Among stablemen the word habit is applied only to pecu liarity of conduct, to some unusual or objectionable action.

Kicking The Stall-Post

Many idle horses, and mares during the spring, more than geldings, amuse themselves at night by kicking at the stall-post, the travis, or the wall. They often injure the legs; the point of the hock is generally bruised and tumified, and the horse frequently throws his shoes. Some are much worse than others. I have known them demolish the travis, break down the walls, and injure themselves very severely. In the Veterinarian, a horse is spoken of that persisted in kicking till he broke his leg. The habit, I think, is sometimes a species of insanity. There is no accounting for it. The horse may be perfectly peaceable in all other respects. Some seem to intend injury to horses standing next them. But many kick all night, though there should be no other horse in the stable. Few take to the habit while they are in full and constant work, and many give it over partly, or entirely, after their work becomes laborious. If curable, it will be cured by work. Nothing else brings them so effectually to their senses.

Once confirmed, however, the habit is very rarely cured. When first observed, some means should be taken to check it. Most of them kick all to one side. Such should be tried in another stall, having a short travis on the kicking side, and no horse in the next standing. The groom sometimes nails a whin-bush against the post, and that appears to succeed in a few cases, especially with mares that kick only in spring.

Clogs fastened to the legs prevent kicking, and if constantly worn for a long time, perhaps they might cure it. The horse might forget the habit, but in general he has a good memory. The second, if not the first night in which he finds himself unfettered, he recurs to his old trick.

The clogs are applied to different parts of the leg; to the pastern, to the leg directly above the fetlock, or to the ham above the point of the hock. The clog in most common use is a piece of hard wood, or a wooden bullet, weighing two or three pounds, and attached to a light chain from twelve to twenty-four inches long. The other end of the chain is fastened to the pastern by a strap. This is applied only to the leg with which the horse kicks. When he strikes with both, a clog is required for each. The horse should be fatigued when the clog is put on for the first time. The only objection to a clog of this kind is its liability to be trampled on by the other foot; but the horse soon learns to take care of that. Sometimes the chain, without a bullet, suffices. Sometimes the chain is much shorter, and the strap buckled above the fetlock, not on the pastern, so that the clog lies upon the hoof without touching the ground. In this way the clog should be long or egg-shaped rather than round. The strap requires to be tighter than when it is placed upon the pastern, otherwise it falls down. A broad strong strap, applied very tightly above the hock-joint, with or without a clog, prevents kicking, but it also prevents the horse from lying down; it often marks the leg and makes it swell.

The legs are sometimes shackled together. But this is seldom needful or right. The horse is apt to hurt himself, and he can not lie. I have met with cases in which all these means failed to prevent nocturnal kicking.

Weaving

This habit consists in darting the head from side to side of the stall. The horse stands in the middle of the stall, with his fore feet somewhat apart; the motion of his head is constant and rapid, as if he were watching something running from end to end of the manger. Sometimes he performs a kind of up-and-down motion, perhaps when he gets tired of the lateral. I am unable to discover the origin or object of this habit. Some horses are fond of playing with the halter-chains. They are of an irritable, restless disposition, desirous of constant employment. They seen? to have pleasure in making a noise with the chains, by draw ing each alternately and rapidly through the rings. Possibly this may have something to do in the production of weaving Whatever be the cause, the habit is harmless. A dark stall Das been recommended; but at this moment I know a confirmed weaver who is perfectly blind. In general the horse should be tied with only one rein.

Pawing

Hot-tempered horses are much in the habit of scraping away the litter and digging their fore feet into the ground, as if they meant to tear up the pavement They wear down their shoes very fast, break the nails, and keep their bed always in disorder. When the horse uses only one foot in pawing, a clog may be put upon it similar to that employed against kicking. It may be fastened to the pastern, to the leg above the fetlock-joint, or above the knee-joint. In general, that is the most successful which is attached to the fetlock. The chain should be just long enough to let the clog hang against the hoof. When the horse paws equally with both feet, a clog may be placed on each, or the two may be shackled together without clogs.

Shackles, or fetters, are two straps, one for each pastern, connected by a light chain ten or twelve inches long. The last link at each extremity of this chain is triangular, for admitting the straps, which should be about twelve or fourteen inches long, lined inside with soft leather or cloth, and so broad that they can not cut the skin, from which the edges are a little raised by the inside lining. These fetters are objectionable; they prevent the horse from lying down. They are sometimes employed for other purposes than that of preventing pawing. In the racing-stables, I believe, they are occasionally applied to keep an irritable horse from striking and wounding his legs while under the operations of his groom, and they are sometimes put on horses when they are turned out, to be retaken in an hour or two.

Wasting The Grain

Playful, lively horses, sometimes waste a great deal of their oats. They seize a large mouthful, look about while masticating, and suffer much of it to drop among the litter. Often more than half of the feed is lost. This may be partly prevented by giving a small quantity at a time, by spreading it thinly over the bottom of the tnanger, by shortening the halter-rein, and by placing the horse in a remote stall, where nothing will attract his attention at feeding-time. Some waste the grain in another way. They drive it out of the manger by a jerk of the muzzle. The cross-spars, already spoken of, prevent this habit.