The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-09
MOVEMENT TO ABOLISH
 OVERHEAD CHECK REIN
Effort to Stop Cruel Treatment of Horses Veterinary Surgeons Condemn the Praetice--Many
 Opinions on Subject.

head fastened to his own shoulders el' tail. As the 'horse's shoulders and hee% | fan together. the check rein cannot btHA |sThat the check rein Is inconsistent with the action of the horse head, is clearly shown by the fact that wnen horse falls 1t Is always broken. : .s..,s.. Sir Arthur Help: '"Whenevcr II See horses suffering from a too tight check rein. I know the owner Is un0bservant, or he would know that his horses are suf- ferfng; he Is ignorant, or he would know that 6 horse loses much of it's former pulling and cannot recover himself if he stumbles, and he Is cruel. if observing and knowing, he does not remedy It. 'I regard the overdraw rein as @ cruel
 Ssr1arit whish sssanss Sast to Se T can testify to the,cruel barbarity inn- posed upon horses by theseve check | have no hesitation in condemning 1t as | in the highest degree injurious. and a severe torture to the poor animal, whose | owner knows so little as to insist upon his | wearing 1t. I have no hesitation in say- 1 ing 1t ought to be condemned by law | Charles sheard, M. D., Nj. R. c. 8. aiv1 unsightly, causing Ahe horse to | hold his head in an unnatural position. | am not aware that 1t has .redeeming
 feature.-E. ". spragge, M. R z. 3; riage or buggy driving most cruel and unnecessary. 1t hampers the movements of the horses head and must cause acute
 muscular pains and cramps.-Allen Baines, M. D. c. M. IL. R. c. F.
 The over check rein is useless. unsighf-
 ly and the cause of great suffering to
 the horse.-S. H. Burnham, M. D., F. K--
 a. st Ryerson. M. D. c. W; w.3J. @.
 wishart, s. R. c. P; A. H. Wright. M.
 D.; c. W. Covernton. M. D.; J. A. Tenn
 ple, M. D.; c. O'Reilly.e M. D.; " II.
 Ollphant. M. B., L. R. O. C.. F s y Tharburn. M. D.; A. A. Macdonald. n. this subject is the same as in England
 Major Rich. Schoenbeck, sworn court expert in matters relating to the horse. and editor of The Hippolcgic Journal; the use of the checkrein is superhuous and useless, and calculated to injure the horse. The forced raising Of the neck or the animal causes a continually incrsas- ing torture the longer 1t lasts. The high CT the head is raised. the more uncertain Is the gait, the more suffer the fore-iegs and the many falls we see in the city are caused by this most, senseless use of
 the checkrein. ss.f
 "Especiaiiy cruel consider the over
 head checkrein, which has fore d its way
 into general use from the trotting race
 where however, 1t is seldom used longer
 than ten to fifteen minutes.
 These trotting races are so snort ebe-
 cause horse under such an unnatural
 condition has no endurance. 1Non hos- en0erK good for nothing and cruel instrument and the poor horses are doomed to endure . 1t for hours, yes,.. even while they. are l standing. Count Wrangel, one of our [ greatest experts also condemns tnis
 Thier Boerse:, aThis torture never l ceases, for even during the night the | neck of the horse aches from 1t. and in
 the morning the torment IS renewed un-
 '' yons m Rosenberg. sts General of Cavalry (Germsn5 army) says; Tt is high time
 that this hideous fashion be abolished.
 much wgreatersj than we think. The
 stretched muscles must cause great pain:
 If animals could speak how they would
 accuse mansfor this useless torturea Ihe
 compels, Sis the worst iniagtnaole, ana
 the horse issbound to be ruined. He can
 not pull as heavy Ia doad with; a. check
 rein on. as he could wttnoIt ,s it, ana niT, an
 when he is not checked. For pulling, the
 horse should throw it's weight forward.
 and the head should be directly in front
 of the body; the checkrein prevents tnls.
 Many of the artillery horses whicn dur-
 inK the winter are used as cavalry hogses
 are ruined thereby for pulling. because n a saddle horse the center of gravity IS thrown further back, and these animals lose the habit and the ability to throw it
 forward when again harnessed' 10 the caissons. 8w
 ''The checkre'n also .injures the fore legs of the animal When a saddle horse has even for a short time only been driv- en in harness with a checlxrein on. he will under the saddle feel to the rider somewhat stiff in the forelegs; where's. If he had been similarly driven without a checkrein, he would not be stlr in the forelegs. and would not be injured or hardly any for the saddle.
 His Excellency. General von Fretsch- mann:
 '"rhe checkreio is a terrible torment to tue horse. and ereqhently the cause of 8 runaway. The torture consists in this, hours that every motion of his foreleSs causes discomfort, and positive pain in the neck and in the lower jaws. which cannot yield. This pain is so great as ton and to resistance. A sensible driver who loves his horses will buckle the checkreins so loosely that they about cease to be checkreins. Away with them" T
 Leading American horsemen express the same opinions
 q am happy to say that there are many humane men who have seen the folly of the overcheck, and Senator stan ford is one of them. I was at Menlo Park a short time ago. and the people ] told me that Mir. Stanford would not permit the outrageous eontTivanee on any of his horses.-ThomaS E. Hlil or Chicago
 "A great many people think that a trot- ting horse should be driven with an over same opinion myself. I am now satis- fled that 1t is a serious mistake. It Is just as easy to choke a horse by check ing him too high and forcing the tongue back into the entrance of the throat. as It would be in any other way. I have seen one or two horses die in harness that am now sure were choked to death.'
 Charles Marvin; trainer of Sunol; This horse which could not trot in minutes when checked. trotted inside of 2;4O when unchecked"
 D. P. Hurbert. Horse Trainer: Never check ashorse If you wish him to last
 Karey. the famous trainer: ''Farmers, who put biting bridle on colts and keep 1t half day infiict one of the very worst punishments possible. I have seen colts permanently injured In that way"
 IT. W. Herbert. in his 'HintsSto Horse Is an unaccoUntable mistake in ,harness invention. While 1t holds the horse,s head in an unnatural nngraceful and un- posi- ,ion 1t gives the mouth a callous. horny character and entirely destroys all chance for fine driving. The checkrein is considered valuable to pre- vent horses from. grazing or from lowe prlng' the head. The same end may be equally attained by substituting simple hridlerein to be fastened to the saddle without passing through the tops of the 
 Horton Smith the noted horse trainer: The horse never looks handsomer or Dr binders. The overdraw check should be prohibited by law. Lam opposed to all overdrawn checkreins. and to check oits of every sort" s