A HORSES TALK.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 22 June 1912, Page 10

A HORSES TALK.

As has been said somewhere, the sailor's ma3»m "If the ship steers herself, let the helm alone may be applied to riding. Never get impatient; never exert a dead pull on a horse's mouth, but play with it, ease and press, ease and press; never let him carry his head wrong; do not forget to apply the legs—these are a few of the points that may help the novice who wishes to improve his hands. "If you don't pull against the horse, he won't pull against you" may seem very hard to the beginner, but we all know there is a good deal of truth in it. If. you ease your reins to the pulling horse, and then press them gently but firmly -not forgetting to close the legs—as soon as he yields at all, and gently grab him if he insists on carrying his head low, you cannot be said to be pulling1 against him. And after a little, in most cases, he will cease to pull against you. It takes two to make a quarrel, and the horse's thoughts run probably something like this: "I wish this wretched fellow on r-y back would let me hang my head against the reins. But he seems asleep. If I pull at him, he just lets the reins go. But I wish he wouldn't keep giving those nasty little jabs at my mouth. They don't hurt and he does not seem to want to annoy me, or he would not ease the reins directly I pull. Still, it does not matter much after all. If I carry my head a little higher the jab seems to stop." Of course, the real test of hands is a horse's m»nn«rs. If a horse stands still when he is wanted to, does not want to barge his quarters into other horses, and does not pull, he has been well made, exercised by a good groom, and is being ridden by a horseman.—"E.P." in Baily's Magazine.