mal, who has no dread whatever of death. It is, therefore, not by inflicting physical pain that the man dominates the brute; but rather by the skillful use of the sensations which the man is able to impose. Whenever pain becomes the custom, the animal no longer heeds it. But agreeable sensations are retained in memory, and so dispose the animal to obey for the sake of the caresses and rewards.
I have already explained that the purpose of the flexions is to obtain equal contact of the bars upon the bit by the effect of the two legs used equally. Evidently, if the legs do not act equally, the contact of the bit will also be unsymmetrical. So much the more, then, must the vastly more powerful spurs be used with precise equality if the animal is to be kept straight and equal in all his steps and gaits.
It is for this reason most important that the teeth of the two rowels be equally sharp or dull, and that the spurs be set immovably at the same height; otherwise the attack will occur sooner, or at a different place, or be more severe, on one side than the other. I hold my own spurs in place by having a small piece of leather at the top of the heel, on which the spur rests, and a very short strap which passes in front of the heel below the boot. But the best method is to follow the advice of Fillis and to have box spurs set permanently in the boots. These cannot be displaced and will always act equally.
