A few horses have an aversion to the operations of the groom from the earliest period of their domestication. In spite of the best care and management, they continue to resist grooming with all the art and force they can exert. This is particularly the case with stallions, and many thorough-bred horses not doing much work. But a great many horses are rendered vicious to clean by the awkwardness, timidity, or folly of the keeper. An awkward man gives the horse more pain than ought to attend the operation; a timid man allows the horse to master him; and a mischievous fellow is always learning him tricks, teaching him to bite, or to strike in play, which easily passes into malice.

Biting may be prevented by putting on a muzzle, or by tying the head to the rack, or to the ring outside of the stable. When reversed in the stall, the head may be secured by the pillar-reins. A muzzle often deters a horse from attempting to bite, but some will strike a man to the ground though they can not seize him. These must be tied up. Many harness-horses are perfectly quiet while they are bridled, and it is sufficient to let the bridle remain on, or to put it on, till they be dressed. Others again are quite safe when blindfolded. Kicking horses are more dangerous than biters. A great many strike out, and are apt to injure an awkward groom; yet they are not so bad but an expert fellow may manage them, without using any restraint. A switch held always in the hand, in view of the horse, and lightly applied, or threatened when he attempts to strike, will render others comparatively docile. A few permit their hind quarters to be cleaned while their clothes are on. Some there are, however, that can not be managed so easily. They strike out, those especially that lead idle lives, so quickly and so maliciously, that the groom is in great danger, and can not get his work properly performed. There are two remedies - the arm-strap and the twitch.

Where another man can not be spared to assist, one of the fore legs is tied up; the knee is bent till the foot almost touches the elbow, and a broad buck-ling-strap is applied over the forearm and the pastern. The horse then stands upon three legs, and the groom is in no danger of a kick. Until the horse is accustomed to stand in this way, he is apt to throw himself down; for the first two or three times the leg should be held up by a man. rather than tied with a strap. The horse should stand on a thick bed of litter, so that he may not be injured should he fall. In course of time he may perhaps become quieter, and the arm-strap may be thrown aside. It should not be applied always to the same leg, for it produces a tendency to knuckling over of the pastern, which, in a great measure, is avoided by tying up each leg alternately, the right to-day, the left to-morrow. Even the arm-strap will not prevent some horses from kicking; some can stand on two legs, and some will throw themselves down. The man must just coax the horse, and get over the operation with as little irritation as possible Upon extraordinary occasions the twitch may be employed, but it must not be applied every day, otherwise the lip upon which it is placed becomes inflamed, or palsied.

When restraint must be resorted to, the man should be doubly active in getting through his work, that the horse may not be kept for a needless length of time in pain. He may, in some cases, give the horse a very complete dressing when he is fatigued, and not disposed to offer much resistance.

Irritable, high-bred horses, often cut and bruise their legs when under the grooming operations. They should have boots, similar to those used against speedy cutting.