Many horses attempt to get free by falling back upon the haunches, and throwing their weight upon the halter-rein; there they hang for a while till some part of the rein gives way, or till they find it too strong for them. This is the true breaking loose; cutting the rope with the teeth and casting the halter are merely slipping loose. Such a forcible mode of getting free, or attempting to get free, is attended with some danger. If the tie suddenly give way, the horse falls back with such violence that he is generally lamed or injured. The haunch bones are sometimes broken, and the hocks seldom escape a severe contusion; occasionally the head is cut, either by the fall or by the strain of the halter. I know of only two ways in which a cure is attempted; one consists in giving the horse a good fright and a tumble, by freeing the rope at the moment he is trying to break it. This, however, is not a cure : it seldom prevents the horse from repeating the attempt; it only puts him on his guard against the sudden rupture of the tie; he still persists in his efforts to break it, but he takes care not to fall backward. The other way is to tie him so strongly that no force he can exert will free him.

After he has made a few unsuccessful trials, he appears to conclude that the thing is not practicable, and he desists. For an experiment of this kind a leather halter is too weak, the head-piece upon which the stress falls, should be of strong rope, sitting close behind the ears. If the manger is not sufficiently firm, the ring should be sunk deep in the wall.

I believe that the use of a neck-strap, instead of the ordinary halter, deters many horses from this trick of breaking loose; I have seen it succeed in several cases. As additional security, the halter may be put on too; it keeps the head straight, so that the neck may not be twisted when the strain is on the strap. The halter-rein should be as long as the strap-rein. Whenever the horse is observed hanging in the halter, with the purpose of breaking loose, he should be well flogged always from behind.

This trick is often the result of bad management. An awkward or rude groom, by the manner in which he approaches a horse or works about the head, often frightens or pains him. The horse should never be struck on the head or neck nor a blow threatened by a person standing before him; it makes him draw back. The halter already spoken of, and the ordinary mode of filling the hay-rack, may each have something to do in producing the habit.

A few horses of determined temper will not be tied up after they have succeeded several times in breaking loose. They struggle so long and with such violence, that they injure themselves even when they do not get free. A loose box is the proper place for these.