The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1892-07-21
THE OvERDRAW CHECK.
Some Pertinent Comments on n Cruel an,
Inhum.n Z ustorl.

Inhuman ,ustoni.
During n recent visit to Chicaro I
was surprised to note what seem d at
nrst glance great superiority both in
style and carriage OF tae horses Of that
city as compared with those usually
seen on the drives in this vicinity. l
know from experience that W. have as
good horscilcsh herc as can be found
anywhere but upon closer invcstipa-
ton | discovered that the reason WHY
the horses of Chicago appeared supe-
rior in gait and carriage to anything
here was owing TO the fact that none
that noted wore what is called the
the overlrLw check.
1t IS an unfortunate fact that most of
our horses here are made to look alb
surl with their heads pulled up to an
altogether unnatural position, which
mast be as painful as it is lacking in
grace, as - 'ult o. tho general use Of
this abominnt ol so fer a. can de-
termine the use OF the ovcrdraw check
Is unwarral.el AL unjust4h.d 10y any
single sens blc reason.
Nature gives the wcll-bred horse a
beautifully archad neck. When by the
Use of tight check rein the head of
such horse is drawn close to its
lreast or when by employing the over
lraw check the end of the nose is lift
I'd out into the air and the head tilted
back, all the beauty of nature is taken
away and he horse is rendered unable
to perform its work 60 tho best adj
vantage Draught horses are not thus
checked, because horse cannot pull
properly with h head drawn up into
the air any more than man could.
No amount of checking can add in
any way to the beauty of homcly
horse, but only scrv 5 to exaggerate
the poor creatures lack of beauty.
handsome horses are made ugly by
chat process and ugly horses are made
to look worse. Where then is the adj
vantage?
Occa iona'ly, but very rarely. a horse
will need to be slightly checked to be
made useful for driving or other pur-
poses. These instances are extremely
rare and cannot be- c.ted with any truth
as an excuse for the general practice OF
using tight check rein.
1t is Il curious flea with many that
horse of spirit holds his head h gh in
the air while working. Anyone who
believes in that fallacy has onlv to look
ut the photographs OF notel race horses
or the best-brei stock in the country.
or to watch an unchecked team at
work, and the examination will show
natural posture of the head very
different from anything one will be
able to note in majority of the
chec',ed-up carriage horses of this aud
adjacent cities. Some poss bly, may
argue that, as an ill-brod or n sick
hor c will droop his hoal therefore q
wcll-brcd and perfectly able onilnal
ought to hold his head in the extreme
opposite direction. or in other words,
as his nose poi to the ground in one
instance it should be made T., point
heavcnward in the other
When man undertakes to improve
upon nature in rcarranging and shift
ing the natural poStarcs of the ANNA
of. this earth, he generally makes
mistake.
1t is really wonderful what an i'm
provement is visible in the appear
aacc of the horses of Chicago since the
people o. that city have had the good
sense to do away with the objection
able ov 'rdraw check, which was FIRST
introduced there fifteen years ago.
Fancy Rosa BonheUrs famous paint
ing with the horses heads presented
in the position into which they would
be brought by the use of tbs partlcu-
larly dctcstable piece OF harness It
does seem as though the average |
American citizen ought to be smart /
enough and sensible enough to see not
only the absurd.ty, but the extreme
cruelty of this thiag and to do away /
with it altogether.-W. w. HalioclS, in |
\. Y. Times