The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1854-11-22
On the Uselessness Of Check-rein,

1T is said that when his Majesty, George
Ill, with q view to some Improvement IN
military uniform, asked a litc.g .guardsman
who had done good service ia the battle
Of Waterloo, wha sort of dress he should
prefer, had he another simiIar battle to no
through, he received for An answer, Please
your Majesty, Ishould prefer my shirt
sleeves Now, though We should be much
surprised to see our cavalry regin ent turn
out for parade in shr;-sleeye order, there
can be doubt the life guardsman's princi-
pie is sound one. Ii sman wants to
do a hard days work-if he wants to ex-
ert his muscles aud sinews, either in walk
ing, running, lighting, digging, telling
trees, or carrying weights-hs must have
those MUSCLES free end unconfined by
straps, and ligsiures, and tight clothing {;
no one can gaiusay this. But how is 1t,
then, that principle which every one,
whether soldier or a sailor, farmer or
lsborcr, would insist upon in his own case,
should be, in England at least, SO univer-
sally disrcgarded in the case OF our hard
working, patient, and too often i'll used
beasts Of burtheni How is it that the
ignorance OF common things which Lord
AShburton SO justly complains of, should
be so lamentah!y y conspicuous in matter
SO constantly before our eyes, in our towns
i'll our fields, in our crowded streets, in our
rural lanes: namely, our draught.horse ap-
pointmentsi 1t must be owned that one
class-all honor, therefore, be to it-that
cab and omnibus proprietors, have set "A
good example in one respect, viz: in doing
away with that hateful instrument of tor.
ture, the bearing rein. But alas in nine
ty-nine carts and wagons out of one hun
dreI, (carts and wagons, which are to
move at Il slow and steady pace) we still
persist in crippling unnecessarily our mo-
tive power, and gagging our unhappy
horses by tying up their heads. as il ia the
very tyranny of wantonncss. On the con-
tinent the bearing rein is rarely used, and
then only as II servie English imitation {;
but in horse racing, hunting, horse-Ioving
England, IL must be confessed its use is all
but universal. ln Yorkshire, III the mid
land counties, in the southern, UP the
steep hills near Scarborough, as up the
not less steep dowhs near Brighton, we
may see heavy laden wagons at all hours
Of the day dragged miserably along by
horses-on one hand urged forward by
ever-restless whipcord on the other, as If
in the verieS, spirit Of contradiction, curb
ell in by senseless bearng-reins and yet
if the attendant carriers ttention be drawn
to the unnatural cruelty Of the proceed
ings, he generally, appears fully alive
TO it.
"On seeing, the other day, poor horse
tuggimg away at n cart full Of sand up
the clill at Brighton, Of course, with his
head tied tightly to his back, we observed
to laborer near-'What a shame not
to undo the bearing-rein with such ~
load !"
"Oh yes, sir" was the reply: "I likes
myself to see 'em free, but it's custom, sir,
custom; they thinks they looks WELL"
However, it is to be feared the truth is,
thought has little enough to do with it If
people did think, the days Of bearing reins
would soon be numbered.
"rhe folly Of the practice was some
years ago very ably shown by Sir Francis
Heard, in his Bubbles by an Old Man."
where he contrasted, most unfavorably,
our English customs oftying tightly up,
with the German one Of tying loosely, and
both with the French ore Of leaving the
hossc's head at liberty--(and man Of his
shrewdness aud observation, a distinguish.
ed soldier, who has galloped across the
South American pampas, and seen there
herds Of untamed horses IN All their native
wildness and natural freedom, i no mean
anthority.) Now. he has uMntsd cnt
most clearly that when horse has real
york 10 do, whether slow work, a. IN our
'plows and carts, or quick, ns 10 the fas.
gaiiop or in head.long ilight across the
plains Of America, nature tells bin not TO
throw his head up and backwards towards