Rensselaer Union, Volume 3, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 January 1871 — Position of the Horse’s Neck. [ARTICLE]

Position of the Horse’s Neck.

The shape and position of the horse’s neck should be particularly observed by the person who trains, rides, or drives the hope. It is rare to see two horses formed so exactly alike, that they can bear to have their heads elevated to the same height, without painfully, interfering with the action and power of all parts of the body How unseemly and how barbarous is it, then, for some ignorant trainers, riders and drivers, to screw up all the horses, no matter - how diversified their shapes, that unfortunately fall into their hands, to the same point, for the purpose of giving them what they are pleased to call a ghtceftil carriage! Do such people ever imagine that gracefulness results from a peculiar and appropriate adaptation of the different parts of the animal to each other, and not from a partial distortion, such as we often see exhibited under the influence of the heavy bit, or that most brutal invention, the bearing rein? Were! it not for its

cruelty, it would be very amusing to observe the manner in which some men in riding or driving prop themselves up, for the purpose of pulling with might and main, at the poor animals’ mouths, in the foolish hope of being thus able to keep them from falling, at the same time that they render them so much more attractive to the passers by. Their task is certainly a very anxious and laborious one, and, if persevered in, it is sure to end with broken knees, and perhaps a broken nose. The horse is placed in such an unnatural position, that his entire action is interfered with, and he gets such a habit of leaning on his bit, instead of watching for himself, that he is nearly certain of dropping the first moment his governor forgets the nulling process. A slack rein, With a quick hand, will have far the best chance for keeping a stumbling horse on his feet He will then depend on his own vigilance and exertion, in the same way as hp would if he were running at freedom. The head and neck of horse should be raised just into that position which will comport with the exact balancing of all the other parts of the same animal. The poor creature will then be permitted th do his work with gracefulness and ease, and the feelings of the on-looker will not be harrassed by the compassion which he must feel for a noble animal that is constrained to assume an unnatural and intensely painful attitude.— Prairie Farmer.

A bibgulab instance of death from hydrophobia is given in an exchange. Mr. King, living in Boylston, New York, was severely bitten by a mad dog about forty years ago. He has experienced no serious trouble from the wotjnd during all these years; but a few weeks ago he began to act in a strange manner, and appeared very melancholy. Recently he was seized with severe paroxysms, indicating hydrophobia, and after a few days of fearful suffering death came to his relief. ■ Paul Morphy is practicing law in New Orleans, and has pmetjpally abandoned cifess.