus, if we run through the list of the so-called “vices,” each will admit of a very easy and of a remarkably ready solution.

Let no man, therefore, speak of a “vicious horse.” Let no reasonable being so far forget himself as to attribute design as a motive to the creature which nature has endowed only with instinct. Needless torture, though inflicted on a brute, rebounds to strike humanity. But mankind have not yet so emerged from barbarism as to have entirely lost all relish for those prejudices which justify cruelty. The written history of the world is the sad record of a long struggle midst blood and suffering. Only of late years have men dared to relax the laws, and only recently have they sought to lessen crime, by educating the debased to perceive the beauty of goodness. Might not a similar spirit, applied to horses, diminish the number and lessen the fatality of equestrian accidents? At all events, such a suggestion deserves a trial. It should be experimented with, if not for its novelty, because it proposes the adoption of behavior which must gratify the better feelings of the master, and because it holds forth a reasonable prospect of decreasing some of the more serious evils by which human life is, at the present moment, too frequently endangered.

Before joining in the cry against equine vice, always investigate the act which is adduced to justify the prejudice. Do this quietly. Look fairly at the surrounding circumstances, and think how these might possibly act upon a timid and a non-reasoning creature. Find out the cause, if possible; because, by so doing, you will best serve your own interest. Knowing the cause, it is probable you may eradicate the effect. But, before this is undertaken, the party must be prepared to exercise his utmost patience; for animals are slow to learn, and have to conquer their terrors before they can exemplify the easiest of lessons. Only, once taught, they are retentive scholars; and, by the pride they evince in their acquirements, reward their instructor.

To stimulate the proprietor unto that course of conduct which is recommended above, it surely must be sufficient to remind him that the opposite method has been long as it has been most perseveringly tried. Severity, however, although enthusiastically exemplified, notoriously has only imperiled man, without in any way amending the habits of the animal. Therefore the reader is asked, if it is reasonable to continue the proceeding which, having been largely tested, has induced nothing but misfortune?