The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1875-05-27
Cruelty to Horses.

AT one of the meetings of the Society
for the Protection of Animals the opinion
was expressed that the use Of very tight
cheek-reins on draft horses, designed to
make them look spruce and to hold their
heads up like carriage horses, was grad
ually going out of fashion with Us. The
practice is certainly, to some extent, go
ing out Of fashion in Europe, and the
came should be true of America, since il
is very hard that horse who has heavy
loads TO pull all day long should not be
allow ed to do his work in the way most
easy for him. The English authorities
which Mr. Angel once cited in his little
pamphlet on the subject, seem to be con
elusive h
For example: Mr. Fleming, Veterinary
Surgeon of the ROYAL Engineers, says
that nothing can be more absurd than
cheek -relns. They are against reason al
together and place the animal in false
position. The horse stands with check
rein exactly as man would stand with a
stick under his arms behind his back
when told to write He says he has no
! doubt, if the public could only realize
the fact that it throws away a large por-
ton of the horses power altogether, and
is very cruel besides, this rein would be
discontinued. u IS not only the head
that suffers, but from his head to his
tail, from his shoulders to his hoof, and
over his whole body, the animal suffers
more or less.
4 With equal pOsitiyeness DR.. Kitching
| of York, another expert, declares that il
horse pulling a load finds a check rein
holding back his head he cannot throw
his weight into his collar, and is hindered
/ from giving his body that position which
is the most natural and effective. He
has to pull by the strength of his mus
/ cles only; the weight of his body is lost
and SO much pulling strength thrown
away, while what remains is exerted al
a great expenditure of the horses pow
ers and health, to say nothing of his com.
/ fort. The consequence is that his limbs
! and muscles become strained and dis
torted, his knees are bowed forward and
I his hooks backward.
If man pulls a load by straI
across his shoulders he bends his head
! and chest forward and relieves his legs
horse does the same when he can, and
ought always to be allowed to do so. In
addition DR.. Kitching insists that tying
up horse IN this way interferes with
his breathing and with the circulation of
I t1I bltoA III lII IItdJ Willie lDt near
and lungs are excited by work. This
makes the horse uncomfortable. restless
and irritable; and, in fact, says DR.
/ kitching, his head aches and pains
him and he gets many violent lag and
blow just because his driver cannot I'm
derstand the cause of his restlessness. |
have seen many horses staSding at pub.
[ llc-house doors and other places in this
1 CT Ia nrI l.. Al
/ their desire to get home and be unhar.
messed, when the driver has rushed on,
and punished the horses for his own
| error"
! The same writer cnlarges also, OF
course, upon The influences of the tight
check-rein in straining the muscles OF
the horses neck, thus firing him out and
making him restless. He declares that
the horse will sometimes rest the weight
of his head ON the rein, stretching his
mouth to escape the other torment, and
that many splendid horses necessarily
toss their heads and champ their mouths
into foam from the intolerablc uneasi-
ness OF the tight check-rein.
In the same spirit still another En-
I glish authority, John Adam Mcbride,
! Professor of Veterinary Medicine and
Surgery in the Royal Agricultural Col
lege, declares that the check-rein must
seriously interfere with the return of the
blood from the brain and thus lead to an
accumulation of yenous blood, producing
eventually state of coma, the severity
OF which will depend upon the duration
and intensity of the compression; and,
further, it must impede the flow of arte-
rial blood TO the brain. This deficiency
of arterial blood is characterized by a
want of nervous sensation and disar-
rangement of the nervous parts.
The sudden, intermittent and violent
muscular action of the neck is also
deprecated, and it is declared, in fine,
that the tight checkfein subjects the
victim of fashion to such diseases as
mcgfms, apopleXy, coma, inflammation
and softening of the brain" Other au-
thorities could be eited--in fact, are
cited by Mr.. Angelic the same end.
But these will be sufficient to show that
on draft horses, at least, it is neither
wise nor humane 10 keep tight check
rein, since it interferes with the working
/ power and the temper of the horse.-
Phttadelphid Public Record.