A horse that has once run away, especially if, in connection with that feat, he has met with any noisy disaster or breakage, is _never, as long as he lives, safe to drive again_. It only remains for his owner to use humanity and judgment in disposing of him.
_Stubborn horses_, or _jibbers_, in single harness.—On the first appearance of this disposition at starting, the neck should be examined, to discover whether the fit may not have been occasioned by indisposition to work against an ill-fitting or dirty collar, which may have produced abrasion or tenderness of the skin under it (_see_ page 61). If the unpleasantness proceed from innate stubbornness in the brute, and simple means do not succeed in single harness, place him in double harness, beside a well-tempered, good worker, that will _drag him away_, starting _down-hill_. In this manner the habit, if not confirmed, will be overcome. In _extreme_ cases, different appliances have been used with varied success in making the beast move on—such as a round pebble, about the size of a hen’s egg, placed in the ear, and secured with a cord tied round the latter, near the tip, or stuffing a glove in each ear. I have also seen coachmen put two or three handfuls of mud into the horse’s mouth, and rub it against his palate with good effect, or tap him with a stick at the back of the fore legs, just under the knee.
Letting a stubborn beast stand for hours in harness in the spot where he has taken the fit, and, when he has become well hungered, placing a feed of corn before him and gradually walking away with it, is a dilatory proceeding sometimes resorted to, but scarcely worth mentioning.
The size of horses should be in proportion to the weight and size of the vehicle and loads they are intended to move, upon the principle, easily demonstrated by experiment, that weight drags weight. For instance, a horse having to drag a cart up a hill, will do so more easily with the driver on his back than otherwise, as the weight of the man assists the horse against the weight he has to move. The latter part of this argument only refers, however, to short distances, or to starting a draught.
The higher the wheels are, and the closer together, whether they be two or four, the lighter will be the draught. In fact, to render the draught as easy as possible, the axles ought to be on a level with the trace-hooks, or point of traction, or as nearly horizontal as possible with the traces and their place in the leg of the hames. It is self-evident that if a horse has to be pulling _up_, it is like his having to raise a certain part of the weight of the carriage with every step he moves; and the faster he goes, the more injuriously does this principle operate against him.