of the flanks and of the panniculus carnosus. The cure is to ride for a time without spurs and with the legs against the flanks. This is followed by spurs with the teeth filed dull and encased in leather, until the horse becomes progressively accustomed to the ordinary sort. The same treatment can be used for horses that have been made ticklish by improper spurring. A few cases, apparently cured, afterwards relapse. Some animals are quite incurable.
In sum, then, the spurs, properly used, are our most powerful means for obtaining, with the help of the bridle, a position of the animal in which all defense, restiveness, disobedience, or signs of fear become impossible. We do not, indeed, alter the horse's moral state; but we force it to assume a position in which it cannot use its members for the acts which correspond.
On the other hand, the spurs are a dangerous tool when used by a rider who employs them without moderation, delicacy, propriety, and discretion, like a monkey playing with a razor. Nothing is more ridiculous than to see either a man or a woman rider, wearing spurs as an ornament of fashion, with the legs so extended as to bring the heels close to the horse's shoulders. It is easy, in such a case, to understand the sarcasm of a certain master: "It would be better for such a rider to buckle his spurs to his own elbows, and use them against his own flanks."
