.—A horse is said to be heavy in hand, when, from want of spirit, he goes sluggishly on, bearing his whole weight upon the BIT; as if the hand of the rider alone prevented his pitching upon his head; and this to a good horseman is one of the most unpleasing defects a HORSE can possess. Horses of this description should be rode in a Weymouth bridle, (see Bit,) and constantly made to feel the CURB rein; when at the same moment, that useful monitor the spur should be brought into brisk and sudden contact with the body; a perseverance in which practice will be found the only mode to remedy the inconvenience. See Hand.
HEELS
.—The heels of a horse, critically speaking, imply only that part of the hoof which is the very reverse of the toe; seated behind, and forming the back of the foot, across the widest end of the frog, extending from one point of the heel to the other. Custom has, however, so far extended both the idea and the expression, that in the present general acceptation of the word, it is admitted to include the feet as high as the fetlock-joint; so that the heels are subject to accidents, inconveniencies, defects, and blemishes, as CRACKS, SCRATCHES, OVERREACHES, GREASE, &c. The heels of a horse, to be good, should be high, (that is, of a proper length from the hair above to the ground below,) firm, and substantial, open on each side the frog, and never should be cut down too low by the destructive instrument of the SHOEING-SMITH; an error in both judgment and practice, to which may be justly attributed the frequent failure in the back sinews; for where the heels are unnaturally reduced, and the tendons in part deprived of their support, they have evidently to encounter a preternatural distension, by which the elasticity is partially destroyed, and some of the fibrous coats consequently ruptured.
HEELS NARROW
—is a defect, or inconvenience, to which HORSES are constantly subject; but they are produced much more by the officious obtrusions of ART, than any deficiency in the original formation of NATURE. Horses with narrow heels are generally those who have had very little attention paid to the state of the feet, by either MASTER or man, during the operation of SHOEING; and where the journeyman smith too often, from absolute idleness, affixes a shoe too narrow to the FOOT, and then, to increase the injury, reduces the FOOT to the dimensions of the shoe.
This grievance is much easier prevented than remedied; for when once a destruction of parts has been inconsiderately occasioned, a REGENERATION may not be easily obtained. The cruel and invincible practice of applying the hot shoe to the FOOT (by way of fitting it) during the act of shoeing, contributes in no small degree to the contraction of the heel; and when this injury is once sustained, great care and constant attention become necessary to solicit a renovation. Whether it has been occasioned by the fatal operation of the cutting-knife, the fashionable back-stroke friction of the rasp, or the fiery effect of the hot shoe when conveyed from the FORGE to the foot, the direct road to relief is precisely the same: nightly stopping with any applicable composition calculated to mollify the bottom of the hoof, and to promote its expansion, with a plentiful impregnation of sperma-cæti oil daily, are the only sure and certain means by which the heels can be restored to their original and proper formation.
HEELER
—is the person who affixes the deadly weapon called A SPUR (made of either steel or silver) to the heel of a GAME COCK, when taken from the pen previous to his being carried to the COCK-PIT to fight his battle. A hard-hitting cock, who is perpetually fighting with effect, and gives his adversary no time to stand still, or look about him, is likewise called A HEELER.
HELPS, or AIDS
,—are terms appertaining solely to the MANEGE and RIDING-SCHOOL, little known elsewhere, and totally unconnected with the sports of the field. Professors technically describe seven helps necessary to complete the lesson given to a horse; as the VOICE, WHIP, BIT, CALVES of the LEGS, the STIRRUPS, the SPUR, and the GROUND.