The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-11-17
EQUINE BAD HABITS.
Kicking.

Kicking.
The other day [ happened to be in a
circle of men who were all lovers of
horses, and were posted on many pecul-
iarities of the equine nature.
do any of you gentlemen know a
sure way to cure a horse of kicking?"
said the Down Easter addressing the
others deferentially.
Why" answered the New York horse
dealer, 81 always do it by tying part
of the horses tail to the shaft. That
usually fixes him"
Yes" remarked the man from the
plains, that's one way, but [ know
better one"
Hold on a minute" l interrupted;
Il want to understand why tying
horses tail to the shaft will prevent
him from kicking"
That's easy enough" said the New
Yorker, you see horse can't kick I'M
til he gets his head down and his tail
UP. Isn't that SO, gentlemen?"
The others all assented.
But why can't he?" 1 persisted.
Simply because he can't. No horse
ever did. Consequently, when you tie
his tail down you upset his calcula-
lions. My idea is that he gets so dis
tracted studying what's the matter
with his tail and trying to life it when
he can't that he forgets to kick.
VERY likely" said the Down Easter.
Now, what's your way?"
why" answered the man from the
plains, the way we fix a kicking horse
is to tie one of his fore legs with a rope
to the hind leg of the other side. Then,
as soon as he starts to kick he jerks his
front leg off the ground and goes down
in heap. Two or three doses of this
treatment will cure the worst case you
can find"
But suppose I suggested. ''youl
horse kicks with the foot that is not
tied?"
That's not the way bad kicker
acts Once in awhile a horse will let
out sideways with one hind foot alone,
but as a general thing the ones you
have trouble with kick with both hind
feet at the same time, and my rope
brings 'em down every clip
BaIsy Horses.
The talk ran along for a little while,
and presently came to the best method
Of dealing with a balky horse. Var
ious old fashioned ways were suggested
and finally the Down Easter went them
all one better with the following sys-
tenn, he claimed as his own. He pre-
faced his remarks with little, story.
The last time 1 was down in Bos-
ton | happened to see two fine, black
horses standing in front of a store.
There was a private coach behind them
and a coachman on the seat who was
trying to start UP the team, but he
couldn't do it. AS fast as one Of the
horses would start ahead the other
would pull back, and there was no
budging them. I joined the crowd
standing around, and found that the
team had been there over half an hour
and nobody had been able to start the
balky horse.
II looked on for awhile and pretty
soon the owner came along, very mad
because he was in hurry to go some
where. He told the coachman to get a
move on those horses pretty blamed
quick or he'd make things lively. The
coachman said he'd done his best and
didn't know any other way, so I step
ped up and asked the man if he would
like to see the horses go.
"'Would 10 he said, very red in the
face. I'll just make it your worth while
if you get 'em off
".Ar right, said I. I'll make EN-
go So l walked up to the balky horse
and patted his neck little and talked
to him, and the first thing anybody
knew that team was going down the
street so fast the coachman could
hardly hold en-
''How did you do it?' said 1.
That's what the man wanted to
know and all the other people. AS far
as they could see, I hadn't done any
thing, but I had, just the same. It's
nice little trick. You walk up to
horses head and pretend to fool around
a little and then, quick as you can, run
a pin through the tip of one of his
ears, and let it stay there. You know
the ears are a horses tenderest point;
he can't do anything without his ears;
he can't think without his ears. Well
as soon as the pin goes through his
ears you can make up your mind that
he knows it, because it hurts. He
probably thinks it is some new
kind of fly that won't shake
off. and the whole force of his mind is
conferred on getting away from that
fly, so he does the only thing there is
left, that is, tear away at full speed.
build fire under them without NOV
ing, but there amt any Of them thatn
stand still and let you stick a pin
through one of their ears"
do you mean to say that there ever
was a balky horse that would stand
still when there was a fire burning
under him? '' I asked credulously.
''Certdlnly l. 90. Iney won't let the
fire burn em, though; they simply kick
it away with their hind legs as fast as
you can build it."
The Biting Habit.
what is your way of making a
horse stop biting?" asked the New
York man.
''Why, the phil answer there just
as we'll as before. When horse snaps
at you, catch him by the nose and run
a pin right through between the nos
triis. He'll stop biting fast enough.
If he begins again. do the same thing
once more, and before long you will
have him cured for life No, it isn't
cruel; it's the kindest way in the long
run, because it's the quickest
IT'S funny what fool horse is
about some things broke in the man
from the plains. Nov, our bronchos
out there, take one that's been bred
on the prairie. If you come in from a
ride and get off, leaving the reins over
his neck, he will start away on the
dead run, because he thinks he is held
by lariat. He may walk away slow
ly, eating grass, but you couldn't make
him run until you pulled up the bril-