Our. Horses - Forgotten Books

O U R . H OR SE S :

TH E BEST M U SCLES CONTROLLED BY

TH E BEST BRAINS .

A L F R E D SA U N DE R S .

“PE R F ECT KNO\VLE DG E OF NATURE W'

OL'

LD M EAN SOM ETHING " I KE

AB SOLUTE CONTROL OVER NATURE .

’

LONDON

SAM PSON,Low, M ARSTON , SEA RLE R IV ING TON ,1 88

,F LEET STREET

, E C .

1 886 .

ALL R IGH TS R ES E R VE D .

IN D E X O F C H A PT E R S.

Ch a pt e r.l .—GENERAL R EM ARKS

2 .

—VARIETI ES OF THE HOR SE3 .—STAR L1 NG

,CLOTHING , CLEANING

4 .

—F OOD—WATER(In t—AIR

7 .

—EXERC I SE8 ,

—SHOEING9 .

—THEORY O F HOR SE E DUCAT I ONl U .

—BREAK ING A HOR SE SLOWLY AND THOROUGHLY1 1 .

—HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION1 2 .

—LOCAL SYSTEM S1 3 .

—E XPEDI TI OUS E DUCAT IONl 4 .

—THEORY OF BREAK ING To HARNESSl 5 .

—BREAK ING TO LIGHT HARNESS

1 6 .

—BREAK ING To SLOW HEAVY DRAF T

1 7.—V IC ES AND BAD HAB I TS

1 8 .

—R IDING1 9 .

—DRIV ING

2 0 .

—S ELECTING A HOR SE

2 1 .—INDICATIONS OF AG E

2 2 .—PURCHASING A HORSE

2 3 .—BREEDING

2 4 .—DISEA_SES

P R E F A C E .

A Bristol yout h whose theological educati on had been much

n eglected,was once asked by hi s Sunday School teacher

,i n the

words o faa. catechism

,What is the chief end o f man 7” Feel ing

his in tellect insulted by a question,the answer to which appeared

to him so very obvious,the boy indignan t-ly repl ied,

“Why hi s hea d

to be sure .” This answer was not received wi th much favo ur

by the teacher,but i t nevertheless contains a very impor ta n t

truth,and one which man is too prone to forget , especi ally when

deal ing wi th an imals whose head can hardly be considered thei r

chief e nd. i s deali ngs wi th the horse have no t always

i llus t ratedthe truth of Cowper’s l ines

Ti s p la in t he cre a t ure whom H e cho s e t o in ve s tWith kin gship a n ddom in io n o

’

e r t he re s t ,Re ce ive d h i s n o ble r n a ture , a n dwa s m a deF i t f o r the powe r , i n which he s t a n ds a rra y e d .

The unexam pled progress o f our coun trymen i n be n e fice n t

civilization durin g the las t sixty years,has bee n mai nly due t o

the fact,that even the toi lers amon gs t us have learned to use

t heir ch ief e nd” more,and the ir in ferior ends l ess .

With more peace , more food , more le isure, and more educat ion ,even our agricul tural labourers have asser ted their righ t to be

something more than hewers o f wood and drawers of water have

sought and have obtained improved tools " and n ow willingly

leave the lowest and most severe drudgery to the water wheel,the

steam engine,a ndthe horse .

The descendants o f the poor mistak en men,who

,fifty years

ago,were burn ing the farmers rude thrashing machines

,and

v fi t PREFACE .

demanding that their i ll - fedmuscles should replace those of the

ox o r the horse , are now quite abl e t o see that their elevat ion

must come in the opposi te di recti on , and that the ir own heads

must take,at least, a par t in the ascen t .

They n aw earn the price of three bushel s o f wheat wi th less

e ffor t than their ances tors earned the pri ce of o n e . They have

learned to to il l ess and to accom plish more . They no longer

demand to raise their wea ry arm s i n a physi cal com pe ti ti on w i th

the strength o f the ox, o r the power of the s team en gine . They

thrash, but n o t wi th the flai l they dig, but not wi th the spade

they mow,but not wi th the scythe they reap

,bu t not wi th the

s ickle they grind,but not as Sam pson ground .

A few minutes thought of'

what the world would be without

the horse , l e ad s us to a true es tim ate of his value, and enables

us to real ize what our l ives would l ose of pleasure , p ower, profi t,and pic turesqueness

,w i thou t the animal that brin gs such great ,

ye t such con trol labl e powers t o o ur aid .

Our ear nest aim i n the fol lowing pages has been t o help o n

the tri umph o f mind over the agencies placed at i ts disposal t o

put the bes t muscles comple tely under the control o f - th e bes t

brains,and to show that unthinking brute force is not the weapon

wi th whi ch man can h 0 pe to make the bes t o f hi s most will ing

and mos t timid servant,the horse " but that hi s super ior i ntel

l ige n ce , appli ed in a spir i t o f human i ty to the relationship,will

make this p owerful ally f a r more useful a ndmore happy than he

i s n ow found to be .

By careful ly observing the nature and peculi ar ins tinc ts of

any an imal i n our charge,and meeting them with some humane

resources wi thi n our reach , we can general ly insure obedie n ce t o

our will,cure mos t of his bad habi ts

,and secure our own safe ty

by some simple s tra tagem . We only convert his eccentri ci ties

i nto formidable dangers when we combat them wi th unm anly

cruel ty .

We are only too conscious that no e fi'

o r t,l i terary, legislati ve ,

o r moral , will ever keep the horse from falling i nto hands unfi t

to arbi trate the fate o f any sensi ti ve creature .

From the nature o f things the most worthless and the mos t

J

PREFACE . 1x.

he a r Lle ss are attracted bv the tricks , and a trocious ba r bari ties ,adopted by the blacklegs among horse dealers . But enl ightened

self - in teres t is the mos t power ful,and by far the mos t generally

appl icable an tidote to cruel ty,and should

,a t least

,save the young

horse from the inj uries of ignorance , and to him ignorance form s

the most substant ial danger .

Le t breeders and owners sufficien tly understand tha t the

education o f the young horse is no ques tion of craf t , mystery , o r

eve n skilled horsemanship but demands tem per, j udgmen t , tact,and qual i ties only to be found i n a superior class of men

,and we

may hOp e to see fewer cruel m istakes , and consequently losses in

that d irection . With horses educated under the eye o f those who

know how i t should be done , and who have a direct pecuniary

interest i n the resul t , an ent irely different sys tem would be adop ted,wi th resul ts tha t wou ld not be uncertain

,e i ther humanely ,

morally, o r commercial ly .

After seeing the horse , bo th tame and wi ld , reduced to

obedience by men of various degrees of ci viliza tion,i n every

quarter o f the globe , our aim has been t o select the system that

would give us the best possible horse wi th the leas t expendi ture

o f t ime and trouble . In thi s we have succeeded beyond our mos t

sanguine expecta tions, and by the mos t humane and simple means

We therefore record these me thods for the benefi t o f the horse

and i ts owner,certain that

,i f fai thfully carried ou t, they will not

fa i l to con tribute to the welfare and happiness o f both .

For the harness horse we have enti rely and invariably

succeeded in preven ting that vice which ha s caused the greatest

exhibi tion o f cruel ty, and the greates t depreciation o f value,from

wh ich he ha s ever suffered , and we have the satisfaction o f

knowing that the adoption o f our advice would remove a weight

o f suff erin g from the horse, and a load o f s i n from his owner,

that would make the world less s ad.

If we have forsaken the beaten paths o f orthodox horse

management,and called in question the teachings o f those who

have long been looked up to as great authori ties, our defence

must be,tha t for half - a - cen tury we have gone t o a greater Teacher,

and have been shewn that they were wron g .

X. PRE F ACE .

Very slowly , very reluctant ly , but very surely , we have los t

our fai th i n long cheri shed theories and practi ces,and have

learned from Nature , and to bow only t o the unanswerable logic

o f facts .

Where the resul ts have been constan tly and strikingly good,

we have concluded that the course practi sed must be good also .

I n j udging o f the val ue o f our work , we a sk our readers to

try i t by the same rule . Le t our advice be tested by the unerring

records o f careful pract i ce,and we confidently lea v e the estimate

o f our work to the resul t of that unbiassed tes tim ony .

I t i s usual t o acknowledge the sources o f a n y information

that the author has been able to u til ize " but , so far as i t i s

possible, we have done that i n the tex t o f the chapters before us .

We say , as far a s possible,because i t i s not possible f o r the

human mind to ascerta i n al l the aids that have l ed up t o i t s

presen t degree o f knowledge upon any subj ect . Where we couldrecol lec t the source we have gratefully recorded i t, whe ther from

great names,l ike S ir J . Forbes

,D r. Dadd, o r Professor Rarey,

o r from a humble American Indian,a Gaucho, an Austral ian

stockman , o r a simple Maori family .

Our readers will se e tha t we have thus l i teral ly become a

debtor both to the Greeks and t o the Barbarians and ,al though we have too often proved but a slow scholar

,we have

had every advan t age to be derived from book s, from the observa

t ion o f experts, from a comparison o f the differe n t horses and

horsemen o f the world, from a lon g practical experience , and

from a love o f the an imal i tself, that ha s been the stron ges t

incen ti ve t o our wri t ing the pages o f th is book .

O U R H O R S E S

CHAPTER I .

GENERAL REM ARK S .

1 .—Ih the l anguage o f zoology

,or i n the orderly classificat ion

o f nat ural is ts,the horse ranks under the division vertebra ta

(having a brain and spinal m arrow ) " the class mammalia

(suckl ing their young) the t ribe un gulata (hav in g fee t prot ected

wi th hoof s) " and, al though hi s own skin is thin a nd v e r v

sensi tive , he i s placed under the order pa chyderma ta, or thick

skinned,that term be ing appl ied to all hoofed animals that do

no t chew the cud . He belongs to the v o li p eda fam i l v ha r in or

o n each f oo t only o n e undivided hoof.9

.

—Such ancien t his tory as we have had handed down to us,

give s us singularly l i ttle i n formation abou t so importan t and

useful an animal . St a tues and hieroglyphics do no t help us

much nor a r e there any existi ng herds o f wild horses , excep t

those tha t are known to have originated wi th animals once

domesti cated,and which consequently give us n o clue to the

aboriginal home of the horse . I t seems to have formed no par t

o f the possession s o f Abraham ,Isaac, or Jacob . We firs t hea r o f

i t f rom Egypt,where

,i n the time o f the dire famine , we read

“ Joseph gave them bread in exchange fo r horses .” The waggon

the sight o f which revi v ed the spiri t o f o ld Jacob, m a y have

been drawn by asses or mules,as more sui tabl e for such roads .

and more sa fe for the conveyance of such passen gers a s t he

“Wi ves and l i t tle ones . But

,when Joseph took back hi t

f a the r’

s Er em a i n s to the field of Machpelah , we are l e f t i n n o

2 ABORIGINAL HOME .

doubt tha t “ there went up with h im both chariots and horse

m e n . Thus we ga ther that the horse first came from North

Africa,and was used in the service o f man a t least

years ago . The exam i na tion of ancient sculptures has led some

an tiquarians t o the h ighly improbable conclus ion that the horse

was long used to draw vehicles be fore any o n e ven tured to

moun t on hi s back . We canno t imagine that generati on s o f men

who rode on asses would continue t o walk by the side o f an

a nimal so much be tter fi tt ed to carry them, and which they had

made docile enough to draw all sor ts of frigh tful things at i t s

tail . I t is fa r more probable that the early sculp tors foun d i t

more e asy to represen t a horse drawing some thing behind him

than to place a stone rider graceful ly o n his back .

3 .—Egypt i tse l f is ve ry li t tle adapted fo r a horse breeding

coun try,but the l eading par t that she once took i n c ivil isation

,

and the commandin g polit i cal posi t ion she l ong occupied,would

e nable her t o draw suppl ie s o f them from a uv par t o f North

Africa . Wi th her great mari time advan tages these seem t o have

been dis tributed to other parts o f the world , horses being a

favouri te article both o f ordinary export , and fo r royal presen ts

t o foreign potentates . Soloman was a large impor ter o f horsesfrom Egypt

,a n d with hi s weal th , wisdom , and power, he is

l ikely to have secured the best,s o th a t th ere i s nothin g ve ry

incredible in the Ara b tradi ti on that their best horses descend

from the s tud o f Soloma n . Mahome t appears t o have severely

t ested the powers o f the Arabian mare , a n d a s he would be able

t o ob tain the best , mares that had endured such tests f rom him ,

would naturally become celebrated, and thus the Arabs ge t

a nother s tar ting p oin t in the pedigree o f their bes t horses, more

t han years later than the reign o f Soloman .

4 .—In poin t o f s trict u t i li ty the horse m ust p erhaps rank

beh ind the cow,o r e ven the sheep, al though in the presen t state

o f socie ty i t would be more difficul t fo r any n ation t o t ake a

commanding posi tion , o r even to hold i ts own,wi thou t the

horse than withou t e i ther o f thos e animals . I n in tel l igence he

ha s m any superiors the el ephan t,the dog, t he fox , the p i g, the

r a t,the cow, and even the donkey have more brai n power, and

NOT WI SE OR COURAGEOUS .

a r e far less easily deceived than the horse . Few animals have

s o l i tt le capaci ty to take care of themselves, o r can be m ade the

subjects o f such easy and long con ti nued impos i tion . No other

animal submits hi s physical powers so unreservedly to the service

o f man , nor can the muscles of a n y other slave be so cons t an tly

and crue lly overtaxed at his command . I n fiction,i n poetry

,

and even in r e a ll

li fe , he oft en gets credi ted with much wisdom

and courage,though he i s singularly deficient o f both

,and many

cruel mistakes in his treatmen t resul t from the supposi tion that

he i s far more i n telligen t and more aggressively courageous than

he really i s . He i s essen t ial ly no t a fighting but a flying

animal,o n e that trus ts to hi s speed , and no t to hi s sagaci ty,

courage,o r aggressive power for his safe ty . Even when dr iven

in to a yard,or otherwi se placed beyond the possibil i ty o f escape

,

the wild horse shows no fight, a s most other wild an imals wil l do ,

bu t s til l cowers l ike the t i m id‘

she e p at the greatest possible

di s tance from a n y puny pursuer . Comple tely and con tinuously

gregarious in hi s habi t s,the horse n ever feels so safe , so con ten ted,

o r so happy as whe n i n company, and his hardest lessons i n the

service o f man are those which confine him to sol i tary s ervice o r

sol i tary confinemen t,and compel hi m to face alone dangers that

would terri fy hi m even i n that companionsh ip which n ature has

taugh t him to cl ing to at any cost of exertion . Even the

wounded horse wi l l n ever voluntarily l eave the herd , bu t gallops

with i t t ill he drops,eviden tly under a feel ing implan ted in his

na ture that t o be le ft behind is to be left a prey to some cruel

p ursuer . This i s the simple key to most o f the romance we

hear a n d read about the horse enjoying the bat tle,the chase

,

and the race . Nature ha s taught h im what she teaches a ll

animals that seek safe ty in fligh t and in society , that i t i s

dangerous t o be left alone, o r to be lef t beh ind, a feeling that she

has sometimes al lowed to seize large bodies,even o f that most

aggressive animal—man . The vaunted courage o f the battle

horse i s the courage of ignorance and panic . He has wi th

difficu l ty been taught on parade that sight s and sounds that once

terrifi edhim are harmless,and he knows no di fi

‘

cr e n ce between

the bol tless noi se o f the blank cart r idge and the deadly ba l l s of

4 V ICES RESULT FROM FEAR .

actual warfare . I n the charge the more really t errified he feels

the more determined he i s no t to be left alone, so that each

horse madly rushes wherever he bel ieves his compan ion to be

going. H is most dangerous v ices are the resul t of hi s extremely

tim id nature,which make s him imagine every log t o be a lion

,

every gap in a hedge to be a lurking place for a tiger,and an

oppossum rug to be a bear , whilst he fl ies in fran tic terror from a

serpen t - l ike leather rope drawn by himsel f, from the rider dragging

in the s t irrup,o r the carriage wheels rollingbehind him .

5 .

—In silen t , pat ien t , unresisting endurance o f suff erings fromwhich he ha s not been al lowed t o fly he ha s few equal s . e

plods patien tly on from day to day suffering fr om heat,cold

,

s tarvation,or thirst

,unti l hi s bon es start through hi s skin

,and

hi s was t ed muscles can no longer raise him from the ground .

s e

pushes o n to the fixed bayonet . He carries his rider without a

groan o r a pause wi th flanks heaving for l ife unti l he drops dead .

No person can be prepared t o deal properly wi th the horse who

starts with the too common impression that he has to deal

with a cunning, cou ra geous, obs tinate animal . He has usually

to deal wi th an animal simple as a baby, nervous as a lady, and

timid as a partridge .

6 .

—In size the horse varies alm ost from that of the dog tothat o f the elephant , from two feet to s i x and hal f fee t high " from

two cwt . to one t on in we igh t " from the mere toy which a

gen tleman has l if t ed in to his gig, t o the gigantic quadruped

which s tarts five tons weight o n the Lo n don pavement .

Fortunately the doci l i ty and placidi ty of the horse general ly

increases wi th his siz e,m aking the gian ts often m ore easy to deal

with than the dwarfs . I n slower t imes tha n the presen t the

finest specimens of the ra ce used to be seen calmly wending their

way through the sigh ts and sounds o f London streets,attentive

t o every word that was spoken to them by a self possessed and good

tempered dri ver , who was j us t ly proud of his glossy, magnificent ,and obedien t t eam .

7 —Rough stun ted pon ies are found in the Shetland Islands ,and in I celand

,and dry skinned, unhappy, emaciated Arabs and

Austra lian horses are made to endure the heat a ndinsects at the

RANGE OF CLIM ATE . 5

equator,bu t the horse can only be said to flourish i n tem pera t e

regions,and reaches hi s finest proportion s only in those countries

where green grass can be ob tained during the greater part of the

year. Even on the vast,dr y , though temperate Austral ian plains

where l igh t horses are s o abun dan t and so good,the size of the

heavy cart horse canno t be sustained , so that he i s regularly

imported from the colder cl imates o f Tasman ia and New Zealand .

There i s i n the cl imat e of New Zealand somethi n g special ly

favourab le to the developmen t bo th of the cart horse and the

r ace hor se . No finer car t horses can be seen in any part o f the

world than at the New Zealand agricul tural shows . Some of thevery first race horses bred in New Zealand were from Flora

Mc . Ivor, when about twen ty years o f age,yet they surpassed in

spe ed anything that she bred in he r prime i n Australia . Duringthe year 1 88 8 , a three - year - o ld col t

,bred in New Z ealand

,and

undergoing a voyage t o Austral ia , has carried o ff the two

p rincipal races in Melbourne, i n the shortest time th ey have

e ver been accomplished . This col t (Mart in i eury) won not only

the Derby,fo r three - year - olds

,but the Melbourne Cup

,beating

a field of n o less than 2 9 of the very bes t Austral ian horses o f al l

ages,doing the m i le a nd a hal f in 2 minutes and 3 9 seconds

,

and the two miles in 3 m inu tes 3 0 % seconds.

Though capable o f his great est Speed and o f the utmost

endurance when f edchi efly on dry fodder, wi th a large proportion

o f corn , the horse only attains his u tmost growth , continuous

heal th , and natural age , when f ed o n somewhat bulky and

succulen t food.

8 .

—Under good t reatmen t he reaches his full growth andutmos t power at five years old, cont inues in perfection unti l

twelve,and i s capable o f moderate work un ti l over twenty.

Af ter that age his powers fai l fas t,al though there are a few

cases on record in which he has at tained the age o f f orty,and

both sexes have been known to ret ai n fertil i ty unti l after thirty.

Excessively fas t work over hard roads,excited by stimulatin g

concen trated f ood,often wears him out in a few mon ths, so that

stage coach horses,al t hough sk ilfully selected , wi th great n atural

powers o f speed a ndendurance,on ly stand their cruel work two

6 VARIETIES PRODUCED .

years o n an a verage . The more moderate pace of the ci ty omnibus

horse enables him to last abou t s i x years,al though eating

1 7 lbs . o f corn a day, whilst the pampered gian ts used by the

great London brewers, s tan d the ir slow work ten years, eating no less

tha n 2 2 lbs . o f corn a day . The ordin ary farm horse,eating

1 0 lbs . of corn 9. dav , and get ting a good deal o f green food ,often las ts twen ty years

,al though under equal treatmen t the

heavy cart horse is n aturally a shor ter - l ived animal than the l igh t

coach hors e .

9 .—In the course o f many cen turies the climate

,the soi l ,

and the requirements of each coun try , as wel l as the tastes ,opportuni ties

,occupation s

,a n dgenius o f i ts people

,have s tamped

a pecul iar character o n the horses produced i n i t . South EastAsi a and North Africa have produced the beautiful

,wiry

,enduring

Arab and Barb,the rich plains o f Central Europe have grown

and fos tered the heavy Flanders horse,whils t Great Bri tain

,with

i ts horse - loving population,i ts grassy soil

,i ts free trade

,and i ts

watery high way to all the world,ha s cul led from every country

,

and cul tivated whatever i t required,un til i t ha s excel led every

other par t of the world i n i ts racers,i t s hunters

,and i ts draft

horses . London stree t s and London parks have become the

places where the chi ld’s pony,the lady ’s p am lfr e y , the gentleman

’s

hunter,the high s tepping carri age horse

,or the brewer ’s dray

horse,m a y be seen i n the greates t perfection , under the highest

discipl ine,and in the best possible condi tion . The offshoo ts of

o ur race in America and Australasia , take the same horses and

the same taste s wherever they go,and whenever the horses o f the

o ldcountry are beaten i t wil l be by the descendan ts o f her own

s tock in the hands of her own children .

Her colonis ts do no t send to Africa or Arabia for their nags ,nor to Flanders for thei r dray horses

,but to England f o r their

racers,to Ireland for t hei r hunters , and to Scotland for their

draft horses,and for the men to handle them .

CHAPTER I I .

VARIETIES o r THE HORSE .

1 0 . Al though there may never have been a period when i t

wa s more possible to ob tai n a horse o f any requi red size or

character than i t i s now,there were fa r more di s tinct a nddefinite

breeds fi f ty years ago than there are a t the presen t t ime .

The im mense faci l i ties that the las t hal f cen tury ha s provided

for cheap and rapid communicat ion,both between di fferen t

coun tries,and between di fi

‘

e r e n t parts o f the same country , have

l essened or destroyed many distinctions tha t used to exi s t i n the

l ive and dead s tock of most parts o f the world " have removed

many a prej udice,have dropped many a n inf erior race o f animal s

out o f exis tence , and have , upon the whole , l ed to the survival of

the fi t test,and the preponderance of the be s t . What Bakewell

’s,

L eicesters a n dE lman ’s Southdowns have being doin g amongs tsheep

,and the shor thorn s amongst ca t tl e

,the Clydesdal e and the

Thoroughbred have been doing amongs t horses . The old breeds

may still bear the same name,bu t mos t o f them have really given

place to a diff eren t an imal,produced by repeated crosses o f

superior blood or , to use a common expressi on ,they have been

“ improved o ff the face o f the ear th .

” The old s ti ff, gummy

legged,short - winded cart horse

,i s no where to be seen the fine

ponderous, slow animals , that used to work the fami ly carriage,

wi th the long ha i r closely cut from the ir carty legs, have given

place to Something very nearly thoroughbred and even theWelsh

ponies are now lit tle else than the diminut ive descendan ts o f S irWatkin Wynn ’s blood sires . The change has proceeded on very

differen t l ines in differen t parts o f the world,and generally under

circumstances more or less characteris tic o f the people amongs t

whom i t has take n place . The cool - headed clannish Scotchmen

8 SU RVIVAL o r THE FI TT EST .

s tuck to their Clydesdales through good repor t and evi l report,and would believe in no thing else " the Yorkshi remen dropped

t heir long - priz ed Cleveland Bays the moment i t did n o t pay t o

breed them whil s t the mixed race of horse breeders in the South

West of England used good car t sires wherever they could ge t

t hem withou t a sking f o r a name or a pedigree . The SouthEastern breeders did nearly the same, bu t, when they haden tirely

al t ered the charac t er o f their horses,they s til l kept the names and

colou r s o f their Norfolk trotters,and thei r Suffolk Punches .

1 1 .—In every tem perate part of the civilized world

,the

En glish Thoroughbred horse has more or less comple tely supplan ted

every oth er horse for fast work . The despo tic Emperor o f

Austri a,the Czar o f al l the Russia s

,the hors e - breedin g G ermans

,

the democrati c Americans,the hal f- An glicized Napoleon the ‘ II I .

,

and even th e anti - Engl ish Popes have a ll had to use the Engli sh

Thoroughbred for a sire,or to drop behind the rest o f th e world

wi th their horses .

The British colon ists,o n the great con tin en ts of America and

Au stral i a , adop t the Thoroughbred as their own ,whils t the Bri tain

o f the South has g i ven . i t a h ome i n which i t wil l cer tainly no t

degenerate .

1 2 .

—No competen t j udge on the subj ect will doubt that the

change o n the whole has been good ye t those who can remember

the Cleveland Bays and the old - fashioned Suffolk Punches,cannot but feel that two very useful horses have been rather too

h astily dropped,a nd that we have no thing that en tirely supplies

the place o f ei ther o f them .

TH E SH IRE HORSE .

1 3 .

—The free a n dunbiassed choice of cart sires , which haslong prevailed i n mos t coun ties o f Engl and , ha s produced what

i s now called the Shire Horse . A horse of no particul ar stamp or

colour,but a wel l - buil t

,powerful a nimal , less sof t and slow than

the old Black L i n coln , though almos t a s large and qui te as

powerful . H e i s more placid,a n d carri es a be t ter “ cupboard ”

th an the C lydesdale,and would take a heavier load or a heavier

furrow behind him ,wi thou t fre t ting or making any f uss abou t i t .

1 0 FI T F OR DRAWING , NOT F OR TROTTING .

o n e at which they Of ten fail . Even here,qual ity i s of more value

than quan ti ty,though the car t horse should have both.

The hips should be very wide and the loin s muscular,wi thou t

whi ch no horse can be s trong " but , the back of no harness horse

should be roached .

The best o f these horses have large,heavy

,t hough good

tempered heads . The light head Of a Thoroughbred should no t be

sought f o r i n any car t horse , a s i t i s qui te incompa t ible wi th the

m i ld , placid temper that is one of h is mos t indispensible

qual i fications .

1 4 .

—Modern car t horses are less uprigh t in the shouldert han the cart horses used t o be , and are more frequen tly cal led on

fo r a faster pace but we have always found that the cart horse

wi th an upright shoulder,and whose fore legs consequen tly stand

somewhat under him,will draw a heavy load wi th more ease to

h im sel f, a nds tand more Of i t, than a horse wi th a shoulder sloping

much back . The heavies t shi re horse should be able to walk at a

good pace,but the brisk walk should be the fastes t pace required

from him . Where much tro tting i s demanded,as wel l as heavy

pull ing,a l ighter draft horse should be selected .

1 5 .

—As a sire,the Shire Horse be trays hi s vari ed and

uncertai n pedigree,as he does n o t transmi t his qual i ties wi th the

certainty o f the Thoroughbred,o r even o f the Clydesdale .

I f long - continued in his presen t form , the characteri st ics of

the race will become more fixed,and for a combination of

moderate,use ful activi ty

, wi th grea t power, docil i ty, and consti

t ut i o n, the Shire Horse of the presen t day ha s never been equalled .

TH E CLYDESDALE HORSE .

1 6 .-The Clydesdale horse

,l ike the m e n who have cul t ivated

him is no t withou t his faul ts , but hi s meri t s have been suffi cien t

to take h im wherever a Scotchman goes, and that must be a poor

country i ndeed,i f such a coun try there be , where there are no

Scotchmen and no Clydesdales . As guidi n g whips are superseded

by reins,and walking drivers are displaced by seated pi lots i n the

stree ts o f London , the Black L in colns disappear , and even the

Shire Horses are giving place to the l ighter, more active and

SCOTCHMEN AND THEIR HORSES . 1

hotter t empered Clydesdale . The horses that have long proved

the best for hurrying through the short catch ing seasons of seed

time and harvest in the cl imate o f Scotland, are now chosen byth e best j udges of ho r s efl e sh for the tro tting spring waggons that

are s tarted to keep pace wi th these rai lway time s i n our ci ties .

1 7 —In ferior to the Shire Horse in size,power

,consti tution ,

and placidi ty,he is bet ter abl e to mee t any pace required f r om

h im,i s a smaller feeder

,and is more easily matched in form and

colour . I t would be usel ess to repeat the tradi ti ons as to how this

horse originated . By some we are told that he is a cross with the

Flanders horse,by o thers wi th the Thoroughbred . He i s probably

both . N0 Briti sh breed o f m m horses is l ikely to be en tirely

wi thout Flanders blood,bu t the Clydesdale shows less o f i t than

most o thers . L ike al l o ther good animal s we know,his size and

quali ty have no doubt been Obtain edby j udicious crosses,and the

desired characteris tics fixed by long,careful selection of the fi ttes t

and best for breeding purposes . I t i s eviden t that he has been

subj ect to less recen t crosses than the Shire Horse,as he exhibi ts

less variation o f s tamp, form ,and character i s everywhere known

by his true , peculi ar C lydesdale head, and he transm i ts hi s

qual i ties wi th cons iderable certain ty . I t i s thi s fixed character,

even more than the prej udices o f hi s countrymen in his favour,

that has caused him to be so much sought fo r by our colonists .

We once heard an Englishman sa y to a Scotchman , who was aboutto remit £ 5 0 0 to the Old coun try f o r a Clydesdale Horse

,Why

don’t you send to England and ge t some thing fi t to pu t in to the

shafts of a waggon,or to take a load through a river ? ” Weel ,

”

said the Scotchman,

“ I might get a very fine horse,I migh t get

an elephan t , or I might get a camel, bu t I always l ike to know

what I am going to ge t for my money .

1 8 .

—The Clydesdale i s generally brown o r bay , but some

times black . S tephen ’s book o f the farm is perhaps responsible fo r

the exten t to which whi te legs and faces have lately been tolerated .

They are no doubt often found on exceedingly good horses,but

they do not make them good,whilst they greatly spoi l the

appearance of any horse,and thereby lessen hi s marke t va lue .

Hair on the legs has been absurdly cul tivated, and does not

1 2 W IDE DI STRIBUTION .

harmon ize wi th the quali ty and action Of the animal . The mos t

general faul t of th e Clydesdale ’s form is,not bein g de ep enough in

the barrel f o r a car t horse, and too lon g in the l egs . Shortness o fbody ha s been much aimed a t by the breeders

,and i s t o o often

accompanied wi th a tucked up back rib,be t ter suited for a race

horse . NO horse i s more easi ly broken to his work,and in the

hands of a Scotch ploughman he u sually takes well t o the coll ar .W i th good treatmen t the temper is good

,but it i s n o t easy or

p lacid, and under noisy , b lus tering, passion ate drivers , the horse

suffers much, a n dtears himse l f to pieces .

ISL—Nex t t o the Thoroughbred, the Clydesdale can claimt o have been well sought wherever the En glish lan guage i s

spoken . The great Engli sh firm of carr iers,Pickford a ndCo .,

are said t o en gage the exclusive services o f a horse dealer in

Scotlan d to purchase th ese horses wherever he can . Agents are

o ften sent from the South o f E n gland to purchase Clydesdale

s tall ions for the use Of parti cular districts . In Canada the samesire has everywhere left hi s mark . In the Uni ted S tates thenow fashionable Percheron is making a change

,bu t sti l l the

Clydesdale head is o ften seen even o n the Grey trot ters , In

Australia he con tinues to gain ground, whilst in New Zealand hei s more exclusive ly used, i s bred with a s m uch care

,i s about as

numerou s,and averages a higher s tandard than in Scotland

i tself .9 0 .

—In n o part o f the world have we seen the capabi li t ies

o f this horse tes ted as they now are in som e parts o f the

antipodes of his own country .

On a large farm, o n which twelve thousand acres are

cul tivated,i n the South of New Zealand

,we have seen these

horses at work in teams o f s i x,drawing a t reble furrow plough ,

and turning over five acres o f good wheat land s i x inches deep ,in eight hours. The lan ds were more than a mile long

,and

the pace so fas t, that m e n could n o t be got to walk behind the

horses . This was met by a simple con tri vance o f a l i tt l e one

wheeled carriage,fixed behind the plough

,i n such a posit ion that

a man could ride within reach of his steering handle. The

teams started at 8 e .m .,and lef t the field at 5 p .m ., ge tting a

BOARD AND LODG ING . 1 3

feed from nosebags , and water f rom bucke ts, between twe lve and

o n e . NO whips are used or carried the slowes t horses are put

behind where they may be touched with the re ins,but that i s

rarely necessa ry, and there are far more complaints o f the horses

being too fast than t o o sl ow. Each horse in the winter ge ts

1 8 lbs . oats, and 1 4 lbs . o f cu t straw a day, with a pick o f rough

grass on Sundays , o r any convenient opportuni ty . F irst - class

oats on the farm are only wor th abou t one shi l l ing and fourpence

a bushel . D uring the coldes t and wet test mon ths o f winter

the horses were worked wi thin reach o f a stabl e,but during the

greater part of the year they are turned ou t i n covers made of

canvas l ined wi th fel t , i n which they do qui te as we l l i f not

bet ter.

2 1 .- The picked men , who each take charge of s i x l ively

high conditioned horses, and comple te thei r five acres a day, are

paid thir ty shill ings a week wi th board a nd lodging. Their

lodging in wooden bunks is Of a rough descrip tion , and there i s

l i t tle variety in their bi ll O f fare . Bre ad, meat , potatoes , and“ duff

,

” with that colonial beverage , the abominable boi led tea,are suppl ied in grea t profusion, but gree n vegetable s , though

easily grown o n such land , are nei the r provided nor demanded .

2 2 .—At harvest time these men and horses are transferred

to the reapers and binders, the men gett ing l os . a da y for about

eleven hours work , and the horses work ing three at a t ime i n

two - hour s tages through the day - l ight , a ndoccasionally al l through

a moon light nigh t .

Extra hands are Of course employed to feed and chan ge the

horses . No horse could be be t ter adapted than the Clydesdale

fo r such work a s this , and we f eel thankful tha t i t i s no

longer done by overworked women and children , such as we

used to s e e f rom daylight to dark in the Engl ish harves t fields .

TH E SUFFOLK P U NCH

9 3 .

—Wa s once rem arkable f o r hi s l ow stou t bui ld, the loins

being higher than the withers, the colour ches tnut , the legs free

o f long hair, the tempe r mild and doci le, wi th a rea diness t o

han g on to a dead pull agai n a nd aga in . He wa s seldom m ore

1 4 NO LONGER A PUNCH .

tha n fifteen hands high,often less. There was no thing very

showy o r handsome abou t h im , and his clean legs a ndfeet were

supposed to be unequal to London stones,al though t hose who

knew him best said tha t they were equal t o anyt h ing,e ven t o

carrying a heavy weigh t ten miles an hour.

Al though most useful for all ordinary purposes in hi s own

coun try,he wa s never the horse to command a high price for ci ty

work , and this l ed to his being crossed and al tere d to a higher,more s tyli sh

,but hardly more useful horse . He i s s til l chestnut

,

has s ti l l hair o n his legs,is s ti l l a good useful horse , but i s no

longer al l that used to be known as a Suff olk Punch,and would

no lon ger surpass the Shir e Horse at a pulling mat ch . There i s

s ti ll a prej udice a gainst h im for London s t ones, a n d compared to

o ther b r eeds he has made l i t t le way o ut of hi s own coun ty . H i s

hom e ly virtues have no t at tracted the atten tion they deserve .

TH E PERCHERON .

2 4 .—Has been described as a “ grey tro tt i ng car t horse .

He originated in France during the present cen tury,and has o f

l ate made some way i n Engl and , and more in America . He i s a

cross be tween the Flanders mare and the l igh ter horses, with a

good deal Of t he Thoroughbred in them . He has been bre d to a

tolerab ly fixed character, and i s everywhere admi tted to be an

act ive,useful horse . He has plen ty o f . weigh t, good lun gs, and a

good command o f hi s clean , l igh t fi a t legs . The way he has la tely

made amongst that combi nation of all civili zed nation s in the

Uni ted S tates,amongst the cutest ”

a ndleast conserva tive o f

civili zed men,leaves n o doubt of his valuable qual i ties .

TH E THOROUGHBRED .

O

2 5 .

—Between the cart horses described above and the

Thoroughbred horse , the varie ti es are innumerable . Whatever i s

wanted may be bred by selecting more or less weigh t for drawing

l oads,more o r less blood fo r going fast . Weight can Only be

drawn by weight , speed i n an animal can only be a ttained by

a voiding al l dispensible l umber . I f you wan t to draw a loadbeyond your own powers, y ou have only to take a man o f your

THE HORSE F OR F As'r W ORK . 1 5

own weight o n your back a nd you will move wi th ease a weight

that defied all your e ff orts before . On the o ther hand if you t ry

to r un a mile in the shortest possible t ime you will find that the

weigh t o f a coat o r a boo t wi l l t ell sadly agains t you , and that i t

i s no t y our bones and sinews , your muscles , o r even your nerves,

bu t your heart and l ungs t hat s e t the l imi t to the time i n which

you can do i t . The Shire Horse , wi th his ponderous weigh tand pati en t temper s tands at the head Of al l equine weigh t

movers,but the Engl ish Thoroughbred Horse

,wi th his l igh t

body,head

,a ndlegs , and magnifi cent heart and lun gs , s tands

wi thout a rival a t the head o f every work demanding Speed and

con tinuous exertion .

2 6 .

—Perhaps no animal ever s tood s o en ti rely o n hi s own

meri ts a s the Engl ish Thoroughbred Horse . H i s performances

have shown the fallacy o f a thousand theories, have put down a

thousand prej udices,and have commanded the practical admiration

o f those who would gladly have wi thheld i t,and who had strong

motives to pull hi m down from hi s proud eminen ce . The more

experience a man gets wi th horses , the less he will calculate o n

their s ize,bone o r muscle, and the more he wil l demand to know

the pedigree o f the horse upon which he i s t o rely f o r some

extra ordinary exer ti on . The novice may look to the form o f the

racer upon which he ven tures his money , the experienced

handicapper o r bookmaker enquires for his paren tage . The young

bushman may expe c t a n acti ve cart horse to best carry him and

his heavy baggage day af ter day through rivers and f orests, o r

o v er mountains and plains , the old bush traveller knows by

experience that he wil l only be wel l carried by something nearly

thoroughbred .

2 7 .

—We have seen that we cannot accurately trace the origin

o f any horse , and we i ntend to avo id al l uncertain specula tions on

the subj ect but we have good data by whi ch we can discover

the materials and processes that have combined during the las t

3 0 0 years to form the fas test horse i n the world and the inquiry

i s a very interes t i ng as wel l as a very ins tructive o n e . We cannot

s ay that the resul t i s flattering to our national pride disi nterested

devotion,unselfish patrio ti sm , as high and noble a ims , do not

1 6 ENGLI SH HORSES IN 1 6 1 4 .

figure much i n the production we mus t at the outse t adm i t that

he i s rather the resul t of our savage wars , our gambling races, and

o ur reckless and extravaga n t hun ti ng fields .

2 8 .—The soi l and cl imate o f England are favourable for

horse breeding , and there i s much evidence to prove that even at

the time of the Roman invasion the l ight horses were good . The

Normans brough t over some o f their bes t war horses wi th them ,

and as they took possession o f the soi l , each Norman was required

t o keep a certai n num bers o f war horses: It wa s i n thei r power

and i t was the ir i nteres t to keep the best,and they were no mean

j udges . In those days heavy cart horses did n o t exis t i n England .

Ploughing a ndheavy draft work was a ll done by oxen . The slow

Flemish draft horse was not i n troduced unt il the re ig n of Willi am

II I . ,in 1 689 .

2 9 .—In a really valuable book on horses , publ ished i n 1 6 1 7 ,

by G ervase Markham , and referred to with much respect by later

English wri ters,the Engli sh horse i s spoken of as superior to al l

o thers . H e says

I do dai ly find i n mine experience tha t the virtue , goodness ,boldness

,and endurance of o ur t rue bred English horses i s equal

wi th any race o f horses whatever . Some former wri ters,whether

out o f wan t o f experience , or to flatter novel ties , have concluded

that the English horse i s a great s trong j ade,deep ribbed , sid

bell ied,with s tron g legges and good ho o fe s , ye t fi tter for the cart

than e i ther saddle o r any work ing employment . H ow f alse this

i s al l English horseme n knowe .

The true English horse . hi m I mean that i s bred under a

good clime,on fi r m e ground , i n a pure tempe rature , i s o f tal l

s tutur e and large proport ions " his head , though not s o fine as

e i ther the Barbarie ’s o r the Turke ’s , ye t is lean , l ong , and wel l

fashioned " his crest is hie , only subj ect to thi ckness if he be

stoned,bu t i f he be gelded then i t i s firm and strong " his chyne

i s s traigh t and broad,a nd al l h is l imbs large , le a n e , flat, and

excellen tly j oin ted. For their endurance , I have se en them suffer

and execute as much and more than ever I noted of any foraine

creation .

“ I have heard i t repor t ed tha t a t the ma ssacre of Paris ,

1 8 EASTERN SIRE S.

3 22 .—The sa ti sfactory resul t o f the firs t cross wi th Eas tern

b lood,soon led to a great deal of a tten tion being gi ven t o the

i mportati on o f the best Eastern horses . Cromwel l f o r war, and

Char les II. for spor t, bo th se nt em i ssaries to the Eas t in search

o f good horses . The Barb seems to have been chiefly used,t hough often under the name o f the Turk o r the Arabi an . There

i s much confusion in the manner in which names were applie d

at th i s period,n o t in accordance wi th the s train o f the horses

used,but after the nam e o f the country from which they

happen to have been imported. Some twen ty Oriental horses areknown to have bee n use d in the formation o f the Thoroughbred

between 1 62 0 t o 1 75 0 , bu t the pedigree o f no E n glish horse

can be rel iably traced back farther t han t o Place ’s Whi te Turk

about 1 6 5 5 . Place was Cromwell ’s s tud m aster, and like a ll

Cromwell ’s Offi cers , no doubt understood his busin ess . H i s

horse,the Whi te Turk, i s known to have bee n the sire of several

horses and mares t o which some o f our bes t s tock is now traced .

The righ t quan ti ty o f Orien tal blood seems to have been infused

in to the Engl ish sto ck,and a new breed o f a fixed cha racter

formed in l i ttle more t han o n e hundred years . No f urther

infusion o f Eastern blood has succeeded . Al l l ate experiments i n

that direction have entire ly fai led , and the superior speed and

staying power o f the English Thoroughbred orse i s n ow so

undoubted,that n o cross whatever ca n be adop ted wi thout

deteriorati on .

3 3 .

—Flying Childers a n d Ecl ipse, the o n e foaled 1 7 1 5 , the

o ther in 1 764 , are popularly bel ieved to have bee n' the fastes t

horses that ever exis ted. They appear to have been the fastest

horses o f their own day , but the records o f their perf ormances

agains t time do n o t come down to us with the same, o r wi th

equal guarantees o f accuracy, a s those which have been adopted

i n the records o f pub l ic e vents in the presen t cen tury . In 1 77 1 ,R i chard Berenger

,in his is tory and Art o f Horsem anship

,

”

says,

“ The finer and be t ter sor t o f the more modern Engl ish

horses a r e descended from Arabia ns and Barbs, and frequently

resemble their sires in appearances , bu t di ff er from them

consi derably in size and mould , be ing more furnished, s tout , a nd

F AIR N ELL .

”l f l

lus ty in general they are s tron g , nimble , a ndo f good courage

capable of enduring excessi ve fatigue , and bo th in perseverance

and speed surpass all the horses i n the world .

”

3 4 .

—For nearly two hundred years af ter the English race

horse wa s admi tted to be the fastes t horse i n the world for the

short dis tances run o n an English race course , doubts were from

time to t ime raised in various quarters a s t o whe ther he would

prove the fastes t i n a very long distance . The most cruel

dist ances were Often proposed but seldom accepted , but whenever

they have been accep ted the distance has only exhibi ted the

superiori ty o f the Thoroughbred in a s tronger ligh t . A most

disgustin g race came Off i n 1 8 2 5 , between two Cossack horses

and two Engli sh horses,for n o less a distance than forty - seven

miles . The Engl ish horses r a n away to begin wi th more than

a mi le, o ff the course , and o n e o f them wa s lamed . Besides thi s

two mile s extra,the unlamed horse (Sharper) , did the di stance

in two hours and forty - eight minu te s , carrying towards las t

double the weigh t o f his best Opponent,and beating him by

eight minutes . A much more decis ive and less barbarous race

came o ff i n Egypt some 3 0 o r 4 0 years later, be tween an Arab

horse and an Engl ish covert hack,known a s Fair Nell , but n o t in

the Stud Book . The challenge was given by Halcom Pacha, who

inheri ted from his father, Abbas Pacha, what was supposed to be

the bes t stud o f Arabs in the world . H i s challenge was accepted

by some Cairo merchan ts,who sen t t o England and purchased

Fair Nell f o r the purpose . The distance was fixed at eight

mi les , over a rough ston y course , and the mare had to run a

fortnigh t after her passage from Englan d t o Egypt,agai nst

the best horse the Pacha could sel ect from hi s large stud o f

Arabs .

3 5 .—Fair Nel l ran the dis tan ce in eigh tee n and a half

m inutes , beating her Opponen t by a mile , and pull ing up quite

fresh . Thus meeting the Arabs on the ir own ground and a t

their own distance,Fai r Nel l seems t o have se t tled the question

o f lon g di s tances even more decis ively than short ones were

settled before . Although not i n the Stud Book,Fair Nel l wa s

e vidently thoroughbred,and a fine specimen o f her race . Besides

2 0 AMERICAN TROTTING MATCH .

her speed and s taying power,she was a weight carrier , s tood

fifteen hands o n e and a half inches high , wi th as good a shoulder

and foreleg as a riding horse could possibly have .’

I t was not un til 1 79 1 tha t the firs t English S tud Book waspublished .

f 3 6 .—In America, the same blood has been used, in addi tion

t o many other useful purposes, to gratify the natural taste f o r

trot ting m atches . The descendants Of Messenger, the so n o f

Mambrino,i mported i n 1 78 6 , have ach ieved. most success in this

l i ne . The horses are often trotted agains t time,the grea t

ambition be ing to ge t a horse t o tro t twen ty miles wi thi n an

hour . This sounds a cruel dis tance for such a pace,but we los t

many of our prej udices against i t when we firs t saw i t done o n

a n American course .

I t may sound paradoxical,but i t i s nevertheless pre t ty safe

t o conclude that a race i s never a cruel o n e i f i t i s really a fas t o n e .

When ever real distress begins the pace must slacken,and the horse

can only make good time when i n a condi tion t o do i t without

any distress . Thus in tha t barbarous race between Sharper andthe Cossack , the pace was slow ,

t hree minutes thirty - four and

a hal f seconds be ing taken for each mile both horses having

been urged o n long after they were dis tressed and exhausted.

But i n the comparatively humane race between Fair Nel l and

the Arab the pace was fast , each mi le being performed i n two

minutes eighteen a nd three quar ter se conds,thus proving that

the l as t mile wa s done wi th unexhausted energy .

3 7—We will briefly describe the race against time,which

made us feel more happy about American trotting matches . We

were wai ting in San Francisco fo r a steamer towards the end o f1 8 7 1 , when we saw i n the morning papers tha t a large wager had

been l aid that a certain mare, unknown t o fame , woul d tro t that

day twen ty miles wi thin the hour . We were told by the local

sage s t hat she was not at al l l ikely t o succeed that she was n ow

sixteen years old,and that she had been sold in her prime fo r forty

dollars . Reasons were also given f o r bel ieving that the wager was

fic ti t ious,and only go t up to draw som e greenhorns into a trap .

On arrivi ng at the course we tried t o be a s knowing as the cute

STARTING . 2 1

men who surrounded us , and soon thought that we saw a good

deal to confirm this suspi ci ous view o f the even t about to come

o ff .

But nothing takes the very knowing ones i n On any race

course l ike a bi t of simple straigh tforward hones ty . The most

prominen t feature o n the ground was a m a n in an auctioneer ’s

pulpi t, gibberi ng away about somethi ng , and who , we were told ,was getti ng bids o r deposi ts against the mare , o r agai ns t t ime .

With a l i t tle assi stance from an interpre ter,we understood tha t

time was the favouri te,and that the mare was l i ttle trusted .

3 8 .—The course was a hal f mile circle

,o f hard binding san d

,

kept j ust wet enough to keep down dust,and o n whi ch no vi sible

im pression was made by the foot o r wheels. The sulky was two

ligh t high wheels,wi th a pair of very l igh t shafts, and j us t seat

enough bui l t on them to hold o n e man . No Springs were wanted

on such a road .

The mare was a common - looking l i t tle ches tnut , under

fifteen hands , and a close se t, rather than a reachy - looking

animal and ye t there was much about her that reminded us o f

the descrip tion which Frank Forester ’s corresponden t gives of Old

Messenger himself . There were especially the double - sized

nostrils and wind pipe,the low wi ther

,yet deep ches t, wi th s trong

loins and bi ndquarters .

She seemed under no exci t emen t,ye t ex t raordinary provi sions

were being made to hold her back . Another sulky , with a light

headed,lo n g

o leggedhorse, was placed in front o f her and as her

driver took his seat he wound a rein round each hand as if pre

paring to be drawn en tirely by the mare ’s mouth . The horse

before her started Off at a gallop,the mare soon did the same

,and

much time was los t i n pulling her in to a trot . This was repeated

again and again,and, as the firs t mi le had occupied nearly four

minutes,a shou t o f deris ive laughter ran through the crowd

,as i f

the whole thi ng had been se ttled against the mare . I t was,how

e ver, soon understood that the race wa s not ye t begun , and that

time would not be cried un ti l the mare had s e t t leddown to her

work . This was not done for another mile or two , and when time

was cried she was boring he r head almost through the frai l sulky

2 2 WON WITHOUT DISTRESS .

that wa s be ing drawn at a gallop before—he r , whils t each hind leg

seemed to reach alternately almost to the back Of the sulky which

she was drawing entirely by the re ins . Sti ll,each mile took a few

se conds more than three minutes , and t ime was s ti l l the favouri te

a t the noisy auction mar t . This con tinued un ti l the leadin g, o r

rather the restrain ing sulky , wi th i t s exhaus ted horse , turned ou t

o f the course a nd the mare was left alone .

Now,f o r the firs t time

,the sight was a pretty one

,the

gallopin g pan ting horse no l onger Obstructed the view,and the

mare ’s bi ndand f ore legs were a s tud y as they came past. I t was

eviden t that i t was the strong hi nd quarters that were da shi ng

those hind legs so f a r back , and tha t the short fore legs had only

to plan t themselves well o ut of the way " whils t the lungs were

suppl y i ng all that was wanted , as quie tly as they had don e the

first mile .

3 9 .

—She n ow began to do each mile three or four seconds

within the time , so that t ime wen t down a nd th e mare went up

at the noisy pulpi t . When seventeen miles had been accomplished

She had several seconds in hand,and the owner cried to the

driver “ Don ’ t hurry,you have plenty o f time .

” To whi ch he

replied,I can’t hold her any harder

,s i r .

40 .

—The race was won wi th something to spare,the mare

showing no symptom Of distress . As she was led through the

crowd she snatched a hand ful o f hay that was Offered her by a

byst ander,and ate i t as i f he r l ungs had nothing par t icular to do .

I t must be eviden t t hat had the mare been in the sl ightes t degree

di stressed she could not have con tinued to improve her pace as

she wen t on .

4 1 .—On the racecourse the Thoroughbred has been treated

chiefly as a gambl ing machine , and by racing men ha s been bred

wi th the mere obj ect of ge tting an animal that could gallop over

a mile o r two i n the leas t possible time . SO long as he coul d do

th i s hi s general u ti li ty, his size , his power , hi s t emper, hi s

soundness,his beauty

,his saf e ty , were al l mat ters of indiff erence .

A horse may excel i n al l these points and yet not be worth o n e

hundred pounds,whereas i f he can run a mile in o n e second less

t han any other horse , he i s worth t e n thousand pounds as a winner

of cups and bets .

WHAT MAKES HOR SE S F AST . 2 3

4 2 .—A t first sight these fact s may appear to prove that the

race course has done and wil l do no th ing to improve or sustain

a superior breed o f horses, and ye t i t is not s o . Fortuna t ely the

o n e th ing required by the gamblers canno t be ob tained alone .

There mus t be docil i ty enough to make the horse con trol lable

under the utmost exci tement " there must be toughness enough

to stand the racket o f the mos t trying pace,and the wear and

tear o f seve r e training " there mus t be diges tive organs good

enough to supply the best possible blood there must be animal

brain and moter nerves o f high quali ty " and above al l there

must be heart a nd lungs good enough to comple tely oxygenize

a large supply of blood i n the leas t possib le time . N ow all these

are quali ties that add to the value o f any horse , and m any o f

them are qual iti es that the eye o f the be s t j udge could ne v er

estimate wi th the certain ty wi th which they are proved on the

racecourse . Men could j udge something o f the bones , sinews,muscles, and form of the horse , and in s o doing o f ten expected

to selec t wi th certain ty the bes t , but experience proved that

they could not do so . The brain,the nerves

,the hear t

,and the

lungs were always ou t o f sigh t,and the best j udges were a lwa v s

at faul t . They condemned the Godolph in Arab ian to a shop

keepers cart , and re fused to us e hi m as a sire unti l ten years old ,

when Lath,hi s then only s o n by a good mare

,proved o n the

race course that his father had laten t quali ties which fi tted him,

as they had dest i ned him to be the progeni tor o f the most

successful animals that have Since figured in the B r i tish Stud

Book .

Ecl ipse was n ever trained unti l five years old,and quali t ies

which enabled him to enrich more tha n one owner,

a nd to

distance a ll competi to r s,were only discovered by t rial and

compe ti tion .

4 3 .

—There i s one great def ect wh ich racing m e n ca n to le r ate

i n the horse, and that i s low,unsa fe action . They even l ike i t

,

because i t enables the horse to get o ver a dis t ance wi th less

exertion . This i s a defect which makes many a race ho r se o f

l i ttle value f o r any o the r purpose . An o thexr m i s lo r tun e is tha t

the mere racing o r gambl ing machine need n o t be large . A smal l

2 4 BREEDS .

horse i s O f t e n as fast as a l arge one indeed a very large s tron g

horse,however wel l bred , i s rarely fast enough fo r the pur po s

there must be quali ty,but there n eed not be quanti ty . Any extra

weigh t about the f eet a nd legs which are moved at a grea t

mechan ical disad v antage ( 1 3 ) i s fa t al to the pace that alone ca n

win i n a fast race . A mere weed that i s unsafe to ride at a

walk may be a bet ter gambl ing machine tha n a horse fi t to carry

a duke weighing six teen stone o v er a five fee t fen ce . Here

f or tunately ano ther human weakness has helped to save the race

horse f r om hopeless degenerati on . The breeder i s n ever sure

that any horse he may breed wil l be fast enough to race

successfully S ix ou t o f seven that are bred f o r the purpose are

not so con sequently he looks to the hun ting field a s a possible

destination fo r the horse he breeds,and the huntsm an wil l have

nothing to do wi th him unless his action i s safe and his f ore

legs s trong. Thus a poten t motive i s always a t work to induce

the breeder of Thoroughb r eds to select horses fi t to carry a

heavy weigh t in the hunting field,and i f fi t fo r th a t t he v are

fi t f o r any fast work .

44 .

—But much as the race course and the hun ting field

have done to keep up the quali ty of the B r i t i sh Thoroughbred

Horse,he has neve r been l ef t en tirely to their un a ided infl uence .

During the two and a hal f cen turies that he may be said to

h ave exis ted, we have never been wi thou t men o f means

and patrio ti sm,and j udgment

,whose love o f t he horse f o r hi s

own sake ha s made them somethi n g fa r more than m ere race

horse breeders .

Not a few lords of the Bri tish soi l have made the improvmen t

o f the ho r se the chie f business o f their l ives,the one channel

through whi ch they have sought distinction , a nd whil s t such

m e n have tried hard to wi n races, they have tried to do s o with

really good horses. The late Earl of G lasgow made i t a business

rather than a hobby,and O f t en fai led on the turf because hi s

horses were too strong and use ful . The valuabl e stud he col lec ted

has done much since his death to improve the size , power , beauty,and usefu lness O f the ligh t horses of the world . Such studs supply

the material by which all the valuable quali ty and pace o f the

2 6 SH ETLANDS UNDERGRO U ND .

pea t bogs of Scotland do n o t sui t even a cross wi th the

Thoroughbred, so that the l i t tle rough shaggy animals m ay s till

be f ound in al l their in terest ing docil i ty , l i t tleness , and ugliness .

The most active demand for them ,a nd probably the m ost useful

occupat ion they ever had, arose about forty years ago , when the

legislature merciful ly decreed that wom en and chi ldren should no

longer be used as beasts o f burden o n underground tramways .

Since then these li t tle cart horses have worked in places too lowf o r any bigger an imal, and some o f them have draw n trucks

twenty miles a day for six teen years without ever seeing dayligh t,

o r breathing the fresh air with which they were suppl ied s o

abundantly i n the ir i nfancy . Their l i ttle legs and shor t backs

sometimes ge t broken bu t thei r wonderful eyes lungs seem

t o stand as those o f few o ther an imals would do .

CHAPTER II I .

STABLING, CLOTHING , AND CLEANING .

49 .—Though adap t ed only for a temperate climate the

hors e has a consti tution tha t enables him to endure a great dea l

o f cold o r heat . When habi tually exposed to much cold and we t

nature will provide him a good coat o f thatch , bu t such an

immovable appendage is not convenien t fo r hard work , and

especial ly di squali fi e s hi m for the severe though shor t exertion

that the l ight hors e i s s o often required to perform . He i s

bet ter qualified fo r any ki n d o f work by being shel tered f rom

s evere cold and rain,bu t this Should be done without excludin g

him too much from fresh air and light,and wi thout long

depriving hi m of the exercise h is a cti v e lim bs dem an d .

5 0 .—We have no lessons t o give in archi tecture tha t is n o t

our fort . Horses,l ike chi ldren

,thrive qui te as wel l in a mud

house as in a marble mansion , so long as they get the sun and

pure air free t o all , the water as i t comes from the clouds, and

food adapted to the machinery that must appropriate i t . When

called on to bui ld a residence,ei ther for themselves or the ir

horses, most weal thy men like to put up something original , o r to

carry out some particular crotche t o f the i r own . I t is wel l that

there are men wi th such tastes,nor i s superfluous weal th often

bett er spen t . But those who have no money t o spare would

always be more safe to look for some building already erected,

contain ing a ll the convenience needed,and to copy i t exactly .

However simple,o r however elabora te the s truc ture desired,

someth ing can be found as a pat tern,and in nine cases ou t o f

t e n , the resul t will be more sati s factory and economical than

paying for any exper imen ts o f your own or of your archi tect .

2 8 ROOFS AND FLOORS .

5 1 .—The si tuation of the stable should be dry and sunny

,and

openings for a i r and light be o n the sunny side of the build ing.

The walls may be any non - conducti ng material that i s most easily

Obtained in the local i ty . He igh t i s always advantageous,and

there should be some open ing high up that should never be closed .

I f the horses are to be kept warm i t must be don e wi th clo thingo r wi th fire

,and no t wi th bad air . NO roof i s so comfort able as

that ch,n o floor so good as cl ay .

5 2 .—The clay must be kept wel l above the surrounding

ground,and should be nearly a foot thick

,putt ing i t rather

higher in those par ts where there wil l be most wear and pressure .

Ram i t hard,and keep i t quit e level and free from holes . A

horse i s greatly inj ured by the common pract ice o f s tanding with

his fore legs higher than the hind on es,or wi th e i ther o f them

in holes. The clay may be loosened wi th a pick and r e - levelled“

whenever i t wears in holes. A sm a l l part Of i t wi l l dai ly and

advan tageously find i ts way to the manure heap,and when any

part gets thin and low,o r emi ts any sm ell , i t may be p icked up

and removed for man ure,putting a new bed of clay in i t s place .

This will be found fa r bet ter t han any kind of s tone floor ,a s besides bein g uninj urious to t he horses fee t, clay i s the bes t of

deodori sers,and keeps the air of a s table more fi t to meet the

eyes o r lungs . Any kind of smooth stones are dangerous, and

too Sli p p e r v for the horse to rise on when laid down . No thing

could be much worse than the rough pa v emen t made with smal l

st ones pu t close toge ther,so commonly used. I t i s impossibl e t o

clean i t o r t o prev en t i t smell ing strongly , a s s ton es do no t

deodorise , whilst i t i s di s tressing to a hors e’s feet and destruct ive

t o his shoes . Where appearances and great n eat ness a r e

principal considerat ions a clay floor wi th all i ts sa ni tary

advan tages wi ll hardly be accepted . I n that case concrete wi l l

be the best material,i f made rough e nough for the horse to ge t

a good foot hold on i t . I t will n o t deodorise, bu t i t wi l l n o t

absorb,and can be washed perfectly clean . Contract ors are fond

Of pu t ting i t down in layers,wi th the l a rgest proportion o f cemen t

a t the top . This does no t answer at all , the whole four inches o f

concre te should be put down at once , and o f the sam e s trength

SINGLE BEDS . 2 9

throughout . A foundation should be laid o f st ones,or fl i n t s ,

o r brickbats , wel l rammed, so as n o t to sink afterwards . The

concrete i s then prepared by mixing on e part Portland cement

wi th five parts (by measure) sm al l pebbles , abou t the size o f a

blackbird ’s egg, mixed wi th a l i ttle coarse gri t, but ent irely free

from earth o r ve getable mould, wh i ch would des troy all i ts

s trength . When the five par ts of this gravel have been wel l

mixed with the one part Portland cemen t, on a floor where i t can

pick up no earth , i t must be care fully wetted so as not t o

wash the cemen t out of i t, and quickly laid i n i t s place . Wet n o

more at a t ime than can be pu t down i n t e n minutes,and keep

i t moving until laid in i ts place, as i f i t set s a t al l and is broken

up again i ts great strength i s l ost . No horse should be admi tt ed

o n i t fo r a week , and would be bet ter kep t o ff for a month .

5 3 .

—It i s very desirable that each horse should have a boxt o him sel f, even though i t should b e only ten fee t square, a s

tying up i n one fixed posi t ion, even for on e whole nigh t, i s

inj urious and unn atural to a horse . Failing this his stal l should

be six fee t wide,and the sides free f rom any proj ect ions l iabl e to

inj ure hi m when lying down . The plan som e times adopted in

cart stables,of tying a ll the horses up to a manger withou t any

parti tions be tween t hem i s dangerous, and prevents their proper

rest . However quie t and reconci led t o each other the horses

may be they will be l iable to tread o n each other ’s fee t,and we

have known a most valuable horse killed i n t ha t way . The foot

mort i fying from a wound wi th the turned down heel o f a Shoe .

CLOTHING .

5 4 .—The horse for fas t work should be clo thed in the

winter " for very fast work he should be clothed all the year

round . It will make him look be t ter , do his work better, and

cost less to feed . When i t i s required that he should do hi s

work in good s tyle , and when he will be thoroughly and regularly

cared fo r , hi s natural win ter coa t may be cl ipped o ff at the

beginning of win ter , and i ts place suppli ed wi th warm movable

clothing. NO experienced labourer a ttempts to work hard

in the same coat that he wears when at res t , and i t i s equally

3 0 COAT TAKEN OF F F OR W ORK .

advan tageous to the horse t o have his great coat taken o ff fo r

work , and pu t o n when hi s Work i s done . But as he does n o t

do i t fo r himsel f th ere must be no neglect o n the part of hi s

attendan t . A horse so treated i s most l iabl e to suffer by be ing

kep t wai t ing fo r“m y lady

” half a n hour after hi s c lo th has

been ta ken o ff , and be fore he ha s had an Op portuni ty t o warm

himself by exercise,as even when the at temp t i s made he

ca nnot be well covered over wi th the harness o n . In such a

case the coachman should be i nstructed t o drive about un ti l

wan ted, o r a t least t o give hi s horses o n e brisk trot before t he y

a r e called o n t o s tand,even though i t should Splash the carriage

a l it t le .

Do wha t you will,hor ses that have been c l ippe d in win ter

wil l never carry such good spring coats a s those that have n o t

been clipped . The - horse fo r S low work that freque nt ly has t o

s tand abou t in al l weathers wi thou t much atten tion t o hi s

clothin g,had be t ter be al lowed t o ke ep o n his natural coat

,bu t

the winter coat Of any horse may be much shortened -by clo thin g

hi m e arly in au tumn,and feeding and clean ing him very carefully

t hough l iberal ly.

—In any m oderate weathe r , perhaps in a n y weathe r n o t

we t,the horse for slow work does bet ter turn ed out a fte r be in g

wel l fed, wi th a covering o f fel t i n side and canvas ou tside

f astened so that he canno t rub,roll

,or ge t i t blown o ff . e

never t akes cold when thus allowed to move his limbs and sh ift

hi s posi t ion . He breathes the pures t air, and will keep in be tter

heal th t han he will do tied up in a stable . e will take no harm

even in we t weather, bu t when rain ing o r snowing he had be t ter

be un der a shed i f o n e i s availabl e, bu t not tied U p in a cold

dra ft. Warm clot hin g i s i n every way be t te r than warm

housing, as i t i s always compat ible with free motion and pure

air . Picking some rough gre en food,though i t should be on ly a

furze bush , to mix wi th his dry hay a nd corn,wil l save hi s

wi nd a n dpromote his h eal th .

CLEANING.

5 6 .

—Lon g before the average Engl ishman,or the average

p hysician , had discovered how much adv an tage was to be gained

GROOMS W I SE BEFORE PHYSICIANS . 3 1

by a l i ttl e dai ly att en tion to the cl eanl iness o f his own cuticle,

every trainer , and every observan t coachm an , knew how much

the heal th , beau ty, a nd power o f the horse could be increased

by the dai ly vigorous friction o f hi s skin . There i s n o differen ce

o f Opinion amongs t t rainers o n this subj ect . In deed th e skin i s

the p rincipal index by which the chance of any wel l bred horse

t o wi n the Derby o r other great race i s estimated . No m at terhow good the horse may b e , however wel l he may have been

bred,fed

,clothed

, o r exerci sed , i f hi s skin ha s been n eglected,i t

i s perfectly understood that he has no chan ce o f winn in g.

5 7 .

—Animal li fe and vigour are only main tained by acon s tan t pul ling down o f old material and building up o f new .

The pulling down i s j us t as e s sent i al and impor tan t as the

building up, a n d i s done by more delicat e machinery

,and

therefore more l iable to obs truc tion . With the ordinary wel l

fed man o r horse,i t i s hardly too much to say that i f you take

ca re o f the pull ing down,the bui lding will take care of i tself. I f

the skin is no t rapidly carrying away the o ld material,i t i s no

use for the diges tive organs to be rapidly preparing n ew,and they

wil l not do i t . To force nu tri tious food upon an an imal unde r

that con di tion is like pouring more wat er in to a flooded flower

p o t , whe n t here i s no provision fo r the st agnan t water to e scape .

When the utmost heal th and vigour are demanded,every o n e o f

the million s o f minute pores that open ou t of the skin must be

kept in good workin g order,and helped to ge t rid o f i ts burden

as easily and expedi tiously as possibl e . If we couldtake o ff the

horse’s hair and put i t on again at pleasure, as we do our own

clothes,we could treat h im as we do ourselves , and frequently

wash his skin , but as we canno t remove hi s clo thes, the cleaning

o f his skin pores and the removal of all tha t they bring to the

surface must principally be done wi t h a brush . No t wi th an

iron s cratch in g machine that would wound and close the

extremely m inu te and del icate pores,but wi th a v i gour ous ly

appliedhair brush,that will keep them all clean , open, and at

ful l work . We are wri ting j ust n ow o f wel l bred and wel l

groomed horses,whose skin and i ts covering are t o tally diff eren t

things to t hat o f the cart horse or She t land pony,unclo thed,

ungroomed , and ly ing out in cold weather.

3 2 ADAPTING BRUSH To SKIN .

5 8 .—In traini ng and hun ting stables a grea t deal o f tim e

and hard work are well spen t in brushin g the horses skin . In

a gen tleman ’s s table where m odera tely high condi tion and

app earance are demanded, a strong man shou ld work at le as t an

hour a day o n each horse, as soon as possible after the horses

come in from their work o r exercise . A rat her s tiff hair brush

may generally be used, but there i s a very great diff eren ce i n

the sensi tiveness o f diff eren t horses and the brush should be

carefully adapt ed to t hem . A tender skinned sensi tive horse i s

of t en made vicious for wan t of at ten t ion to th is . Most horses

too have some par t Of the l egs or body on which t hey are real ly

ticklish, a n devery part must be cleaned .

s ere,a s in everything else, there must be no fighting with

your horse . Don ’t j ump to the absurd conclusion that - the horse

i s n ei ther sensi tive nor ticklish , but only wants an excuse to hurt

someone . Many hors es playfully threaten to kick or b i te whilst

be ing clean ed,that n ever do e i the r, and a good tempered groom

will soon find that out , and feel n o alarm o r concern about i t .

But generally the threatenin g i s the horse ’s only way to tel l the

groom that he i s t ickl ish , o r that the brush i s t o o hard for hi s

tender skin .

5 9 .

- If a softer brush makes no diff erence, and the horse

evidently m eans b i ting, ge t a bridle fi t ted wi th a very large

smooth wooden b i t,too l arge fo r hi m to shut his mou th with i t

,

and put i t on him before you begin to clean him . This wil l no t

only m ake i t impossible fo r hi m t o bite y ou, but i t wi ll divert

his at ten tion,and probably keep him emp loyed i n attempts to

e xpel the awkward bu t harmless mouthful . If no s uch b i t i s a t

hand,any Short bi t o f s tick the r ight size may be tied in to his

m o n th by the hal ter . I f he evidently m ea ns kicking, clean al l hi s

fore quarters first, and leave any part tha t he Obj ects to fo r the

last . Then,i f you have an assi s ta n t, ge t hi m to hold up o n e of

the. horse ’s fore legs , whils t you gen tly and steadi ly rub the

ticklish par t in such a way as to convi nce him that he wil l n o t be

hurt.Be qui te sure tha t y ou r brush is no t too hard, and that

y ouare no t re al ly hu r ti n g him . If no assist an t can be had

,put

knee caps on the horse,and p ut plen ty Of l i t te r under him " un t ie

3 4 H OW TO WASH .

despise ei ther. A cool headed man with a good eye,who ha s

le arned to read the ea rs and motions o f a horse , will s e e how t o

keep out o f r eal danger, and such men are ha rdly eve r hurt .

A fussy, t imid, bad temp ered man ha s n o business a t such work .

I t i s n o doub t unwise fo r any one t o kee p a rea l ly v icious horse ,bu t some m e n enj oy a dai ly t riumph ove r them , o r the rea l

pleasure o f removing thei r bad habi ts . On ly such m e n should

handle vicious horses, j ust as s tree t Ara bs are on ly successfully

ta ken i n hand by ladies o f a Simi la r ta ste .

62 .—The cart horse i s a less sensi t ive a nd m ore patien t

an imal , whose thicker skin i s deeply cove red wi th h air . They

are seldom troublesome t o clean , and the clea nsin g they ge t i s

generally o f a sup erficial character . The lon g cont inuous

exe rci se they take in the open air,i s more favourable t o the

expulsion o f was te , both by the skin and the lungs, whils t such

very high condition i s not demanded by an animal whose lun gs

are less severely trie d , and whose daily exer ti on s a re spread over

e igh t o r ten hours .

6 3 .—A long neglected skin wil l be got i n to good order

m ost quickly by a few good washin gs. F o r t his purpose the

horse should be made very ho t with exerci se—the li o t t e r thebe t ter—then quickly and thoroughly washed a n dscrubbe d wi th

warm water, scra ping the wa t er well out o f hi s hair wi th a

piece o f hoop iron, and ridin g o r moving him about in the open

air un t il qui te dry . The fea r o f taking cold aft er the us e o f

warm wa te r o n e i ther horses o r men i s only o n e Of the bug - bears

that a r e kept up to pre ven t the use o f water . Ne i ther horse nor

man will re adily take cold o n a really clean skin,whe ther made

so by warm o r cold water , and the chi ld j ust out o f i ts daily

warm bath may roll i n sn ow wi th fa r more safety than the ch ild

who ha s had n o bath at all . Ve ry warm water will in j ure the

appearance o f any hair for some hours o r days af terwards .

64 .

—The practice which nature has taught the horse to

adopt t o clean hi s own skin ha s probably many adv antages beyond

those which we can s e e , and i s one that should not he entirely

ignored by those whose aim i t i s to keep the horse i n the highest

possible state o f heal th . However well a horse may be cleaned

USE OF ROLLING . 3 5

he l ikes to take an occasional rub o n h i s own accoun t, and the

deodorizing ear th that he work s in to his skin has unques tion ably

some advantageous eff ect . With the ge n tlem an ’s groom wi th

whom appearance i s usually the firs t obj ect , such eff orts o f the

horse fo r hi s own we l fare are never l ikely t o rece ive much

e ncoura geme n t bu t wi th the trainer , who ha s a higher Obj ect

t o at tain , a nd who,i f observan t and reflective , ha s learned t o

suspec t some thin g adv antageous t o the horse in eve ryt hing that

nature dictates t o him ,rolling will n o t be forbidden , bu t speci al

f acili ties offere d to m ake i t eff ective .

In fine weather when the horse comes i n warm from exercise

hi s clo ths m ay be taken o ff,and puttin g a lon g line on his neck

lead him at on ce t o a piece o f ploughed ground or loose earth ,a nd le t him roll o n i t as long as he will .

The swee t earth he will work in to his skin will ca rry out

some impuri ties wi th i t,and al though i t may not improve the

a ppearance of the groom’s brushes o r clo ths , i t wi ll improve

t he ir smell , and be t ter fi t them their main obj ect .

CHAPTER IV .

FOOD .

65 .—The natural food o f the horse i s grass : there i s no thing

else upon which he wi l l grow s o large,keep so heal thy

,o r l i ve so

long . H i s alimentary canal ca n accommodate i tself to the dry

seedless s talks of wi n ter, to the green fol iage Of spring, o r to the

nutri tious seed pods o f summer . On the stalks he keeps heal thy,

o n the green foliage he grows or fat tens , o n the seed pods he

at tains his utmost power and vigour .

6 6 .-From these facts we learn a t once from the teaching

o f infallible na t ure upon what to feed hi m for any required

purpose . Do we wan t h im heal thy and quie t but dul l and

spir i tless , and capable o f no grea t amoun t o f work, we give him

hay o r even sweet straw . Do we wan t him fat,soft , and sleek ,

though l iable to puff l ike a fat man o r woman , at hi s work , we

supply him with abundance o f green grass . Do we wan t him

ful l o f l i fe a ndSpir i ts , capable of desperate exer tions o r o f worki n g

steadily o n for eigh t hours a day,we give hi m abou t the same

proportion o f seed or corn , wi th the woody fibre o n which i t

grows,tha t nature gi v es h im wi th ca r s o f summer grass or gra in

that he crops , and i t i s mos t importan t that we should find out

exactly what that proportion is,as i t will Show us at once the

u tmost l imi t of concen tra ti on f o r which nature has adapted his

assimi l ating organs .

6 7 .—Under the mos t luxurious provisi on tha t nature ever

makes f o r him , that i s whe n the grasse s and cereals are ful l o f

matured seeds , he canno t procure those seeds for himself wi th

less than from two to three t imes thei r bulk o f chaff , hay , o r

s traw,and accordingly we find tha t his al imen tary canal i s n o t

adap ted for anything of a . m ore con cen trat ed o r less fibrous

PHYS IOLOGY o r FEEDING . 3 7

character than tha t mixture would con sti tute . Unmixed seed

or corn always inj ures him,a ndinj ures hi m more or less j ust in

proportion as i t co n t am s less o r more of rough woody fibre i n

i tse lf .

Thus coarse seeds such as prairie , kangaroo , Maori , cook’

s

f oo t,or rye grass seed

, o r oats , surrounded as they are with a

rough fibrous husk,may with some diffi cul ty be passed through

his digestive organs but such seeds as wheat , which are

surrounded wi th n o fibrous husk, are absolute ly poi son t o him ,

and i f al lowed o r compelled to ea t them , i n an unmixed s ta te ,they wi ll kill him wi th great pain .

68 .—I nat tention to t hese simple , plain , but most impor tant

teachi ngs o f nature , has led t o much suffering t o the horse , and

much loss to his owner . The poor animal has often been kil led

wi th kindness by those who intended to be hi s bes t friends .

ow often have we seen a heavy feed o f unmixed oats given t o a

horse i n the morning, as a preparation f o r the longes t o r hardes t

day ’s work ever expected from him , and the same food put before

h im at every s tage of the j ourney . I t i s true tha t i t does not

often kill him a s unmixed wheat would do , but i t makes him

uncomfortable from the first , and the di scomfort i ncreases wi th

every feed,un ti l he refuses corn al toge ther , and suffers more

through the day with the pain and weakness i nseparable from

indigestion and disordered bowels , than he would have done

wi th twice the work o n a m i x t ure o f food fi t ted for h is stomach .

6 9 .—Nor does the mischief always end wi th the day . There

i s a cons tant remarkable sympathy be tween the diges tive organs

o f the horse and the extremely sensi tive laminae o f hi s fee t,so

that inflammat ion wil l fly from the o n e to the o ther i n the most

sudden and unaccountable man ner . Anything tha t i s l iable t o

inflame the bowels i s thus l iable to inflame the fee t,and a great

deal of the lameness we see in the horses of those who wish t o

treat them most kindly is the resul t, no t o f overwork,but o f

inj udicious feeding . When a horse i s cons tan tly kep t upon

food as concentrated as he can bear , there is necessari ly a tendency

to inflammation and consequen t lameness,but lameness i s more

certa inly produced with sudden changes from bulky t o concen tra te d

3 8 TRAIN ER ’S TREATMENT .

food, and tha t o n the day when his fee t are to be mos t severe ly

tried by concussion o n a ha rd road . I t would be safer t oa buse hi s diges t ive organs o n e day and hi s fee t a nother , than t oa buse them both a t the same time . We have had grass f eed inghorses tha t we could lame a t a n y time , withou t any extra work ,by simply giving them more c orn and less chaff .

70 .- Tra iners f o r the ra ce course o r the hun ting field are

co n s ta n t lv sailin g a s near the wind as they ca n in this respect .

The ir horses must be we ll nourished, but the tra iner wants the

tubes by which nourishm en t mus t be conveyed to occupy as li tt le

room as possible , i n order tha t more room may be‘

lef t for the

e xpansion and play o f the lungs . The ir horse’s natural appe ti te

cra ves f o r more bulk in h i s food he longs fo r grass,hay

, o r even

s traw , a n d i t i s ofte n necessary to muzzle hi m ,o r to li t ter him

wi th saw dust t o preven t hi m from eat ing hi s bed . The more

oa ts a horse can be got to ea t the bet ter hi s tra iner i s pleased ,but n o horse can l i ve o n oa ts alone , and some more bulky food

mus t be allowed . We know o f some successful modern trainers

who allow the i r horses som e succulen t food, such a s a l i t tle roots

o r grass , with great advantage , especia lly for very nervous

horses . Bulky, succulen t food i s the sures t rel ief f o r excessive

nervousness in horses . But the trainer tries t o find out how

much hay o r o ther woody fibre , or bulky food, i s absolutely

n e cessary to keep his horse in he al th , and in n ine cases out o f

ten he errs o n the side of too l i t tle and t o o dry . On ly

Thoroughbreds will s tand this treatmen t , a nda large proportion

o f them go lame o r o t lr e rwrse break down under i t . None o f

them will s tand i t very long " al l ge t “ s tale ,” s tiff , and

prematurely oldunder i t, and so permanen tly inj urious is i t t o

the consti tu tion that the bes t mares that have been lo n g trained

wil l often n o t breed at all afterwards, and hardly any o f them

ever breed a w i nn in g foal , however good they may have been

themselves .

7 1 .—We say this wi th n o wan t o f respect f o r the Opinions

o f trainers . They are a class of m e n whose v iews and practi c e

we consider e nti tled to much considera t i on , as they often gain

the ir knowledge wi th long patien t experience , ra ther than by

TH E LU CKY DOG . 3 9

learning s tereotyped theories by hear t . But there has i n all

a ges be en a remarkable tendency, especial ly amongs t legal ly

qual ified medical pract it ioners , to overlo ok the very simple but

a ll importan t fact , tha t the food f o r each kind o f an imal

must n o t only sui t i t chemically, but mecha n ically : o r in other

words that i ts bulk and i ts texture a r e often o f far more

importance than i ts chemical co n s ti tuen ts .

72 .—Whe n the great French phy siologis t, Francoi s Mage n die ,

found that the dog could n o t l i ve o n sugar, butter, o i l,j e ll ies

,

o r fine flour,he a t once jumped t o the conclusion tha t i t must

be because t hese substance s were deficien t o f some required

chemical cons ti tuent , and decided tha t i t was the wan t o f ni troge n

o r azote i n such food . Tha t nonsense has been repeated up t o

the presen t day, and even the E n cy clo p zedi a Bri tan i ca gravely

te lls us that Magendie “ discovered that food desti tute o f

ni troge n i s no t n utri t ious . But some boy who did no t know

the m eaning o f n i trogen o r a zote , had the com m on sense to

suspe ct tha t h is dog would ge t on a ll right wi th the sugar or the

butter i f i t was mixed wi th some subs tance that would carry i t

i n to and out o f his bowels , and whe n he fed him o n sweetened

a ndbut te red sawdust his dog became the admired and e nvied o f

all o ther dogs , though none o f a ll these learned men quoted the

boy as an authori ty on the subject .

Thousands o f patien ts are annua lly kil led a nd mill ions are

ma de miserable by following their doctor’s advice t o take

s ubsta nces tha t conta in a large proportion o f nourishmen t

instead of such natural food as will readi ly yield up what l i t tle

nourishme n t i t contains,and pleasan tly pass the machinery f o r

extractin g i t .

7 3 .—For all ordinary purposes , however hard o r fas t a horse

has t o work , his maize , oats , or barley , should be mixed with an

equal weigh t, o r with twice the ir bulk o f chaff (cut hay o r s traw) .

I f beans, peas. o r whea t are used more chaff must be mixed with

them , because they con tain less husk in themselves . If the

work required is very ligh t the corn should be reduced i n

proportion , o r the horses may be fed entirely on hay and grass,o r o n hay and roots . A good deal o f slo w work may be done

4 0 Q U E EN v r cr ourx’

s HORSE .

on good grass a lo n e . In warm dry weather even f a s t work ca n

be done wel l on i t,and horses so fed are - more l ikely to be quie t

a n d rel i able for occasional services where appea rances are not a

very formidabl e con s idera tion .

No horse , however ligh tly worked , shou ld be fed o n hay

alone,he should get e i ther grass or roots wi th i t , when the

work i s not hard enough to make corn desirable . N 0 horse that

i s l igh tly worked should be highly fed o n corn . I t i s a common

f oolish prac tice whi ch causes many good horses to be discarded

from a good place and condemned t o a coach or cab. If for the

sake of appearance high feed must be g i ven,then there mus t b

regula r work eno ugh to take o ff t he surplus energy . The well

fed and daily worked horse i s a t once th e most efficien t a nd

trustwor thy,but fai l ing p len ty o f exercise there should be l i t tle

o r no corn . Most o f the troubl e tha t lad i es and inexperienced

persons ge t i n to wi th horses , i s the e ffect o f too much corn a nd

t o o l i t tl e or too irregular work . When Q ueen Vic toria rode on

horseback her horse was always thoroughly exerci sed by a lady o n

the mo r ni ng of the same day she rode i t . The exercise was given

early enough to allow o f the horse being wel l swea ted and then

dried a ndcleaned i n time for her Maj es ty . Horses highly bred

and fed,howe v er naturally good and quie t , are al ways dangerous

f o r a lady ’s use whe n al lowed t o s tand idle . I ndeed,under any

circum s tances standing long i dle can only unfi t a horse f o r any

ki n d o f work . The horse is adapted f o r something very l ike

perp e tual mot i on , and for foraging for him sel f, and not for

s tanding for days toge ther in a s table and feed ing o n corn .

74 .

—Whatever the feeding i s to be le t i t be regular,and

don ’t expect your horse to diges t the mos t corn on the days

that he does the most work,or to diges t grass o n one day and

unm i xed ca t s the next day . If he i s to l ive on grass h is tubes

will keep i n the righ t form and diameter to deal wi th i t,bu t i f

he i s to l i ve o n oats wi th bu t l i ttle hay they mus t al t er wonder

f ully,a ndthey canno t alter to mee t such a change in a day or a

week . Most o f the pain f ul and often fa tal ca se s o f col ic which

surgeons , gro oms , and coachmen are so ready to attribute to a

d r i nk o f wa ter , are the e ffec t of ei ther be ing kep t too lon g

4 2 NATURE ON FEEDING .

the horse wil l necessarily be left long wi thout atte n tion as after

the las t fe ed at nigh t .

76 .—Then how often should we feed hi m ? Go t o nature

agai n and y o u will learn you r le s so n’

a t o n ce . Look first a t the

col t . H ow o f te n does he suck P Every half hour at the farthes t .

The cal f may li e down three , six . o r e ve n twelve hours . When

a wild cow hides her calf and i s wat ched she wil l some times n o t

go near i t f o r thirty - s ix hours , a nd the ca l f will be perfectly

quie t. The foal rare l y l ies , even asleep , fo r more than ha l f a n

hour, and i ts mother’s mi lk runs away i f n o t drawn for two

hours . Look a t i ts mother a ndy o u may watch her many a dav

and many a n igh t be fore y ou w i l l s e e her refrain from eat in ghalf a n hour toge ther . The cow wil l l ie down al l n igh t

p ea cefully chewing what she gathered i n the day but the mare

has n o s uch reserv oir , her smal l s tomach wil l n o t hold enoug h t o

keep her di ge s tive organs goi ng a s in gle hour, and she requires

no l ong sleeps . A look in to the i n terior o f e i ther an imal teaches

the same lesson . In the horse we see a piece o f machine ry tha t

mus t be suppl ie d l i ttle and often—a m anufac tory wi thou t a

warehouse . There i s nothing adap te d to go long wi thout a

fresh supply, and we see by his habi ts i n a s tate o f n ature that

hi s appet i te preven ts him from do ing so .

77 .—Experienc’

e t o o has proved that by frequently feedinga ndwatering the horse, more work can be go t out o f him ,

and

t hat he will be less l iable to any kind o f d i sease o f the digestive

orga n s . D irectly the o ld fashioned mistaken sys tem o f keeping

plough horses i n the field all day wi thout a feed , which had been

prac tised harmlessly enough wi th the ruminatin g bullock teams ,

gave place to the m idday bai t, the pace improved , the whip was

abol ished , and twen ty - fi v e per cen t . more work was done .

78 .—Four hours i s the outs ide tim e that the horse should

work wi thout feeding,and where conve n ien t the time would be

better shortened t o three hours . The las t feed a t n igh t , say

a t 1 0 p m should be double that o f a n y o ther, and should be the

only o n e a t which he should have more than he wil l ea t upwi thout a pause . Then

,i f a t all

,he should have some hay to

grind up a t hi s lei sure , as i t will g i v e a longer slower supply

H ow M U CH r o o n . 4 3

than cha ff and co r n would do . The idea that the horse w i l l o r

should l ie down and s leep al l n ight is n o t en tertained by those

who know the anim al . The horse never sleeps long toge ther .

The foundered horse wi ll l ie down a ll night, and all day to o

rather than put his weigh t o n the inflam ed a ndsensi tive laminae ,but n o t a horse than can stand without pain . The hardworkedhorse should have every facil i ty o ff ered him f o r ea ting and

drinkin g during the n ight .

79 .—As t o quan ti ty the Shetland pony wil l require a very

differen t a l lowa nce to t he Shire horse , and al l the i n termediatesizes will wa n t propor tionate quant i t i es , supposin g them all t o be

e qually worked . As a general rule the more good food a horse

can be go t to diges t we ll the more work he can do .

80 .—The large s t sized dray horse a t long hard work every

day should ge t 1 8 l . corn , 1 :2 l . roots , and 1 8lbs . o f hay, cut

in to cha ff .

8 1 .—1 5 lbs . o f corn and 1 0 1bs . o f good meadow hay

,wi th

some roo ts on hi s re s ting days , i s enough for the largest hun ter

in h is hardes t worked season .

8 2 .—1 5 1bs . o f corn , 7l . o f roo ts , and 1 0 o f good meadow

hay, i s enough f o r the ordinary sized , hard worked, cab, coach ,

o r omn ibus horse , wi th more roots o n Saturda y n igh t o r whenevera l i t tle res t can be forseen .

8 3 .—1 2 lbs . o f corn , 1 2 l . o f roo ts , and 1 .2 l . o f clover

hay i s enough for the heavy farm horse a t ful l work . The corn

should be reduced to 6l . and the roo ts increased whenever short

days and bad wea ther make the work short o r irregular. Out

s traw may also take the place o f cl over , when the work i s no t

pressing . Good brigh t swee t straw cu t up and mixed with roots

pulped i s bet ter than musty hay at any time .

84 .—1 0 1bs . o f corn , 7 lbs . o f roots , and 1 0 1bs . hay, a r e quite

enough f o r ligh t worked carriage horses , 1 5—1

2hands high . When

the work is very light, 5 1bs . less corn , with 5 1bs . more hay, wi th

more roots , should be given . If the work i s very l igh t and

irregular, the pace neve r very fas t , n o l ong j ourneys,and the

horses required t o be very steady , QOlbs . o f good hay, and 1 4 lbs .

roots only m a y be given .

4 4 VARIETIES OF FOOD.

8 5 .—Ponies and small horses must be fed in proporti on t o

the ir size . They do be tter wi thout corn than large horses wil l

do . A child ’s pony should no t have corn unless i ts work i s

regular and fast . They wil l be more gentle and re l iable wi thout

corn,but they should get some roots o r grass with their hay .

8 6 .—With hard worked cart o r plough horses

, o n e- third of

the corn should be beans . Barley may take the place o f ca t s

wi th them i f cheaper . Maize o r whea t may form part o f their

food i f a ll the hay o r straw i s cut i n to chaff and mixed with the i r

corn .

8 7 .- F o r hard worke d hun ters , omnibus , coach o r cab

horses , about o n e - th ird of the corn may be beans,the res t had

better be ca t s o r barley,o r both .

8 8 .

—F o r carriage horses al l the corn should be oats , beansare too stimulating for light work

,and maize imparts an

unpleasan t smel l to the horses that eat i t .

8 9 .—Al l corn i s be t ter crushed f o r horses when i t can be

done at a moderate cos t . With young horses ge tting plenty o f

chaff wi th their corn,i t i s n o t necessary

,but wi th a very old

horse i t should always be done . I t is desirable t o o that e a t s

should be crushed when given to horses that are working o n

land from which a crop of very clean wheat i s expected . Barley

goes farther when boi led , but should on ly be given in any large

quan ti ty to horses a t slow work . Bran should be given

occasionally especially i f roots are n o t used . Sharps may wi thadvantage

,e i ther whol ly o r parti al ly

,take the place of any other

corn for horses a t any slow work,however hard . We have used

them largely wi th all kinds o f horses . There i s no kind o f corn

o n which horses look be tter. They may be too fat ten i ng f o r

fast work . They must be largely mixed wi th chaff , and s tric tly

al lowanced,or from their excessively nutri ti ous character they

wil l founder almost as certainly as whea t .

90 .—Hay is a term appl i ed to dry grass of any descrip tion .

I t may be so well made and from such good herbage that horseswil l look wel l and work well o n i t

,wi thout any corn i t may be

s o bad as t o be unfi t to put be fore a valuable horse , and most

inj urious t o an y . Meadow hay i s the name given to hay made

H AY . 4 5

f rom p e r m am e n t mixed pastures i t m a v be upland meadow o r

water m eadow the la t t er i s n o t fi t for horse s . Upland meadow

hay i s the ha y most used for fas t horses , a nd trainers are very

particular to se e that i t is good . I t is sometimes large ly

mixed wi th but te r-cups , dandel ions , and o ther inj urious herbage .

If good and wel l made i t wi ll be green and have a n ice smell .

Ital ian rye grass makes a good hay for any kind o f s tock , though

i t i s more used i n i t s green s ta te , be ing much grown near ci t ie s

where sewage irrigation has been in troduced . Clover hav when

wel l m ade i s nutrit i ous and fat tenin g , but i s Spoi led wi th less rain

than meadow hay . Whe n made in good weather i t wil l be leafy,

and much liked by horses . Much the same may be sai d o f

sainfoin hay , which i s be tter than clover . A mixture o f green

oats and ve tches makes a useful hay fo r any s t ock . Lucern i s

l i t tle grown in England , but i s much grown i n good deep land

i n warmer cl imates , where i t grows several crops in a year .

9 1 .—In cl imates too dry, or o n land too poor for long grass ,

oaten hay i s much grown , and i t does very well f o r horses o f any

descript ion . The oats should be sown thickly and cut abou t

three weeks before the corn i s ripe . When well made,oaten hay

will be green , but i t i s of ten lef t t o o long in the field bo th before

and after cuttin g . On rich swam py land Timothy grass wil l

g ive heavy cre ps of hay, and al though coarse looking , animals do

wel l on i t .

92 .

—A great m any horses are much inj ured i n wind bv

getting an un limi ted quan ti ty o f hay . Most trainers and many

coachm en prefer hay more than one year o ld. We suspec t that

the only advan tage o f using i t is tha t the horses do no t l ike i t s o

well,and there fore ea t less o f i t , a n adva ntage that m ay be

secured by giving only a weighed allowance . I t some times happens

that finer weather has enabled the hav of a preceding year to be

bet ter made tha n that o f a curren t year, which would be of course

a very substan tial reason f o r preferring i t .

93 .—Roo ts f o r horses include carrots , pa rsnips , Swede

turnips,kohl rabi , mangold wurzel , a nd potatoes . Al l horses

wi ll eat carrots e agerly they often require some teaching before

t hey appreciate other roots : th i s mav be done by mixing them

4 6 ROOTS, H OW To USE .

with carrots a t firs t . Carrots are re laxin g , pa rsnips are fat tening,Swedes a r e the bes t roots t o give a horse in large quan ti tie s ,man golds improve in l ate Spring when o t he r roots dete riora te ,kohl rabi i s more sui ted for milch cows than f or horses, pota toes

should n o t be give n i n large quan ties and should be e i ther boiled

o r pulped . All other roots are be s t pulped a ndm ixed wi th chaff ,but whe re there i s n o convenience f o r tha t they may be sli ced,o r merely washed and put in the manger fo r the horses t o gnaw

t o p iece s themse lve s . F o r fas t horses the quan ti ty should neve r

be l arge , but a smal l daily a l lowance keeps ha rd fed horses from

ge t t ing stale , s tiff , and husky , and adds years t o th e i r l i fe .

Wi th farm horses they keep the wind right , which s o often goes

wrong wi th great quant i ti es o f ha y alone , and t o some exten t

take the pla ce o f gre e n food during the win ter,so that the roo t

f ed horse comes up from grass o r re turns t o i t wi thout any

e xtreme o r dangerous change t o a ffec t his digest i ve organs .

CHAPTER V .

WAT E R .

94 - It i s dis tressing to thi nk o f the amoun t o f discomfor t

i nfl icted o n the horse by the ignorance o f hi s owners a ndkeepers

o n thi s simple subj ect . “ Water , water everywhere , a nd n o t a

drop to drink,

” must often be the i nward cry o f the poor, thi rs ty ,hard worked and dr y fed horse . On his na tural green pasture

he could man age to exi st some time wi thout water , but compelled

sadly agai n s t hi s wil l to l i v e on nothing bu t corn a nddry hay,

how hard i t mus t seem to him to be rushed through o r pas t each

tempting s tream,and to be scolded o r ki cked when he would gla dly

drink the water in which hi s own di rty fee t have been washed .

Thousands o f grooms have l i ved a nd died under the im pressi on

tha t the ir chief du ty was t o find out how l i t tle water a horse

could l ive o n . F o r hun dreds o f years grooms have been taugh t

by the great diplomatised authori ties , who are supposed to kn ow

everything and never make any mistakes,that a hungry and

thirsty horse wil l ge t col ic or inflamm ation o f the bowel s i f

allowed to drink before he ha s eaten hi s corn . Now , these

same grea t authori t ies have j us t discovered that the poor horse

must n o t have a drop o f water im mediately after he has eaten

hi s corn.

By killing a nd l ooking i nside some o ld horses that had

eaten a grea t feed o f corn and had then swal lowed a deluge o f

water, they di scovered that some of the corn had been washed

out o f the stomach in to the bowels before i t was prepared to go

there . And al though t hat i s exactly the practice they have

recommended to every groom and horse keeper for hundreds o f

years past they have n ow found o ut that is j us t what ought no t

t o be done . I f these great au thori t ies had gone to nature f o r

4 8 S U PPLY OF WAT ER .

i nstruction , in stead o f endors ing each o thers blunders, they would

lon g ago have found tha t the mischie f 1 1 1 both cases resul t ed

from keep i ng the poor an imal so lon g wi thout wa ter , and tha t

the horse was destined by na t ure to take both his food and

drink often and i n small quan t i t i es .

95 .

—Wi th the excep tions we shal l m en tion the horse shouldalways have water w ith in hi s reach and be allowed to take a few

sips at a time wi th h is dry food . When he re turns from longfasting o r grea t exerti on the necessary fluid he will crave f o r

and whi ch alone can carry all that is wanted i nto o r out o f hi s

system,should be supplied i n small quan ti t i es and frequently

unti l hi s thirs t i s appeased , after which he may safely be left to

help himself .

The horse l ike most other animals prefers the water he i s

accustomed t o drink , even though i t may not be pure o r good .

Any great change o f water i s avoided by careful trai n ers on the

eve of a race .

9 6 .

—The common cruel practi ce o f keeping a horse for fas twork always short of water

,ha s o f ten a ppeared to resul t

favourably f rom the f a ct tha t i t ha s prevented the horse from

eat ing too much hay . A horse t hat could not ge t e n ough water

could no t eat as much hay as he o therwi se would have done , and

we have poin ted out that greedy horses often unfi t t hemselve s

for work by eat ing too much ha v . But the proper l im i t can be

a n dshould be pu t on the consump t i o n o f hay , without keeping

a horse in a painful s ta te of fever by depriving him o f the only

fluid tha t can keep hi s blood and blood vessel s in a sta te fi t f o r

work , a n dcarry nourishmen t in to and poison o ut o f his system .

97 .

—Having said s o m uch about never keeping the horse

l ong wi thou t food or water,thi s wil l perhaps be the righ t place

to poi n t out the a d v an tage o f timi n g his meals t o his work , and

keeping as much room as poss i ble fo r his lungs when prepar i ng

him f o r short arduous exer tion . For such work his lungs wi l l

want all the r oom they ca n get, and he should have as l i ttle to

carry as possible , besides which the nervous exci teme n t he

undergoes wi ll destroy hi s appe t i te and be fatal to good digest ion .

Only nervous horses are now em p lo v ed a t such work,a ndwhen

CHAPTER VI .

AIR .

99.—Ih making provision fo r the sus te nance o f any an imal

we are accustome d t o th ink o f food as the most importan t thing,the n

‘

o f water, then o f air . This is reversing the real order o f

the ir importance , but i t i s natural , because food i s the expensi ve

arti cle,and the o n e left to our j udgmen t and discre ti on .

We usually take the water as we fin d i t,and we can do nothi ng

with the air excep t spoi l i t . But the trouble we have to procure

food and the unlimi ted provision which nature has made for the

free supply o f air, should n o t misl ead us a s t o the ir re la t ive

importance . Whils t al l three are indispensable f o r l ife , a i r

m us t stand firs t bo th i n in stan t and i mperative importance ,and in the n ece ssi ty for i ts absolut e puri ty . The food o f the

ox may contain from 3 t o 1 5 per ce nt . o f n ourishmen t, that o f the

horse may range f rom 5 t o 2 5 , that o f man from 1 0 t o 5 0 , tha t

o f the bee from 5 0 t o 90 , but with al l o f them the air mus t contain

j us t about 2 1 per cen t . Thre e per cen t . excess would deprive

them o f sense , a nd burn the ir l ungs t o ashes three per cen t .

deficiency would slowly suffocate them .

1 0 0 .—By m easuremen t the quan ti ty o f air demande d by

a n y warm bloode d a n imal i s beyond a ll comparison great er than

that of the food, bu t e ven by we igh t the lungs must be supp l ied

with a bou t four pounds o f ox y gen f o r every pound o f food

provi ded fo r the stomach . The water we drink is we l l fi l tered

before i t can reach the blood,a ndthe food i s s tri ctly confine d t o

the o n e long tube provided f o r i t , and never comes in con tact

wi th the blood, except such prepared portions o f i t a s are

selected by the minute lacteals i n the walls o f tha t tube . No

such precau tions are t akenwi th the air " n ature has mixed i t

SUPREMELY IM PORTAN'

J‘

. 5 1

exa ctly a s the lungs o f all animals demand i t. a nd ha s taken t he

most wonderful preca utions t o keep i t s o , and there fore she has

made n o provisio n in the an imal s tructure for straini ng or

purifying i t in any way , be fore i t comes i n direc t con tact wi th the

blood. Consequen t ly a n y animal ca n be f a r more easily inj ured

o r des troyed by impure ai r, tha n by impure f ood o r even water .

1 0 1 .—According t o Dr . Tanner ’s exper ience we can l i v e

f or ty days wi thou t food : we know tha t we ca n l ive some days

wi thou t renewing the supply of water " we cannot l i ve five

minutes wi thou t a fresh supply o f ai r. A horse o r a man can

support a ction o r thought with a great deficie ncy o f food, but

any deficiency of oxygen wi ll a t once paralyse him . Le t fi ve

throbs o f un oxygi n a t edblood be sen t to his brain , and the dray

horse could not move his own tai l , and Wil l iam G lads to n e

could n o t repeat the alphabe t . The most heal thy chi ldren are

often those who ge t the leas t food a nd the most air . The l i ttle

rosy bird keeper who l ives o n a shi ll ing a week i n the open a i r

i s of t en an obj ect o f surprise and envy t o paren ts whose pale

pampered children are coddled up i n ceiled rooms . We can ea t

and drink e n ough to keep us going for twelve hours , we ca n not

lay up o n e minute’s s tore o f oxygen we ca n r un and j ump when

hungry and thirsty , we ca n do nei ther when our lungs canno t

supply us wi th su ffi cien t air . Exci temen t wi ll make us forget

tha t we are hungry , no excitement will take us over a hurdle

when the weak kn ees t ell us tha t the lun gs canno t ge t oxygen .

1 0 2 .

—We know very l i t tle abou t what l i fe i s . Three

hundred years ago physicians did no t even kn ow tha t the blood

c ircula t ed at a ll now we know that i t. mus t come to e v ery part

o f the body , cons tantly loaded with hea t and oxygen , a ndre tu r n

e very minute or two to the lungs for a fresh supply , and tha t

the pace at which this ca n be done l imits the am ou n t o f exertion

o f which any warm blooded animal i s capable . S t il l we do no tknow a ll that i t does in i t s cons tant round, nor can we poi n t t o

the exact reason why we can not act o r th in k a momen t wi thou t

i t,or why all i ncreased bodily exertion demands a corresponding

i ncrease i n the supply o f a ir t o the lungs, and o f blood and

o xygen to every part o f the body . F o r our presen t purpose we

5 2 LIGHT IN DARKNESS .

must be co n te n t to know that such i s t he case, a ndspend a li ttle

time i n trying to understand how i t i s do n e , as n o o n e can have even

a rough idea o f how to keep an animal machine going at i ts best pace

u n less he un dersta nds a li t tle ab out the circula tion o f the

bl ood .

1 0 3 .-Early i n the year 1 5 5 3 a n exi led Spaniard n amed

Serve tus publ ished a work i n which he poi nted out that al l

the blood in the body was regularly se n t from the heart to the

lungs , and brough t back i n a purified state to the hear t. This

grand discovery was regarded as a greater crime than the

compara tively small discovery o f Gal i leo in proving that the

plane ts circulated round the sun , s o that i nstead o f bei n g

tortured , imprisoned, a nd hum i l iated, and threatened a s poor

old Gali le o was , j us t 8 0 years a fterwards , this young and truly

grea t and able man was burned i n the autumn o f the same year

i n which he publ ished his book . He had previously incurred the

fatal enmity of bo th the Pope and o f Calvi n , by poin ting out

tha t ne i ther o f them were i n fallible,and n ow he dared to add the

doctors to the l i s t of his powerful persecutors,by giving posi t ive

proofs to the worl d that they had muddled away for thousands

o f years wi t hout learning the A B C of their profess ion , o r

knowing anything about the beautiful machine,the whole

managemen t o f which they presum ed t o monopol ise . O f course

the doctors decl ared that the blood did no t circula te,and helped

the priests a n dparso n s to hunt up all h is books and put them i n

the fire . In thi s they succeeded so wel l that only three copies

were left,and this great flood o f l igh t and knowledge was shu t

o ut from m ankind f o r j us t three quarters o f a cen tury .

1 0 4 .—S till the blood would circulate

,and in 1 6 2 8 Harvey

had the honour o f publ ishing a book i n which the grea t discovery

o f Serve tus was repeated and comple ted by showi n g something

o f the purpose f o r which the blood was purified in the l ungs,and what was done wi th i t afterwards . Since then physiologis tshave been con tinually discovering some beneficial purpose

accomplished by this circulat ion,and the greatest m inds have

learned to bow down i n reverence to a process s o comple te , so

comp rehens ive , and so economical . Physiologists,ana t omists,

WHEELS OF L IFE . 0 3

chemists,and mechan i cs , have a ll learned much by observi ng

the work accompli shed, but the a bles t physiologis t canno t tell us

what i s l ife,though he ca n give us a thousand proofs that

stagnation i s death the chemist canno t tel l us how the oxygen

a ndcarbon combine so as to maintain heat wi th such unerring

regulari ty in any climate " the mechani c cannot discover how

a fluid so thick as blood is passed so rapidly through tubes to o

fi n e t o pass the purest wa ter, n o r can he show us where the

m otive power originates . The mos t elabora te,comple te

,and

de l i cate machine ever constructed by the skill o f man , i s a

clumsy,bungling , waste ful piece of mechanism compared

to the organisation tha t circula t es , warms , and invigorates the

blood o f the hor se .

1 0 5 .—As i t i s a circle

, wi thout beginning o r end, we may

wi th almost equal proprie ty take i t up at a ny par t . I f our

review o f the process could be more lengthy and comple te , i t

would perhaps be mos t natural to begin where the chyle , selec ted

from the food by the lacteals,i s firs t in troduced in to the returni ng

stre am o f venous blood but as we must confine our examinat ion

o f the process t o what i s s tr i ctly n ecessary to get a rough

understan ding of the subject we will begin a t the heart , a t t he

great double force pump which appears t o keep a ll in motion .

1 0 6 .- To t he righ t side o f the hear t comes a stream o f dark

fluid,composed o f blood

,that has gone the round o f the

sys tem , and o f newly made chyle , selected and extractedby very

fine l acteals from the food passi ng through the bowels . This

m ixture i s imm edia te ly pumped out o f the heart into the lungs

t o be warmed,purified

,and supplied wi th new oxygen . I t

there ge ts rid of i ts load of poisonous carbon i c acid gas , and i s

changed from a dul l dark t o a brigh t red colour. How is al l

this done in a f ew seco n ds ? The lungs are a beauti ful sight

under the microscope, a ndwould be far more so if i t were possible

to see them at work . They contain mill i ons of ce l ls,too minute

to be seen by the e y e , ye t each cel l rece ives i ts part icle -

o f blood

o r i ts particle o f air, and wi thout con fusing them toge ther ,allows the air to ge t near e n Ough to the blood t o give i t oxygen

and to take away carboni c acid gas , to burn up waste material

5 4 PERFECT ADJUSTMENT .

a nd to e ff ect a ll the known and unknown change s necessary to

fit i t to carry new li fe , and heat, a ndvigour t o every part of the

body . Every parti cle of blood i s made t o mee t the fre sh

a i r , not only wi thout cool i n g i t , but heating i t in the process,and heating i t most when the air introduced is coldes t . Having

been thus fi t ted f o r i ts work , the blood goes back to the heart ,entering i t n ow o n the l eft side , and i s immediately pumped into

the arteries which carry i t al l over the system,delivering the

required quan ti ty as fresh and pure a t the fee t a s at the heart

i tself,pul ling down and building up , whe r e v e i ' a ndwhatever is

necessary, carrying ner v es , brain , muscles , hair, hoofs, skin , o r

bones,through vessels t o o sm al l to carry water

,and flowing i n to

the veins comes back again to the right side of the heart to be aga i n

passed through the warming and purifying fire in the lungs .

Al l thi s i s done s o rapidly that the whole o f the blood in the body

passes through the heart i n a time varying from one to three

minutes,and the fas ter i t i s kept go ing by reasonable exerci se

the more completely does i t accompl ish i ts work .

1 0 7 .-What we cal l fire i s the rapid combinat ion o f carbon

wi th oxygen . Wherever this combination takes p lace,ei ther

qui ckly o r slowly , heat i s produced i n exact propor tion to the

amoun t o f carbon and oxygen mixed toge ther . We see i t going

o n i n our hearth fires fast enough to produce a des tructive flame,

and sti ll faster in the smi th ’s fire , where the oxygen i s rapidly

forced in to contact w ith the carbon by the smi th ’s bellows . The

same thing goes o n slowly in the lungs , restrained and regulated

by a s tr i ctly l im ited supp ly'

o f oxygen . One principal reason

why the blood is heated most i n cold weather is because cold a ir

l ies i n less compass than warm air, s o that the same pipes can

convey more of i t , and consequen tly more oxygen at each

inspiration .

1 0 8 .—Thus the lungs are a wonderful self regula ting furnace

t ha t warms the blood jus t a s much and n o more than i s needed,

whils t the warm blood by i ts rapid circulati on through a

beau ti ful system o f pipes warms every inch o f the body, and

wi th the he lp o f a good,heal thy , clean skin , will preserve a

un i form temperature o f about 1 0 0 degrees, whe ther surrounded

MAGIC MESSENG ERS . 5 5

by a temperature 2 0 degrees below zero , o r two hundred and s i xt v

degrees above i t . Thus the blood is always kept warm enough to

circulate through tubes t o o small to be seen , ye t never warm

enough to inj ure the inconce ivably fine texture that composes the

mil lions of cells i n which the blood m eets ,wi thout mingl ing wi th ,

the air i n the lungs .

1 0 9 .—There is a ye t more beau tiful and wonderful feature

i n connec tion wi th this circulation which we canno t unde r stand

without going a li t tle i n to the composi tion o f the bloodi t sel f .

The greater par t of the blood is greasy water , but abou t th irteen

per cen t . o f i t consis ts o f minu te on ion - shaped parti cles , or l i t tle

s of t,tough , flattened circles, about the three thousandth part o f a n

i nch through their greatest diame ter , a nd the ten thousand th Of

an i n ch be tween their flat ter s ides . These are cal led blood

corpuscles, o r blood cel ls, and consis t o f a material cal led cruor ,

which has the p r Op e r ty o f at tract ing oxygen from the air,and

o f parti ng wi th i t t o the various tissues of the body , or i n o ther

words o f picking i t up i n the lungs , and carry ing i t to a n y part

o f the body that wants i t . These l i t tle cells go ou t f rom the

lungs loaded wi th oxygen , which they take to comb ine wi th

carbo n i n the dis tan t tissues o f the body . They re turn w i th their

colour changed from red to black , and loaded w i th carbo n i c acid

gas , produced by the combination of the oxygen wi th the

carbon , i n the exhausted tissues o f the body . Thus whi ls t the

purely liquid par t of the blood gathers hea t i n the lungs , a nd

carries i t t o every part of the body, just as warm water would

do passing through a furnace , and runn ing back through the

pipes of a ho t - house , these li t tle blood cel ls go out , not only

warmed themselves,but carrying ou t the material wi th which

to keep up a l i ttle fire a t the extremi ties, and bring back the

poisonous products of tha t fire , to be sen t out wi th the warm

mois t air from the lungs . They thus keep up hea t by burn ing

away was te material at the extremi ties , j ust as i t i s kept up o n a

larger scale in the lungs . They are so tough tha t they will

squeeze through a Space smaller than themse lves and recover

their original form . They are smaller i n the horse than in man,

and are s ti l l smaller i n the deer, p r oba blv sm al les t in those

O f) AS TRUE AS POETIC.

a nimals l iable to be called on f o r the m ost ra pid c i rcula ti on o r

most remarkable f o r speed and endurance .

1 1 0 .—We have spoken o f these blood corpuscles a s com posin g

thi r teen per cen t . of the bl ood,bu t that i s o n ly a rough average

es timate . They vary from something l ike fi v e'

t o twenty per

cen t and the cause o f thei r va ria tion is a m ost importan t

considera tion i n connection wi th the subj ect o f thi s chapter .

The smal les t per cen tage i s found in the blood o f poor n eedle

women , o r o f a n y fem ales poorly fed, ge t ting li t tle a ctive exerci se,and above a ll shu t up i n close rooms . The larges t per cen tage

i s found i n the blood of man , o r any o ther animal,constantly

a t work i n the cold open air wi th enough good nutri tious food .

With wom en shu t up from the open ai r, the blood cells are

usually s o f ew that t heir fee t are kep t warm with diff i cul ty,i f at

al l . Wi th to o m uch hard work in the cold Ope n air, the blood

cell s may ge t s o large a per cen tage o f the blood as t o give a

t endency to inflamm ation,when food o r drink o f an inflammatory

character i s i ndulged in . Poor blood can only be made good

blood by good food and plen ty o f exercise in the open air high

feeding withou t the exercise i n the Open air wi ll o n ly do mischie f ,a n despeci ally endanger the lungs . The blood cel ls ca n be slowly

i ncreased by the open air exercise , they can be rapidly decreased

by shu t t i ng up in bad air,they can be ins tan tly lessened by

bleedi n g,a ndthe corpuscles s o los t canno t be res tored f o r some

weeks o r mon ths , under the very best treatmen t .

Thus Mrs . Heman ’s allusion to the “ rich blood o f the

Arab,i s as physiologica l ly correct , a s i t i s poe ti cally beauti ful ,

and such rich blood mus t be cul tivated i n any anim al that i s t o

be capable o f any extraordi na ry exertion . In o ther words , i f the

horse is to be fi t for much,he m ust both be taken i n to the open

air,and the pure air must be taken i n to him , i f he i s shut up a t

all . He must no t breathe air tha t ha s a lr e ady

'

p a r tedwi th i ts

f ree oxygen , and become loaded wi th carbonic acid ga s , or wi th

the ammonia ari sin g from stones reekin g wi th the excre t ion s of

hi s own body .

1 1 1 .

—Now we come a t las t to the air i tsel f . Roughlyspeak ing the a tmospheric a i r consists o f 79 pa rts n i trogen or

5 8 SECOND - MAND AIR .

that, though breathed agai n and again,unti l the breathi ng

animal dies . Consequen tly,f o r all practi cal purposes

, a i r wi th

1 6 per cen t . o f oxygen is very l i t tle be tter than none,and with

eve n twen ty per cen t . i t would keep an animal depressed and

starving for oxygen whereas air wi th the full 2 1 per cent . feeds

him freely wi th the warming and invigorating ga s .

1 1 8 .

—When the oxygen ha s not only bee n des troyed,but i ts

place supplied wi th poisonous , depressing , carboni c ac i d ga s , mat ters

are made sti ll worse , as such ai r re fuses to carry out the carbon i c

acid gas that the blood cel ls bring back to the l un gs and tha t

whi ch i s produced by combus tion i n the lungs themselves .

Now a heal thy full sized horse stan d ing a t rest i n the stable ,will con sume about cubic in ches o f air every hour from

this he will ex tract 2 cubic inches of oxygen,and will

discharge in to the air cubi c i nches of carbonic acid gas .

This shows how necessary i t i s that the air of a s table should be

f reely exchan ged during the whole o f the nigh t,i f the horse ’s

blood i s t o be kep t i n a s tate that will bes t fi t h im for his work .

1 1 4 .—The more we study this subj ec t , a nd the more we

understand of the const i tution and internal economy of the horse,

the more shall we s e e of the impor tance o f pure air,a nd how

i nseparably i t i s connected wi th the warm th,vigour

,heal th

,and

effi ciency of any warm blooded animal . To try to warm an

an imal by shutt i ng the pure air away from i t , i s l ike trying t o

increase the fire o f a s tove by shutting i n the dampers,or to

m ake a candle burn brigh tly by pu tti ng an ex t i n guisher o n i t .

The only reason that this is not always see n to be equal ly fooli sh

i s that the be n efi ce n t laws of nature and the cons ti tution o f the

air i tsel f do n o t allow us to exclude i t e ffectually .

Fortunately,air i s n o t easi ly shut i n o r out of any place . Warm

air wi l l escape upwards i f i t can,and cold air wi ll rush in to i ts

place . This law, added to the s tron g tendency of oxygen to

combin e in the righ t prop ortion wi th nitrogen preven ts

thousands o f persons from kill ing them selves and their horses

o n the spot , as they would do if they could exclude a ir f rom the ir

bui ldings as easi ly and comple tely as they can shu t out rai n .

Perhaps we are wrong i n cal l ing anything fortunate tha t preve n ts

SPARTAN PRINCIPLES . 5 0

a n y violation o f the laws o f heal th from incurring i t s full penal ty,

and i t is at least Open t o doubt if i t would n o t be be tter f o r a few

thousand horses and children t o be annual ly ki lled outright, than

f o r the whol e race t o sufl e r and degenerate by be ing partial ly

deprivedo f the vi tal air which nature has provided so l iberally ,but which the i gnorance o f i s so ready t o trea t a s an enemy

ins tead of a friend .

CHAPTER VII.

EXERCISE .

1 1 5 .—Possessing large fibrous muscles, intersected wi th the

s tronges t motor nerves, and wi th arteries tha t supply both wi th

a con t inuous stream o f highly oxygi n a t ed blood , the horse i s in

e very respect adap ted fo r motion, and cannot long be depri ved

o f i t wi thou t lessening hi s heal th and effi ciency . In some o f them os t ancien t wars we re ad o f , the aim o f each party wa s t o ge t

their enemies cavalry shut up where the horses could get no

exerci se , we ll knowing that w ithout e xercise they would soon

become useless. Tying up in a s table,where he cannot even turn

round, i s a great violation o f a ll his natural habi ts,and o n e that

should never be pract ised except o n horses tha t ge t a great dea l

o f da i ly exercise i n the open a i r . Cart o r plough horses that

work in the Open a i r e igh t o r ten hours a day,will take li t tle

harm from the restri ction , al though they would be much be t ter

wi th l iberty t o chan ge thei r posi tion in the s table as ofte n a s they

please .

c

o r se s whose work i s short a nd fast,demand the

i ndulgence o f a loose box f o r thei r long res ting hours,and when

the work o f any horse is irregular he can on ly be kept fi t f o r i t

by giving him regular exerci se i n any lon g intervals that occur

be tween his workin g days.

1 1 6 .—The young horse in tended f o r slow work may be put

t o some useful occupation as soon as he comes up from grass, o r

a s soon as he is broken in,bu t for most descrip tions o f fas t

work, where horses are valuable , and are treated careful ly, thegrass fed horse wi l l be gradual ly i nured to a change o f food

,

a ndbe mere ly exercised f o r some t ime before he will be put t o

ha rd work.

The racer’s work is a lmos t al l exerci se, intended t o quali fy

WORK ONLY CAN FIT F OR WORK . 6 1

him for perhaps less than o n e hour’s work during h i s whole

l ife wh ils t the hun ter ’s work i s usually too tryin g to be continuous

without i n te rva ls o f res t, lon g enough to require a good deal o f

renova ting and invigorating exercise . oLo n g periods o f inaction

a r e inj urious to any horse regular work only can qual ify him for

work, s o t hat unless the work requi red of him is of a regular

dai ly character,the s tabled horse must ge t regular exercise.

e i ther to put h im o r to keep him in condi tion for hard work .

1 1 7 .—There are many degrees o f efficiency demanded from

the horse,and consequen tly a great difference in the amount o f

pul l ing down and bui lding up that must be done a ndo f the

amoun t o f exercise that he mus t take, and o f the character o f

the food he must eat . The exceedingly high and hard condition o f

the race horse i s o n e tha t can only be main ta i ned fo r a short

time,and i s n o t desirable i n any other . With h im the rule i s

,

al l the corn tha t he can be got to digest», a ndall the exercise he

can be got t o s tand , for some months be fore he i s required for

racing . Opinions s till di ff er a l i ttl e as t o what that exe rcise should

be,but the tendency o f modern practice ha s been t o rely more o n

slow and less o n fast work for his preparation . Walking five o r

s i x hours a day i n the open air i s known to be the m eans by which

all hi s muscles a nd sinews can be hardened wi thout danger o f

straining . Al l hi s m otor nerves, ai r pipes , and blood v essel s

are enlarged to their u tmost capaci ty , by the circula tion and

breathing being so long quickened by gentle exercise i n the

pure ai r,enriching the blood wi th such a long a nd increa sed

supply of oxygen , and cul ti vating t o the u tmost that large per

centage o f blood corpuscle s ( 1 1 0 ) r e adv t o carry l ife and

vigour to every part of the system , and to mee t wi th ease the

em ergen cy of the mos t exacting pace . A shor t steady gaHOp ,o f a few hundred yards, o n soft ground and up hi ll , m ay be given

daily, j ust to bring the lun gs i n t o thei r full play, and the distancem ay be i ncreased t o a mile o r two as the race draws n ear . But

lon g - con t inued quickening o f the breath i s more to be rel ied on,

and is far less liable t o break a horse down t han any violen t

exertion .

1 1 8 .—If a s go od a feeder as he should be

,a ndn o t excessively

6 2 TURK ISH BATH .

n ervous, he wil l get t o o fat o n thi s treatment , and fa t e ve n i f so

placed as n o t t o obstruct the pla y o f the lungs and the expa nsion

o f blood vesse ls , would be only a n addi tional weigh t to carry

and every pound o f weight is an im portan t consideration in a

race .

Fat i s kept down without e i ther s tarving o r over working,

by calli ng on the pores o f the skin t o carry i t away . This is do n e

byworking the horse bri skly, in thick clothing, about once a

week, o r a s often as is found necessary .

1 1 9 .—One hour after he has had hi s first fe ed in the morn ing,

having had a s much water a s he ca n drink by him a ll n igh t,take

o ff his usual clo thing and pu t o n a doubly thick rug and hood,

kept f o r the purpose . Walk him briskly f o r a n hour to open a ll

the pores o f the skin , then begin a slow trot , gra dually increasingthe pace fo r twen ty minutes " then canter slowly f o r about two

m i les then take him a t once to the s table and heap ha lf a dozen

blankets o r rugs o n him , and gi ve hi m water to drink in small

quant i ties .

In qua rter o f a n hour take o ff all the clo thing and send i t

o ut o f the s table t o dry and sweeten , then le t a couple o f men

scrape a ndr ub the horse quite dry . Put o n some blanke ts or rugs

that can be changed i n a n hour ’s time f o r his usual clothin g.

Every train ing horse should have a duplicate se t o f clothing,a ndevery oppor tun i ty be taken to put out o n e se t in the Open air

i n fine weather, o r to air by the fire i n damp weather . We have

shown ( 5 6 ) how important i t i s that the skin should ge t e very

assis tance t o carry o ff carbonic acid, and th e worn out and pulled

down materials of the vigorous, because rapidly changed, body .

The clo thes should never be saturated with the impuri ties

a ndmois ture tha t the skin is constan tly throwing o ff , but should

be kep t i n a state t o a bsorb them readily, and be deprived o f a ll

i nj urious odour by frequen t exposure to warm,dry

,sweet ai r.

Nothing so good as free exposure to sun and win d, and next to

t hat i s an open fire .

1 2 0 .—A f a r be t t e r way than the above todr y a horse after a sweat

when the weather wi ll permi t, i s to brin g hi m straigh t from hi s

c an ter to some sunny spot ou tside the s tables, and taking o ff the

PACTs v E RS If S PHYSIC . 0 3

clo thes sponge him freely wi th wa ter , e i the r wa rm o r cold,over

every part o f hi s skin , and quickly sc r ap e wi th hoop iron , and

rub dry with towels . This will re fresh the horse and make hi m

dry and comfortable in a much shorter time tha n he could be

d r ied wi thou t the water. It i s a most re freshing process f o r any

heated horse to go through a t any time , o n e tha t they thoroughly

enj oy,and o n e that wi ll prepare them for a second exerti on more

quickly than anything else we know o f .

1 2 1 .—This sweating process ha s gone out o f fa shion a grea t

de al lately, but nothin g has real ly taken i t s place . We have no

doubt tha t i t wil l come back i n an improved form . We bel ieve

there used t o be to o much gal loping i n the heavy clo thes,and t o o

l i t tle a t ten tion to get ting the horse quickly and thoroughly dr y .

There i s sti ll a stupid bel ie f in phy s i o , which i s m ore diffi cul t to

unde rstand tha n the large fortune made by Holloway ’s pill s .

1 2 2 .- Less than two years ago we had an oppor t uni ty of

closely watching the trai n ing of two ordinary horses by a n

amateur . On e was a chestnut gelding t hat had been bough t f o r

£ 3 0 , and commonly driven by a lady . The o ther was a black

mare bough t for £ 1 0 . There was l i t tle i f any di ff erence i n thei r

ages . These horses were fed wel l o n corn and cut s traw, but had

n o hay , and were dai ly al lowed t o n i bble a l i ttle grass, m ore o r

l ess as thei r bowels appeared to demand i t . They n ever tas t ed

physi c . They were swea ted abou t once a week,and were always

washed dry a ndmade comfortable as soon as possibl e . In fine

weather they were al lowed to crawl about,sauntering and

nibbling,wi th a boy o n the ba ck o f o n e o f them , s o as to

keep them a great deal i n the Open air.

1 2 3 .—Af te r about three m on ths o f th is training the horse

could beat the mare wi thou t an eff ort, giving her five stone .

He ran at the publ i c races , fo r which he was trained , and carried a ll

before hi m agai n s t a num ber o f good profess ional ly trained

horse s . On the first day he wo n a two mile hurdle race , over

eigh t fl igh ts o f hurdles , carrying n ine stones three pounds

time , four minutes and s i x seconds . On the second day he wa s

made t o carry twelve s tones seven pounds, but s ti ll he wo n easily ,running a -mile and a hal f in three min utes and four seconds

G4 EARL Y RI SING .

over six hurdles . He wa s pur chased f o r two hundred pounds

by an e xperie nced racing celebr i ty , and was o f course pu t in to

the hands o f orthodox trainers , and liberal ly suppl ied wi th

phy s i o . S in ce the n he has neve r won anything i n good com pany ,and a t the last races o n the same cou r se over the same hurdles

he was easily beaten , and e v iden tly f o r wan t o f cond i t ion ,by hi s old s table companion , the bla ck mare , tha t was so i n ferior

t o hi m when both were i n the same‘

un p rofe s sional hands , whe n

both we re nibbling grass i n the fresh ai r, and both were al ike

ignoran t o f Barbadoes a loes . The m are had all along been

treated i n the same natura l way .

This is by n o means the only i ns tance we could g i ve i n

wh ich nature and common sense have tr iumphed over drugs a nd

professional orthodoxy , but we give this case because the mai n

fac ts a r e o n publ ic records , and i t i s a case i n which the two

sys tems were so wel l tested o n the same good tempered animal .

1 24 .—The horse in trai ning should ge t a ligh t feed and

leave the stable a t daylight in the morn ing, as walking o r

can t ering o n the dewy ground or grass i s very beneficial to hi s

fee t . H i s dai ly exerci se should be divided in to two o r three

periods o f from one to two hours each , but any fa s t work he does

should be done i n the morning . He should no t be galloped a t

all,e i t her o n the day he ge ts hi s sweat , or o n the day after , a nd

take care that he i s ne ver galloped enough to produce any sign o f

s ti ff ness .-No s tereotyped rules ca n be laid down as to the

quant i ty o f exerci se any horse should ge t to keep hi m i n good

wind and free from fat . No two horses wan t exac t ly the sam e

treatment . Some restless horses will t ake nearly a ll the exercise

necessary f o r them ,by constan tly pacing backwa rds and forwards

in a loose box. Some delica te feeders will not eat enough t okeep up to much work , and W i ll ea t least when most worked.

O thers ca n hardly be kept free from fat by any amount o f work,and n o t a few horses have a load of internal fa t, more inj uri ous

than any other that mus t be go t rid of, eve n though t hey may

look l ike skele tons on t he ir neck and ribs .

Thi s la tter tendency i s the mos t difficul t to es t imate, and is

6 6 D IET F OR RACERS AND HUNTERS.

di sorder the kidneys .

c a y must be free from i nj urious herbs ,have been well made

,qui te sweet , a nd grown o n good s trong

land . The lat t er i s important,as no matter how swee t and good

ha y may appea r, i f i t i s grown o n gravelly light land i t i s n o t fi t

f o r the race horse . Many careful trai ners n ever change the

ground f o r the ir hay, bu t cons tan tly procure i t f rom ground that

they have found t o be sui table . Al l agree that the best hay f o r

t he purpose i s grown o n wel l drained clay,rather than o n l igh t

land . Black Tartar ca t s , with their small berry, pass the bowels

m ore , pleasan tly than any large berried oats . They should be

m ixed wi th an equal bulk o f chaff , which is best out from good ,bright, sweet Wheaten o r oaten hay and wi th o n e - sixth o f their

weight o f good o ldcrushed beans . White peas are used by some

t rainers instead o f beans,but their eff ect o n the kidneys i s often

bad,so tha t we should always prefer beans . The Wheaten , or

e a t e n hay chaff, will keep the bowels i n bet te r working order than

m eadow hay chaff , and wi th the proporti on o f chaff to corn whi chwe recommend, no large quan ti ty of ha y need be given . A l i t tle

bran,boi led barley

,a carro t, o r a nibble at grass

,will keep the

bowel s Open i f t here i s a tendency t o costiveness . Have no thing

t o do wi th physic, which on ly weakens and disorders the bowe ls

o f ei ther man o r horse .

1 2 9 .

—Ce t t i n g a hunter in to condi t ion for hi s season’s work

does not di ff er very much from the training o f a race horse .

H i s condi tion i s n o t s o extreme , and i s expected to last longer .

He is allowed t o carry a l i t tle more fat,but i t should n o t be

m uch . e may be allowed a l i t tle more hay,and if he wil l ea t

1 0 1bs . o f black Tar tar oats , and five p oun ds o f crushed o ldbeans"i t i s be t ter to keep him regularly eati ng that

,than t o r isk putting

hi m o ff hi s feed by trying t o ge t him t o e a t more .

1 3 0 .

—If i n cl ined t o ge t to o fat he may be sweated in thes ame way a s the race horse , and he may ge t nearly the same

a mount o f walking and gal loping before his work begins but in

the season he wil l get qui te enough gallop ing a t his work, and

hi s walking exercise should n o t exceed six mil es a day , when the

i n tervals be tween hi s work are n o t longer than three o r four days,

But th i s mus t be regulated according t o the very differen t amoun t

SATAN FINDS SOME MI SCH IEF ST ILL .

”0 7

o f work he may get i n the field, and the great di ff erence i n the

amoun t o f work that di fferen t horses will require . He should

always be left free in a loose box, and there he wi l l take all the

exerci se he needs o n th e first day af ter a severe run .

ISL—The ordinary riding o r l igh t horse when no t dai ly

worked most of ten suffers fo r want of exerci se .

We once heard a worthy ci tizen say ,“My horse ough t to

take me there and back (40 miles) wel l i n a day , as he never goe s

out o f the stable a ll the res t o f the week .

” Many persons seem

en ti rely unaware that an imal s treng th mus t be used, o r los t, and

cannot be bot tle d up six days a week f o r use o n the seven th .

The an imal machine wil l fi t i tself f o r anything reasonable that

i s regularly dem anded of i t. The muscles will harden and

e nlarge , the arteries will expand, and the blood i tself will become

fi t f o r hard work if regularly demanded o f i t " but i f a

horse i s shu t up in a s table three days out o f four, he soon

becomes unfi t f o r hard work , a nd i f he does i t a t al l,only

does i t wi th great dange r a n d suff ering to himself. Sucha horse i s dangerously eager f o r a gambol o r a scamper when he

firs t ge ts o ut o f his pri son, but soon finds tha t hi s softened and

wasted muscles,his thickened pipes a nd poor blood

,al l f ai l , hi m

i n any protracted exertion,especially if he be loaded wi th fat .

1 3 2 .—There are f ew horses tha t are not quie t wi th regular

work,there are very few horses that a r e real ly quie t wi thout i t .

The s tr ong impulse t o t ake exercise which nature has implanted

i n all young heal thy horses , alm os t compels them t o play,and

horse - play is gen e r ally dangerous , a nd often leads to the horse

learning something , o r ge t ting in to som e mess , that makes hi m

dangerous ever a f t erwards. Thousan ds of tim i d persons who

would be immensely be n e fi t t edby r i ding on horseback or driving

themselves abou t , a r e prevented from doing so because they are

frightened with horses t o o fresh and too playful to be safe . We

have kn own such persons afraid to ride o r drive their own good

tempered but playful horses go to a l i very s table and hire horses

that had been sold cheap t o the stable keeper f o r real vice,but

which were kept safe and sober by the excessi vely hard work o f

their wre tched lives . No cruel overwork i s necessary wi th the

68“F OR IDLE HANDS To n o .

”

good tempered we l l broke n horse,but long res ts should be

s trictly forbidden , as al ike des t ructi ve to efficiency , safe ty, o r

p leasure .

1 3 3 .—If the work usual ly required from the horse i s very

ligh t, le t the corn be withheld , or be very l imited (73 , and

then a very moderate amoun t of daily exerci se will keep the horse fi t

for pleasan t and safe riding o r driving , In most cases a lady ’s

o r gen tleman’s horse that i s kept in high condi tion,and tha t i s

only ridden short d is tances f o r pleasure , should be wel l exercised

by the groom o n the morn ing o f the day o n which they are t o

ride i t so that i t may take any gambols i t pleases wi th

h im .

1 3 4 .—F o r a highly fed horse twenty m i les a day fo r

s i x days a week , a t a moderate pace , and with a l ight load , i s as

much as he should regularly do .

When the pace is dist ressing and the load heavy , as in a

m ail coach, the highes t fedhorse can only stand hal f that di stance ,

and will n o t las t long at that . When the pace i s moderate,and

the dis tance not more than about ten m iles a day, the feed should

not be high i n wh ich case the exercise on res ti n g days need

n o t exceed a five mile walk.

1 3 5 .—Some authori ties have s tated that when a horse i s

r equired to take a long j ourney on one day of the week,he wil l

be best prepared for i t by giving him two such j ourneys in the

week . This is qui te con trary to our experience . We find

nothing qua li fy s a horse for a long journey so well as moderate

daily work,and we would never give him a very long j ourney

by choice . I t takes more out o f a horse , and does no t harden and

i nvigorate s o well as dai ly modera te work . I f quali fying him for

o n e long day ’s work in a week i s the only object to be obtai ned

by h is work for the res t o f the week, we would simply make

up the week’s work t o a hundred miles , di v iding i t equally over

three days,so as no t to give him more than five miles on the

day bef ore and the day after the necessari ly long j ourney . That

i s t o say i f the horse wa s obl iged to go forty - two miles on the

Thursday,we would give him sixteen m i les 0 1 1 Monday , Tuesday,

and Saturday,leavin g only five mi les each for Wedn e sda v and

Friday .

DICK TURPIN ’

S . 6 9

1 3 6 .—One hundred and twen ty miles a week

,a t seven or

eight mi les a n hour , i s all that a good highly fed horse will

regularly do,and keep fresh and i n good condi tion . We know

that horses have been ridden and driven more than o n e hundred

m i les a day . So have men . But we would not care t o number

0 1 1 our l i s t o f friends the man who could wan tonly drive ei ther

of them to that dis tance . In America , Australia , New Zealand ,and wherever horses are so unfor tunate as to be cheap

,some o f

the most brutal description o f men are often endeavouring

t o gain no torie ty by some such act o f barbari ty,

An do‘

e r t he ir brim m in g be a ke r bo a s t t he in glo rious de ed ,As i f ba rba rit y we re high de s e rt .

We have seen parties o f such m e n star t o n fresh,high

conditioned , well bred horses, and a f ter riding them f orty o r fifty

miles a day for a , f o r t n i ght , o n good summer seed grass,re turn

with a part o f the the poor brutes, worn to skin and bone , and

wi th raw backs that n o man wi th common humani ty could

possibly si t o n .

Happily i n England men riding horses to such a s ta te,in a

f ortnigh t would at leas t s tand a chance o f being sen t t o prison .

Such are the f eats we read o f,without the horrors of the real

sight, i n books that t ell us tha t horses i n those countries wil l

travel forty or fi fty mi les a dav f o r weeks toge ther, o n nothing

but grass .

D i ck Turpin ’s mare was no bet ter than thousands o f other

m ares,but D ick Turpin was a greater brute than most o ther

riders . What the thorough bred horse will do i s o n e th ing , but

what he i s fi t to do,and what the laws o f any civi lised coun try

should le t brutal men do with him ,i s qui te another thing .

1 3 7 .—Cart horses will travel day after day j us t about as far

wi th their heavy loads at the rate o f two or three miles an hour

a s the light horses wi ll travel with their l ight loads a t eigh t miles

an hour,and twi ce as far as the l ight horse will con t inue t o

travel a t ten miles an hour. Any o f them can do far more in

the summer season tha n they can do in winter. Before

railways were general,l igh t cart horses i n the summer season

Often took veal t o Lon don , a hundred miles, leaving various

70 FOOD To FIT WORK .

parts of Wiltshire o n Wednesday evening,and ge tting into

London marke t early o n Saturday - morn ing. They returned in

an almost e qually short t ime, each horse drawing a t o n besides

the cart o r waggon both ways , al though t hey ge t li t tle more

than time enough to e a t their f ood o n the way . We know one

entire horse that did thi s seven teen weeks fol lowing .

O nly picked horses ca n stand such work,and they lose

flesh o n i t , s o that h i s very di ffi cult t o keep their shoulders

from galling . There i s.no doubt that Cart horses are better fed

o n the ir j ourneys than ligh t horses generally a r e both because

they a r e n o t expected t o eat corn wi thou t chaff,and because

they a r e fed and watered by their drivers , i nstead o f being lef t to

the tender mercies o f an unknown ostle r

1 3 8 .—The cart horse does n o t often ge t left long wi thout

exercise,excep t in bad weather . When highly fed

,his legs are

m ore l iable t o suff er for want o f exe r m se than those o f the li ght ho r se .

We have pointed out (8 3 ) tha t the corn should be promptly reduced ,and roots substi tu ted whenever the prospect o f bad weather i s

l ikely t o confine the horse much t o t he s table . Plenty o f roots

and bran mashes wil l keep down inflammation , but e xercise must

be found f o r the horses e ven when the ground i s covered wi th

snow. Where chaff cutt ing and corn crushin g a r e done by horse

power a t home,they wi ll give some exercise , and timber, manure ,

o r s tones may be drawn o n a sledge . No horse need work all day ,but every horse should ge t a l it tle exercise , and fai ling any work,where r idi ng and leading i s n o t practi cable , gi ve them a chance t o

play in a field o r large yard . When clo ths can be faste ned o nthem the y may be advan tageously turned out , even o n the snow,

fo r a short t ime . In fact,anythin g i s be tter than let ting them

stand f o r days toge ther tied up in the i r stal ls.

1 3 9 .—No horse

, n o t even the slowest cart horse , should be

e xpected to s tart a heavy load after he ha s been long standing

i dle, more especial ly if the weather is cold . Inattention t o th i s

m akes hundreds o f good horses j ibs .

The horse that from any cause ha s been lo ng out o f the col lar

Should be s tarte d very careful ly, and wi th some thing that he can

move very eas i ly " but double care wi ll be necessary when the

COLLAR PR IDE .

horse has not only been wi thout collar work, but wi thout any

work at al l,and is consequen tly fresh

,frisky , and impatien t . To.

put such a horse to s tart anything that requires a slow,lon g

,

patien t lean in to the col lar,i s to incur a very great risk o f spoi l »

i ng him , and the risk is s ti ll greater i f he is asked to star t i t two

o r three times before he is al lowed to go straigh t o ff with i t a nd

ge t warm .

1 4 0 .—For a long rested horse

,however good

,the carriage

should be drawn o ut upon good hard road , where i t wi ll ge t rather

a down than an up hil l s tart , and where the horse can go s traigh t

o ff wi thout any s t e p s o r turns . D irectly he i s f as tened to the

carriage he should be al lowed to go away wi th i t , and , i f

possible , wi thout a check from either re in , be s teadi ly driven a

mile o r two before the carriage is loaded , o r he i s asked to wai t

about and start a t command . I f the horse i s known to be li ableto j i b, he should have a bridle and saddle and hi s own working

collar put o n him , and be ridden a mile o r two fast enough to warm

his shoulders and the collar o n them then put o n the rest o f the

harness,and buckling the re ins in to the traces

,l et some o n e hang

o n to them whils t you lead him'

about . I f he ca n be s topped by

the traces the assis tan t must ease ofi" and le t hi m go , but do not

pu t him in any carriage un t i l he wil l walk slowly o n with al l that

an assistan t can pull back . We s ay S lowly , because a j i b wil l

usually draw five t im es more at a fast,than he will a t a slow pace .

When you do put him in the carriage don ’t wai t about, but drive

him about unti l qui te warm and s t e adv before y ou take up a n yload

,o r risk any s t e p p i n g, o r start ing, o r wa i t ing about . A horse

tha t has once j ibbed will always be liable to do s o again , and is

especial ly un fi t t edfor occasiona l l ight work . The horse that has

to pull hard and s teady every day wil l usual ly do i t,even though

he has been made a j ib, but such horses wil l always be troublesome

after much res t . Remember , that in nine cases out o f ten , i t i s

e ager im pa t ience o r fear, and n o t laz iness o r obstin acy that y ou

have t o deal wi th,and n o whip should be heard or seen by such a

hors e until well warmed and set tled down at hi s work .

CHAPTER VII ] .

SHOE ING

1 4 l .

—In a coun try like Great Bri tain where the roads aregenerally metal led , shoeing the horse that ha s to travel on such

roads may be regarded as a n ecessary evi l . Where he can do

most o f his work i n fields,over grass pl ains

,or on roads no t

covered wi th stones or flin ts,a good hoof will be far better le ft

wi thout any addi tional weigh t,and wi thou t bein g n a i led to any

unyielding subs tance . The springiness o f the horse i s so much

l essen ed by even the very best shoes , a s to m ake t he difference

qui t e percep tible to the rider, notwiths tanding the many Sprin gs

that i nterfere be twee n hi s seat and the horse ’s foo t .—There i s a very great di ff erence in natural hoofs . A

few strong, tough , concave hoo fs, grown o n dry hard ground ,will s tand alm ost any roads wi thout shoes others grown o n soft

rich swamps, without frequen t cut ti ng back, are so thin , wea k ,and fl at

,and have s uch unsound frogs , that t hey will s tandno

amount of work o n any roads unshod . F ew horses can do much

wi thou t shoes af ter they have been accustomed to them for any

length of t i me , especially i f the frogs and bars o f thei r fee t have

been once des troyed, as they are oft en wi th a smith’s kn if e .

The flesh at tached to the hoof,l ike that a tta ched t o the human

nai l,i s o f an extremely sensi t ive character , and a l though i t has

been pro tected by nature wi th a thick in sensible hoo f , that hoo f

i s no t so capable of adapting i tself to a greatly d iff erin g amoun t

o f wear and tear a s the skin o f the human hand or foo t , whils t

the larger surface o f extremely sensi tive laminae demands a much

more n n p e n e t r a ble covering . Thus in a hog, or o n a n y sof t

gri tles s land, the hoo f will sometimes grow s o l ong a s to

qui te im pede the horse’s mo t ion

,but when con s ta n tly worked

74 DAWN ING LIGHT .

Be n j am i n'

Bush, and o ther fi r s t - class physicians,have done to ex

pose the rash experimen ts , and the presumptuous meddlings wi th

nature practi sed by many o f t he ir profession o n human subj ects

the se shining lights o f the veterinary ar t,Lafosse and Fleming

,

have done to Show up the vile treatmen t which the horse ’s foo t

has so long received . Horse owners are greatly indeb ted both to

those in tel ligen t , scien tific, and practical v e te r i n a r v surgeons, fo r

t he ir uncompromising denun ciation of the too common des troyers

o f the horse ’s foot,and to the Scotch Socie ty fo r the Prevention

o f Cruel ty to Animal s , fo r having brought out so many good

essays o n the subj ect , and for giving such prominence to M 1“

George Fleming ’s admirable prize essay on horse shoe ing .

1 45 .

—Much pi ty has been expended , and principal ly

wasted,o n the poor chi ld , o r the poor horse

,without

a shoe to i t s f e e t ,” which might have been be tter directed

t o the poor chi ldren , and poor horses, whose well formed

Springy feet , have been condemned to wear ' heavy,tight

,

clumsy, un fi t tm g, unyielding shoes . The labourer ’s ch ild,whose

calves dwindle away t o m op s ticks, because the child ha s been

compel l ed to give up walking and springing, a s nature in tended

h im t o,and t o swin g at the end o f his legs a few pounds o f ox

hide and iron that wi l l never bend wi th his wonderfully elast i c

fe et,i s hardly more i nj ured and disabled than the horse , whose

natural springs and elastic protectors are al l cut away,to be

re placed by a clumsy, ponderous, unyielding iron ring .

1 4 6 .—The first j ourney tha t the youn g horse makes t o the

blacksmith’s shop is general ly the last in which he has the

advantage o f al l the kind provisions which nature has made for

his fee t . The farrier there, t o o ofte n makes him hi s patien t for

l if e,by ruthlessly cut ting away the e lasti c cushion

,called

the frog,which i s nature ’s natural support fo r the gre at fi exo r

te ndon . This cushion i s nat ure ’s provision t o support the cen tre

o f the horse ’s foot , to t ake o ff the s train from the sensi ti v e

lamin ae with which the hoof is connected wi th the foot,t o

preven t the extreme de pression and consequen t s train o n the

fl exo r te ndon , and t o break the concussion caused by the horse ’sgre at weigh t" coming so rapidly to the ground . Whe n once

FARRIERS’ FICTIONS . 7 5

severely cut away , the frog ne v er en t irel y recovers i ts original

effi ciency,and will be a very long t ime before i t wil l be even

moderately useful . At the same t ime the enamel , l ike the ename l

covering our finger nails,which covers the whol e o f the ou tside

o f the col t ’s hoof, and eff ectual ly re tains i ts mois ture and supple

ness, i s rasped away to make his foo t fi t the shoe,and to give i t

a round and un i form Shape . Thus two of nature ’s most importan t

provision s t o secure an elas tic tread, are ruthlessly destroyed ,a nd the horse compelled henceforth t o s tump and j ar away wi t h.

his sensi tive foo t and loaded sinews rest ing ent irely on the dried

and unyielding crust o f his hoo f,made stil l more unyielding by

being nailed to an iron ring .

1 4 7 .—Then the so f t horn that covers and protec t s the sole

o r bottom of the foot is pa r ed away, as i f i t had been pu t there

by some bungler who did no t unders tand his business , and thus

the farrier i s secure,that whenever hi s shoe comes o ff

,the

unsupported, thin , bri t tle, outside crus t , which alone ha s been

left,will break away , and bring the horse down on to the

mutilated f r og and sole,now qui te unfit t o bear any such we igh t

,

This means, o f course , that he canno t go a mile without being

shod a gain,whe n hi s fr og and sole will be again pared

,hi s

enamel r asped o ff , and the farrier’s customers educat ed to believe

that shoeing is a bless ing o f which the y can never have t oo

much,a n dtha t a horse without a farrier would be o f n o more use

than a horse wi thou t a foot .

1 48 .—Now,

inst ead o f acting as if convinced that nature has

done everything wrong,and that we cannot too comple tely take

the horse’s f e e t out of her hands , we ought to look at nature’s .

work wi th reveren ce , and t o fee l quite sure that there i s a wise

design i n every par t o f that foot, as we see i t unmutilated o n the

unshod col t . I f i t fails to bear al l we require o f i t, i t i s onlybecause we want it to work o n roads which we have made

un naturally hard and grindin g. I f we approach the horse ’s foo t

with th is feel ing, our aim will right ly be to in terfere as li ttle as

possible wi th n ature . We shal l remember t ha t every nai l we put

i nto the be e f i s an inj ury t o i t that the best iron o r steel i s n o t

hal f so good as the tough,l igh t

,elas tic horn wh ich n ature provides ,

7 6 TIPS VE R SU S SHOES .

a ndthat every oun ce we add to the we igh t of the foo t requires a

power to l if t i t equal to four hundred ounces at the loins .—The farm horse, with good s ound feet that can be kept

cons tan tly working i n fields, i s very much bet te r wi thout any shoes

at all . He i s le ss'

li able t o accidents,will n o t inj ure hi s mates o r ge t

i nj ured himsel f in turning round amon gst them, o r standing in the

stable, o r running in the field . He will never get corns,and hardly

e ver go lam e from any caus e . e wil l work longer and fas ter eve ry

da y of the week, i f he i s no t called o n t o l ift one hundred and twen ty

thousand times a day , at the u tmost mechanical disadvan tage , an

i ron ring , enclosing more o r less clay , mud , o r dir t at the bottom

o f each foot . I f the frog,bars

,and soles of his feet have never

been cut away,he wi l l do all the car ting necessary for the harves t

,

o r manure hauling,and even he a r an occasional day o n the roads.

T he Sou thlan d teams,o f s i x horses each , that plough five acres a

day , and draw their driver behind them (2 0 ) n ever have any shoes

t o li ft o n thei r fee t .

1 5 0 .

—For any work that makes shoeing necessary , le t therebe as li tt le departure from nature as possible . I f tips will do, don

’t

us e shoes,but whichever a r e used take care tha t the frog

,sole

,

"bars,and enamel are never cu t away

,nor the horse made so that

he will not stand wi thou t shoes afterwards .

For city work,on rough paving stones, o r o n roads formed

wi th very cut tin g hin ts, the common shoe may possibly be

nece ssary but fo r a ll ordinary work, o n ordinary roads, wi th n u

mutilated fee t,l igh t

,narrow

,steel tips

,not exceeding two o r three

o unces, are very much to be preferred leaving the heels,bars

,and

fr og in a state o f nature . But don ’t t ry these for the firs t t ime on

a horse whose frog,bars, he els, and soles have been hacked away ,

and then j ump to the conclusion that to e tips a r e not a suffi cien t

prot ect ion fo r a natural foo t . Thousands o f horses have worked

well in them,andn ot a few wh i ch could work in no other way . They

"cure con traction o f the fe et,o r the Opposi te misch ief of a s inkin g

c entre , ei ther o f which m a y be caused by cu tting away the frog ,

Corns,thrush

,a n dsand crack , gene ra lly dis appear when nothi ng

m ore than tips are used , and when the frog can be go t to do

t he'

wo r k i t was designed to do i t wil l take o ff the s train and jar

ROUGH RIDES AND HIGH JUMPS .

that s o oft en ruins the sin ews o f the legs . Put o n a‘

soundfooted

young horse, whose fee t have never been hacked to pieces , they

will carry him,as we knowfrom experience , over rocky mountains ,

and what is even worse, over long , rough , s tony river beds .

That wonderfully capable and clever, though vicious hun ter

Sulky,

” which for years carried the hun tsman of the Ashburton

Hun t Club over a rough stony country, and was never known t o

be behind e i ther at a j ump o r a burs t,was always shod with very

l ight tips,generally put on by the huntsman himsel f. In those

tremendous s i x fee t j umps, which made that horse so celebrated

amongst the daring hun ters o fNew Zealand, he landed on the goodfrogs and heels which nature provided for him .

1 5 l .—Whatever kind o f shoe i s used

,o r whatever ki nd o f

work the horse is wanted to do,the o n e unvarying rule should be

t o le t the cen tre o f the foot alone,and to lea ve i t prominen t

enough to take i ts ful l share o f the we igh t of the horse . The to e

may be shortened as much as i t convenien tly can be,but le t

nothing be taken from the heel i f the frog ca n be kept prominent

enough withou t doing so . Where tips are used i t need never be

touched where long shoes are used any unequal proj ections

must be fi led o ff tha t in terfere wi th the perfec t bedding of the

shoe . Rasp the bot tom of the outside of the hoof until youprocure a level , flat surface , as wide as the shoe or tip to be nai led

on to i t,and exactly fitting i t

,and do n ’t interfere wi th any o ther

par t of the foot . R asp no more of the sole away than mav be

necessary to bed your narrow tip , or shoe , and don’ t leave the

sof t sole any lower than the hard cr us t , bu t le t them both take a

level bearing on the stra igh t l evel tOp o f the shoe or tip . The

shorter the horse'

s toe i s kep t the less likely he will be to brin g

his toe to the ground before hi s heel , and consequen tly t o stumble ,whilst anything that raises the foo t o f f the ground

,weakens the

horse,and puts more strain o n al l his powers .

1 5 2 .—The upper surface of the shoe or t ip must be perfect ly

smooth,and the proj ections raised by puncturing the nai l holes

thoroughly fil ed down,bu t the under sur face should be rounded

o ff a t the edges , as a worn hoo f o r worn shoe would n a tur a lly gbe .

The shoe or t i p must of course be m ade the righ t. size and shape

7 8 NA ILS , FEW AND SMALL .

t o correspond wi th the outside o f the hoof, as the en amel o f the

hoof must never be cut away to make the hoof fi t an unsui table

shoe .

1 5 3 .

—The nail hole s must be bevelled through the whole

t hickness o f the shoe , and made to exactly fi t the heads of the

n ails,so that they wil l hold the shoe o n unti l worn ou t . The nail s

should be made of the very best material , so that they m a y be a s

smal l,and few in num ber as p o ss i ble u Three 0 11 the outs ide and

two o n the inside are al l tha t should be used wi th a ful l - sized shoe .

Only three nails need be used wi th tips . The stron gest hold wi l l

be ob tained near the fron t o f the foot , and nails there cramp the

foo t less than they would do farther back.

Huh—Smiths pride themselves upon driving these nai ls asf a r i n to the hoof as possible , and consequen tly as near as possible

t o the quick . To a n un thinking observer,thi s gives an appe ar

a nce o f greater securi ty t o the shoe : but such appearance i s

e ntirely deceptive . The practice i s an exceedin gly mischievous

o n e , besides be ing da n gerous .

To fully understand this, we must l em em be r that the hoof i s

grained like a piece o f wood , with the grain running up and down ,

as in a tree . Nai l s d1 iven 1 11 the direc tion o f the grain have n o t

nearly s o good a ho ld as nai ls driven across i t . But besides this

a nail driven fa r up the hoof can never be secure ly clinched . To

escape the quick at all , the last part o f the nai l ’s passage must

have been very near the outside o f the hoof " so that,when the

n ail i s turned down f o r cl inch ing,i t i s turned over a t hin

,weak

strip o f hoof, e asily spl i t o ut , and wi th the grai n the wron g way

to support i t at a ll . On the o ther hand , when the nai l i s brought

out wi thin half- a h - inch o f the shoe, i t takes a direction more

across the grain o f the hoof, and the p oin t can be cl i nched where

t here i s a grea t thickness o f sol id, hard hoo f to rest i t o n .

Another great advan tage in this shor t drive into the bottom o f the

hoof i s,tha t when the shoe i s taken o ff

,after a mon th ’ s wear

,and

the t o e i s again rasped down , the short nai l holes will be n early

rasped out , so that they wil l not weake n the hoof f o r another

m ail ing, nor form ven ti la tors through which to evaporate the

n atural moi sture o f the fee t .

CAN SHOE AT HOME . 79

1 5 5 .—With thi s system o f d r awing the n ai ls, any strong and

s upple man , wi th common sense, can nai l o n a shoe wi thou t any

p revious experience , or wi thout runn ing the sl igh test risk o f

t ouching the very sensi ti v e quick . None bu t a drunken o r

wantonly brutal man will ever dri v e a nai l to the quick and

leave i t there,as the horse wil l t ell them plain ly enough i f a nail

actual ly touches the quick,but wi th the sys tem o f driving n ai ls

s o high up, the quick i s often pricked and the nai l instan tly

wi thdrawn,or what is a great deal worse

,a nai l i s o f ten s o close

t o the quick that i t is pain ful wi thout actual ly laming the horse,t hough i t sometimes causes him to limp a day or two after be ing

s hod . This should always be caref ully watched, and the first

s uspi cious symptom attended to but , as we have shown , there i s

n othing to be gained by running any ri sk in the matter, s o that

no nail should be allowed to go anywhere near the quick .

1 5 6 .—Poin ting the old fash ioned home - made nai ls wi th a

hammer, used to be the only difficul t ar t i n shoein g , but nail s

ca n n ow be purchased wi th poin ts that require no hammering.

Care should be taken to keep them brigh t , by keeping them from

damp atmospheric influence, a s the sl ightes t rust wil l make them

dr ive badly. The o n e - sided chisel poin t of these nails wil l bring

t hem out o f the hoof wi th a shorter hold t han a beginner i s l ikely

to calculate o n,but he will soon learn what direction t o give

t hem to get hold enough . He wil l find that he wan ts to poin t

them more i nwards a t the toe than he will do near the heel ,both because o f the differen t shape o f the hoof

,a nd because

whils t t he horn that the nail mee ts at the toe i s almos t equally

hard on both sides, and therefore eff ectually acts on the bevel led

poin t,to direct the n ail ou twards

,the horn a t the heel i s much

s ofter ins ide than out , and consequent ly will not curve the chiselpoin ted nai l s o rapidly and cer tainly outwards .

1 5 7 .—When the nai l s have been driven

,a sligh t no tch may

be filed in the hoof,under the point at whi ch each nai l ha s come

o ut , to cl inch when the nai l i s turned down . The clinch may

be filed down almost leve l wi t h the hoo f,bu t this must be done

withou t recklessly fil ing away the enamel covering of the hoo f,

which is of great importance to pro tec t i t from the action of

8 0 “ A MIGHTY MAN i s HE .

”

ei ther damp or drought . Far less must the hoof be rasp ed awayt o make i t fi t the shoe .

1 5 8 .-Amongst smiths

,a s amongst o ther men

,there i s o f

course a wonderful varie ty o f charac te r, though the vil lage smi th

is often,i f not gen e ral ly m ore than an average man . Some o f

them are remarkably cool , courageous , and pa tien t o thers a r e

j ust as cowardly, bad tempered , and brutal . The m a n who has

never tried to shoe a restive , awkward horse i s hardly qualified t o

s i t in j udgment o n a shoeing sm i th , a s he cannot know what a

severe trial i t is to a man’s temper . The posi ti on i s so cramped,

the work so hard and par t i cul ar, and the dan ger o f ge tting a

sharp n ai l drawn violently into hi s thigh s o very man i fest,that

i t must be an angel ic temper that will no t sometimes ge t irri table

under such a combination o f provocations. No m a n should he

asked to shoe a young horse i n a hurry, nor at the same price

as an o ldo n e , n o r without very compet en t assi s tance,and e v e r v

p roper appliance to preven t dan ger .—~Here

,as everywhere else , there mus t be no uncertain

fighting wi th your horse , n o kicking or hammering , no shouting

o r threaten ing . Show the horse that he can subm i t without

being hur t , bu t that submi t he must .

There are many ways to secure the horses hind legs, so tha t

he can be shod in safe ty to the smi th , however unwill ing he may

be to submi t to the operation . On e o f th e simplest a ndbes t is to

put 0 1 1 an old strong colla r and hames . Then t ake a driving

rei n or lon g strong strap , or failing these, a piece of good hal f

inch rope, abou t twel v e feet long . Tie a secure loo p at one end

o f the strap or rope and pass a s t rong hobble or hame strap

t hrough i t , and giving i t two turns, buckle the s trap round one o f

the hind pas terns . Then bring the o ther end o f the strap or

rope under the col lar and hames,and taking one turn round them

draw the foot s teadily up and hold i t wherever required . A

s trong rope or s trap,or brea s tplate, may be used instead o f the

collar,i f more e a s i lv a t hand, bu t the rope wil l not work qui te

so wel l round t hem . The only use o f the hames i s to streng then

the collar and pre v en t i ts being i nj ured . A severe rope gag o r

bridle ( 3 5 3 ) m ay be pu t on and used in the hom e’s m o n th i f h e

wi l l n o t give up hi s l egs wi thout much violence .

8 2 F LE MM ING’

S ALTERNATIONS .

to p face o f the shoe , may be screwed in to these holes for ordinary

wear . O ther steel plugs wi th chisel - poin ted heads , m ust also be

t ightly fi tted in to the shoes fo r us e i n fros ty weather,and a supply

o f them kept i n the s table. Whene ver the s ta te o f the roadsdemands i t, the square - headed plugs may be screwed out , wi th a

smal l hand vice, and the chisel - headed ones screwed in, and

r enewed as often as may be necessary . Mr . Flemming is said t o

have successful ly accomplished the same purpose, by using

unscrewed square holes,with very sligh t bevel

,into which square

a ccurately fit ting steel plugs can be driven . A supply o f these

nai l s and screws , o r s teel plugs must be kept o n hand,and may

be pu t in , in a few minutes any fros ty morn ing wi thout having t o

t each your horse to skate and wai t fo r hours at the besieged

s mi th’s forge . o r s e s walking on their frogs never slip s o badly

a s those whose frogs have been destroyed .

1 6 4 .—Under a growing sen se that iron i s too heavy and

unyielding to be a sui tabl e f oundation for a ho r s e’

s foot,many

s ubsti tu tes have been tried,and many o f them are more l ike

n at ure , but no o n e has ye t succeeded in securely fastening any

e las tic material to the foot . Consequen tly al l subs ti tutes for

iron o r steel have been very generally abandoned . The only

e lastic ma terial that can be securely and entirely relied on, i s thehorse ’s own safe and useful frog, which we have for centuries

s o ruthlessly and ignoran tly discarded a s unfi t fo r i ts work .

CHAPTER IX .

TH EORY OF HORSE EDUCATION .

1 6 5 .—Some forty - s i x years ago

,we me t, in Somersetshire,

a Mr . Josiah Hunt, a quaker , an athle te , a m a n o f extraordinary

physical power and agili ty . We were told that he on ce s aw a man

s tealing his geese and gave hi m chase . On coming up to him the

thief proved a powerful m a n,who well unders tood the use of his

fis ts, so that Mr. Hun t had to abandon hi s pea ce principles for the

occasion,and to en ter into a long - p i tched battl e wi th a very able

o p ponent, before he succeeded in ge tting him commi t ted t o

custody . After Mr. Hunt had given his evidence before the

magistrate,the lat ter was tempted

~

to make the imper tinen t

r emark,

“ I thought Mr . H un t that Q uakers did n o t figh t to

which Mr. Hun t instant ly repl ied,

Le t me cat ch thee steal ing

m y geese, I’

ll t el l t hee i f Q uakers don’ t fight .

1 6 6 .—Af ter the goose stealer had been commi tted to prison ,

M r .

H unt ’s mother, who was a local E lizabeth Fry, undertook t o

visi t h im,expecting to find as tough a subj ect in her l ine a s her

so n had found in his. But the momen t she Opened her soft fire

o n the criminal he began t o weep, and said, I would rather figh t

y our so n than talk to you .

”

1 67 ._M r . Hunt had a ttacked the pugilist wi th his own

weapons , and only succeeded because he was the stronger man .

M r s . Hun t a tta cked him wi th weapons t hat he was whol l y un p r e

p ared t o resi st , and found hi m helpless as an in fan t .

1 68 .—The horse ’s natural de fence i s kicking and strikin g.

He has few equals i n that l ine , and n o man cou ld comp e te wi th

him for a moment . I f you strike him i t is qui te natural that he

shoul d s trike y ou. He qui te unders tands t hat bus iness no thinge lse you could have done would have been s o m uch in his l ine

and y ou have foolishly provoked a battl e i n which you mus t be

wors ted .

84 LEADING RULES .

1 69.—Meet him o n the o ther hand wi th me chanical appli ances

,

abou t which nature has given him n o t the sl igh test i dea, and he

n o l on ger thinks o f resi st ance .

r

e ha s nothing t o oppose t o y ou"he i s a piece o f clay in your hands and y ou s tand before him no

longer on equal terms,but as a superior be ing an omnipot ent

master, whose will he will obey directly y ou ca n make him under

s tand what that wi ll i s .

1 70 .—Thi s i s the great cen tral t rut h that y ou must never

forge t in your de al i ngs wi th the horse . Ne ve r meet him o n hi s

own ground neve r e nt er in to a physical con test with him never

run a fter him n ever exhibi t any brutal temper never give him

blow fo r blow , nor p ush fo r push, nor pull for pull . Avoid e very

con tes t i n which y ou must, o r e v e n may be beaten,and the horse

will soon l e arn to look upon you as omnipoten t,and will never

th ink o f measuring any o f his powers agains t yours .

1 7 1 .—If our readers wi ll only keep th is great principle

constan tly in mind, i n everything they do wi th a young horse,t hey will cer tai nly succeed . The de tai ls we may give may be

v aried in a hundre d diff eren t ways, bu t thi s essential principle

must n e ver be depar ted from .

1 72 .—The modest Opin ion t hat the horse can so readily be got

t o en te r tain o f his own power i s a mos t convenien t f eatur e i n hi s

character unt i l we come to wan t t o g i ve h im confidence at pull ing

in the col lar , and t hen i t becomes our great diffi cul ty . But this

i s a subj ect o f such great practical importance that i t must be

fully t reated o f in a separate chapter, before we can underst and the

subj ect o f bre aking to harness.

1 73 .-The m a n who undertakes to educate a horse labours

under some disadv an tages t hat do not arise in the education o f a

child . A tut or i s commonly supposed t o be the superior o f hi s

pupil physical ly,me ntally

,and moral ly

,and generally has the

immense advan tage of using a language common to both . The

teacher o f the horse k nows noth ing o f hi s language, i f he has o n e ,whilst he has to deal wi th an animal far surpassing hi m in physical

power,and whose speci al senses are al l more effi cien t than hi s own .

The ear o f the horse catches sounds too fain t o r too distan t to be

heard by man hi s eye s e nabl e him to gallop o n a track that his

BRA INS VE R SU S MUSCLES . 8 5

r ider could hardly see o n hi s hands and kne es,or to travel safely

in the darkness of n ight . i s taste and smel l direct him un

erringly in the choice o f herbage, o r in the rej ection o f water

from a con taminate d vessel, whilst hi s sensi t ive muzzle i s the

oracle he appeals t o , as superior to all hi s other powerful senses, in

deciding upon the danger o r safe ty o f any suspec ted obj ec t .

1 74 .—In memory o f a road o n ce travel led, in finding a fa r

dista n t home through a trackless wilderness,o r i n readin g the

concea led in ten tions o f a would - be captor, the horse has some

perception s superior t o man. But whils t in physical power and

special sen ses man s tands a pigmy by the side of the equi n e giant "in reasoning power

,he i s the al l powerful gi an t by the side o f an

insignifican t pigmy, and is called o n to deal wi th an animal so

e nt irely i n his powe r a s to deman d a ll the compassion,gen tleness

,

and forbearance that a noble na ture i s so anxious to extend t o any

helpless obj ec t that has no mean s of resi s tance " no hope o f a

defe n der.

1 75 .—With so much physical inferiori ty and s o much ment al

p re ponderance , the policy o f the horse trainer should eviden tly

be to avoid any approach t o a physical confl ict,and to meet his

pupils ’ superior strength with the irresi stable appliances of reason .

Wi th good j udgmen t and sufficien t caut ion , i t i s in fact wonderful ly easy to give such a simple animal the impression t hat he has

no power to resis t your wi ll " but i f once you allow him to pro voke

y ou in to a trial o f s trength against s trength, i n which he i s sure

t o succe ed, the spel l i s broken and you have los t an advan ta ge

which y ou can never again completely recover. The hor se that

has once pulled a t one end o f a rope whils t you pul led at the other,

a ndhas thus disco v ered that you are nobody in such a con tes t, o r

that has shown you his heels, a nd seen how fas t y ou fly from

them,has learned a lesson that he will n ever forge t " and will

never be made qui te so gentle and obedien t as one which ha s

never acquired that piece o f in formation .

1 76 .—On the other hand, i f he has ever been severely hur t

in h i s first contact wi th man and hi s appliance s " has been

whi pped, Spurred, galled, had his j aw wrenched, kicked his legs

t o pieces, o r ha s turned a somersaul t wi th a lounging line , a te ther

DANGER o r FEAR .

rop e, o r harness,he wil l always associate such obj ects wi th

'

p ain a ll his st rong natural fears wil l be confirm ed,and may

,at

a n y time af ter , be exhibi ted in the most unsuspected a nd

dangerous m anner .

1 77 .—The time and money spent in the educatio n o f

di fi'

e r e n t horses , under widely diff ering circums tances, varies

a lmost as much as that which was Spen t respectively o n SamWeller and th e Prin ce of Wales " bu t the obj ect that must be

ai med at with a ll i s to make the horse believe t hat he has n o

p ower t o resi s t the will o f m a n , and that he may submit to hi m

wi thout being hur t . The lat ter i s by f a r the most difficul t par t

o f the lesson . With a t l east n ine horses ou t o f ten the ir fear i s

the only thing that you wil l have any difficul ty in get ting over .

Once convince them t hat you are no t going to hurt them,a n d

you t ake away the danger o f any fran ti c movements l ikely t o hur t

you. The horse i s nei ther a v i ndicti v e,an obstinate

,a sulky

,an

insensibl e,or a lazy animal al though careless observers have put

him down for al l these , and under that fatal mistake have adopted

practices only calculated to ruin an an im al whose bese tt ing weak

n ess i s f ear . We have seen a horse , i n his first lessons , whealed

from head to foot by a brutal man wi thout off er ing to move

a l though the same horse a m onth afterwards would run himself

to death rather than be touched wi th a whip . When first brough t

i n to the clutches of man , and m ade to feel that escape is hopel ess,the most timidand sensi t ive wild horses are prone t o be p a ralysed

,

l ike a vict im in the claws o f a l ion , and in that stat e will take n o

n otice of bein g torn or cu t to pieces . The man who would wh ipa horse i n that pi t iable condi ti on should never be al lowed to have

any anim al i n hi s power .

We cannot pre tend to exp l ain al l the stran ge action , o r

want of action,we sometimes wi tn ess in our first con ta ct wi th a

young horse .

We have seen a few cases o f even handled pets , who could

n o t have been paralysed wi th fear, who could no t m ove at a ll with

anything o n t hem that controlled the direction o f their m ove

men ts . We have eve n seen t hem stand stock still, for n early

half- a n - hour,af ter everythi ng was taken o ff them, eviden tly under

ID IOSYNCRACIES . 8 7

the impression that t hey could not move . We are wholly n u

conscious o f the nature o f the instin cts which appear thus t o

paralyse the regulated motions o f some col ts . A s tate of paralysi s

which i s commonly treat ed as obstinacy o r sulkiness,but whi ch i s

more apt to be exhib i t ed by am i m a ls the farthest removed from any

such tendencies,a n d by animal s that afterwards move with the

utmost promptness fo r the most gentle indication . We have tried

our u tmost to discover the cause o f thi s un fortunat e propens i ty,but have n ever succeeded. Al l that we know abou t i t i s, that the

more patiently a n dsoothingly i t i s treated the more comple tely i t

disappears and that harsh t reatmen t will render the horse l iabl e

t o similar fi ts all through his af ter l ife . Most unbroken horses

wil l move on when whipp ed, bu t many wil l no t, a n d i t i s a gre a t

mistake to suppose that a horse necessari ly knows that he i s

resist ing your wi l l because he does not fly from your whip .

1 78 .—Besides the evide nce o f sacred his tory t hat the hors e

probably origin a t ed i n Africa , there i s abundan t evidence i n the

n ature o f the horse i t self , that he i s an animal originating i n

some coun try abounding i n serpen t s and beasts of prey, powerful

a n dagile enough to require his cons tan t vigilance . The mad

t error wi t h which he fl ies from a draggin g tether rope,the wide

bir th he likes to give to every log,the distance h e will keep f rom

a fur rug, the f rantic exhausting plunges he will make under the

first animal or even obj ect that al igh ts o n his back, the extreme

n ervousness wi th which he rece ives the sl ightest prick , such as

migh t be given by the sharp claw of a beast o f prey, a l l Show that

nature has endowed hi m with a watchful t imidi ty adapted to m ove

amidst dangers which have n o e xistence amon gst us,which keeps

h im constan tly o n the aler t,and subj ects him to many sudden

impulses which are very diffi cul t for us t o understand.

1 79 .—With such evidences o f the horse ’s real nature

constan tly before us,we cannot rate that man ’s in tel ligence very

h igh who tel ls us that the fears o f the shying horse a r e al l Shams

adopted to unseat his r ider,o r to t urn him over i n a vehicl e .

I t i s qui te true that constan t hard work i n the open air will

banish a great deal o f nervous timidi ty from m a n,woman , o r

horse, bu t that does not prove th a t i t never existed, or that i ts .

‘

8 8 RARE COM B INA'

I‘

ION .

p ossessor deserved t o be tor ture d more than he wa s n atural ly

t ortured,by the wre tched feeling i tsel f. Any experienced

t raveller on horseback must have noticed the awe and reluctance

wi th whi ch e ven an o ldhorse en ters a forest tract , the depressed

spiri t s wi th which he passes through i t , a nd the animation he

r ecove rs as soon as he can se e hi s way out o f i t .

1 80 .—There i s too , a proneness to martyrdom about some

horses that n o o n e can account fo r , and which often subj ects them

t o fe arful tor ture . They will j ump from the mere threat o r touch

o f a whip , but wil l no t move fo r a severe applicat ion o f i t they

wil l fly for the prick o f a l ight spur, bu t will n o t move fo r a

dagger or a burn . Extremely sensi t ive t o the sl igh tes t touch ,s evere pai n has probably some p a r a l i z i n g eff e c t upon them .

l 8 1 .- The instructor of the young horse should bring to his

work great natural qualifications . e need know l i t tl e o f Engli sh ,and nothi n g o f Latin o r Greek , but he Should possess al l that

fondness for hi s work a ndtha t i n t e r e s t in each pupil , that patie n ce

a ndgood temper,tha t insight into each charac ter, and the best

way to mee t i ts peculiari ties,found in the fi r s t - clas s i n s tructor o f

chi ldren , and he needs besides the highest order o f courage , and a

c er tain , i ndefi n able , mesmer ic perception and influence, which

s upplies the place o f language between him and the horse, and

wi thou t which no man i s ever very successful with them . The

c ourage wan ted i s the very opposi te of the bluster ing aggressive

n ess and reckless bl indness to al l danger that i s some times called

by t hat n ame. I t i s quick to see real danger, to anti cipate a n d

p rovide for i t, but when i t comes i t sharpens a nd does n o t drive

away the wi ts,and th ere mus t be none o f t hat selfish fear o f his

o wn Skin which makes a man always so ready to secure himsel f a t

any cost to o thers, t o suspect bad in ten t ion s where n one

e xist , and to be needlessly cruel because he canno t be ca lmly

j us t. Such fear i s mor e con tagious than the smal l pox , and

i s qui te fa tal to any ben efici al i nt ercourse be tween man and

horse . Under i ts influence t hey will be perpetually alarming

each o ther , and the horse will wildly plun ge from side to side at

an obj ect that he would have passed quietly enough wi th a calmer

m a n upon hi s back .

CHAPTER X .

B REAKING A HORSE SLOWLY AND THOROUGHLY .

1 8 3 .—Tu England the educatio n of a horse of ten and wisely

begins o n the firs t day o f i ts existence . The l i t tle long legged

a n imal is brought in to a loose box with i ts mother,and i f n o t .

actual ly hal tered and taught to lead,i s gen tly handled f r om ‘

he ad

t o foot, which has a great eff ec t i n making i t eve r af ter f earless

o f the approach of man . The more o f t en t his i s repeated the

bet ter . When two or t hree months o ld i t i s often fed from a

manger wi th i ts mo ther,and frequen t oppor t uni ties taken to

handle i t . I t is some tim es Shut up i n a loose box during the

forced absence of i t s mother,and a t others follows her through

the roads, over the bridges, and am ongst the sigh ts and scenes.

Of i t s future li fe .

1 8 4 .—A t weaning t ime

,i f no t already done , i t i s of ten

subj ected to the importan t lesson o f being tied up . A s trongwide smooth leather hal ter is quiet ly , cautiously, a n d secure ly

fixed o n i t s head . I t i s placed i n a stall a ndfedfrom a manger .

Some door , gate , hurdle, o r slip bar i s closed behind i t so that i tcannot run back fa r . Then a rop e i s t ied to each s ide o f the

s tal l suffic i en tly loose to allow the col t to feed freely,but n o t

long enough to allow i t to turn round . As i t cannot get far

backwards or forwards i t wil l firs t feel the re s train t o f the rope

sideways,in which di r e ct l o n i t can exer t but l i t tle power and

can hardly hur t i tsel f. In this position i t may be tied for two

hours o r more, on several days in succession , when , i f i t ha s

been well managed s o that i t has nei ther broken away nor hurt

i tsel f,i t will have come t o the conclusion t hat i t canno t bre ak

anything that i t i s t ie d wi th , and wi ll not try, however weak

the l ine by which i t may afterwards be fastened .

LOUNGING . 9 1

1 8 5 .- A t two years old i t may be br ought i n , and af ter being

shut in a loose box o r some secure enclosure,unti l reconciled t o the

absence o f i ts compa nions , i t may be t ied up again wi th the same

precautions as at first Af te r be ing thus wel l accustomed to

the restrain t of the common leather hal ter , i t should have a n icely

fi tting cavesson adj usted to i ts head,wi th the noseband low enough

t o give some power over the col t ’s movemen ts,but no t low enough

to in terfere with hi s breathing, o r t o press pain fully o n the soft

carti lages o f the nose . I f the col t has no t been taugh t to lead , i t

may then be driven in to a well - fenced yard o r large enclosure .

There a long soft l ine o f web o r l eather may be attached to the

fron t ring on the cavesson,and the col t be s tarted to move round

you where the f ences wil l preven t hi s pulling away from you , and

enforce obedience to your pull o n the cave sson . When made

obedien t t o the cavesson o n bo th sides,pu t o n a bridle, o r at tach

a bi t to the cavesson . Whatever bi t i s used,i t should be large

and very smooth,and have large guards at the side

,so that i t

cannot be drawn through i ts m o n th. After a l i t tle lounging o n

both sides wi th the bi t and a l i t tle t ime to f reely play wi th the bi t .

in i ts m o n th,i t may be put in to the stal l

,wi th i t s hind quarters

t o the man ger,an d the bi t fas tened t o the post o n each side o f the

s tall , at the n atural le vel o f the head, so t hat i t can only move i ts

head a few inches ei ther way wi thout being res trained by the bi t .

An hour at a tim e o n three successive days will be long enough

for this, a s i n that t ime the col t wil l be under the firm conviction

that i t cannot resis t a pul l on e i ther side of i ts mouth, or go

forward again s t the b i t " a delusio n you mus t take care not t o

dispel by any aft er handling .

1 8 6 .—Af ter these l essons in the stall , take the col t i nt o a

shed, o r large enclo sure o f any kind , and get i t t o walk round you .

r old i t firs t by the rein fastened to the left S ide o f the bi t , by

which y ou give the col t a side pul l be fore he reaches a corner , and

turn hi m round towards you . Try how l i t tle force wil l fetch hi m

r ound,and use no more

,but firmly bring him round a t any rate .

After a l i ttle practice on that s ide,buckle the l ine o n the righ t

side o f the bi t,and walk him round i n the other d i rection , guiding

him a s before . I t does not m atter what pace he goes, the object

b'

t V 1'

t U r .

o f the lesson i s to ke ep up the delusion that he must y ie ld to a

p ull o n e i ther side , where the wall s wil l en force the lesson, and

give him no chance to pull eff ectually again s t y ou. An hour o f

t hi s will be qui t e e nough, afte r which go to his head and r ub i t a ll

over wi th your hands, goin g gently over the e yes and e ars un t i l he

makes no obj ec tion to such ha n dl i ng . I f he seems at a ll s uspiciousa bout i t

,spen d a good deal of t ime to gain h is confiden ce " r ub

the corners o f his eyes and the roots o f his ears again and again,un ti l he i s qui te reconciled to the process . Then t ake a wisp o f

st raw,and

,le tt ing him fi r s t touch i t with hi s muzzle, rub t he head

gently with that,working back down his neck and fore legs and

ove r hi s shoulde rs and back . Take his hind quarters cau tiously,

holding the rein i n your left hand,and keeping an eye o n his ears,

a ndo n the hind leg t hat i s n o t carrying the we ight o f the body, a s

he cann ot kick y ou wi th the other u n ti l he has shifted i t . There

i s rar ely any difficul ty about al l this wi th the early handled col t,

but i f t here i s any disposi tio n to k i ck, o r a n y s trong obj ec t io n t o

be handled in any par t , this will be the proper time a nd place t o

deal wi th t hat frai lty wi th saf e ty t o the col t a n dto yoursel f,a n d

the lesson wil l not be wi thou t good e ffect i n making the col t

more submissive in all hi s following le sson s.

1 8 7—S trap up o n e of hi s fore legs and then go back

t o his h ind quar ters and wisp them all over, going down the

hind legs and handling hi s fee t , l ift ing hi s tail , and reconcil ing

him to be touched in every part showing him,i n fac t

,that your

touching hi m and rubbing him in any part will n o t hurt h im .

If the foo t has been strapped up wi thout much difficul ty,and

the col t i s n o t very restive , don’t keep him o n three legs more

than ten minutes,but le t the foot down and take up the other

o n e . The more frequen tly t his i s done the more easily i t wil l be

found to yield to the process, and i t makes the col t more

tractab le f o r shoeing , and many other purposes . I f there has

been much di fli culty i n ge tting the foot up i t may be kep t up a li t tle

l onger. I n this you mus t be guided by the weight and hard o r

soft condition o f the col t . Ponies wi th no surplus flesh,and in

hard condi tion wil l hOp a mile , o r stand an hour o n three legs,

but a heavy, soft, fat horse will sometimes li e down rather than

‘

94 PROGRESSI VE LESSONS .

1 8 9.—The next day ’s lesson may be to teach the col t t o

b ear something tigh t ly girthed round i t, and to be reconci led t o'

ar ticles fas tened o n i ts ba ck . A surcingle i s the mos t conve nien t

thi ng f o r the first lesson . I t need n o t be ornamental,but m ay

be S imply a plai n leather s t rap , thr ee o r four i n che s wide , with a

ring o n each side o f the col t , and o n e at the bot tom . I t should

fasten round the col t wi th double buckles a ndbuckle strap s .

Put o n gen tly and tighten moderately by degrees . Then

Walk the col t round a ndsee i f i t has any di sposi tio n to try and

throw i t o ff,and if i t has le t i t try i ts best . I f i t has not

,ti e

o n a po cke t ha n dkerchief,o r some smal l waving ar t i cle , and try

th e e ffect o f that . As soon as i t i s qui te reconci led to o n e

a rt icle try ano ther,un ti l i t carries them with i ndiff erence Take

care that noth ing is put on s o that the col t can throw i t o ff , o r

that can possibly hurt him . Don ’t forge t the precaution t o le t

him touch everything with his muzzle before you put - i t o n his

back .

1 90 .—One lesson that m ay take a good deal o f t ime wi th

- a young horse, a nd especially with a young ma re,i s allowing

a rticles of any kind to be placed be tween i t s tai l and i ts body .

First put on a common crupper , and fas ten i t moderately tight

t o the surcingle . The fore leg may be s trapped up (3 5 3 ) i f

n ecessary f o r thi s purpose,and be le t down again as soon as a ll

i s secure . Le t the col t move round you, and you wil l Soon se e

i f i t i s goi ng t o be tickl ish about i ts tai l . If i t kicks le t i t kickas long as i t will , and whe n i t wi l l n o t kick any lon ger slacken

the crupper, s o that i t will drop three inches down i t s tai l , and

t r y the col t round at that . When i t will no longer kick a t a

t igh t or slack crupper , t ie a p iece o f s tout s tring a s long as your

lounging l ine to the crupper,m idway between the tail a n dthe

surcingle , and taking the loose end o f the s tring in your hand

tighten and slacken the cr a p p e r wi th i t a s the col t passes round

y ou. When reconciled to this s trap up a fore leg,and take o ff

the crupper . Fold and secure a large duster o r some such f abric

r ound i t s o as to make the part that goes under the tai l three o r

four inches i n diame ter. Then pu t the crupper o n again and

t r y the col t round with i t. If i t kicks keep i t going unti l i t will

SADDLING . 95

k i ck n o longer. See that i t i s n o t t oo tigh t , and that there i s

nothing about i t to make the very tender skin under the tai l

s ore , so that i t may be kept o n several days and nights i f

necessary. I t will have a greater effec t and be less l ikely t o

produce any soreness o r tenderness , i f the material under the tai l ,

a s well as i ts size and posi tion , are varied every day . The

c rupper can be shortened and len gthened s o as to touch di ff eren t

parts o f the col t ’s tail . On the second day a piece of woolly

s heep skin may take the place o f the duster, o n the third a hay

band, o n the fourth a loose cloth o r a wide piece o f leather o r

s acking , and thus continue some thing n ew until the col t wil l

t ake n o noti ce o f any harmless thing , and wil l no t pinch any o f

t hem when placed under his tail .

1 9 1 .—You m ay now try a riding saddle wi thou t sti rrups .

Put i t firs t o n the usual part o f the back, keeping hold o f i t , and

shifting i t backwards and forwards un ti l the col t makes n o

obj ection to i t o n any part . Then pu t i t i n the righ t place ,and adj us ting a surcingl e round i t gir th i t o n securely . Fasten

every descrip tion o f clothing o n the saddle un ti l the col t appears

reconciled to every ar ti cle of dress you can th ink o f . Lead him

q uietly a t first, and then try the e ff ect of a tro t, or any faster pace ,whils t he i s secured bo th by walls and a lounging line

,as a col t

wil l oft en carry clothes or o ther articles a t a slow pace whi ch

wi ll alarm hi m i n a faster pace .

1 92 .—When qui te quie t at leading o r loun ging , put o n

reins,and dr i ve the col t about wi th them

,first i n the shed o r

yard, and then outside . The firs t drive with reins , walking

behind a col t,requires quick sight , quick movemen t, and some

c ommon sense . We have seen persons put the re ins on a colt

fo r the firs t t ime , passing them through rings,

fixed in the

harn ess , saddle , o r surcingle, as t hey would do wi th an o ld

horse that was to be fixed be tween Shafts . The resul t o f thi s

usually i s that the firs t t ime the col t makes a shor t turn round,

the would be driver finds himsel f wi thou t any reins a t all,

a ndthe col t awkwardly en tangled , o r running away in a frigh t .

Reins should no t be tried at all unti l the col t i s likely t o go

q ui e tly, and t o guide t o them , and then o f course they Should be

96 PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE .

passe d through n o fixtures , a ndno thing must intervene be tween

your hand and the col t’s m outh,

.a nd turn as he will y ou must

keep behind him . Unt i l y ou know that the col t will guide fairly

wel l t o the reins, do n o t le t hi m out o f a good yard, o r some

place where he cannot ge t away from y ou. Beside s the ce rtainty o f

losing your reins by passing them through rings, &c. ,

you lose

the power to give a side rather than a back pul l a t firs t,which i s

a ve ry essen tial poin t i n teaching a col t to guide pleasan tly to

re ins When the re ins are simply t ied to the col t’s bi t

, o n

e ach side , y ou have always the power , in case o f a n y e n tangle

men t, t o drop o n e o f them , and to use the o ther as a loungingli ne . Use the reins gen t ly and teach the col t to guide

,turn

,and

stop wi th them , repeati ng at the same time the words that you

wish him to at tend to when o n his back .

1 93 .

—Some col ts wi ll take whatever y ou pu t on them qu i e tly ,indeed most col ts will do so after a good dus ting whi ls t

others will wan t time to ge t re conciled t o e ach n ew a rticle .

G ive whate ver time i s nece ssary and reconcile him t o everyth ing

y ou can think o f be fore he i s mounted .

I t i s fa r be tter, both f o r horse and rider, that his fi rs t alarms

and most violen t eff orts should be directed agai nst empty clothes

o r l igh t and inanima te obj ects . A desire t o show o ff h i s riding,

o r t o“ fight i t out ” with a col t, i s o n e o f the worst e rrors a horse

breaker can fall in to . To o many persons labour under the

delusion that a col t i s the bet ter t o try his best t o throw his first

ri der, s o long a s he does n o t succeed . This i s a great mistake,

eve n i f we could be qui te sure that he woul d n o t succeed,which

we never can be . We have seen one col t throw successively thre e

o f the best riders in the world , though the same col t was com

ple te ly tamed by le t ting him try three days in a field to throw

o ff a common cart saddle, well secured wi th girths and crupper .

Plunging and bucking with a m a n o n his back i s very liable t o

inj ure any horse,and especially a two year o ld col t . But apar t

from a ll da nger t o m a n and horse i t i s not only useless but very

mischievous t o unnecessari ly en ter upon any such e ncounters .

No horse i s s o we ll broke n as the horse which has nev e r tried t o

throw a l i ving r ider, which has never pulled o n a bridle o r halter

and never refused t o pull in a colla r .

PAT IENCE PAYS .

1 96 .

—There are few things more difficul t to teach a l ivelyhorse than that he i s not wan ted to rush on the momen t you

begin ge tt ing O 1 1 his back , and if he i s al lowed to do s o a t first,he i s hardly ever cured o f i t , s o that i t i s worth spending a good

de al of time with a valuable horse to teach hi m t o s t and quie t ly

to be mounted without holding . On e s ingle has ty act at the

first s tages may make i t impossible to at tain the qu ie t , nusus

p i ci ous s tanding that adds so much to the pleasantness and value

o f a riding horse . We would here impress upon the horse tame r

the importance o f doing no thing at this s tage i f he at any time

feels that he ha s lost hi s own calmness and temper .

The you n g horse will know i t by his face,by his touch , an d

e special ly by hi s voice , and he canno t be dece ived . Go awa y at

on ce and come back t o your work when you are fi t for i t .

1 97 .—Whe n the col t has been taught to let y o u mount hi m

withou t any nervousness o r im patience,take him out in to the

yard o r shed where you have been l eading him ,and mount

him there , le tt ing him stand stil l wi th you o r walk as he

pleases . If he stands s ti l l five minutes after you have mounted

him so much the better,but very f ew

,i f any , col ts w i l l do that .

If at any time y ou wan t t o s tar t hi m , don’t touch him with your

hee l, o r do anything t o send hi m o ff wi th a rush

,but pull him

gently to o n e Side wi th a horizon tal re in . If he i s res tive and

does not guide to the re i n , you have mounted him t o o soon ge t

o ff as soon as y ou can , without any fighting , and give h im

more di scipl ine where he must submi t . I f he walks about

quietly wi th y ou, take a few turns round the yard o r shed, and

then get o ff his back a nd lead him , o r drive him wi th reins

a mi le away from home , a nd the re get 0 11 him and ride him

home at a walking pace . Be sure that y ou do no t a t first

attempt to r ide h im away from his home , hi s s table , his company,o r any s trong attraction , a s i t m a y le ad t o a figh t i n which y ou

m a y n o t be master. I f such a fight i s carefully avoided a t first

i t will n o t take place after he has learne d t o thoroughly unde r

stand a ll your signals , a nd acquire s , as he soon will , the impre s

s ion tha t he must obey them .

1 98 .—When y ou first mount a col t, do n o t be s o absurdly

BE REASONABLE . 99

unreasonable as to expect him to guide by signals tha t. he ha s

never bee n t augh t,such as the pressure o f a rei n 0 1 1 the neck

, o r

even by a s traigh t back pul l on ei ther ‘

o f the re i ns , bu t imi ta te

as nearly as you can the signals he has been taugh t whi ls t you

were a t h is side,and stil l more f orcibly when each side rein was

f astened to a. post . Draw him to e i ther side by a pul l 0 1 1 the

rein o f th a t side , hold ing your hand wel l ou t from your body s o

as t o give the pul l as much side direc ti on as you can . Rememberthat your obj ec t is to keep up the delusion that he can no more

resis t your pul l n ow you are 0 1 1 hi s back than he could the pull

o n the straps tha t first fixed him to the s tal l pos ts . He wi ll

quite expect t o obey what he s til l bel ieves to be the irresis tible

side pull , i f you do no t frighten him out of his senses wi th some

new obj ect of alarm,or commence before the delusion i s es tabl ished ,

t o resis t himo n some very strong natural ins tinct . When the

habi t of yielding to a touch o f the rei n has been well es tabl i shed

he will ins t incti vely obey i t eve n under exci temen t , jus t as a long

trained sold ier can hardly help obeying the word of command

in the exci tement of a bat tle,which would d r i ve hi s half learne d

lesson o ut o f the memory of a recrui t . Un ti l the habi t o f yie lding

to a touch o f the rei n ha s become a par t of the horse ’s impulsive

n ature , s trong exci temen t wi l l make him forge t i t, and one act o f

Successful disobedience,though acciden tal

,may entirely destroy

the del usion that he i s obl iged to obey the rein , a ndthus make

him a less obedien t animal f o r the rest o f his l ife .

l 99 .

—This awkward looking side pull wi ll not have t o becon tinued long . The col t ’s sensi ti ve mouth and act ive tempera

men t will soon begi n to no ti ce the sl igh test touch in tha t

direction,and will not wai t for the complet ion o f the side pull

signal , j us t as the carriage horse wil l n o t wai t for y ou to take the

reins i n your hand and gi ve him the order to move, but will move

on the momen t you put your foo t o n the step of the carriage .

With a few hours gentle , patien t practice , the col t wi ll guide

wi th the sl igh tes t t ouch of the rein,s top for a barely perceptible

pull , and pick up the mean ing o f any S ide pressure o n h is neck,

o r hi s s ide , o r any o ther dis tinct signals wi t h whi ch y ou co n

s t a n t ly a ccom pany those he unders tands .

1 0 0 ARABS POWER .

2 0 0 .—The care , consis tency , and gentleness tha t the bre aker

exerci ses at this stage , will make the diff erence between a good

and a'

bad m o n th, between the horse that could be ridden wi th a

pack thread , and o n e tha t wil l require two leather re in s and a j aw

breaking bi t to s teer and restrai n him . There i s a very great

natural di fference i n horses i n this respect . Some will never he a rj erking and t ucking abou t wi th a rough hand

,others will ge t to

bear more and more o f i t, unt i l they will allow a clumsy r ider

to hang o n to thei r mouths wi th a s n a ffie bi t,to rai se himself i n

the saddle,withou t s topping or taking any not ice of i t o r will

bear a wrench wi th a cur b chain and iron lever,that woul d make

a more irri table horse stand o n his hind legs . But there are very

few wel l bred and well formed horses that wi th l igh t handli ng at

first wil l no t learn to have l igh t p leasan t mouths indeed we have

never met wi th o n e .

2 0 1 .—Most horses can easi ly be taught to go any pace and

to guide , stop , or turn wi thout touching the reins at all . They

will take all their signals from the r ider’s legs and the way he

si ts or turn s his own body . I ndeed, the great maj ori ty o f horses

long ridden by one even tempered, un fi ck le man , will learn to do

this whether you wish them to or no t,will s tar t o ff at a gallop

the moment you put yourself i n a posi t ion for i t,canter if you si t

righ t f o r that , tro t directly you put more weight i n the stirrups ,walk whils t you si t l oose and easy

,s top the momen t you throw

your foot out of the right s tirrup,and turn to either S ide i f you

turn yourself,drawing o n e l eg a l i t tle back and the other forward .

This i s the whole secret o f the sudden and e ff ectual m anner i n

which the Arabs can gallop,s top

,turn , or s t eer their horses ,

wi th nothing on their heads but a Single rei ned b i tless hal ter ,and with nei ther stirrups nor Spurs wh ilst our supposed skilful

English officers tel l us that af ter purchasing the same horses the v

find them headlong and impe tuous,and tha t they cannot so

completely control and suddenly s t op them , wi th t he most

powerful b i ts .

2 0 2 .—It i s amusi ng to read the accoun t s which Engl ish

officers have given o f this (t o them) surpris ing fact , a nd the

reasons they gr a v e lv assign fo r i t . Such wri ters ha ve eviden tly

1 0 2 ROTTEN Row.

of te n pronounced vic ious dangerous bru tes by the first s tranger

who ge ts o n them , and goes over thei r head at the first unexpected

s top , o r over their tai l a t the firs t sudden bound forward . The

too eager and wil ling slave tha t ha s only been doing what he

has been taught by a be tter , and be tter loved master , now comes

in for t orren ts o f abuse , whip and spur , f o r daring t o stop ,bound, turn , and guide f o r si gnals which his new mas ter does

n o t understand . O f course , such teachable horses can soon be

made dangerous by such i l l treatment,bu t if their new owners

only had the sense and patience to i nvestigate the cause o f

movements they do not comprehend,such t ractabl e anim als

might soon be made to learn any new se t of signals and t o

become almost equally valuable to the ir new owners .

2 0 5 .

—Such teachi ng , however, di squa li fie s a horse for a

constan t change o f riders , a nd, therefore , unless you are trai n ing

a horse for your own riding exclusive ly, al l such refinemen ts in

hi s educati on are best avoided . I t wil l of ten be only train ing a

gentle Uncle T om fo r some brutal Legree to cut t o pieces for his

very virtues .

2 0 6 .- There are , however , a large proportion o f riders, and

even drivers, who appreciate a fine sensi ti ve mouth , and enj oy

using only tha t deli cate touch which i s essen tial t o i t s preser

vatio n . This i s a qualificati o n demanded by the refi n ed as

distinguished from the vulgar horseman , so that the value a nd

destiny of the horse will often depend much upon i t . The most

beau tiful sigh t in Rotten R ow i s a pair of wel l bred handsomehorses

,full of heal th

,life

,and spiri ts

,will i ng to tro t at any

pace,without a touch from the merely ornamental whip , ye t held

in even under exci temen t,by a lady ’s hand , without an e ff ort ,

and wi thout imparting a lean to the graceful figure o f t hei r

driver . I t i s this perfe ction o f mouth that every teacher should

e ndeavour to obtain in a l igh t horse , and i t can on ly be main

t a i n edby careful gen tle handli ng of the sensi t ive mouth from the

firs t .

Indeed,such a mouth

,combined wi th such f ree motion ,

such courage,confidence

,and cheerful spiri t, is the sur es t indica

tion tha t the horse ha s been we ll handled from firs t to l as t .

YOUTHFUL HABITS . 1 ( 13

2 0 7 .-So far as we have ye t gone wi th the educa t ion of the

col t there has been li t tle o r no need for ei ther whip or spur . The

main business has been to gain the col t ’s confidence , and to show

him tha t he wil l not necessari ly be hurt by the closes t and most

i nt im ate con tact with man . In our future deal ings w i th him , i t may

sometimes be necessary to meet f ear wi th fear,and to appeal to

his ever presen t apprehension to drive hi m pas t a mul ti tude o f

dreaded obj ects,and to bring out his best powers in our service .

For thi s purpose the breaker had be tter n ow be armed W i th both

whip and spurs , provided , o f course , tha t he has temper and

skil l enough to avoid any senseless,passionate

,or acciden tal

abuse o f them .

2 0 8 .- Left to his own ins tincts

, our two - year - old horse , that

has j ust been taugh t to carry a man wi th some confidence on hi s

back,would never go along a road at any steady pace . He would

gallop a short d is tance w i th his nose near the ground , then ra i si ng

hi s head high,would slacken his pace to a walk , ge t as fa r as he

could to one side o f t he road , s top a nd have a good lo ok at some

obj ect o f alarm ,s tar t and s top again repeatedly

,unti l the

suspicious obj ec t i s passed, and t hen bound off a t a gal lop again .

In the service o f man a ll th is has to be al t ered . He mus t be

taught no longer to play the part o f a tim id idle f ugi ti ve , but to

lend his physical powers to carry t he lord o f the creation whereve r

a n dhowever he please s , regardless of a thousa n d obj ects which hi s

apprehensive nature prompts hi m to shun .

2 0 9 .—This i s a very hard lesson for so t imid and impulsive

an animal to learn but fortunately i t can be made f a r more easy

and agreeable to hi m by calling in the aid o f his s tro ng gregarious

instinct,and giving him a compan ion which has learned to scorn

t he obj ects o f his j uvenile f ears . I n the n ext lessons , he should be

ridden in company w i th a bold, we ll- broken , and well—ridden horse .a ndone that can walk fas t, as that is t he firs t pace for any riding

horse to learn,and the only pace tha t a two - year - old horse should

be ridden at . A fast,s teady, saf e walk adds much to the value of

any riding horse,a nd the longer a colt is kept at i t , bef ore he is

allowed to carry a rider at any o ther pace , the better and fas ter he

wil l be l ikely to walk . I t i s the pace at which a horse requires

1 0 4 WH IP AND SPUR .

mo r e urging than any o ther . The racehorse that pulls hard0 1 1 the

bridle a t a gallop , will of ten require a f requent touch with the

spur to keep hi m up to a good f as t walk,and the col t i s s ti ll more

l ikely to require i t t o admoni sh hi m that he must no t s top to s t are

a t a ll the s trange obj ects he pas ses .

2 1 0 .

- There are many reasons why t he spur is pre f erabl e to

the whip f o r th is purpose . In the firs t place i t i s f a r m o re

effectual i t comes wi thou t warning,and the horse cannot watch

i t. or swerve f rom i t, as from a whi p . In

,the seco nd pl ace the

whip , a t th is s tage o f the col t ’s education,should be used as a

guiding moni t o r rather than as an in s trumen t o f puni shmen t , a nd,for many obvious reasons , the col t i s bes t no t to fee l much of i t .

Thirdly , the spur, though more dreaded by the col t , i nfl icts f a r

l ess pa i n upon him . The mos t superficial pr i ck a nswers the

purpose f a r be tter than a n yth ing more and even th e

deepes t prick tha t a prope r ly m ade spur would infl ic t would not

carry so much future pain as a whip used hard enough to produce

a weal .

2 1 1 .

—Wi th so many new obj ec ts about h im , the col t , l ike a

chi ld , wi ll be very apt to be inat ten tive to some o f the signals he

has learned,and the l ight whip mus t be at hand to instan tly

cal l his a t ten ti on to hi s negligen ce . NO inat t en ti on to a n y rein

signal mus t be al lowed to pass unnoti ced , at this s tage , or the

fine mouth may be lost . There must be no heavy long - con ti nued

dragg i ng,far less any j erking a t the rei ns

,or the m o n th will

cer tainly be spoiled . If the col t does not ins tan tly answer to a

sligh t pull of the rei n to one side,accompanied by a barely

percep tible turn of your body and legs in the direction you wish

hi m to turn,le t a gen tle tap of the whip on the Oppos ite s i de he

immediately added to move him i n the righ t direction . The

touch should be one tha t will not hurt him in the l east the

obj ect i s not to pun i sh but to arouse hi s at ten tion j ust as you

would touch or tap the shoulder,rather than raise your voice to a

child,who wa s looking at something else whi ls t you were Speaking

t o him . A hard stroke would not even an swer the purpose , but

wouldbe f a r m ore l ikely t o provoke a figh t and pro duce a resul t

the opp o si te t O '

tha t desi red . One tap is almost always enough ,

1 0 6 HARNESS .

or f rom a n y cause rough and unp leasan t , i t will only get rougher

and mo r e unpleasa n t wi t h age , a nd ha r n ess should be his

des t ina t ion . A racehorse may be ut t erly u n fi t f o r a gentlema n to

ride and ye t make a valuable gambling machine , bu t any o ther

saddle horse should be safe and pleasa n t i n his paces,a n dwhere so

m a n v a r e required f o r harness,and s o f ew f o r the saddle . i t is n o t

worth whi le t o t r a i n any t h ing f o r t he saddle tha t i s not naturall y

fi tt ed f o r i t .

—If i t i s discovered tha t the col t wi ll onl y be fi t f o r

harness,or if i t is in tended t o t each hi m to go in harness as wel l

as saddle , i t will be more easy to put him in harness at once than

to put the fin ish ing s trokes O 1I his educa tion as a saddle horse

becaus e i n harness a well—trai ned compani on can take him certai n lyand h a rmless ly through any sights or sounds . and leave him no

Option abou t comple te obedience .

In bygone days i t was con s idered derogato ry and inj urious t o

a riding horse to have ever been i n harness but so many adv a n

tages ari se from i t when ver y careful ly done , that the mos t perfec t

saddle horses are now o f ten good ligh t harness horses a s well , andcan thus ge t plen ty o f da i ly exercise wi thout always carry i n g an

inj urious weight o n their legs . Such horse s mus t never ge t a

collar mark on their shoulders , n o r a pun i shing b i t i n the ir mou ths ,nor a rough - handed coachman at their reins : nor should they

habi tual l y have very much we ight behi nd t hem . But t hei r treat

m en t in harness wil l properly come under , breaking t o ligh t

harnes s , and we wi ll now go on wi th the educa t ion of the col t 0 11

the supposi tion that i t i s t o be b r oken to saddle only .

2 1 4 .—While the prin cipal obj ec t a t thi s stage is to keep the

col t up to the hab i t o f a f as t s teady walk , and ins tan t at t en t i on

t o the most gentle touch o f the re in time is of ten wel l spent in

le tting him examine closely and exhaus tive ly any common obj ects

that alarm him,when you have an opportuni ty to do so . I t is

general ly bes t to ge t off and lead him up to them , encouraging

him to touch them with his muzzle , af ter which he will general ly

take no f urthe r notice of them . If the obj ect is a moving one ,such as a rol ler

,a wheelbarrow, o r a bicycle , keep on his ba ck and

le t i t mee t hi m wi th the o ldhorse neares t to i t a t fi rs t , t hen turn

them both round and fol low it up , ge t t ing the col t a s close to i t as

o v n a com xc ALARMS . 1 0 7

you can by gentle urging wi thout any fighting. F a r bet t er n o t t o

do i t a t al l than to have any figh t ing about i t .

2 1 5 .—If you have an opportun i ty o f taking the col t a t once

Where there are a number o f alarming obj ects , i t i s bes t t o ride

the old horse yourself, and lead the col t wi th a long s trong leather

strap attached t o a. strong leather hal ter on hi s head , and passi n g

under a hunting brea s tpla te o n the old horse , which wil l give y ou

power enough to hold the col t,however much he may be alarmed ,

without spoi l ing hi s mouth by any lugging a t the b i t . Shoul d ahunting breastpla te no t be at hand

,a l igh t leather col lar on the

old horse , fas tened back to the saddle above , and the girths below ,

wi ll answer this or any similar purpose even be tter than the breast

pla te,and make i t qui te easy to hold a col t by a. leather s trap

passing under i t . In th is way the col t may be g r adual ly in troduced

t o the sigh ts and sounds of a bustl ing stree t a few hours o f which

w i l l reconci le him to m o re obj ects o f alarm than a y ears coun t ry

riding .

2 1 6 .

by steam , a r e all obj ec ts so na turally alarming t o a horse . tha t a

single introduction t o them will n o t make him safe , n o r can the

firs t i ntroduction be safely made i n the crowded s treets o f a town .

Here the col t breaker must be guided by his Opportuni ties , and

by the more or l ess nervous character o f his pupil . There i s

A s team engine . a rai lway trai n , or a tram ca r drawn

nothing better than turning a col t f o r a f ew weeks in to a well

fenced small field,where tra ins frequently pass , and where there

are o ther horses that wi ll t ake no no tice o f them . We have

sometimes had a n opportuni ty o f pu tting a lo t o f col ts t oge the r

i n t o a h igh strong yard. close to a r a i ln a y l ine , which we d id ,day after day

,when we knew t ha t trains would be passing .

Failin g any such opportuni ties the col t may be f requently br ough t

t o some clear s pot where a trai n is abou t to p ass , and before i t

a pproaches strap up o n e o f his legs so as to make sure of

holding him,and keep him p r e t t v close to i t as i t passes . Whe n

you know that you can control him o n his four legs , take hi m to

a railway s tation at a t ime when mos t noise and mo tio n i s going

o n , a ndlead hi m about in close con tact wi th i t . After he takes

li ttle not ice o f a train lead him into a town riding on the o ld

horse,and taking them behi nd a tra i n ca r fol low i t up keeping

1 0 8 DEAL GENTLY W ITH FEAR .

the col t as close as you can to it,un ti l he ceases to be a larmed

abou t i t . Then choose a good place to meet i t,firs t a t a safe

dis tance,and get closer by degrees . These lessons must be

repeated unti l there i s no alarm at a passing train o r tram ,and

even af ter that the famil i ari ty with the s t eam engine, and al l i ts

noises,should be continued fo r some t ime wi th a horse that

has been very nervous about i t .

2 1 7 .—It would be impossible , and i t is qui t e unnecessary , to

even enumerate al l the obj ects wi th which a col t must be

fam i l iari sed in di ff eren t parts o f the world.

Where a horse has been brought up wi thout seein g them,a

common pig , or a donkey , are obj ects o f grea t alarm to him . The

principle i s the same wi th all the obj ects o f his fear " the col t

mus t be brough t i n contact wi th them wi thout hur ting him,and

shown that he may pass them , ever so closely,wi thout any

pain f ul and inj urious consequences to h imself. To savagely

attack him wi th whip , curb , and spur, because he i s already

frigh tened i s as misch i evous as i t i s se n seless and barbarous,and

has made thousands o f horses dangerous and worthless , that

wi th more rati onal treatmen t would have been safe and valuable .

2 1 8 .—The col t may n ow be said to have passed through

his elementary educati on , and before y ou can give him hi s h i gh

school lessons he should be turned out t o grass another y ear o r

even two . A valuable col t can hardly be broken in t o o youn g ,can hardly be put to hard work too late i n li fe . As a rule the

l arger the horse the later he matures,so that ponies can he worked

much earli er than large horses . By far the m os t perfec t and

rel iable ch i ldren ’s ponies we have ever seen were handled a good

deal at a month o ld,regularly broken at a year o ld, and neve r

let o ut of hand afterwards , though they were never called o n fo r

any severe work,and were neve r kept lon g wi thout green food .

Such treatmen t would make any horse more doci le and trustworthy

,without i nj uring the ir growth o r power, but the di fficulty

i s t o ge ti

them so handled, and we kn ow o f n o remunera tive

work t o which a young , growing, l ight horse could be put in

these fast times wi thout over’

taxi n g hi s tende r si news .

2 1 9 .—The horse that has be en handled as we have advised

,

a t two years old , and then tur n edi

out , may be taken up a ga in

CHAPTER XI .

H IGH SCHOOL EDUCAT ION .

2 2 1 .—The high school education of the racer

,the hun ter ,

the war horse , the chi ld’s pony , the roadster, o r the overland

travel ler,will diff er even more than that of a lawyer

,a doc tor

,

a clergyman,or a mi li tary Officer .

We shall, for Obvious reasons , say l i t tle abou t the first

three . Their train ing i s always under taken by experts,who

,i f

not perfect a t their work, a r e seldom seekers Of advice . In whatwe say Of the o ther thre e we ca n only hope t o make a few

s ugges tions that will i l lustrate the simples t means by whi ch any

o f them may be taugh t such accompl i shmen ts as m ay best fi t

them for the work Of the ir l ives .

TH E RACE HORSE .

0 2 2 .—The race horse has Often the advan tage Of very ae com

p li shedteachers . Men from whom we have learned much . The

di sgusting vices, so conspicuous o n the publ ic race course

,are

l i t tle seen in the private training s table , a n d those who j udge

the o n e from the o ther, and think t hat everything connected

wi th the race horse must be depraved, would be surprised to

witn ess the com mand Of temper,the high character

,and the

noble self control o f som e of the men who are en trus ted wi th

t he care Of the most valuable race horses .

We have n o love f o r the race course , but i t i s the gambling

no t the ra cing that we abhor. I t i s absurd t o talk o f i t s cruel ty .

T here i s no cruel ty i n lett ing,o r even i n urging a highly trained

a n dcapable horse to do his ' u tmost f o r fi ve minutes, whils t the

c are that i s take n to prepare hi m for tha t five minutes work has

t augh t horsemen in al l o ther vocations a great deal that ha s

REA ] . cn U E t '

r i E s . 1 1 1

lessened the sufferings O f the poor brutes tha t are daily toi l ingo n with s treaming sides , heaving flanks , t rembl ing legs , and

shaking tails,indicati ve o f un told a ndunheeded su ffering.

2 2 3 .

—We respec t the high cha ra cter and m otives of those

who s e t their f aces l ike a fl in t a gainst al l gambl ing, whether i t

be o n a horse , a boat , a man , or a n elect ion , but we would like to

see the warm sympathies o f the truly humane , directed , not to

the imaginary cruel ties of the race course , but to the real

barbari ties Of our fas t coaches,and pos t horses, our butcher boys ,

and veteri nary surgeons , Of those fast young and Old men who

habi tual ly bribe a cab driver to drive his over worked horse at

some unreasonable pace , a nd above al l to those ignorant and

brutal men who prefer to educate the young horse by torturing

him f o r not doing that whi ch he had never bee n taugh t, and thus

give h im vices that cause him to be il l treated f o r the rest o f hi s

unhappy l ife .

—We have generally watched the handling of the race

horse wi th the view Of learning,and not wi th the hope of teaching "

but there is one thing we have Often thought o f i n connection with

h im,i n which we canno t help thi n king that his education might

be improved . Why is he rarely,i f ever, taught to s tart well ?

n e might be get ting exercise and fresh air a t the same time,and

his riders would be learning their own business , whils t they were

t eaching the young horse i ts work . How often a short race has

been lost by a bad start and unless the young horse is taught to

s tand i n row , and start when called o n ,with more del iberation

and patience than can be a ff orded at a race,he is never l ikely to

start well . Each star t that he makes i n an actual race,i s on ly

l ikely to teach him to be impati en t and res tive , but i t might be a

part Of his daily exercise to be taught to s tand steadily in row ,

wi th any number of companions , and t o j ump o ff only,at some

very wel l understood and unmis takable signal,which should

ce rtainly n o t be the spur .

2 2 5 .—Eve ry o n e knows that the diffi cul ty t o be met is i m

patience , and not laz iness , and, consequently, the young horse

wants to be daily t augh t that he may stand in row,with any

number o f res ti ve compan ions , wi thou t be ing in dange r o f a. dig

1 1 2 HUNTERS .

wi th the spur,as the firs t int imation that he i s wanted to j ump

forward . I f dai ly practised to walk and t o s tand a long time in

row,and then a t some painless signal to s tar t Off wi th com panions

at no furious pace , and to pull up soon , wi thout any r a c i n O'

,the

young horse would come to learn tha t he need n o t t ear himsel f t o

pieces before his race begins , nor be prancin g ten yards behind ,o r with his head the wrong way , when the flag drops . Trainers

might often agree together or wi th any friend o n horseback to

in troduce occasional ly the exci temen t of s trange company , which

would,no doub t

,be an important part o f the lesson .

2 2 6 .—In the hun ting field, cruel ty i s Often see n . Amongs t

every class o f men , a few exceptional ly hard hearts are to be

found,whose pleasure is n o t marred by the keenes t suff ering o f

the an imal which serves them , a ndwho even seem to think tha t

there i s something glorious in ri ding a wi ll ing horse t o death o r ,

what i s a great deal worse , i n frequen tly riding him to a sta te in

which he suff ers a ll the pangs of a painful dea th. S ti l l the l i fe

o f the average hunter i s one to be pre f erred to the average l ife o f

the daily harassed coach , cab ,o r butcher ’s horse

,and

,in good

hands,his l i fe is o n e to be e nvied by most of the other classes o f

his race . Much tha t we know about the bes t way to feed and

tend a horse t o bring out hi s u tm os t capaci ty,ha s been learned

through the unbounded care and expense usual ly lavished on the

rich man ’s hunter whi ls t the h igh prices tha t have been gi ven

for fi r s t - class hun ters , have done much to keep up a superior breed

of riding and driving horses .

TH E HUNTER .

2 2 7 .

—There i s no t much tha t i s pecul iar i n the educatio n of

the hun ter . I t d iffers l i t tle from that o f the educa tion Of a fi r s t

class riding horse,which a hun te r mus t always be . He shou ld

have the best Of mou ths , tha t will con trol hi m under the very

great excitemen t of galloping i n a crowd he requires the u tmos t

confidence i n hi s rider, and an unshaken conviction that he

mus t obey the rein , and fly over any possible Obstacle a t the

urgen t cal l Of a resolute horseman . He should never be taken

t o the field by a t imid irresolu te r i der, as for such riders no horses

1 1 4 ASK LITTLE AND TAKE NO LE s s .

valuable horse . The horse must be kept up to the beli ef t ha t he

has no power t o resi s t your will , bu t m ust go where y ou s teadily

a ndresolutely di rect him .

2 8 2 . In teaching a horse to j ump, l oungi ng him over

differen t thi ngs does some good, but will never make a hunter.

He must be ac tual ly ridden by som e o n e wi th good hands,a nd

wi th courage and de termination enough to make him do wha tever

he asks hi m to do i n the jumping l ine . I fi nd that i t saves

much time a ndtrouble in the end t o i nsis t upon a horse doing

whatever y ou a sk hi m t o do , however severe the first fight may

be . This i s especially the case in j umping lessons .

2 3 3 . Begin wi th somethi ng simple and easy,and insi s t

upon i ts be ing done . With a young horse , o r an unknown o n e ,

begin wi th some thing that y ou can be sure to ge t them over ,

s uch as a rail laid o n the ground,i n a gateway , o r a very low

furze hedge,and i f they s t op , which y ou should try t o prevent ,

don ’ t turn them round,but force them to go over i t , or through

i t somehow .

2 3 4 . Punish a horse severely for baulking at his fences ,bu t if y ou want t o make him a good pleasan t j umper pun i sh him

f o r nothing el se . If he strikes hi s fences, and i s careless, keep

j umping him at something very s tiff o r prickly, and he will

hur t himse lf qui te enough , and by pra i sing and making a lo t o f

hi m whenever he ge ts over, however clumsy the s tyle may be ,he will soon improve . I never o n any accoun t pun i sh a horse

in the act o f j umping . They naturally dislike j umping and a r e

a fraid o f i t, and you wan t to do al l y ou can to encourage them .

Pe t and pat them after every successful a ttempt .

2 3 5 .—“ TO show how comple te ly horses can be made t o

bel ieve that they must go wherever you steadily direct them , I

may s ay that during the whole o f las t season ’s hun ting,my

horse Sulky” never once refused anyth ing I put him at,

a nd twice in o n e run across Mr . Hunt ’s field,actually d ived

in to and through a furze hedge t e n fe et high without being

touched wi th the spurs . When I was regularly ridin g Old

Barry ,” he never thought o f stopping at anything I asked him

t o t r y , nor would he do so wi th anyone e lse that was n o t afraid

H OW To RIDE AT A JUMP . 1 1 5

t o ride him . He once, alm os t at a s tand , jumped a gate five fee t

f our inches high which Mr. A tho ls t a n Parsons turned his head

a t,withou t expecti ng tha t the horse would take i t . At one o f

“the Chris tchurch hun ts,young Mr . Griffi ths was riding him

,

a ndcould no t hold h im ,s o turned his head a t a large clump o f

s trong f urze,n early an acre i n exten t, i n to which “ Barry”

jumped , and they both had to be cu t o ut .

2 3 6 . In riding a t a j ump s i t i n such a posi tio n tha t y ou

ca n use your heels instantly to assi st your hands in guiding . Take

both hands to the reins wi th a firm s teady hold, s o tha t the

horse canno t poss ibly slacken them , and then , rather by t hreat

e n i n g than actual using your spurs , keep hi s whole atten tion

t o the very spot you wish hi m to jump . When y ou are qui te sure

that your horse is goi ng to j ump , shi f t your weigh t o n to your

thighs a nd s tirrups , keep ing the sam e s teady hold o f the reins

both i n rising and f all ing . This wil l preven t any j ar to you r self

o r your horse .

2 3 7 . Horses that have once found out that they can

p lease t hemselves about going where y ou direct them are never

very good hunters . With a good deal o f trouble and figh t ing

you may teach them t o go for yourself, but they will try o n

their o ld tricks wi th the firs t s tranger that ge ts o n them ,

and t o o ofte n succeed i n gettin g their own way again .

2 3 8 . Cleverness ,’

o r that wonderful power to keep o n

their legs under a ll circumstances which some horses possess,

can never be taught , i t i s purely a natural gi f t, and no horse i s ,o r ever can be any good for a hunter that does no t naturally

possess i t . With a hunter i t doe s not mean merely a good

shoulder and foreleg, o r a well placed foo t, such as would make

a horse safe o n a good road, nor a good eye , and good wind ,

al though o f course both are essen tially necessary , there must be

beyond all these a men tal power of some sort that i s well expressed

by the word ‘ cleverness . ’ F o r ins tance I have see n horses that

have been hunting for years t hat will day af ter day j ump shor t

and ge t into a di tch n o t seen o n the l anding side o f a fence , bu t

before ‘ Sulky’ had be e n hunting o n e day he found o ut tha t

when there was no di tch o n the take Off s ide he might expect one

1 1 6 SU LxY.

”

o n the other, a ndhe inva riably puts o n more s team where he sees

no di tch , than he does where he sees o n e . He will never touch a

wire under any circumstances , but even after he has left theground , i f he sees a wider di tch than he expected , o r anything

Obj ectionable o n the landing side,he will i f poss ible s tr i ke

e i ther a s trong top rail, o r a . hauk , with hi s h ind legs , to car ry

him a l i ttle f urther, and when he finds on ly a choice of evils he

i s sure t o take the l eas t . O f course,no o n e could teach a horse

this , i t i s s imply bred in them .

”

TH E WAR HORSE .

2 3 9 .—The Bri tish war horse

,l ike most o ther publi c servants

,

has a good deal o f publ ic money spen t on his education . He i sn o t supposed t o be fi t for his work unti l a t l eas t a year after heha s been purchased . Accordi ng to evidence given before a

Parliamen tary Commit tee , his education , prior t o purchase , costs

five pounds , and twen ty - e i gh t pounds afterwards bu t even the

lat ter sum does n o t include the pay o f his i n s tructor . He hast o be perfectly recon cile d to a n umber o f a larming sigh ts a nd

sounds , and t o unders tand hi s place and movemen ts in the ranks,a s well as the man who rid es o r drives h im . The government

s troke”in horse - breaking i s probably a s much behind the times

as in mos t o ther thin gs, a nd, j udging from the old

“ rough riders ”

who afterwards se t up a s horse - breakers , there i s not much in that

school that i s worthy o f imitati on .

THE CH ILD’

S PONY .

2 40 .—A chi ld ’s pon y should rece ive a great deal o f careful‘

t rain ing at an ea rly age . The pon y has gen erally more brain power

than larger horses,and as such i s more liable to be tricky a nd

t o learn to take care o f i tsel f. I t can be taugh t easi ly , bu t the

dan ger i s that i t may learn too much that wi ll n o t be i n the

i n terest o f i ts owner . For th i s reason , and o n accoun t o f the

extreme docil i ty required,and i ts un fi t-ness at an early age t o

carry a m a n o n i ts back , we would alway s begi n by pu tting i t

down ( 3 5 3 ) agai n and a gain ,and teaching i t al l we could o n the

ground (3 5 7 to 3 0 1 ) un til i t was perfectly safe t o handle i n a n y

1 1 8 LIFE PRESERVING .

tie i t to the o ther side and do the same . Then secure your

s ti rrups to the saddle and tie o n e l eg o f the scare cr ew to the

left s tirrup,in the posi tion tha t a boy would occupy wi th his foo t

hun g i n the s tirrup . D rive abou t l ike tha t,then try the right

side . G i ve hours, o r days , o r weeks to i t i f n ecessary , bu t let i t

be done , s o that the pony wil l take no notice o f i t , and n o

j umping o f the scarecrow over uneven ground wil l s tart le h im .

A chi ld ’s l ife may depend o n thi s being done thoroughly , and at

any rate,a parent ’s peace o f mind wil l be very much secured by

i t . N o o n e can j udge how long i t wil l take , a s some horses will‘

be reconciled to more i n an hour than others wil l i n a week,but

the most timid will come round wi th quie t perseverance .

2 44 .-~a v i n g reconci led the pony to dragging the scare

crow after i t i n various posi tions the plank may be removed .

Put the scare crow under the pony and move i t about,then

bring i t gen tly against hi s legs , and rub them wi th i t . Then

laying i t down under him between hi s fore and h ind l egs lead the

pony on and teach him to s tep over i t, firs t wi th hi s hi nd legs

a ndthen with al l hi s legs . You may now put i t o n the pony ’

s

back , and le t i t fall o ff,firs t o n o n e si de and then the other

,

wi thout m oving the pony,and repeat the process until he will"

take n o notice o f i t .

24 5 .

—For the next lesson you wil l require some assis tance,

and should ge t your own pocke ts wel l fi l led wi th oat s,carro ts

,

biscui ts , or anything tha t you know the pony to be mos t fond o f ..

We m a y here s a y that the patting and coaxing so much

recommended by some wri ters as a reward for"

good conduct i s

n o t much valued by the horse,and i s never regarded as an

a bsol ute rewa rd . H e Often accepts i t as an evidence that you:

a r e in a good tem per,but i t i s no more a reward or a treat to

hi m , than the kisses are to an i n fan t , which some ladies are so

prone to l avish upon them . A few ca t s i n the o n e case , and a

few playthi ngs i n the other are far more potential .

2 4 6 .—~Ge t a man to walk by the side o f the pony

,and to

hold the scare crow i n the posi tion o f a rider o n the saddle,whils t

y ou drive the pony with rei ns from behin d . After al l he has seen

o f the scare crow, the pony is n o t l ikely to make any obj ecti on t o »

POTENTIAL REWARDS . 1 1 9

thi s . I f he does , o n e o f his legs may be strapped up and,

whi ls t you hold him by the head , l e t your assistan t place the

scare crow o n his back , and move i t abou t un ti l h e cares no thingabou t i t . Then put down the strapped leg, and lead the pony on ,whilst your assis tan t ho lds on the scare crow . G e t back t o the

reins as soon as all goes sm oothly, and le t your assis t an t s tep

gen tly awa v,when the scare crow will fal l Ofi", whils t you s top the

pony at the same time wi th the reins . A t the firs t fall , le t the

pony step pas t the scare crow,and don ’t be too rash wi th your

reins , or you may make the pony step o n the scare crow , which he

should n ever do As soon as the pony i s stopped,go up to him

and give him a few handfuls of oats,o r something tha t y o u have

provided as a k n own luxury,fondling and sooth ing hi m at the

same t ime . I f more l ikely to be a treat to him let hi m crop a

f ew mouth f ul s o f grass, but oats should alway s be a treat to a

child’s pony , as they are to any horse no t highly f edwith them .

All thi s may be repeated again and again, s t e p p i n g the p ony

m ore sharply and suddenly at each f al l of the scare crow,and

let ting him res t and feed af ter each s t e p until he s tops of h is own

accord,which he wil l very soon do . L e t thi s lesson be repeated

day a f ter day , un ti l s topping at a f al l becomes an establ ished

habi t wi th the pony

24 7 .—For the n ext lesson your assis tan t should be a boy

tha t i s not afraid of a horse,that can ride a l i t tle

,and wil l do

what he is told .

s i s cl o thes should not be a very valuable sui t ,and he should have no boots o n hi s fee t . Put a hal ter on the

pony,with a bi t buckled to i t for your own use , but le t the boy

’s

riding reins be fastened to the upper rings o f the hal ter , so tha t

he cannot i n terfere much wi th the pony ’s mouth . Put on a

saddle wi thout s tirr ups . Then pu t the boy o n the pony and lead

him v our s e lf to some ploughed field, o r o ther sof t ground , taking

your long reins with y ou, and your pocke t ful l o f oats , of which

the boys pockets should also contain a supply . When you come

to soft ground l e t the boy get Off , a n d going up to the pony’

s

head gi ve him a hand ful of oats,and a rough pat ting and

rubbing all round, whils t y ou hold the pony’s headand hold up o n e

o f i ts f ore legs i n your hand . However quie t the pony m a y be i t i s

1 2 0 GYMNASTICS .

best t o take this precaution,as boys gen erally do something

o ut of the way that teazes a pony,a n dal though t he pony will have

to ge t used to unskil ful handlin g,i t can and mus t be done wi thou t

the ri sk of a kick .

2 48 .

—When the boy has handled the pon y al l round dropthe pony ’s leg, and le t the boy come up t o his head again , a n d

give him ano ther handf ul o f ca t s , i n any awkward way he

pleases .

Then let the boy l ie down quietly on his back and g i ve the

pony another handful o f ca t s , e i ther o ut Of the boy ’s hand o r

close t o the boy out of yours . The boy may next throw up his

legs , then his hands , rol l over, stand on hi s head , and perform as

he pleases , whils t y o u lead the pony close round h im ,get ting the

boy to repea t anything that ala rms the pon y . Every now and

then the pony should be encoura ged to come up and take a

han dful o f oats from the boy ’s han d,un ti l he ge ts to thoroughly

unders tand that i t i s only a boy af ter all , however frigh tful his

a nt i cs m ay have made h im appear . The boy may nex t put on a

girl’

s frock and bonne t,a n dwi th the foo t a gai n held up , rub

round the pon y i n tha t dress , and afterwards repeat on the ground

a ll that he has done before in hi s own clo thes .

2 4 9 .—Setting aside the frock and bonne t, the boy may next

come up to the pony and after givin g him a handful of ca t s,

hang o n rou n d hi s n e ck and cl imb over hi m wi th hands a nd

legs i n any awkward way he pleases, getting up on o n e side and

down the other,reversin g the sides

,and m aking the descen t

,as

m uch like a tumble as he pleases . When the pony i s qui te

recon ciled to a ll th is,and wil l s tan d qui te s t i l l wi th such

gymnasti cs, pu t o n your lon g reins and putti ng the boy o n the

pony ’s back, wi th the re ins t hat you f astened to the hal ter in his

hand , drive the pony abou t, wi th the boy si tting s teadi ly in the

s addle . After a l it tle practice at thi s , get the boy to slip

out o f hi s sea t a n d hang,

. holdi ng by the saddle,whils t y ou

immediately stop the pon y wi th your reins . - Then le t the boy

drop o ff and rol ling over o n the ground, get up and feed and

fondle the pony . I f the pony does n o t very soon learn to s top

o f i t s own accord direc t ly the bo y i s unseated, as most ponies

1 2 2 CHO ICE OF WORDS .

pony will be l ikely to mis take f o r i t . We will , therefore , advise

i t s ade p t ion,al though , of course , any other word , not l ikely t o be

used without meaning,would do j us t as well .

2 5 2 .—F o r the firs t lesson , pu t o n a saddle and a pair o f

bl inkers,wi th a ring

,curb , or som e sharp bi t . The obj ect o f

pu tting on the saddle is to make the pony associa te the saddl e

wi th the l esson , and to bel ieve that he canno t be disobedien t when

the saddle i s on,even after he ha s found out that he can please

h imself about obeying i n the field . The obj ect of the blinkers is

to prevent h is seeing and learning too much , and get ting to cal

culate that he need only stop when y ou are in a certa in positi on

behind hi m . N ow tie to the hi t two l ight rope reins , each twelve

f ee t long. and d r i ve your pony abou t wi th them . This wil l be

noth ing n ew to hi m a f ter his forme r lessons, bu t i f the bl i nkers

make him fidge ty at first , drive him about un ti l he ge ts over that ,and then begin your lessons .

2 5 3 .

—S top suddenly, wi th a sharp j erk on the re ins , and a texactly the sam e ins tan t say wha y . Repeat thi s unti l the ponywill always stop ins tantly f o r the word wi thou t the re ins . Next

give up the re ins to an obedient , quie t assis tan t . Tel l him to

m ake n o noise himself, but to s t e p the pony sharply wi th the reins

the i ns tan t you say wha y . Then stand some distance from the

pony,on e i ther side

,and say whay . Do the same at bo th sides Of

'

him,as well as before and behind him , and le t him find that y o

posi tion makes no di fference,and that the jerk o n hi s mouth

comes a ll the same wherever you are . Then get o n another hOr se

and ride beside the pony,and repeat the word a t a great n umber

o f differing distances , un t i l the pony will s top wi th certainty

wherever he can hear i t,and he ca n hear i t much far ther than you

can .

2 54 .—Next take o ff the bli nkers , and put on a sharp - bi t t ed '

bridle . Tie a long strip of r ag o n the roo t of the pony ’s tail,and ‘

form wi th i t two lon g Ioops, o n which to res t the reins . Tie

twen ty fee t of binding wire,such a s is used for tying Sheaves, to '

the end of each rein,and twi s t the far end of each wire round a

small p iece of s tick for a handle , so that your assis tan t can s tand

thir ty feet from the pony ’s mouth wi th these handles i n his hands,

HABIT CONFIRMED . 1 2 3

and,wi thout any connection tha t wil l be very apparen t to the

pon y . Mount y our horse and ride by the side o f the pony . I t

wil l probably s til l s top instantly for the word , whay and i f i t

does s o , after several trials , nothing more n eed be done , as i t i s

j us t as well tha t i t should ge t no opportuni ty to s e e how matters

have been managed . I f i t Shows any hesi tation about stopping ,the wire re ins must be brought severely in to use , and taken Of f as

soon as the pony i s qui te sure to s top wi thou t them . Tes t the

pony ’s obedience on the fol low i ng day,a n d repeat the whole , o r

any part of the lesson i f you find i t necessary . The hab i t of

s t e pp i n g to the word mus t be thoroughly established by cons ta n t

practice for some weeks after the lesson has been thoroughly

taught Obedience to the word must also be cons tan tly

enforced by any rider o n the pony ’s back but above al l , i t must

never hear the word without obeying i t . For this reason you

should never, but especially a t firs t , use the word when trying to

catch the pon y,o r under any circums tances in which obedience

would be doubtful,and cannot be instan tly enforced .

2 5 5 .—With ponies thus trained

,we have turn ed our own five

boys out alone,wi th their li ttle l ively nags

,and never had a

serious acciden t wi th a n y o n e o f them . We would rather trust

them wi th such pon ies alone,than with any number o f grooms or

footmen watching them on ponies that are n o t under control . But

remember t hat n o pony,however quie t and wel l - broken , can be

safe for a Child ’s use if highly fed wi th corn and kep t i n a stable

wi thout plenty o f work . Paddock—fed pon ies m ay not look s o

brigh t, but they are infini tely safer for a n y chi ld’s use , and are

qui te capable enough for anyth ing that a child could require o f

them . They may wear a canvas and fel t cover during winter, and

a t t hat season may get hay and even a li ttle corn if they have

regular work .

TH E ROADSTER .

2 5 6 .—A horse can hardly be said to have passed his primary

education unti l he has been taugh t al l that i s really necessary

f o r an ordinar y roadster to un ders tand . We have pract ically

given hi s education i n the riding horse ’s primary lessons,so that

we shall no t have much to say about him in thi s chapter .

1 24 ACCOMPLISHMENTS TAUGHT .

2 5 7 .- H e will have more t o do than most other riding

‘horses in the way o f passing and meeting vehicles , and o ther

Obj ects o n the road , and grea t care and patience should be

exercised to teach him t o do this pleasantly,without ge t ting

dangerously near them ,or sh y i ng t o o far away from them . We

like to leave a horse alone a t such work as much as we can , only

i n terfering when he does wron g, as thi s habi t makes h im a safer

horse in the dark,when he alone can see what to do . There i s

n o t ime that a m a n feels s o charmed wi th a good horse as when

he has brough t him past a hundred real dangers which he coul d‘never have avoided wi th hi s own eyes .

e should be taugh t t o go a l i t tle faster when over taki ng

t han when mee ting an obj ect . A good bold rider may allow him

t o se lect a soft path n ear the side o f the road to save his feet ,but when s o indulged there i s always more risk o f a sudden

swerve to o n e s ide , s o that a less accomplished rider had be tte r

teach his nag to keep the bes t pa th he can find nearer the

m i ddle o f the road .

Cantering o n hard me t tled roads is an expensive luxury ,especially with a heavy weight , as few horses s tand i t long wi thout

faili ng in the leadin g fore foot o r leg,so that a young man who

wants t o save his horse from lameness had be t ter be content t o

walk o r tro t . As i n every o ther riding horse,a good

,fas t, easy

walk i s a valuable accompl ishment .

2 5 8 .—Your horse will have been taugh t t o carry every

a rticle o f dress ( 1 8 8 , he must also be thoroughly reconciled

t o an umbre lla , or the most glaring uni form should be pract ised

at s tanding quie tly for hi s rider to shake hands,and not to fear

t he approach o f a lady carry ing o r swinging about a parasol .

e should also be taught to put himsel f alongside a nd re treat

we ll from a gate , so as to assis t his r ider i n opening i t o n hi s

back. Al l thi s i s very easily taught i f i t i s se t about patien tly,as part o f your business

,and before a horse ha s been Spurred and

knocked about for n o t doing i t wi thout teachin g.

TH E OVERLAND TRAVELLER.

2 59 .—The horse f o r the overland travel ler should possess

1 2 6 SW IMMING E SSENTIALS .

o f a good unders tanding wi t h a horse so much as when al ternatelyswimming and fording o n e of these r ivers and when our l ife a t

o n e time depends upon hi s perfect obedience to our will , and a t

another upon our perfectly understanding the a dmoni tions o f his

superior i ns tincts . v ere practice i s o f great importance,t o both

horse a ndman , nei ther o f them must be timid , ne i ther o f t hem

must be rash,each o f them mus t feel confidence i n the other . I t

‘ i s wonderful to s e e the confidence that a horse wil l acquire at thi s

work in a m a n that has proved tha t he knows bo th how to direct

hi m and t o understand him .

2 6 2 .

—Many horses could never be taugh t thi s work,and no

o n e should venture into such rivers on an unproved horse . Try

the horse firs t i n a cle ar, quie t ri ver, with large boulders a t the

bottom,and see how he manages hi s fee t am ongs t them . If he

makes a mess of i t y ou can’t teach him t o do i t properly " try

a nother, and don’t wast e time upon him . The same may be said

if he walks upon his hind legs when he ought to be swimming,

. as many horses will do that are not accustomed to deep water .

Never take such a horse in to a dangerous ri ver . The firs t horse

that served us this tri ck made us lose both o f our s ti rrups,and

we had t o finish our j ourney wi thout any . H e was the last horse

that we ever started with o n an overland j ourney wi thou t trying

him as a swimmer .

2 6 3 .—Left t o himsel f a horse will almost always choose t o

cross a river on a ford, but i f y ou know that the river i s too high

fo r fording , y ou should avoid every shallow , and go at once to a

deep quiet part of the r iver,where you can s e e a good landing

far enough below you o n the other s id e . Be sure tha t you

al low enough for curren t,as i t will no t matter i f you reach the

o ther side half a mile above y our landing place , but i t may matter

a good deal if you reach i t half a yard too low . We have

sometim es been washed a mile down whi lst crossing a flooded

r iver no t a furlong wide . Never al low your horse to waste his

strength by try ing to swim up a rapid r iver . I f you have

missed your landing place y ou must seek ano ther below,however

far that may be,and your horse should be kep t in deep water

for tha t purpose,with a sharp look ou t for logs , o r rocks , tha t

FORD ING MAXIMS . 1 2 7

m ay rol l him over . If you are thrown Off i n deep water don ’t

waste your strength in trying to ge t o n again , because you canno t-do i t . You have n o thi ng to Spring f rdm and the horse wil l

r ol l round towards y ou i f you cl imb up him ,l ike a floa ting log .

Hang o n the mane or tai l until your horse ge ts a footing again,

keeping only your head o ut o f water . A s trong swimming horse

wi l l carry a man i n the saddle wi th armpi ts and Shoulders wel l

o ut o f water, bu t he does tha t a t great in conveni ence to himself

a ndi f the s truggle i s a severe one , y ou should lean as m uch o f

your body under water as y ou can , which wil l keep the horse’s

hind quarter ’s higher,and i n a better form for swimming .

2 64 .-When a swimming horse first touches the ground

i n a strong curren t,‘ he i s obl iged to instan tly give hi s body a

‘very s trong lean up stream , which Of ten unseats a rider tha t i srn o t o n the look out f o r i t, com ing a s i t does at the same momen tltha t the stream begins t o s trike hard on the horse no longer

fl oating wi th i t.

2 6 5 .—Crossi ng a r iver o n a deep rapid ford i s much more

diffi cul t , and require s more presence of mind than swimmin g

a cross i t i n deep water. The mos t practised eye will be dece ived

a s t o the direction , and you wil l fancy that y ou a r e keeping up

s t r eam , when y ou are real ly going fast down i t . Before y ou go

i n to the river, you want to fix upon the bes t poin t to make for o n

the other side .

If a straight l ine i s practi cable , whi ch i t seldom i s , y ou can

t ake two prominent land obj ects , o n the far side , that will give

y ou the right l ine , and keep your eyes o n them as you cross,

p aying no atten tion to the apparen t direct ion y ou are making i n

the s tream . When really keeping the right l ine on the ford,

t he horse wi l l appear to you to be walking almost s traigh t up the

s tream . Never hurry your horse on a ford bu t give hi m pl en ty

o f time to choose hi s f ooting , and to make a good use o f facul ties

far superior to yours in avoidi ng dan gers under Water.I f the

curren t has proved t o o much for the horse to bear against,

a ndy ou find yourself on the low edge of a ford, wi th no power

to ge t fur ther o n i t, don’

t attemp t to go back again,where you

would be sure t o get washed off i n to broken water,i n whi ch

1 2 8 TETHERING .

your horse could nei ther swim n o r walk , but make a t once f o r

smooth water,such as y ou would selec t f o r a boat , and then

swim for ei ther bank t lfa t the s tream wil l take you to . DO n o t

le t - your horse exhaus t h is s trength a t any impossibl e l andingplace

,but swim o n to a good o n e . I f your horse must try a

diff i cul t o n e throw yoursel f o ff and re li eve hi m of your weight

f o r the s t r uggle .

2 6 6 .

—Your overland horse should be taught to te ther welli n some way

,and the bes t way i s by the

‘

fo re foot . Any horse

unaccus t omed to be te thered , i s sure to l ame himself by cutt inghis hind pastern wi th the rope when t e thered by the neck , and

al though they learn t o manage the rope be tter a f ter a while , a

horse never ge ts so clever wi th i t as a mule or a donkey wi l l do,

and is always in more or less danger o f ge t ting wo un d up i n a

tangle,and o f losing a nigh t ’s res t a nd a nigh t

’s feed .

When te thered wi th a s tra p round o n e o f his fore pas t erns he

i s much more safe , and a lighter rope will do i t . He requires a

l i t tle education f o r this . Before he i s aware o f hi s bondage,he

may start o ff at some fas t pace , and ge t and gi v e a violen t j erk a t

the end o f hi s te ther . This he wi ll soon learn t o avoid,and until

he does so,the rope may be held_i n hand or left to drag a f te r hi m .

He will often tread o n i t wi th his hind fee t and will learn from

tha t to move his te t hered foo t wi th caution . For the sam e

reason,the first s i x fee t from the strap that goes round his foo t

will require to be very stron g , and the requisi te stren gth , light

n ess , smoot hness, and durabi l i ty wi ll be found in nothing bet te r

than a strip o f r aw cow h ide , a bout an inch Wide . Another

advantage o f thi s short length o f raw hide i s , that i f your rope

breaks the hide sti l l remai ns , and grea tl y impedes a horse’s power

to ge t qui ckly away from you . The res t o f the te ther li ne may

be l igh t tarred rope , of good qual i ty . Such a rope often com es inuse ful for many other purposes on a long j ourney , through a n ew

coun try .

2 GT.

—The te ther rope i s n o t much used by experienced

bushmen, o n experienced horses , i n very long j ourneys . E i the r

round the neck o r the foo t there i s a probabil i ty of a horse ge tting

i n to a mess wi th i t when roll ing . Hence some danger of inj uring

1 3 0 THE M ERCIF U L MAN .

r el ie f t o both . An active man will ge t o n fas ter i f he rides two

m iles , and walks quarter o f a mil e, al l the j ourney through . A

v ery s trong man at Cli fton , near Bri stol , who could carry more

than 70 0 l without inj ury f o r a shor t distance,under took f o r a

wager, t o ca rry 2 8 6 l . for a mile . He did i t,bu t was so in j ured

by the prolonged exertion that he n ever recovered hi s original

s trength,and died soon afterwards . L et an ordinarily strong

man take l OOlbs . o n hi s back,i t seems a mere nothing t o him at

first,but by the time he has carr ied i t a ‘mile i t will have become

an Oppressive burden .

2 7 1 .—In 1 84 7 a stock owner i n New South Wales s tarted

wi th head o f cat tle fo r Adel aide . He engaged fi v e s tock

m e n,fo r four of them he was to find horses

,the o ther under took

to find his own . The di stance driven was abou t a thousand

m iles . He provided three good fresh stock horses fo r each o f the

f our s tockmen , besides a number fo r h imsel f , a ndwa s disgusted

t o find the man who undertook to horse h imsel f came wi th only

o n e . We over took the party after the y had travel led abou t 8 0 0

miles,and then the on ly horse amon gst them tha t had a whole

skin , o r t hat wa s fi t t o take a man o n hi s back , o r that could

y ard the cat tle, or over take them when they ran away, was the

o n e horse tha t had never had a day’s re st,a n d had done al l the

fastes t gal loping, but whose rider never stuck o n hi s back for an

hour t ogethe r, but drove the horse feeding before h im three parts

o f the day . The o ther horses only worked about twice a week ,but then a man cruel ly stuck o n the i r raw backs from morn ing

t i ll n igh t .

2 72 .—There are a number o f simple ways by which y ou can

secure a horse suffi cien tly whils t y ou drive h im before y ou, o r stop

hi m fo r a short feed . W i th most hard - worke d horses, i t i s enough

t o simpl y run the re ins between the s tirrup le ather s and bring

them over the stirrup iron . This does n o t in terfere in the

s l igh test degree wi th the feedin g o r easy motion o f the horse , and

ca n be made very eff e c tua l wi th a piece o f v e ry easy education . A

l on g piece o f s tring, t ie d t o the s tirrup, a ndbrought back i n your

hand will,i f judi ciously used

,soon m ake the horse be l iev e that

y ou have a lway s go t h im i n ha nd when the reins are so fas t ened.

U SE F U L DE VICE S . 1 3 1

I f more restrain t i s needed pu t the reins be tween the fore legs and

then fasten them a l i ttl e shorter,s o that the horse canno t ge t hi s

head very high . I f that is no t su fficien t,pass them through a

loose hoop,ti ed or buckled under his knee . You will soon find

o ut how much res train t i s necessary to ensure catch ing him easi ly

when wanted,and i t i s your in terest to infl ic t no more .

CHAPTER XII.

LOCAL s r s'r a m s .

2 73 .—Scotch h eads a r e the largest and most in tellectual i n

the world . Whils t n ominally submi t ting to the overwhelmingpower o f a more populous

,more weal thy

,and more ferti le

country,they have actually rul ed i t

,giving i t K ing ’s laws

,Prime

Minis ters,and Cabinets . To the bes t of these heads we owe the

steam engine, our steam ships , and our gas l ight ed s tree ts .'

The

English and German head is no t far behind the Scotch . Al l a r e

rul ing heads,al l inventing heads

,al l eminen tly persevering heads

,

ful l of resource s t o meet every emergency .

2 74 .—But so long as these fine heads stay at home

,there i s

some overpowering conservat i ve influen ce that b inds t hem t oo

long t o time honoured practices, keeps them con tented with

inferior tools,and even gives t hem a secondary place in the race o f

inventors and improvers . When the same men pu t their foot o n

a v i rgin soi l , when they min gle together on an unimproved

coun t ry, when they compare under the same surroundings the

mer i ts o f - the diff erent tool s that each ha s brought from a nat ive

country,when they survey the weal th of nature ’s resources and

realize the dearth o f l abour to appropriate them , they are at once

roused to exert t heir facul ties in the production of im proved tools ,and seek every means t o exchan ge the drudgery o f the n o lon ger

cheap field worker,or house bu ilder , f o r the more available labour

o f the patien t ox, the will ing horse, or the un tiring steam engine .

Thus,the l ightes t a nd most conveni en t tools

,the only comple te

and expedi tious s aw mills,th e eff ective screw pulverizer, and

above all the triumphan t reaper and b inder,giving cheaper and

better bread to the whole world,have originated no t wi th Britons

a t home,but wi th Bri ton s abroad no t wi th those who have

1 3 4 TALL YARNS .

books do n o t ge t cri ticised in Sou th America as they migh t do i nAustral ia , and therefore i t is more safe to descri be impossible

feats wi th the lasso, and the wonderful success of brutal whips,spurs , bi ts , and m e n

,which n ever produce good horses in any

o ther coun tr y .

1 78 .—We cannot understand why s o many Engl ish wri ters

o n the horse have given credence and publici ty to such clumsy

and mischievous romances .

We will copy o n e from Basi l al l ’s j ourney to Peru and

Mexico, which we take because i t i s a fair sample o f the res t, and

ha s been publ ished , as if i t were true , by many wri ters, i ncluding

Youa t t , and the Society for the D iffusion o f U se f ul Knowledge .

1 79 When a Gaucho wishes to take a wild horse,he

moun ts o n e tha t has been used to the spor t, a ndgal lops over the

plain . As soon a s he comes sufficien tly near his prey,the lasso

i s thrown round the two hind legs , and as the Gaucho r ides a

l i ttle on one side the j erk pulls the en tangled horse ’s fee t la terally,

s o as to throw him o n his side,withou t endangering his knees o r

hi s face . Before the horse ca n recover the shock the rider

di smounts , and snatching his poncho o r cloak from his shoulders

wraps i t round the prostrate an imal ’s head .

H

c then forces in to

hi s mouth one o f the powerful bridles o f the country, s traps a

saddle o n his back,and bes triding h im removes the poncho

,upon

wh ich the astoni shed horse Springs o n his legs, and endeavours by

a thousand vain eff orts to disencumber him sel f o f h is n ew master ,who si t s qui te composedly o n his back

,and by a discipline whi ch

never fail s,reduces the horse to such complete obedience

,that

he i s soon t rained t o lend hi s whole speed and strength in the

capture o f his companions .

2 8 0 .

- Now,in the first place, l et the Engl i sh reader remember

that the Gaucho ’s horse i s described as a poor starve d thing,

merely caught and wo r k ed’

wi thout any proper feeding , un ti l used

up , and that the wild horses o n the dry‘

plains o f Peru and

Australia,are not soft

,fat things

,but are as hard, and often in

fa r be tter condition fo r work than the horse the Gaucho rides .

How then are they overtaken s o easily by o n e o f their own peers,

loaded wi th a man and a ll sorts o f heavy p a r apha n a li a o n hi s

IMPOSSIBILITIES . 1 3 5

2 8 1 .—Then having over taken him, how doe s he throw the

lasso over the hind legs o f a gal loping horse,unless the horse

could gallop o n his back and thr e w his legs upwards ? Then

having thrown the lasso o n the hi n d legs of a galloping horse,how does he persuade i t to stop on them , whils t he tigh tens the

noose,and puts himself i n exactly the r ight posi tion to throw

him so artis tically Then how does he persuade him to s tay with

his head o n the ground un t i l he gets up to hi m wi th the poncho ?

and how does he pu t the bridle on a head comple tely covered up ?

And why does he perform a ll these miracles,when a lasso, thrown

round the horse’s neck,would choke him down more gently ,

and keep him there till hobbled And how can any man ge t the

gir ths rounda horse lyin g o n the ground

2 90 .- Surely every wri ter o n the horse ought to have seen

at once that the whole s tory was a pure fabrication,and o n e

calculated to convey a very false impress ion in favour of successful

brutal i ty . We could more easily and much more harmlessly

bel ieve Lady Barker’s description of boar hun ting i n New

Zealand,where she figures as a David on horseback withou t a

sling,and the thick skulled wild boar as a so f t headed Goliath ,

which prudently omitted to bring a sword f o r his own

decapi tat ion .

2 9 1 .—I t is qui te t rue that the horses o f South America

,a s

those of every other country where horses are excessively cheap,

are hastily and badly broken,and brutally trea ted " and , unti l

exhausted with hard work,are proportionately uncertain and unsafe

to ride but they do not move best for spurs as b ig as a turns tile,

n o r fo r whips that “horribly mangle their sides .” Some o f the

Gauchos become skil ful wi th the lasso, s o that when the wild

horses are driven to a corral they can do withou t a pole what the

Aust ral ian s do with one , bu t they perform no miracles, and can n o t

se t aside the ordinary laws of motion and gravi tation . We know

o f noth ing ei ther in the humani ty , the expedition , the economy , o r

the success o f their proceedings that make them worthy o f

imi tation .

AUSTRALIA .

2 92 .—Aus tralia i s a vas t island or cont inen t

,where the

1 3 6 un a v ousn n s s .

thoroughbred horse has reached great perfecti on,and where he

i s ridden by men who are n o t surpassed as riders by any o f their

own race .

2 93 —1 11 January , 1 8 47 , we went from New Zealand to

Sydney , where we purchased a doubl e - shafted dray,five unbroken

fil l ies,a nd harness for four horses . After we had paid for the

fill ies,the vendor

,who wa s a cripple , was kind enough to say,

po in ting to the fines t of the fi ll ies,which we though t we had

purchased very cheap at n in e pounds : “ You s e e that fi lly ?”

Yes . ” Well, she has cr ippled me, a nd

’

she wil l ki ll y ou i f you

don ’t look ou t .” The caut ion was very useful and enabled us to

break her in,as we did al l the others

,without a n y help, any yard,

or any mishap at all . As we broke them we drove them on

overland t owards Adelaide,dis tan t m iles

,across a coun try

wi th few r ivers, mountains , swamps , or n a tural obs tacles of any

kind . We arrived in Adelaide , af ter a pleasant bu t rather

adve nturous three month ’s drive,with five remarkably good cart

mares,which we sold , on trial , for £ 4 0 each . The highly

nervous mare,that n early killed her breeder

,wen t on one occasion

n in e days without water rather than drink out o f a bucke t,and

her purchaser in Adelaide told u s that durin g the whole o f the

firs t win ter that he kept her,she would never ven ture to l ie

down in a s table . We men t ion this as one of the many proofs

we have seen that what we cal l v ice and bad temper in a horse

is generally the resul t o f an excessively nervous temperamen t,

most painful and un fortunate t o the horse i tsel f, and demanding

n o t harshness, but more than usual gentleness from those who

undertake to educate him .

2 94 .

—During thi s lon g j ourney we had many Opportuni tieso f seeing what i s done in the way of taming the extremely wild

horses o f Australia,and the systems adop ted i n a country long

n otorious for the be s t bred,and with the exception o f South

America , the worst broken horses in the world .

On arri ving at o n e large sta tion wi thin 2 0 0 miles o f Mel

bourne we were t old that on the fol lowin g day a ll avai lable hands

and horses would be engaged i n trying to drive a “ mob”o f

horses into the yards . We no ticed tha t the paddocks, fences ,

1 3 8 COLONIAL URGENCIES .

use o f hi s l im bs, and in ac tual con tact with animals more terribl e

t o hi m i f no t more cruel than lions .

2 97 .—Much ha s been said and wri tten agains t this system o f

capturing the wild horses of Aus tral ia . I t is undoubtedly t o o

dangerous f o r adoption in any coun try where horses are val uable,

and qui te needless where they are moderately tame . But knowing

what these horses really are,a nd what the men cos t , and what

the men are who have to handle them,a nd the price the horses

fetch in t he home market , where thousands Of good light col ts .

have been sold f o r 1 0 s . each , we are unab le to think o f any plan

less cruel that could be made to answer the purpose. To prescribe

R a r ey’

s s traps,or Sample ’s holding by head and tail

,would be

l ike the ol d nursery receip t t o catch a wild bird by pu tting sal t

o n i ts tail . N e B arey could creep up to them,n o Sample could

hold one of them for a momen t,even i f the head and tai l were

put in his hands . They would knock themselves to pieces i n a

crush pen,and would bat ter t hemselves f a r m ore if thrown in any

way we know of wi thou t the temporary garro te .

2 98 .—To our mind

,the cruel ty comes i n at the next s tage o f

the busi ness . A l i ttle more t ime and patience spen t with the

wild horse when on the ground ( 3 5 7 to far less than such a

t imid,neglected an imal might be expec ted t o require

,would soon

put him o n a par wi th younger handled horses, would save a lo t

o f rough,cruel

,dangerous figh ting wi th him a f terwards

,a n dOften

make hi m a trus tworthy and valuab le servan t up to a reasonable

Old age .

Whils t unable to hurt h imself or anyo n e e lse , enough time

should be taken t o convi nce hi m that he may come i n contact

wi th man without being consum ed,or suff ering a n y serious inj ury

An extra hour so spent would make all the diff erence,and would be returned with in terest in after deal ing wi th him .

There are n o t a few men in Austral ia now who have found this

out and a ct upon i t, bu t un fortunately colonial l ife i s st il l prone

t o be fast, men’s time i s costly and horses are cheap there i s n o

fun where l ives and l imbs are no t endan gered, and t he peace o f

m ind o r com fort Of body o f the poor horse i s t o o Often a matter '

o f n o concern to any one. He i s too soon al lowed to ri se , ei ther

MADE F OR SALE . 1 3 9‘

to hi s knees or to three legs,s o that the saddle ca n be girthed on

hi m " a“ black fel low” i s hoisted to his back , his foo t is l e t

down , and he s tarts to a series o f eff orts to rid himsel f from

the frightful Obj ect that clings to him l ike a j aguar,and

thus becomes a buck j umper for the res t o f hi s short and

suffering l ife .

2 99 .—Like Pe ter Pindar’s razors

,these hastily handled

horses are no t made for use , but for sale . They do t o export

where they get more broken on the voyage to India,or to sell by

aucti on, and are not unfrequen tly bought by those who keep

horses for some cruel destruct ive work,trustin g to fatigue t o

quie t them . They are harnessed to four - horse coache s wi thout

any farther breaking in,and form the far travelling , i llused,

j ibbin g horses that are everywhere to be seen drawing the publi c

conveyances o f Australia . The poor th ings h ave never beentaught to walk a s tep i n harn ess

,and are afraid to do so . I t i s

no uncommon thing to s e e an Austral ian coach delayed five

minutes, or even quarter o f an hour, after changing horses , before

a n y two o f the nervous,untaught

,t imid

,i l lused brutes, can

be made to rush in o n e direct io n long enough to start the coach

o n l evel ground,a pi ece o f i gnorance for which t hey a r e

belaboured and galloped the whole s tage by the infuriated

coachman, m ost of the passengers declaring that the obstinate

bru tes richly deserve i t .

3 0 0 —Se limi ted i s the education o f these wild, high - spiri ted

horses that they will often carry a man wi thou t a coat, but not

wi th , o r v i ce v er s a . I f hi s ha t comes o ff they mis take him fo r

some wild animal that they have never seen before . I f his foot

slips out o f the sti rrup they j ump from i t s threatenin g swing ,and we hear how cunning and artful they are to take such a n

advan tage in a momen t .

3 0 1 .—It was o n e o f these half- broken horses that ki lled the

Rev. Mr . Johnson i n Adelaide . He had hired a horse that

seemed quie t enough under him,with h i s hat o n , bu t when his

hat blew Off the un tamed animal flew away at a fran tic pace

and threw him o n the hard road, wi th fatal ve loci ty . A smi th,an engineer, o r an architect i s l iable to be tri ed for manslaughter

1 40 ANTIPODES.

i f death re sul ts from his faul ty work . I t would be a happy thing

f o r the horse and hi s purchaser i f his breaker were subj ected to

the same penal ty .

3 0 2 .

—As we go t a few hundred miles further on t owards

Adelaide we were fortunate enough to hear o f ano ther horse

m uster that was to come o ff at the head station of anot her

great horse breeding squatter , and we stayed to see the resul t, in

the hope that we might s e e some be t ter method o f catching and

handling such horses .

I t was past m id- day before a herd of horses came i n sigh t o f

the s tation,and j us t before they reached the n arrowing way a

stray pig unfortunately t rot ted across the i r path . The whole

herd turned back and dividing in to two or three lots,were soon

p a s t all recovery . The stockmen came i n some hours after this,wi th exhausted horses

,and i t was evident that there would be n o

horses fi t to try again for at least a week .

NEW " EALAND

3 0 3 .

—Is the antipodes of England,ye t t here i s no coun try

in which an Englishman could s o readily fancy himsel f a t home , wi th

i t s green fields,i ts hawt horn hedges

,i t s comfortable looking dairy

cows, i t s a n s om cabs,i ts toil ing horses

,i ts well fed saucy children

,

scolding women,a n dgambl in g m e n . I t i s wi th in miles o f

Austral ia, ye t very widely differing from it . R ivers,swamps

,

snow clad m ountains,water falls

,and precipi ces

,arres t the

travel ler’

s progress at very short in tervals .

3 0 4 .—Hal f a cen tury ago an Englishman travel led in New

Z ealand wi th an abiding sen se tha t he might any day o r any

n igh t, co n s t i t n t e the principal d ish at a Maori feast, and n in e

ten ths o f the i nhabi tan ts o f the coun try had never seen a horse.

Now, mutton i s s o cheap that a Maori would not think a whi te

man worth cooking,and horses are so abundan t that shepherds

a nd eve n stone breakers,ride to the ir work

,and the Maories

own more horses than they us e .

3 0 5 .—Even twen ty years ago the i nland travel ler was

oppressed a n d awed by an absence o f animal l ife, and a drearys ilence of the a ir " now hi s ears are everywhere dinned from

1 42 A ROUGH’

FRIEND .

before , s o that we took pack horses,ten ts

,and a great supply

of blankets and chan ges of clothes,f o r th e extreme alti tude and

t emperature which we were to pass through . We started towards

t he end Of November,corresponding i n the South Hemisphere

with the English May . This was known to be rather too e a r lv

i n the season for the a l ti tude we were to reach, but we wanted to

s e e the high mountain water fa l ls, which f ew persons do see,

because they dry up as the summer advances .

3 0 9 .

—These wh i te waterfalls are far more beautiful,and s i x

t imes as hi gh'

a s those o f N iagara,t hough they only drain the

winter accumulations o f mountain t e p s , do no t last long, and in

the v ol ume o f water fallin g are n o t a drop i n a bucke t to the

great American cataract.‘

3 1 0 .—When nearly at our highes t al ti tude in the n eighbour

hood Of T a r nda le , we found ourselves one morn i n g com ple tely

hem med i n with snow. Our horses were none t o o wel l Off i n

s uch a coun try before,and our first fear was that they would n ow

get nothin g to ea t,but we s e e n s aw that the short, t h ick- leaved

spear grass which had given them s o much trouble to walk

t hrough wa s now the ir s taff Of l ife .

Al though most o f the horses in the party had never seen either

s now o r spear grass before, we were much com forted to s e e that

n ature taught them t o seize the strong sharp spikes careful ly wi th

t heir teeth,a ndpull them up by the root

,t hen dropping the plan t

o n the snow, they took i t by the roo t, drawing the spikes behind

a nd after devourin g the root,dropped the tops o f the spikes .

The root has the smel l and taste o f a parsnip,and proved a very

good food for the horses under very trying circumstan ces.

3 1 1 .—We had pi tched o ur ten ts some l i ttle distance outside

a fore s t, o r dry stony ground, so t hat we had some way t o fe tch

o ur firewood . We had n o draft harness,o r harnes s horses with

us , a ndour shod horses could n o t stand wel l on the snow . There

wa s o n e wel l bred mare,named Grace Darling,

” in the pa rty,“that had shown herself ex tremely quie t a nd tractable about

e very thin g, a ndthat had such wonde rful ly good hoo f s tha t she

hadn o t be en shod, e ven for that rough j ourney .

As she was the most l ikely subj e ct fo r instruction a ndcould

GRACE DARLING .

”1 4 3

s tand o n the s n ow much be tter tha t the shod horses, we under

took to haul logs t o the ten t wi th her , by the use of such girths ,s traps , and ropes , as we could muster . This she did to per fection

,

s o tha t we soon had large roa ring fi res i n fron t o f the t en ts , i n

whi ch we hea ted large stones , which , when ca rried in to the ten t s ,gave us p len ty o f hea t under our canvas , withou t t he English

m an’s ch imney, o r the Ir i s li m a n

’

s smoke .

3 1 2 .—Throughou t the whole j o urney n o horse fa ced a rough

r iver, o r clambered a rock , or kep t a track o f brushwood over a

s wamp s o quie t ly as “ G race Da rl ing . On o n e occasion som e

o f the m os t ga l lan t gen tlemen in the party , ga thered some large

bundles o f a peculiar, dry , rat t l ing grass , for the ladie s beds, and

put them on the pack horses to carry to our s t opping place . The

s trange burden and noise alarm ed the o ld pack horses and

s tarted them o ff , sending o ur p e t s and ket t les flying on the

tra ck .

Only “ Grace D a rl ing could be go t to carry such bundles

quietly . Indeed,noth ing al ive o r dea d turned up o n the j ourney

t hat Grace Darl ing could not be go t to quie tly receive on her

back .

3 1 3 .

—Ou our re turn to Nelson we eagerly i nquired who had

broken in Grace Darli ng ,”a ndwere disgusted t o learn that she

hadnever been i n a breaker ’s hands, but had been bred by a

Maori , who broke her in himself. Wi th all the pride o f our

race,we thought i t impossible that there could be an y thing t o

learn about horse breaking from‘

a Maori,especially as horses

were com para tively new things t o them . The Maori,t o o , who

bred her,l ived nearly 1 5 0 miles from Nel son . Sti ll we could n o t

get “ Grace Da rl ing”out o f our head

,and fel t sure that there

must be some thing good abou t the way she had been han dled ,a nda s we had t o trave l tha t way some mon ths afte rwa rds we

dete rmined to cal l o n her breaker .

3 1 4 .—We found a man worth seeing in every respect a fine

s pecim en o f his fine race . A land owing chief,wi thout a n y o f

the be sotted app eara nce o f those who have used their weal th o f land

t o poiso n themselve s wi th alcohol a nd to surround themselves

wi th vicious fla t te r e r s .

1 44 TEACHING THE WH ITY MAN .

1 5 .—We had passed a smal l herd Of l i vely fa t horses on the

road to his house,and i n his yard we saw pigs , fowls , ducks ,

geese,and turkeys . I n the fields children of al l sizes

,more o r

less naked , were pulling away at the teats of some comfortable

looking cows . We had no complete knowledge o f hi s lan guage ,nor had he Of ours

,ye t we never fel t more at home with a man at

firs t s igh t . We both knew some leading words i n the language of

the o ther,and Maories are s o clever both at giving and under

standing signs that i t i s never difficul t to ‘ converse wi th them .

3 1 6 .

—After a feed Of very nice potatoes and peaches,we

told our host what we had co m e for, at which the whole f amily

seemed surpri sed and pleased , and the wome n especially laughed

very heartily . They remembered al l about “ Grace Darl i n g,

though not by t hat name, and especial ly expatiated on her good

hoofs . I n reply to o ur inquiries , t hey told us tha t they knew

very l i tt l e abou t horses , that they had no stable , no yard, n o

whip,no straps , no breaking tackle o f any kind , but t hey would

show us next morning how they caught and broke i n “ Grace

Darl ing .

3 1 7 .-The chief then gave orders to the women to dress a

l i ttle nati ve flax , and to plai t two very thi ck s trong mats o f

undressed flax,the use of which in horse bre aking we could n o t

understand at all . The women wen t to work very cheerfully,

and were evidently much amused at the curiosi ty of the whi ty

man” as to the use of such m ats for horse breaking, and in bursts

of laughter seemed to enj oy the thought o f what we were to be

shown i n the morning .

3 1 8 .

—Next morning the herd o f about 5 0 were driven intoan adj oinin g paddock , and al l but two were turned out of the

paddock through a gate and across the river . One o f the two

that had been kept back a t the river gate wa s o n o ldquie t thi ng

tha t was easi ly caugh t , the other appeare d a wi ld unhandled col t .

The herd o f horses ran up the river on the North s ide , and the

old horse was ridden up inside the paddock a t nearly the same

pace on the South side,fol lowed of course by the col t . Near the

house they were le t ou t o f a ga teway a nd wen t near the river ,Opposi te to where the herd had been s topped . The women and

1 4 6 No WHIP.

The boy took the Old horse i nt o a deep quie t part o f the

r iver and brought him round again . The col t followed,gett ing

a complete wash,which he much n eeded . They were then taken

down the river bed to the gate , where the horses had been

first separated,and entered the paddock

,after which the old

horse was taken away .

3 2 2 .—The col t was now half led and half lounged

,and was

kep t moving,n o t with a whip , but wi th a tree called a gi n tree ,

which grows twent y feet long wi thout a branch,and not much

more than an i nch in diameter a t the butt,wi th thi ck narrow

leaves a t the end more than a foot long .

Thi s was at first shaken at him , then pu t o n him ,the n

under him,then between his hi nd legs , and when he would n o

l onger take any notice o f i t, a short sti ck was used i n the same

way,a nd then the ha nds .

3 2 3 .

—The o ld flax overcoa t o r cape was again produced,

and was used i n the same way tha t i t had been i n the swamp

after which no thing seemed to alarm the col t .’

A saddle was pu t

o n ,as easily as o n an oldhorse , the Old ugly cape wa s f astened to

i t,the n a number Of o ther soft materials , and finally o n e o f the

barefooted boy s that had danced upon him i n the swamp . Noattempt was made to throw anything o ff

, and we were obliged t o

confess that we had never seen a wi ld horse broken so thoroughly

and so wel l i n so short a ti me , and that wi thout a scratch o r a

single whip mark .

3 2 4 .—The same sensible trea tmen t was fol lowed up . Al l

the tr ibe had some thing to do with the col t . Small brancheswere t ied to his tail, and then larger ones, that dragged o n the

ground,until i t was impossible t o frighten him wi th anything

,

a ndwe saw a t once why Grace Darling” had hauled the logs

and carried the bed feathers so quie tly .

NORTH AMERICA

3 2 5 .—I s a great country i n every sense o f the word . I t i s

especially great in steam engines,rai lways

,horse cul t i vators and

engines , horses, mules , o r a nyth ing connected wi t h locomotion .

The larges t secti on o f the Engl ish speaki n g race i s there, spread

A GREAT COUNTRY . 1 47

over a Space tha t gi v es f ull scope to a ll the ir energy, and demandsgreater f acil i ties for travell ing than were ever needed wi thi n

the n arrow ocean bounds,i n the i slan d homes of their

forefathers .

The dominan t Scotch,the dignified English , the demonstra

tive Irish , the domestica ted G ermans , and the doci le Af ri cans

are there,uni ted i n o n e coun t ry and o n e language , desti ned ,

perhaps slowly , to amalgamate as o n e race , but at presen t

e xhibi ting a ll the diversi ty o f character , and varie ty o f pursu i ts ,which

,with i ts f rigid , temperate , and t ropi cal climates , i t s woods ,

o i l s , and minerals , make i t a complete commercial world in

i tsel f.

3 2 6 .

—Who ca n pre tend to have seen o r to understand sucha coun t r y . A residen t i n the hot summers and cold win ters o f

New York could l i ttle j udge o f the mild and equal cl imate o f

Sa n Francisco a dweller i n Florida would know no th ing o f the

i ce and s n ows of Labrador . The m a n who ha s resided ei ther

North,East

,South

,or West , may ge t a very inaccurate idea Of

a n y o ther part o f that great coun try, whi ls t those o f us who have

o nly travel led through them all , will be l iable to a ll the mistakes

which visi tors s o commonly fall in to i n the ir descr iptions o f any

country . Our remarks o n the horses and horse educator s i n such

a coun try must be very general , and are advanced with a clear

sense that they may n o t be so rel iable as they migh t have been

a fter a long residence i n each part o f the country .

3 2 7 .

—We have had som e thing to say abou t the varie ties o f

the horses that have found their way in to and have flourished

in North America our business n ow i s to s ay something about

the ir education . I t has been claimed tha t the foals i n North

America are commonly be t ter handle d than those o f England, o n

a ccoun t o f being more Often handled by owners , o r the ir owner ’s

family . There is a good deal o f truth in thi s, and a large p r o

p ortion of the horses show that they have been k i ndly trea t e d

from their bir th . Whilst bo th the wri ters and breakers o f the

country show that they never expec t t o mee t with really wild

horses . But good handl ing o f the young horses i s by no m eans

an invariabl e rule . The farmers’ sons and daughters are very

1 48 OWNERS VERSUS H IRELINGS .

gene ra l ly good to an imals,but we canno t s ay the same o f the farm

servan ts of that country,when com pared wi th those of Britain

To o man y o f them are new to their work,and know nothing

about ei ther horses or cattle n o t a few o f them are m ere birds

o f passage , and very few attach themselves in the sl i ghtes t

degree to the animals on thei r m aster ’s f arm,or appear to

real ise the kind of imaginary ownership i n “ our osses,

” which

i s st i l l not unk nown,and i s so advan tageous and pleasa nt to

al l partie s , amongst some o f the be s t i s e r v a n t s under the best

masters in Great Bri tain . This disadvan tage i s qui te gene ra l

and apparen t enough,in North Am eri ca

,to outweigh the

undoubted advantage of more general contact wi th actual

owners, so that upon the whole we should say that the young

horses o f America are no t be tter handled than those o f Bri tain .

3 2 8 .

—In Canada and the North Eastern S tates the severewint ers necessi tate more o r less atten tion to the young stock in

win ter,and wherever animals are artificially fed

,t hey are of course

n ever very wild nor di fficul t to catch . I n the mild cl imate o f

Cal iforni a horses require l i t tl e a tt ent ion , and are proport ionately

wild,bu t even there

,and stil l more in th e Southern and warmer

stat es,horses are surrounded wi th some dangers that do no t exis t

in Austral ia or New Zealand , and are rarely lef t to run so en tirely

wi thou t atten tion .

3 2 9 .-The professional

,travel l ing

,exhib i t ing horse breakers

of the coun try call themselves horse tamers, bu t the name is no t

an appropriat e o n e . They have,of course, no o p p o r tun i t v of

showing their power as horse t amers,a nd al l that we hear o r see

o f them is,their great abi li ty to cope with s ome exceptionally

vicious or badly broken animals . Even i f wild horses abounded

in Nort h America t here would be n o opportuni ty of producin g

them in all their original wildness before a city audience . The

only difficult par t o f the taming would have to be performed

before t hey could be deliver ed at Washing ton o r New York .

Anyone can kill a li e n , or a ra t, the only diffi cul ty is to catch

t hem . The ex treme timidi ty o f a wild horse i s a total ly diff eren t,often a to tally Opposi te t hing

,t o the insubordina t ion of a

“ Cruiser,an “An fi e ld,

” a “ Bri ti sh Ensign , o r a Duk e of

1 5 0 TROTTING .

3 3 2 .—No class i n America seems qui t e fr ee from a mani a

for showy trott in g horses . Som e o f the most ari s tocratic

equipages may b e seen to abandon the dignified eigh t mil es an

hour fo r a regular butcher ’s t ear - a - way at sixteen miles an hour,whi ls t the ordin ary farmers ’ sons wil l l e t their horses crawl , when

out o f sight , to prepare them for a fly past of the crowd. The

cfi‘

e ct o f th i s taste on the horses of the country has not been very

diff eren t,and certainly no t worse

,than the taste fo r galloping races

i n England . I n bo th cases strong propelling h ind quarters have

been dem anded , good heart and lu n gs , good pipes , good circulation ,and good con s ti tu tion . I n both cases the stron g, powerful, short

kn i t,enduring horse ha s been sacrificed to one with weaker

,because

more reach in g and l igh ter l imbs . The. ugly,ungainly

,straddl ing

act ion that allows the hind fee t to pass outside the fore ones,

i s n aturally t olerated by those who seek great tro tters .

3 8 3 .—The most common n at ional faul t that we no ticed in

the educat ion o f North American horses i s the hardness o f the irmouths . In not a few cases the horses are taught to t ro t their

best when the re ins are tigh t en ed , and to s top when t hey are let

slack . Dr ivers are constan tly seen wi th the re in s wound round

t he i r hands , and evidently doing the work that ough t to be done

by the traces .

3 3 4 .—Several modern American books on the horse are very

rough on the horse’s m o n th. With them mouth puni shmen t i s

the general remedy for all vice,and i s made too much the medium

Of i nstruction to the col t . In such books too we find instruct ion s

given a s t o how a horse’s mouth i s to be systematical ly harden ed ,and the animal taugh t to “ pul l up to the rein .

” Even in the ir

publ ic tro t ting matches, hanging on t o the m outh seems to be

regarded as a n essen t ial condi tion o f makin g the bes t of a trotting

horse . The same books in struct the ir readers how to t each a horse

t o s tand s tock stil l wi th a wh ip cracking in hi s ears. We must s aythat we prefer the o ld fashioned me thod o f te aching a young

horse to move fo r the whip a n d stop for the rein s .

3 3 5 .- SO l ong too a s persons general ly us e their righ t hand

we can se e nothing gained by the American and French sys tem

o f meeting a vehicle by turning t o the righ t . The danger to fas t

drivers i s greatly increase d by th is departure from English custom .

CHAPTER XIII .

EXPEDITIOUS EDUCATION .

3 3 6 .—The educa tion Of “ Grace Darl ing by the Maori

chief (3 1 9 to exhibi t s al l the essen t ial condi tions o f

expedi t ious a nd complete horse education , i n a form equal ly

applicable t o the mos t re fractory or the most timid animal . There

the horse had no oppor tuni ty o f trying his physical powers

against those of man,but was at the ou ts e t pl aced in a posi tion

in which he could nei ther hur t himse l f nor anyone else, and

compelled to l earn by the closes t and most act ive contac t with

m a n i n a varie ty o f shapes,that man was not an an imal seeking to

devour hi m ,bu t o n e t hat he might even al low t o dance o n his

back wi thou t any. serious resul t . We do not expec t own ers of

horses to adopt the swamp disc i p li ne wi t h the horse . E v en i f

the y could command al l the requi si tes i t migh t n o t be so harm

lessly practised in every climate as in the m i ld temperature of a

New Zealand autumn , but we should like to s e e every educator

o f the young horse show th e same powe r to adap t their own

resources,whatever they may be , to the condi tions required to

convey the necessary knowledge a nd di sci p l in e to the young

an imals i n their care .

3 3 7 .

—The more wild , t imid , and uneducated the horse may

be,the more tim e will be saved by adop ting some p r ocess by

which he will be deprived of al l power , e ither o f resi s tance or

fl ight,and be forcibly in troduced to a ll th e common Obj ects of

his prevailing fears . I t would take a l arge volume even to

clearly describe the various methods tha t have been recomm ended

for thi s purpose,and we have already occupied so much space ,

by going in to minu te practical details , th at we must avoid

an ything more that will alarmingly extend these educational

chapters.

1 5 2 ADAPTATIONs .

8 .—Al l wri ters avoid the most difficul t part o f thi s subj ect

,

a ndtake i t for gran ted that the col t to be tamed i s n o t really

wi ld,and that h e i s already qui e t ly fixed in a s tabl e ready to

al low you to handle his head,body

,and legs

,and pu t anything

y ouplease on them . As the grea t maj ori ty o f our readers have

never seen,and may never s e e a really wild horse

,perhaps we had

be t t er fol low the same course s o far as to pass very sup e r fi ci a llv

over th e di fif e r e n t ways o f ge t ting at such an animal .

3 9 .

—For an animal that has run wild a n d uncared fo r al l

hi s life, and dreads man j us t as much as he dreads a li e n or a

tiger , we know o f noth ing better than the Austral ian prac t i ce

(2 96 ) o f dri v ing them i n to a strong safe yard,and putting a

running noose over their heads wi th a pole . Two or three men

m a y then hang o n to the r Op e un ti l the horse i s garro tted, or

brought sen seless and helpless to the ground by stopping the

suppl y o f oxygenated blood t o the brain . H i s legs mus t be qui ckly

hobbled, the rope slackened, and then he may be t r e a t ed.o n the

ground to a sim i l ar educa tion to that given to G r a ce Darling in

the swam p .

3 40 .

—A hal f wi ld horse,that will no t da s t i m s e lf to pieces,

may be decoyed by a tame horse to follow hi m i n to a smooth

boarded crush pen,where he can be clos ely hem m ed in , gen tly

handled and hal tered,and ge t the necessary tackle pu t on him

to lay him down ea si ly,when le t ou t in to a yard or loose box .

4 1 .—A sti ll l ess wild horse can be j ammed into a corner of

a. loo se box , by get t ing hi m to push behind an old o n e,and then

pu tting a lon g strong plank t hrough a hole in th e wall or o ther

suppor t on the left side O f his shoulder " the long plank being

held a t the o ther end by a strong assis tan t . With a commonly

quie t col t al l tha t i s n ecessary can be done by using the Old

horse wi thout a plank . Wi th nine - t en th s o f the English bred

col t s,even the o ldhorse is unnecessary

,and an experienced m a n

may see a t once that he ha s nothing to f ear from the col t . But

we would advi se i nexperien ced person s t o a lways keep an old

horse be tween them and an entirely unhandled col t, s o as to

make sure that they wil l never have ei t her to figh t or to re tr ea t

f r om a col t a t their fi r s t i n terview wi th him .

1 54 HALT ERING .

and s ides , unti l y o u ge t to his h i n d quarters a ndcan handle hi s

tail .

3 45 .—You may n ex t get a hal ter i n your hand . A l eather

hal ter with no l ine o n i t i s bes t . Take i t to hi s muzzle and le t

h im feel i t as long as he l ikes . Then touch his head and n eck

gen tly wi th i t , taking care that no par t o f i t fal ls or s tr ikes

against hi m , o r touches his eye . Keep your hands behind ratherthan in fron t o f his ears, and move them very slowly . I f you

use a co m m o n hemp hal ter,be sure tha t a kno t i s t ied i n the

rope, so that the hal ter cannot draw at al l t ightly round his face ,as that will irri tate any col t . I t c an o f course be Opened very

wide to pass over his face,and may be pu t on w i th a pole

,bu t

we do not l ike hemp hal ters a t al l .

3 46 .- As soon as the hal ter i s o n , you can begin to rub the

col t again,working back un ti l you reach h is tail . Take the hair

o f the t ai l in your hand a ndt ie i t i n a secure knot . I f there i s

plenty o f long hair you can do t his wi th the hai r i tsel f,giving the

hair two turns instead o f o n e before you tigh ten the knot . I f

there i s any doubt about i ts securi ty,and hair does n o t easily t i e

securely,make sure o f i t by usin g a li t tl e tarred strin g to secure

the ends . I f the hair o f th e t ai l is no t abundan t , some t arred

s tring can be wound tightly round the e ndo f the tail , in stead

o f tying a knot,which i s perhap s the best way i n a n y case .

3 47 .—Now t ake a l igh t hal ter rope eigh t fee t lon g

,and ti e

o n e end of i t to the le f t side o f the hal ter , i n a bow tha t will be

easily un ti ed . Bring the o ther end back to the tail , a n ddividing

the hair i nto two equal parts , pass the l in e through i t . Gently

tighten , drawing the horse’s head and tai l both t owa rds you,

a s y ou s tand at h is side, and fas t en the rope round the tai l as

soon a s i t i s tigh t enough to gi ve the horse’s head a very decided

bend to the le ft side .

The n eck should be ben t enough to form abou t h al f a righ t

an gle wi th the body,tha t i s hal f way be tween straigh t and

square . Wi th an ordinary ful l si z ed horse there should be

abou t five fee t o f clear rope be tween the hair o f the tai l and

the hal ter . This you may mark on the rope be fore you begin

t o draw i t . You had bet ter err on the side o f be ing t o o slack

ADJUSTING LINE . 1 5 5

than t o o t ight wi th your first o r any other pupils . So long as i ti s t ight enough to en force a very decided bend Of the he ad to the

left side i t wil l do .

3 48 .—Now take away the Old horse and leave the col t t o

follow his own head and tai l about the yard as h e pleases . e

will t hus ge t hi s first experien ce wi th a hal ter where he cannot

con tend again s t y ou o r anyone else . He ha s on ly hi s own tai l

to pul l o n ,and that under circumstances that will greatly

bewilder hi m .

3 4 9 .—If he walks n early s traigh t 0 11 o r round the yard

,

withou t making rather shor t circles,the rope i s t o o long, and y ou

had better br ing back the old horse and ge t the colt i n a corn er,

where you can draw the rope a li tt le tighter . I f o n the other

hand he turn s round fast , i n very short circles, the rope i s t o o

shor t,and the col t will be giddy and wi ll probably l ie down

r

e generally comes down gen tly enough but may very l ikely

hug the fence and ge t i n to an awkward place , a ndcome down o n

the left side,where y ou cannot ge t a t the rope . Thi s i s why we

advise the rope to be t i ed to the head in a how that can instan tly

be Sla cked,ei ther be fore or af ter he get s down . He i s almost

sure to s top turnin g be fore he l ie s down , and then you can go to

hi s head and slack off the rope .

3 30 .—There i s a very great di fferen ce in the tightness tha t

differen t horses wil l require to be t ied for t hi s purpose . A well

bred fine m outhed horse wil l turn round freely wi th a l ine that

ben ds hi s head v e r y l i t t le . An un handled col t will usually require

t o be tied more tightly than a horse that has been taugh t to lead ,and a car t col t more tightly than a thoroughbred, but no certain

rules can be given o n the subj ect . We have seen the clear

len gth of rope vary from two and a hal f to five a n da hal f f eet .

3 5 1 .—This i s a very quick way of subdu in g a horse fo r any

purpose . A horse bad to handle,bad to m oun t , bad to shoe, o r

det ermined t o ge t h i s own way, ca n be subdued by this practice

i n a few minutes , bu t i t i s not a very satisfactory way o f goin gt o work for e duca tional purposes

,a s i t par takes somethin g o f the

same na ture as druggin g or starvin g , o r wearin g down a horse , o r

i n any o ther way di sablin g h im . A horse so treated i s subdued

1 5 6 PUTTING DOWN A‘

HORSE .

for the t ime being, bu t i s n o t really educated, and i s seldom

re l iable when ful l heal th a n d vigour are restored . L ike R a r ey’

s

system , i t compels a horse to submi t to contact wi th many

alarming obj e cts wi thou t delay,bu t unl ike the sim ple act o f

l aying him down,th is circlin g m uddles th e horse ’s head

,a nd

although i t makes him very submi ssive for th e t ime being, i ts

perm anen t effect i s uncertain , and seldom satisfactory i n an

educational sense . For some pu rp oses i t is a use ful and easy

pi ece of discipline,and we shal l have occasion again to refer t o i t .

3 5 2 .

—R a r e y’

s sys t em of putting down a horse has been

considerably improved o n by some o f his disciples . H is plan

was to s trap up the left fore leg, by bending a strap once o r twice

round the left pas tern,and then li f ting the foot

,buckle i t tightly

round the arm . Then put the end o f a long s trap round the

pastern o f the righ t fore leg,and bringing the long strap over

the back, o r through a surcingle strapped round the body , draw

up the o ther fore leg as soon as the horse l ifts i t from the ground .

This brings the horse somewhat violen tly to his knees o n which

he may possibly , though very rarely, s tay ten minutes before he

will l ie down o n his side .

3 5 3 .

—A much be tter way t o put a horse down is to take

him to some high o r Open enclosed place,f ree from al l single

posts o r Obs tructi ons tha t a horse could s trike agains t, with

deeply covered soft fl oor of tan,shor t s traw

,or dung . The

enclosure should n o t be less than twenty - fi v e any way . A dry,ploughed field

, o r a soft meadow is s ti l l be t ter i n fine weather .

Put e i ther a surcingle or a rope round hi s girth,wi th an iron

ring about two inches diameter,on the wi ther

,and another below,

at the bottom o f the girth . The surcingle, or rope , must be

fastened back,wi th a crupper

,o r by a small rope passed through

a large piece o f s trong soft r ag, ti ed round the roo t of the tail .

Now take a smal l s trong rope,about 2 0 fee t long, and t ie o n e end

o f i t round the lower j aw,qui te loosely

,bu t wi th a knot that wil l

nei ther give loose n o r draw t igh t . You next take the rope up

the left side o f the horse ’s face,and down the right s ide

,putting

i t through the loop o n the j aw,and carrying i t back o n the right

S ide o f the neck , through the iron ring a t the wi ther, bring the

slack down 0 1 1 the left s ide .

1 5 8 JAW LOOP BRIDLE .

wi ther . Thi s i s effectual i n twisting the horse ’s head al though

we have not found i t more eff ectua l than the loop brid le,and

i t has some serious Obj ecti ons . Unless the rope i s kept tigh t

the horse easi ly gets i t out o f hi s mouth . I t i s very rough on

t he angle s o f the horse’s l ips, sawing them severely , a ndmaking

them fi rst sore and afterwards cal lous . I t i s so painful t hat i t

d iverts the horse ’s atten tion from his lessons , and l ike a twitch ,prevents him from no tic ing anythin g else . The loop round the

j aw i s only painful as lon g a s the horse p ull s o n i t , and i s easy

directly he yields to i t . N o soreness i s l ikely t o be produced by

the loop bridle , and if a l i ttle fri cti on does take place , i t i s not o n

the same nerve s that wi ll be used by the i ron bi t,and ha s not

therefore the same tendency t o harden the mouth .

3 5 6 .—This same loop bridle m ay be used f o r any purpose

where i t i s desired t o have good control over a horse,but f o r

leading a horse o n th e usual o r lef t s ide the rope attached t o the

l oop must be passed up the righ t side,and

"

brough t over the

head at the back o f the ears, and down the left side, through the

loop round the j aw. Without be ing painful thi s wi l l be found

preferable t o any other bridle for leadin g o r holding a horse

under fear o r exci temen t . I t i s also the bes t bridle fo r leadinga horse by the side o f ano ther , o r behind a carriage .

3 5 7 .-By an additional turn round the head and under the

t op l ip , i t can be converted in to an irresis tible check upon the

movemen ts o f any horse . This i s done by putting a second turn

o f the same rope round the he ad , the upper part o f which rests

l ike the o ther behind the ears, but the lower par t presses o n the

ou tside o f the gums o f the upper j aw n ippers , that i s outside

o f the gums o f the upper fron t tee th , and inside o f the heavy

upper l ip . In other words , the rope that com es t o the hand

through the loop in the loop bridle , i s ben t back under the l ip

a ndover the gums, then passing up the right s ide o f the face ,behind the ea rs

,i t comes down the left si de Of the face where i t

comple tes a second circle round the head , by taking a bend round

the rope a t the poi n t where i t passes from the j aw loop to the lip

a ndgums . A pull o n the rope thus bent roun d that j unction,

wil l press both o n the lower j aw , and o n the sensi tive and

LAST RESORT . 1 5 9

unprotected nerves,i n side o f the upper l ip . Such a ferocious

instrum en t is no t to be though t Of fo r a n y young horse , but

o ffers an effectua l means t o con t rol any a nima l tha t may have ge t

beyond ordinary restrai n ts .

Thi s bridle wil l m ake the m os t vicious and heads tron g horse

as powerl ess a s a gou ty m a n wi t h hi s toe in a vice . I f added to

the bewi ldering eff ect of a l i t tle ci rcling, a ndthe exha ustion o f a

struggle,ei ther o n his knees o r o n three legs

,i t will subdue a

“ Cruiser” wi th the exerci se of less skill , courage a n d patience

than is demanded to gain the confidence o f a nervous unha ndled

col t

5 8 .

—The trea tmen t which the horse should receive when

o n the ground will depend upon the obj ect f o r which he has bee n

put here,upon what the horse is, and what he is in tended to be

used for. In ca se o f a young , wild , tim id horse , pu t down forthe first time

,the first aim must be to give him some l i t tle

confidence i n m a n , to le ssen his n atural para lyzing fea r so far as

to enable him to give some atten tion to the obj ects around h im .

The firs t impressi on that hi s nature wil l give h im wil l

be tha t y ou a r e goin g to devour him , o r tea r him to pieces .

This i s the firs t idea that the horse en tertains a bout m ost

s trange an imals t hat attemp t to approach him o r that have

succeeded i n getting hold o f him . I t i s th i s fact tha t causesthe wild horse t o soften his whole atti tude so much to man

,after o n e

forcible contact wi th him , even though that may not have been

e n tirely harmless to him , and to have more confidence in the

i ndividual man who repeatedly puts him down and handles h im

o n the ground than he ha s i n a n y man wi th whom he has come

less closely in contact .

Your firs t business therefore i s to show him that you have

n o desire to hur t him , and that he may allow y ou to stand o r

s i t , o r l ie o n him , and t o pull hi m abou t in any part wi thout any

pain o r harm resul ting . All his sen ses must be reconciled t o

your presence . He mus t see y o u, hear you , smell you , a ndfee l

y ou, and that n o t o n o n e side on ly, but o n bo t h sides, and about

every part o f his body . Only experie nced persons can have any

idea how comple tely wi ld a horse o r cow ca n be lef t o n o n e s ide

1 60 TAM ING .

after be ing qui te tame on the o ther. Al l tha t was done by the

New Zealanders to the ir col t i n the swamp ( 3 1 9) may be done

here . Al l tha t wil l be necessary to reconcile hi m to the touch,

o r Sigh t, or sound o f any descrip tion o f harness,or of any

vehicle may now be practi sed o n hi m The sen si t i ve skin i nside

hi s hind legs may be f reely handled . All hi s supersti tions about

taking l iber ties wi th his tai l mus t be overcome . Show him tha tyou can even handle his sensi t i ve l i vely ears

,and his del i cate eyes

wi thout hurting h im , and that he must trus t y o u to do so whe ther

he l ikes i t or not .”

3 5 9 .

—One o f the mos t expedi ti ous and e ffectual means of

reconcil ing a horse to the appli cation Of al l foreign bodies is,to

ge t a large piece of clo th or sacking, free from al l buckles or

bu ttons,or hard s ca m s , or a n y t hing tha t would hur t him ,

and

swing i t roughly , with plen ty o f flourish , about every part o f him .

Beat him a ll over wi th i t , throw i t a t him , cover his head and eyes

over wi t h i t,and eff ectually show hi m how harmlessly i t may be

brought in con tact wi th even his most ti cklish and tender parts .

When reconciled t o the cloth , ge t various kin ds o f skins or furs ,a nduse them in the same way .

3 6 0 .—E v ery arti cle of male or f emale dress may be exhibi ted

and placed on any par t of the ho r se , or the most glaring or

hideous cos tumes may be worn by those who ride on or scramble

over him . Take o ff your hat and swing i t about h is head,and

put i t over h is eyes . Do the same with your coat . Throw your

arms and legs abou t, near his head , and rol l over on the ground .

Rol l a bal e of cha ff, a barre l , or large logs near him . Wheel a

wheelbarrow,a bicycle , or a perambulator in hi s sigh t , and any

other common o r uncom mon obj ec t to which you wish hi m to be

reconciled .

3 6 1 .—You may next educa t e or “ gen tle his ears , by pro

duci n g cl ose to hi m every possible variety o f sound. A drum,

some large empty t in,a n i ron tank , or a n y o the r noisy arti cle may

be beaten round and about h im , and give him every poss ible

description of rough music . S t rike ma t ches and fire fusees or

pistols close to hi s head . Ra ttle chains or any descrip tion o f

harness about h im . A be ll, a wa t chman’s ra ttle , o r a box wi th a

few loose s ton es i n i t .

1 6 2. PATI ENCE AND PERSEV ERANCE .

f ee t be fore you have go t the se cond fore leg strapped,don ’ t

a ttempt to resis t h is doing s o . L et him ge t up without i nter

f erence,and take a dance on t hree legs i f he l ikes . Then put

him quie tly down again,wi thou t any hurry

,blus ter

,or hard

work . Don ’

t le t him see you in a hur r y or pu ttin g o ut your utmos t

s trength . Whe n both hi s legs are s tra p ped you may le t him rise

to his knees,and si t down and watch hi m a s long a s he l ikes to

k eep o n them . I t will not be ma n y minu tes , and he will be

covered wi th foam when he at las t resigns h imself to l ie helplessly

down . The advice usually given t o push wi th al l your migh t at

hi s Shoulder is wors e than useless . The straps will do a ll the

work,and the less y ou do the better .

3 6 5 .

—The mere ac t Of putting dow n will be a wholesome

lesson to any refractory horse , and may be repeated as Often a s

necessary . The more Of ten he i s pu t down , the less res i s tance he

will make to i t . If very ofte n repeated he will ge t to l ie down

wi thou t s trapping up hi s l eg , as soon a s y ou pull his head on o n e

S i de,and even tual ly wi l l l ie down a t the word o f command

,o r with a

gen tl e touch behind the knee . This,however

,i s not a desirable

accompl ishmen t to teach a horse fo r ordinary purposes,and a few

proofs o f your power to lay hi m helpl essly a t your fee t whenever

y ou please , will usual ly be sufficien t for the mos t refractory

horse .

3 0 0 —Nearly all tha t we have advised to be done to thetimid horse

,whi ls t o n the ground, should be repea ted when he

re turns t o his legs . Begin with h im first o n three legs . Place

smooth harmless obj ec ts under his tail , a nd give him plen ty o f

pulling and handling be tween the h ind le gs . Then le t down his

foot,and whils t he i s e i ther wel l he ld o r tied up , o r t ied t o his

tai l work a smooth pole a ll over him,and especially

a bout h is h ind legs and ta i l . Con tinue this wi thou t hurting

h im as long as he resents i t i n any way, and never think o f

a t taching a n y horse t o any kind o f vehicle un ti l y ou have

made him qui te i ndifferen t t o the roughes t, harmless handling

a bout h i s hind quarters . Push the po le o n e ve ry part Of the

hind legs, and bring i t agains t the horse i n e very way that i t

would be possible fo r the cross bar o f any carr iage to r un o n

Av OI DAN-G E R . 1 6 3

h im,and use the pole on hi s sides

,j ust as the shaf ts of a carriage

m igh t s trike on t hem . Do th is firs t whi lst the horse s ees i t

all, a ndthen put o n a pair o f bl inkers , and repeat every thing

when he cannot see i t .

3 6 7 .- Aim to do a ll this wi thout s tar ting the horse to kick ,

but i f the horse i s ben t o n kicki ng , as mares especially wil l

some times be,don ’

t abate one j o t of the pol ing o n tha t accoun t,but rather be careful to do i t more thoroughly . Le t him do a ll

the kicking you can ge t out o f him , where he can nei th er hurt

himsel f nor anyone else . This may possibly take a long time ,but never so long as i t would t ake to cure him o f kicking a f ter

he ha s once hurt himsel f .

Why should you pu t a horse i n to shaf ts wi t h wood , i r o n ,and

wheel s fixed in dangerous proximi ty t o him ,thus giving him an

opportuni ty to r un awa y. or to smas h himsel f and the carriage to

pieces , when you can certa inly and comple tely reconci le h im t o

every kind o f friction,sigh t o r sound , without runni ng a n y

such risks A horse that has once r un away,or kicked , o r hurt

himself i n harness,i s never agai n the same safe trus tworthy

horse under all circumstances that he might o therwise have been

made .

CHAPTER XIV

THEORY OF BREAK ING TO HARNESS .

3 68 .

—Breaking the horse to harness is a more importan t ,world - wide work than even breaki ng h im to saddle , no t only

because a much greater number are used in harness than are used

exclus ive ly in saddle , bu t a lso because the labour of the harness

hors e con tributes far more to the national weal th o f most coun tries,and his commercial value i s more capable of being defini tely and

almos t universal ly increased as a drawer o f weights,than a s a

carrier o f l iving burdens . I t would be d ifficul t t o over - es timate

the increased value tha t might be given to the harness horses o f

the world, o r the amoun t o f suff ering and il l usage that might

be saved to the animal i tsel f, i f h i s i nstructors and drivers

generally unders tood their business,and came to their work duly

impressed wi th some knowledge o f the natura l in sti ncts o f

the animal they so commonly spoil wi th the i r ignorance ,impatien ce

,and unreasonable cruel ty .

3 69 .

—It n o doubt will sound a rash s tatemen t to most of ourreaders whe n we say that wha t are called “ false

,

” baulki ng,

” or“ j ibbi ng” horses , al l o f which names are given t o horses that

wi ll not pul l a t anyth ing tha t does no t come with a firs t e ff ort,

and that not a very resolute o n e , are a ll wi thou t exception made

what they are with bad teachers and dri vers, o r to speak more

correctly , for wan t o f good teachers and drivers . Whils t there i s a n

immense difference i n the na t ure o f horses i n this respect s o tha t

some will go wrong wi thout the greates t care , a nd others go

righ t i n very careless hands, i t i s never theless true tha t any

unspoi led horse can i n time be m ade to pul l again and again , a n d

a n v horse can very soon be treated so that he wil l not pull a

second time . No o n e can com ple tely cure a horse t hat has by

1 6 6 A SIN o r IGNORANCE .

yield to him,we should think him a mos t stupid animal i f he

kept on pushing further in to i t , and did n o t a t once back ou t o f

i t . Now what i s the co llar to him but a n unyielding th icke t,

through which he sees no cha nce-

o f thrustin g his large body ,but

out o f which he bel ieves i t po ssi ble to draw his l i ttle head . He

knows no th ing o f our lan guage , or why we beat hi m ,and is j us t

as likely to suppose that we bea t him because he does no t go

backwa rds,a s because he does n o t go forwards

,especial ly as we

a ctually do beat him for ei ther purpose when i t su i ts us . He knows

nothing of mechanics , or o f the faci li ti es whi ch wheels off er t o

motion .

The big carriage looks far less moveable to hi m than

the l i ttle manger to which he is so easi ly t ied,and his firs t

hasty forward rush having been checked by traces far S t ronger

tha n the rope of the halter,he comes to the conclusion tha t to

a t tempt to move forward would be hopeless , and that the bes t

way to escape from beati n g or persecution wi ll be to plun ge

backwa r ds ou t of the restraining collar .

The more gentle , and tractable , and t imid his disposit ion ,the less l ikel y he is to pull s teadily and con tinuously i n any

direc tion,and especially to make a continuous lean forward .

Hence we find tha t the most l ively and gen tle horses are

general ly j rbs , under bad treatmen t , whils t dull , un exci te a ble ,

headstrong horses are more likely to be s teady pul lers .

3 72 .—It i s too commonly taken for gran ted tha t the horse

does n o t pul l a t his bi t because i t hurts him to do s o , and that he

wi ll pull i n hi s collar because i t does n o t hurt h im . Thi s m ay

be a n atural mis take , but i t i s a mis take , and a very great and

misleading one,and o n e tha t should not be fal len in to by a n yone

who has though tful ly studied the pecul iar in stincts o f the horse .

We have seen ( 1 8 0 ) how p r o n e the horse i s to submi t t o

martyrdom ,and tha t severe pai n ha s Ofte n the Opposi te e ffect

upon him o f what i t would have with a n animal o f more

reasoning power,or wi th more accurate insti ncts . We mav

here give further examples Of t his peculi ari ty .

I f we tie a young horse up wi t h a broad lea ther strap round

his neck,so tha t when he pulls violen tly back i t will res train

ECCENT RICITIES . 1 6 7

hi m effectually without hurting him , he will o f ten not pull a

second time , but i f we tie him up wi th a chain that cu ts i nto his

n eck,he wil l general ly pull a t i t agai n and again , and not

unfrequently un ti l he ki lls himself. If we fix a bundle o f straw

behind a kicking horse,he wil l not kick long a t i t, but if he cuts

hi s legs a t each kick agains t the spl in ters o r i ron work o f a

carriage,he will probably kick as long as he ha s a leg left to k i ck

wi th . I f we careful ly take o ff a young horse'

s bridle,so tha t

the bi t comes out of his mouth wi thout hurting him , he wil l soon

quietly help us to take i t out of hi s mouth but i f i n taking off a

bridle,we awkwardly twis t the b i t so as to seriously hurt his

t o ngue o r j aws , he will for mon ths o r years a f terwards pull

violen tly on i t whenever he fi n ds the sl igh tes t hi tch about i t .

The horse that has a gai n and agai n been put in to t he collar,and

finds tha t no harm comes of i t,ge t s a t las t t o suspect none , and

takes i t easy under al l circumstances , but i f he gets seriously

beaten or hurt, i n any o f his early lessons , he i s always ready to

expect some great calami ty i n connection wi th a tightly press ing

collar,and will stick up to rece ive any amoun t of punishmen t i n

the m ost unexpected and unaccountable m anner,whils t each

beating that he recei ves will cause the habi t to be more confirmed,

and the s ti cking up to be more frequen t and more obs ti nate .

3 73 .—There are other s trange facts i n connection with the

horse ’s habi ts,whi ch i t is desirabl e to understand i n dea l i ng wi th

him . Thus,i f he hurts hi s neck o r head i n pull ing back

,he wil l

pul l back the more,but i f he hurt s hi s tai l i n doing so

,he wil l

often not pul l back at al l on the other hand, i f he hurts hi s tail

o r legs by ki cking, he w i l l kick the more , but i f be seriously hurts

hi s mouth by doing s o,he will not kick a gain . By c a reful ly

Observing the pecul iar instincts of any animal i n our charge , and

meet ing them with our superior reason,we can make the horse our

obedien t servan t wi thou t being our tortured victim we ca n cure

mos t o f his bad habi ts and secure our own safe ty by some simple

stratagem " we only convert hi s eccen trici ties in to real dan gers ,and abandon our natural superiori ty when we at ta ck them with

savage cruel ty .

3 74 .

—N O horse would gu ide easily and p le a s a n t lv to a bi t

1 68 THE CARDINAL RULE .

that hurt him much . I t i s not because he has ever bee n hurt by

the bi t , but because he has been taught tha t he canno t res is t i t ,that he y ields to i t wi th the gen t les t touch " and t he ease wi th

whi ch we have t augh t h im tha t,should make us expect t ha t the

same animal wil l on ly be t oo ready to bel ie ve that the col la r is a t

leas t equally irresis table .

3 7 5 .

—l t i s only necessary to th ink thus reasonab ly o f wha t

the horse ’s nature really i s,to see the course tha t we mus t ade p t

wi t h hi m to ge t him to treat the res trai n t o f the collar i n exactly

the Opposi te way to that i n which we wish him to treat the

restrain t o f his neck tie,his hal t er , o r h is bi t . We have made him

bel ieve tha t he mus t yield to the b i t,by tying that bi t to an un

y ielding post , we must now make him believe that the col lar wil l

always yield to him,by tying i t at fi r m" to something tha t will

always gi v e way to the very gen tlest push agains t i t . F OR

THE SAME REASON THAT THE YOUNG HORSE MUST NEVER PULLSUCCESS F U LLY ON A BIT OR A HALTER

,HE MUST NEVER PULL

UNSUCCESSFULLY ON A COLLAR . This wil l be f ound the simple

and a ll- s uffi c i e n t key that,properly used

,will make any horse a

steady pul ler .

Ci d—Many very gen t le horses wil l s t e p for a sligh ter pul l

o n the traces than would s t e p o ther horses on the reins . The

weight o f a finger may be too much for their firs t pull bu t by

degrees the resistance may be i ncrea sed unti l we have so en tirely

al tered their n ature as t o ge t them to pul l qu i e tly and repeatedly,

wi thou t fea r or impatience,a t a col lar wh ich they canno t move a t

a ll. Very few horses are ever brough t to thi s s tate o f per f ection

a s pullers , because very few are ever treated with the long

persever ing patience necessary to produce i t . Once whip o r hurt

a horse a t what he canno t or does no t know how to pul l , and you

have ruined him as a puller for l i fe . He will ever a f terwards

be more or less impatient and res ti ve whenever he finds himself i n

a similar fix . Very few things a r e more contrary to his na ture

than to try again and agai n a t what he canno t move,consequen tly

very f ew thi ngs are m ore difficul t to teach him or more easy to

un teach him . We ca n i n a single day teach h im to s top or to

t urn f o r a bi t i n hands tha t have no power over him i f tha t

1 7 0 R OU GH HANDLING .

case - hardened,would cal l a n animal with a fine

,sensi tive mouth a

useless frac ti ous brute,and would be almos t certain to make such

a mouth the means of perpetual tortu re to the horse , and o f

spoili ng hi m a s a stead y pul ler . F o r this reason , and for several

o thers, we Wil l treat separately o f breakin g to l ight and t o heavy

draft .

CH APTER XV .

B REAKING TO LIGH T HA RNESS .

3 79 .- The horse in tended for l ight, quick draft should firs t

be taught to handle quietly and lead well and to bear a

crupper quietly under his tai l Put o n a s trong bridle , with

large secure side guards and stron g n ose band , a ndto the lef t s ide

o f the bi t buckle a lea ther strap , l on g a nd s trong enough for a

lounging l ine . Choose a collar wi th soft , even face , and one tha t

fi ts the col t wel l . I t mus t not be wide a ndloose , nor mus t i t be

so short as to press on his wind pipe . The ski n o f the col t ’s

shoulder i s as tender as that o f a hand unaccus tomed to hardt ools and a l though

,l ike a rower

’

s hand , i t wi l l harden t o almost

a nything by degrees,a grea t deal of t ime i s l ost , and a permanent

b lemish often i nfl i cted i f the ski n i s b li st ered, or the hair rubbed

o ff at the commencemen t o f the horse ’

s work . The collar should

be the same as the colt i s in tended to work in , as a change of

collar always demands time for a nother hardening of the skin i n a

di ff eren t place,j us t as we fi nd on our own fee t with a cha nge o f

boots .

3 8 0 .—Le t the col t take a turn round vou wi th t he col lar on

,

a nd, i f he i s at al l alarmed a bout i t , keep him moving un ti l he

cares nothing for i t . Add the other articles of the harness he i s

in tended to wear,o n e a t a time , and walk him about , so tha t he

can se e them moving o n him . T i e the breeching rather t ightly to

the collar o r tugs, so as to accus tom the col t to the pressure o f the

collar o n his shoulders,and of the breeching on hi s thighs . Walk

and tro t the col t round you,i n f ull ha rness, unti l i ts appearance ,

pressure , o r movements ent irely cease to a larm him . Then a t tach

two re ins , o r l igh t leather s traps , about twen ty fee t long, to the

col lar or ba rn s , and ge t a steady , reliable assis tan t t o lead the col t

1 72 TEACHING TO PULL .

whils t you take the loose ends o f the trace re ins back behi n d the

col t . o ld them wide at first , so as hardly to touch the col t’s

s ides , whils t he leads the col t abou t, and gradually press them on

the sides , and lean a very l i t tle weigh t in the collar. The l ean

m ay be very gradually i ncreased as long a s the col t walks freely

a ndunhesi tati ngly o n with his head down , but the pul l must be

lessened i f the col t carries hi s head up and hi s ears back, and

the s traps must be slackened o ff al toge ther i f the col t shows the

least i nclina tion to stop wi th his pressure o n hi s col lar . I f he

does s top,get him star ted again , without the sl igh tes t weight on

the straps,and whe n he is freely goin g again

,le t the pul l o n the

s traps be very gradually and cau tiously applied , s o a s not to s top

h im again . Increase the pul l gradually,unti l he walks f reely

away wi th a ll that you can hold back . Keep him going a t a slowwalk fifteen or twenty minutes . Then s t e p hi m and t r y him a t a

s tart,with a very l i t tle weigh t i n the collar , holding yoursel f ready

t o slacken o ff i nstan tly if there is the sligh tes t hesi tation

a bout star ti n g i t . Conti nue this more or l ess cautiously as you

may see to be necessary , un til the col t wi l l s tar t unhes i tati ngly

wi th forward ears and a low head,a ll that you can hold back .

Never urge the co l t i n to the collar i n t he least, but give him slackstraps wherever there i s the l eas t sign of a s top

, o r a n y hes i ta tion

a bout s tarting .

3 8 1 .—When the pull ing and starting have been made qui te

sati sfactory place one of the s traps s o that the col t will step over

i t wi th o n e of his h ind legs , thus putt ing i t be tween hi s hind legs .

Then whi ls t your assistan t leads the col t on , holding hi s head

securely,you may very gently tigh ten the s trap

,firs t on the inside

o f o n e leg , then o n the o ther, sometimes low down at hi s heels ,then high up his thighs

,but never rubbing hard enough to hur t

him . I t i s be tter i f th is can be done gen tly and soothingly, and

the col t reconciled t o the line amongst hi s legs wi thout a kick ,

a s most col ts can be, but whether he kicks o r not the strap must

be rubbed agains t all parts o f his hi nd legs , i nside and out, until

he becomes qui te indifferen t t o i t .

3 8 2 .

—Having progressed so far with an open bridle , y ou

m ay next take it ofi“

and put o n blinkers, and repeat i n the

1 74 BEF ORE WHEELS .

they might produce exac tly the sam e practical eff ec t as whipping

a col t to the collar .

3 84 .—For the nex t lesson you take o ff both bridle and

b l i nkers , and put o n a s trong nosebag hal ter , t o which a ttach

your long leather lounging li ne . Take the col t alongside o f any

q uie t horse , o r pair of horses, drawing any kind o f wheels , i n a

field , common , or some quie t place, where you are no t l iable to

meet any obj ects that w il l very much alarm the col t . Put the

col t o n the right s ide o f the o ld horse o r horses , and draw your

lounging l ine under the s trong saddle o r surcingle o n the o ld

horse ’s back , leaving the col t abou t a yard of loose l i ne . Take

the loose end o f the loung i ng lin e up i n the carriage wi th you ,along wi th the o ldhorse ’s re i ns

,and star t them both off toge ther .

I f the col t run s forward y o u must shorten hi s line a l i t tle to

preven t hi m ge tting i n fron t o f the old horse ’s head if he pulls

away to the side, o r hangs ba ck , y ou can give o r take l ine to

preven t any breakage . He will thus ge t h i s first experience

be fore wheels and o ther obj ects of alarm,wi thout being driven

in to a col lar wi th a force that would be sure to produce a recoil,

and thus give him the impression that the collar would no t yield

t o his efforts . Get the old horses o ff a t any steady pace , and

keep the col t walking o r tro tting beside them . He will be a

l i ttle frightened at the wheels behind him at first,but that wil l

not las t long,and he will soon le t the traces o f the o ldhorse rub

agains t his le ft s ide wi thout alarm . When qu i te reconciled to

t he righ t s ide,put him on the l eft s ide

,and go o n as before .

When he i s o n the left s ide i t wi ll be safe e n ough to drive hi m o n

a n y wide quie t road . The more prac ti ce he ge ts in tha t posi tion the

better e igh t o r ten miles i s gen eral ly enough , bu t some free

timid horses require more . The ir traces should n o t be fas tened

t o a n y carriage o f any kind , un ti l they are qui te reconci led t o

walk before i t,and show no alarm at a n y faster pace .

3 8 5 .

—When y ou have thus made sure that the col t wil l pulla l i t tle , and that he wi l l not be driven to any desperate acts by

the sigh t, o r sound , o r feel o f a carriage beh ind h im , he may be

c on sidered re ady t o pu t i n to a break o r some o ther carriage . F o r

t his purpose y ou should have the assis tance o f a good horse , a nd

H E LPF U L ADJ U NL'TS. 1 75

a t lea s t one good man . The horse should be perfectly quie t, y e t

free and will ing , and always s teady and true a t a pul l . There i s

no thing so infectious am o ngs t horses as j ibbing . Far be tter to

break the col t i n wi t hout any other horse than to pu t hi m

alongside of a j ib . You r m a n should be good tempered and have

courage e nough t o keep his s e n se s about h im , and to keep away

the too commo n app r ehensio n th a t e very horse i s ful l o f some

wicked designs upon him . Your break, or carriage,should be

l ight,a nd you mus t s e e tha t i t i s put i n a clear open place

,

where n o s topping o r turn ing will be required, and the wheels on

hard ground where they wil l s tar t easi ly . See that pole s traps,

and every article of harness , a r e i n their right place,and bot h

horses securely and com f ortably harnessed wi th reins a ndevery

thing else i n good order and correctly adj usted . We have never

k n ow n a n accident or mishap tha t was not the resul t o f some

deficiency i n these precautions .

3 8 6 .

—El a v e no talkers or ala rmists about you . Put the old

horse i n firs t,on the right side , and wi th a chai n at tached to h is

bar,shor t a nd s trong enough to allow him to draw the carriage

wi thout any a ssistance , and eve n with some resistance from the

col t,though none i s l ikely from a col t prepared as he should be .

3 8 7—If you have good assis tan ts y ou had bet ter ge t up andtake the re ins as soo n as the colt has been placed alongside o f the

pole . Le t o n e assistant stand before his head and hold the col t

i n a way that he will hardly f eel o r know i t, n o t wi th a

trembl ing,flurrie d hand shaking each s ide o f his mouth . Le t

the o ther assistan t firs t fas ten the pole strap and then the rei ns,

and you must s e e that a ll i s right and clear be fore he fas tens

e i ther of the traces . Then le t him fasten firs t the righ t and then

the left trace quickly. The momen t thi s i s done your bes t

a ssis tan t should come from the fron t to the side o f the col t’s

head,whilst you give the o ld horse the signal to s tart

,and

your assis tant fge n t ly restrains the col t from rushing in to the

col lar un til the break is well s tarted . He should r un beside the

col t unt il he sees that he i s not wanted , and then ge t up i n the

break wi thout stopping . G et o ff at a slow pace i f possible,bu t

i t i s be tter t o go fas t f o r a l i ttle way than to check the col t

rash ly,

1 7 0 FIRST DRIVE .

8 8 .—Avoid anything that the col t ha s no t seen before

,or

anything l ikely to drive hi m too eagerly in t o the collar . If he

will work hard at i t he must not work long, o r he will bl is ter his

shoulders . In that case do not drive h im more than two o r three

m i les , before y ou take hi m out . I f he takes matters very quie tly

a nddoes not pul l hard , and the carriage is very ligh t , you may

drive him five o r s ix miles . Take him o ut carefully s o that he

get-s no alarm,as if anyth ing frigh ten s o r hurts him in his first

experiences i t i s very difficul t to make him forge t i t . When y ou

take off his harness wash the skin that has been under the collar ,

a ndwhen washed put a l i ttle sal t and wate r o n i t . When the

hai r ha s hadtime to dry,look carefully a t i t

,and see if there are

any spots o n the wearing pa rts no t as dry as the res t . If such

spots a r e there the ski n has bee n rubbed too hard,and the col t

must no t be put t o draw agai n for a day o r two . You should

look to the col lar and s e e i f there are any corresponding lumps

o n i t that want a tten ti on .

3 8 9 .—If proper care has been taken to have the col lar small

a ndsm ooth , and soft enough t o begin wi th,the col t wi ll mos t

l ikely be fi t to work a l i t tle every da y , and should have the

dista nce gradually increased as h is skin harden s to the work .

Hi s shoulders wil l s tand more work i f you pu t o n a soft,woollen

,

rush col lar every al ternate day . After three or four days on the

left s ide, o n frequented roads, the col t may be put on the righ t

side , taki n g care to m ee t any a la rming obj ec t s wi th him at a

respectful dis tance at firs t . Keeping hi m too lo n g on one s ide i sl iable to give him a one - sided mou th . I f hi s skin fails a t collar

work,and he i s i ncl i ned to be f ree a nd resti ve

,he should be

driven occas i onally alongside o f the old ho r se wi thou t a n y traces ,wi t h on ly the hal ter o n his head as a t firs t Never le t him

sta v a day a l together idle i n the stable,and g i ve him very l i t tle

corn unti l he can do steady work . The exercise can always be

con trived so as to teach him somethi ng .

3 0 0 —Af t er a f ew days work , withou t bl i nkers , you may takeblinkers out wi th you , and le t you r a ss is tan t put them o n the

col t ’s head,over the bridle , a f ter the col t ha s gone a few miles .

The bl ink ers m ay be t aken o ff again be fore y o u take the col t out

1 78 TH E SHAFTS.

3 93 .—The uneducated j i bs that we se e in South American

and Austral ian coaches wi l l all pull a t a gallop, but get frigh tened

directly they find a col lar pressing o n them at a slow pace,and

become paralysed wi th fear i n the expectation o f the bru tal

assaul ts they have learned to associate with that mis fortune .

They appear as unable to move as the horse is when surrounded

wi th a burning stabl e. On such an occasion we have seen a

coachman,who was said to be a most skilful driver

,smashing

up his horses with a spare swingle tree,amidst the apparent

approbation of his passengers, including the enlightened champions

o f the r ights o f women,negroes , and working men . I f such men

only knew what was paralysing t he poor bru t es, that they s e e are

always willin g to gal lop to death at the sigh t of a whip , a coach

man,with such propensi ties , would occasionally be tarred and

feathered as some small reward for his brutal i ty .

3 94 .—The col t may next be put i n sin gle harness, abou t

which t here will be no difficul ty i f all has gone wel l s o f a r . A

l ight two - wheeled conveyance , wi th m oderately strong shaft s,

should first he used, and put i n a good clear place, where i t wil l

star t easily,and have room to deviate considerably from a straight

line . Put on good strong harness, which mus t include a wel l

placed strong rump o r kicking strap, passing over the haunches .

To meet this,s traps wi th sui table buckles must be fixed on the

righ t par t o f the shafts . The breeching should be permanen tly

attached to the backhand, so as t o require no buckling o r

unbuckl ing when putting the col t in o r taking him ou t . The

leather rings o f the backhand should be s o small,o r the stops o n

shafts so large , as to make i t imposs ible fo r them t o pass through

the backhand.

3 95 .

—S tand the col t in fron t o f the sulky,o r gig

,and let an

assis tan t quietly hold him there whi lst y ou br i n g the shafts over

his back and put them in to the backhand . H i tch the traces

quickly,and buck le the bel lyband gen tly . Take your seat and

le t your assistan t walk by the col t’s head,j ust t o s e e that he

guides well t o the reins before he takes his seat by your side . Go

o ff a t a walkin g pace i f you can, but avoid any unnecessary

pulling at the ce l t ’s mou th, and le t h im have a s much o f hi s own

PUT IN TOO s e e n . 1 79

way as you can at first . Take him on no heavy bad roads,and

do nothing that will be l ikely to cause him to stop . There should

be n o dan ger o f h is s t e p p i n g i f al l the precau tions have been

previously taken that we have advi sed,but i f from previous

neglec t or ‘bad managemen t , that should happen ,vou must on no

accoun t urge him forward ei ther by voice o r touch . Such athing should never happen

,and never wi l l happen i f you have

properly taught your col t to pul l in the coll ar before hi tching him

to any vehicle and have done noth ing fool ish t o spoi l him

af terwards . But i f from any cause i t does happen,you mus t

at once recognise the fact that y o u have n ew to face the greates t

dan ger that can befall your col t’s education . One touch wi th the

wh ip in that posi t i on wil l n ow make him an incurable j ib fo r the

rest o f hi s li fe . You must in no way urge the col t i nto the collar

wi th that vehicle attached to him .

3 96 .

—If the s t e p occurs, as i s most likely, at the s tart ing,t ake the horse ou t immedi ately and proceed to teach him to pul l

and let the lesson be safely inculcated before y ou again hi tch

him to any vehicle . I f i t occurs at a distance from home,you

must let no con siderat ion o f inconvenience,o r m o r t i fica t i o n , or

ridicul e induce you to risk spoil ing your horse . I f he stops

going up a b i ll you mus t take him out at once,pu t the vehicle

o n one s ide o f the road , and drive your horse on to the top of the

bi ll. I f y o u have an assistan t who can han g on to the traces

and keep him pull ing up the hi l l s o much the bett er bu t

le t there be no delay,no noise, o r fighting

,or anything that will

impress the even t on the horse ’s m emory . When you reach ‘ the

top of the hill turn round and come down again,and p ut the

horse into the vehi cl e wi th his head down hil l and towards home .

Then ge t up and start as at first but drive home at a brisk

trot . In ninet een cases ou t of twen ty i t would be qui te easy to

turn round when your horse first s t e p s o n a hill, a ndto s tar t

down hill home and that would be f a r bet ter than any whipping

or figh ting , but there would be some dan ger t hat the horse would

pick up the idea that he could ge t taken home at any other t ime

by the same p r o ce ss .

3 97 .

—If he has s t e p ped o n good, hard, l evel road, where

1 8 0 SIGNS .

t here i s l i ttle traffic, and at a distance from home , you can try i f

he seems incl ined to back, a n di f s o, y ou can ge t out and take

hi m by the head and keep him go i n g ba ckwa rds fo r a t least ten

minutes, your assistan t helpin g t o back and guide with the wheels

i f necessary . D on ’t be rough with h im,bu t urge him backwards

,

and keep him at i t,until he i s ev idently tired of i t

,and desirous

to go forward again,when you may get up and drive towards

home at a brisk trot .

3 98 .—If he s t e p s on a soft rough road , where the pulling is

really heavy,trea t him the same as directed for up bi ll

but ins tead o f putting him into the veh icl e on your re turn,take

h im home without i t,and sen d ano ther horse t o take the veh icle

back .

3 99.—In al l cases you may rega rd the stoppage as a proof

that you have pu t the col t to draw a vehicle before you had

properly prepared him for i t, and you must repair your error as

quie tly as y ou can , without spoi ling the col t over i t . You will

also be generally righ t in concluding t hat the colt which s tops in

that way i s no t likely to be headstrong , o r rash, o r a r unaway,

but a gen tl e, easily res trained animal , that must have a good deal

o f patien t training to reconcile him to pul l a t any restraining

obj ec t . In other words, he wil l generally be found to be a n

animal that can easily be m ade a worthless incurable j ib,bu t one

that wi th suffici en t care and pati ence , will make one of those free ,gentl e

,controllable horses , that are so highly prized by those

who know what a ple a san t horse really i s .

4 0 0 .

—A sti l l more safe and expedi tiou s way t o s tar t a col tin sin gl e h arness, i s t o hi t ch a steady horse o n before hi m ,

i n

charge o f a trustworthy rider . In this way the col t ca n be taken

wi thou t risk o f spoilin g hi m over a n y bad roads , o r p as t alarming

obj ects . O f course the col t is not broken to singl e ha rn ess unti l

he will go alone i n harness . But the old horse can be taken o ff

o n th e road home and ridden behind , when the horse ha s p roved

that he will pull steadily in the shafts.

4 0 1 .

—There i s n o real n ecessi ty t o have a broken horse a tal l i n educating a col t fo r harness, al though i t i s m ore ea sy t o use

o n e than t o do e ntirely withou t. But wi th care ful preparat ion

CHAPTER XVI .

BREAKING TO SLOW HEAVY DRAFT .

40 4 .- The education of the heavy draft horse is one o f the

f ew arts in which we have certainly made n o progre ss during the

present cen tury . The magn ifice n t animals that drew the funeral

car o f the Great Duke , in 1 85 2 , were less docile, less s taunch, less

under command , and less capable o f s imul taneous and united

action , t han an imals t hat cou ld have been procure d f o r the same

purpose i f the Duke o f Wel lington had been slain at Waterloo .

Half a century ea rl i er a team could have been suppl ied that would

n o t have demanded a leader at the head o f each horse , and that

would have caused us to hear less than we did about the difficulty

o f starting that ponderous carriage.

40 5 .—The great and much needed improvem e nt in the

condi tion o f the farm labourer, that ha s taken place dur i ng the

las t half cen tury,and the equally improved state of our roads,

ar e two blessings fo r which we may well be than kful , bu t a r e

n evertheless chan ges that have both t ended to cause l ess care and

at ten tion to be given t o the e ducation o f the draft horse than wa s

given a hundred years ago . The soft roads that cal led for the

use o f harne ss bells to give timely notice o f the approach o f

another team , so that the bes t place could be chosen for pull ing

out o f the deep ruts , demanded horses that would hang o n t o a

lon g, slow pull , and tha t would pull al together at the word o f

command . But one o f the strongest motives for first class

e duca tion wa s supplied t o the driver by the fact that the law

would n o t allow him t o ride without reins, and the master would

n o t le t h im have rein s to drive wi th , his muscl es be in g supposed

t o be a cheaper article than those o f his horses . Thus when he

s tole a ride, even o n i the shafts, he was at the mercy o f every

IM PROVED HORSES . 1 8 3

passer by , and could only expec t that mercy by having a team so

comple tely under command of hi s voice that no one could complain

o f hi s driving. Though i t i s painful to think of those weary

footed, overworked , a nd care worn men , who could only earn the

price o f a bushel o f wheat by workin g seven days from five in the

morning un ti l seven at nigh t,i t was a pre t ty S igh t to se e those

patien t drivers and wel l cared for horses steering to an inch t o

miss stumps,clumps

,s tones and holes without the us e o f a rein .

40 6 .—We do not mean to say that the draf t horse has no t

been improved during the presen t cen tury . He i s a s much

improved as the Shorthorn,the Leicester, or the Southdown ,

but

i t i s the breeding, not hi s educa tion , that has improved, and that

improvemen t has been physica l,and n o t m en tal . e i s less

lymphatic,and more fibrous " more active and more enduring "

ha s better wind and be tter limbs " bu t he i s treated less as a ~

companion and m ore as a m achine,and i s dragged about with

the rein s instead o f being directed by the voice . The much

heavier l oads that he draws over much bett er roads,cal ls f o r

perhaps more con ti nuous,bu t certainly fa r l ess dis criminating

exertion . Though it i s common to hear much o f the i n t e lli

gence of the Arab, and to Speak of an un educated man as being

as ignoran t a s a waggon horse,

” the waggon horse o f Great

Britain has commonly acquired f a r m ore educat ion ,and has

brough t more in telligence to bear o n his work than our fast

horses u sually do , though tha t i s only the natural con sequen ce of

hi s being of ten the almost constan t companion of one driver, and

o f being usually al lowed to l ive long enough to become in tel l igen tly

familiar wi th his work .

4 0 7 .—But what ever m ay be the relative amoun t of i n t e lli

gence in the cart horse,i t i s cer tain that he ha s been long bred

wi th an eye to the work that i s required o f him,and that he takes

to that work as kindly and as naturally as a well bred sheep dogtakes to hi s

,with wonderfully l i ttl e at ten tion and less trouble i n

the way o f education . To begin wi th,he i s usually introduced

to the stabl e , the manger , the harn ess , the plough and harrows ,the cart , and the highway wi th i t s engines , roads, bridges , and

o ther sights a nd sounds,whilst running by i ts mother ’s side .

1 84 N 0 CHANGE o n DRI VERS.

H i s win ter feedin g gives hi m s til l more con fidence in man .

s i s

n atural good tem per,hi s t hick Skin and thicker coat of hair

,

preven t him from being very sensi tive,s o that we have of ten seen

him successfully,though very impruden tly

,put t o work withou t

a n y Special preparati on whatever.

4 0 8 .

—A profes sion al breaker i s seldom em ployed . He ha s

n o t the applian ces at command that are f ound o n every farm,

and i t i s no t usual to mee t wi th a horse breaker who un ders tands

the work of a draft horse . and i f he did i t i s f a r bet ter that ei ther

a ho r se or a dog should be broken in by the man who is af ter

war ds to work him . A chan ge o f drivers durin g the first yea r i s

v ery undesirabl e . The pride which every man takes i n hi s own

good work wi ll always ensure a col t bein g t aken more care of by

the man who is re sponsible fo r hi s education than he will be by

any o n e el se , and n othing improves a car t er o r a ploughman so

much at h is work a s compell ing him t o l earn how a young horse

Shouldbe treated f r om the firs t .

4 0 9 Having been taugh t to tie up to lead wel l

to bear wi thou t fear,any kind of arti cles rubbing about hi s hind

legs ( 3 8 1 to and above al l to lean gently bu t resol utely into

the collar,with the full con fidence that i t will move when he pull s at

i t there i s not o n e col t in twenty that will give any trouble

i n in troducing him to actual work . Too often even these wise

precauti ons are n o t taken,and th e raw col t that ha s j ust been

harnessed for the firs t t ime,i s put in traces wi th a quie t horse

before,and another behin d him , and left to take hi s chance . The

good tem pered animal occasion al ly passes through even that

ordeal qui te unharmed,and m ake s a good horse i n Spite o f i t

,

bu t more frequen tly he ge ts to treat the collar as something

immovable, a ndi s n ever afterwards s o rel iable a t a heavy start

a s he would have been wi th more care to give him the necessary

confidence in his power (3 75 , Sometimes the col t i s even

pu t to begin wi th where he must pull h ard to be ab le to ge t on ,and even whipped o r tor tured

,o r frightened in some way t o urge

h im against a resis t in g collar . Such treatm en t cannot fail t o spoilany col t, and i s only practised by men too ignoran t to be trus te d

even wi th a donkey.

1 86 FOUR - HORSE ROLLER .

ploughing, and we ll supplied with roots or green food, and very

gradually inured to the col lar,eve n a two - year - Old may be daily

worked for a f ew hours wi th great advan t age,as i t wil l make a

fa r more rel iable col lar horse of him at four years old,than he

could be made i f hastily broken at a later age . Double and treble

furrow ploughs,wi t h large teams , offer great facili t ies fo r breaking

i n young horses of a less gen tle nature, as the ploughman is more at

l iberty to attend to hi s horses,and the wildest or most vicious col t

can be put where he can do no harm but in any large teams great

care and watchfulnes s are necessary t o preven t spoi l ing the co lt as a

puller, by driving him at a pull too heavy for hi m to take alone .

A long wai ting pull a t a heavy s tar t i s a most impor tan t thing to

teach the horse ul timately,but i t i s a t ask that should not be

demanded o f a young horse unti l he has had a good deal o f practice

a t a collar that will move for a shorter exertion .

4 1 3 .—If the col t in his early lessons ha s shown symptoms

o f vice , has attemp t ed to be lt o r plunge , and has kicked long

a ndviciously at his lessons wi th the pole and especially i f

he i s evident ly a headstrong,resolute puller , i t will be safer not to

work him in a chain ba r r ow alone , but a f ter plen ty of walking

by the side of a working team put him on to a four - horse

rol ler, o n the nea r S i de b efore . Take grea t care to restrain him

a t a start, and to mak e the o ld horses star t before hi m . After a

day o r two in the traces,he may be pu t into the Shafts . Shor ten

the tugs and breeching , so as to leave him l i ttle play backwards

o r forwards, and pu t a s trap or re pe over his rump to preven t

the possibili ty o f a kick . You must s ti l l take great care to make

the o ldhorses star t first,wi thou t any noise or fuss, and don

’t le t

the col t ge t cowed by pulling at what he cannot move alone.

B e care ful i n put ting him in and o ut a t first, that nothing is don e

t o frigh ten hi m . Let the tugs be the first things to hi tch“

, when

p utting him in , and the last things to unhitch when taking hi m

out Le t the Shafts down gently wi thout hurting his legs o r

f ee t with t hem . Any hi tch,o r alarm, o r inj ury at this stage

will be long remembered,

a nd cause a great deal o f after

t r oubl e .

4 1 4 .—If i t i s int ended that the col t should be worked in

MOUTHS . 1 87

blinkers t hey m a y be pu t o n over the bridle ( 3 90 ) whilst

he i s at work, and after he has worked some weeks wi thout them .

No farm horse is safe that has n o t been accustomed to se e al l

that i s behind him at every description o f work . There are n o t

quite such good reason s for using bl inkers a t a ll with the farm

horse as there are with a lady’s horse i n the s treets o f Lon don

bu t wi thou t them he oft en gets t o o knowing, and can judge t o o

wel l when there i s n o whip about,o r when he i s out o f i t s

reach .

4 1 5 .- The best way fo r a young horse t o ge t familiari sed

wi th high , sh aking , noisy le ads , o r general harvest wo r k , i s by

working alongside a steady horse in a double - shafted waggon .

Where only carts are used, he may be worked a f ew days as an

outrigger . In ei ther case he Should work without bl inkers whils t

in charge o f the o ldhorse .

4 1 6 .

—We have already said (3 78 ) that i t is no t desirabl e to

give a draugh t horse a fine,sen si t i v e m outh

,a n d

,fo r the same

reason , plough horses’ bridles Should contain nothing bu t the

mildest descrip tion of bi t . A ploughman i s almos t necessarily,

but sti l l more habi tual ly,heavy handed with the re ins

,and

though t lessly ignoran t o f the sensi tive character o f the

horse’

s mouth .

v i s placid,good tempered an imal wi l l he a r more

rough usage than light horses would do,bu t they , too , often ge t

m ore than they can bear, and we are often shocked t o s e e the

extremely thoughtless,stupid way i n which the mouth o f the

plough o r team horse i s l i teral ly torn to pieces .

4 1 7 .—It i s no uncommon thing to s e e two o r even three

horses tied toge ther,not by the hal ters o r heads, but by the actual

bi ts,SO that eve ry fly that alights o n ei ther o f them causes a

violen t j erk o n all the ir mouths, and no horse can yield to the

ploughman’s re in,however violently used

,unti l his compan ions

wil l permi t him to do s o . To tie thei r heads toge ther all day by

the upper rings of their bridles, o r by a high placed, broad

strapped hal ter i s bad enough,though often convenien t and

necessary but to tie them t oge ther by the bits is a wanton piece

o f cruel ty that keeps the horse in the most painful res train t a ll

day,and must

,at first

,make him a sore mouthed, mop - headed

1 88 DANGER o r BITS.

sufferer, and probably a j ib . Fortunately,n ature will often

even tually case - harden his mouth under such t reatm en t, SO that

he learn s a t last to guide a s l i t tl e to the reins as t o the traces .

4 1 8 .—Tyin g t ogether, i n any way, i s fat al to anyt hing l ike a

go od m outh,e ach horse i s subj ect to the rough j erks o f his com

panions, and cann ot an swer to a pull on hi s own bi t, un ti l he can

overcome the resistance o f hi s companions " but when fastened

t ogether,ei ther by th e collars o r the hal ters

,each horse wil l soon

learn that he must give his first and best atten tion t o the action

o f th e bi t o n his s ensi ti ve mouth, and overcome any re si stance

from hal ter o r collar as best he ca n .

When,on the other han d

,they are tied together by the bi ts,

e ach horse gets a direct horizon tal pul l f r om his compan ion t o

which he must guide,and only a straigh t back pul l from the

driver for which he can only s top . H i s s topping m a y , after a

whi le,cause hi s companion s to walk round him

,and so cause the

team to turn in the directi on required,but i t i s a slow, cruel, and

clumsy way o f steering the poor animals,and one especial ly

adapted to Spoil the horse as a pull er,and to m ake i t impossible

fo r him to guide to the voice . A practice so cruel and m i s

chi ev ous should be prohibi ted by every owner, and even by e very

leg i slature .

4 1 9 .

—Se great i s the danger o f Spoiling the draught horse bya n inj udicious use o r accidental abuse o f the bi t, that any

experienced horseman wil l avoid,even a gentle pul l o n e i ther rein

,

o r taking ho ldo f the horse’s mou th , i n any way, when requiring

h im to h an g lon g and steadily o n to a pull . Many o f the best

horse drivers wil l even take the bi t out of the ir horses’ mouths

al toge ther,when drawing logs o ut of a bush, Or on to a timber

carriage . Sharp b i t s and tigh t rein i ng up have Spoiled thousandso f horses for pulling

,and a n y tying o f the head, far more o f the

bi t, must inj uriously in terfere wi th the confidence and vigour

with which the draft hor se i s r equired to put out his utmost

energy at a heavy pull . Thi s i s a fact which amongst m any

others gave a great advan tage to the now too much neglected

practice o f guiding all dra ft horses by the voice .

4 2 0 .—Re in s are n ow almost un iversal ly supplied to road

1 90 H ow NOT To DO IT .

4 2 3 .—Look o n the o ther hand at the more common sigh t

,

the man who is trying t o teach a team o f horses to guide to hi s

voice and can never succeed . e cannot u tter the same word

twice in the same key,nor wi thou t sundry addi t ions that cannot

fail to confuse the horse e first says com a the r,then

“ come hi ther you brutes,then come here you great thick

heads,

” then darn your s tupid ears,i f I don ’t make you come

here when I tel l ya . Then the whip goes to work,and a lo t

o f j erking on the horses m o n ths . The horses toss up their

agi tated heads as soon as they hear the threa ten ing sounds,put

back bo th ears,and rush o ff i n the contrary direction to that

i n which they were wan ted t o turn,only anxious to ge t as fa r as

possible from the threatening voice .

4 24 .

—There is another fool ish,thoughtless practice

,o ften

systematical ly adop ted , which i s alm ost equally certai n to spoil

the horse fo r guiding to the voice . If you stand off at a l i ttle

distance from m any ploughmen and horse drivers you would

think that they were cons tan tly ordering thei r horses to st op and

to ba ck bu t the horses do nei ther,and would be thrashed if they

did .

“ J a whay ,” “j a back,

” are constan tly uttered,with the

whay s and backs loud enough to drown every other sound but

al though the horse has been taught to stop for wha y ,” and t o

walk backwards for “ back,

” he i s n ew forbidden by whip and

reins to do ei ther,a n d i s only expected to turn to the right .

When wan ted to turn to the left the same whay s and backs are

loudly sounded wi th the almost impercep tible di fference that

i nstead of the corruptedgee, we have the corrupted haw, so that

instead o f “j a back,

” we hear “ ha back,

” and the poor horse

i s expected to know that the on e means turning to the righ t and

the o ther t o the l eft .

42 5 .—Se good and discr iminating i s the horse’s ear, when

no t frightened,that wi th a very quiet , good tempered man , he

wil l some times even tually learn to distinguish the d ifference

be tween whay , and ha way, and j ay whay , though how he does

SO will puzzle an yone who has ever l istened to that m o n o t a n ous

j argon . When the same words are ut tered passio nately and

accompan ied with j erks and blows,the resul t i s what we s o often

USE SINGLE WORDS . 1 9 1

s e e , the horse holds up hi s head and run s , and so o n will n ei ther guide

n o r slacken pace fo r a nything you can s ay to him . The supposed

obj ec t o f addin g whay or back to every guiding order i s, to ge t

the horse to t urn steadily wi thout rushin g forward, but the actual

effect i s just the reverse o f t his,as the horse i s almos t necessarily

s tup i fi edand rushes about in fear .

42 6 .—For obvious reason s al l Sen t ences o r any combination

o f words Should be avoided. Anything we are l ikely to require

f rom the horse Should be represented t o him by some short,simple

word,qui te distinct from any o ther word we use to him . With

the ordinary draf t horse , we only want about eigh t words to be

wel l u n derstood and obeyed, to make hi m a very handy horse,

and there can be no diffi cul ty in get ting them all simple, di stinct

sounds,that will not over tax hi s very limi ted power o f under

standing language .

4 2 7 .

—No word must have two meanings wi th the horse , norbe pronounced i n two di ff eren t ways, nor even ut tere d in a

differen t key . Even hi s n am e must n o t be used bo th as a word

Of endearment or pe ttin g,a n das a word o f s tirrin g up or reproof .

The latter i s i ts proper use with the cart horse,and i f you also

wan t a pe t word to address him i n his resting hours you should

choose some sof ter word for that purpose .

42 8 .—Any guiding words should be soft i n themselves and

be softly u ttered,so as to have no tendency t o increase the horse’ s

pace when addressed to him . In the South,West

,and Midland

counties of England , the words“ Com a the r and “Wo o aged

are used for the ir their leaders,and “ Yea a nd “ Hoot” f o r

their shaf t horses,and no horses are be tter driven than t hose .

But the Scotch guiding words Haw” and G e e,l ike the

Scotch men and horses,have spread farther over the world

,and

are very suitab le , bein g short , so ft, simple, and di s tinct, so that

there i s no obj ection to their ade ption . With t he i r single horse

carts,and S ingle furrow ploughs

,the Sco tch had no n eed of a

duplicate s e t of guiding words bu t in turning long teams there

i s an immense advan tage in teaching your leaders to guide fo r

o n e s e t o f words,and your h ind horses for another . In any

ca se,haw a nd gee m a y be used fo r left and righ t for your

1 92 VOCABULARY .

l eade r s,and i f diff erent words are taught to the hind horses

,the

Old Wil tshire word “ hoo t” will do very well for turning the

hind horse to the right, but their o the r word “ yea,

” can be

too easi ly mistaken fo r wha y ,”

a nd we would therefore use

“hi e” in i ts place . The two words yea and wha y are not a t

all S imilar i n Wiltshi re dialect , but we are not n ew writing fo r

any one coun ty or dialect .

4 2 9 .-Of course each horse in a team must have a name o f

hi s own , and a name that should not resemble the name o f any

o ther horse in the same team . We have known four horses worki ng

together t o be named ob , N ob , Rob , and Bob . I t wil l be

seen at once tha t they migh t as wel l have had n o names at all .

Bob,Jack

,D i ck

,and Rough " o r Boxer, Trooper , Sharper, and

Smiler are examples o f names that cannot be mis taken for eacho ther . Each horse should unders tand tha t when his name is

sharply cal led , he i s going too Slow, or doing some thing wrong,and this i mpress ion is eas ily kep t up by call ing his name when

ever i t i s n ecessary to touch hi m with the whip . In thi s way

an indole n t horse may be r e us ed, wi thout exci ting any o ther

horses that may be alread y doing t o o much .

4 3 0 .

- Each horse mus t be taugh t a general word that the

whole team will understand to be a command to start,such as

the word “gen tly .

” He mus t a ls o unders tand an urging word,such as n ow then . He can wi th great care be taugh t to under

stand and obey a slowing wo rd, as s teady .

” He i s easi ly taugh t

to s top , and t o s top i nstantly , f o r the word whay ,” and with no

great diffi cul ty to walk o r push backwards fo r the word back .

”

4 3 1 .—This com ple tes the eigh t simple words to which every

draft horse Should be taught to at tach a d istinct mean ing, and

promptly to obey , thus

Jack—You are going t o o slow ,or are doing some t hing wrong .

Gen t ly—Lean forward slowly and gen tly i n to the collar.Now then—Go fas ter o r pul l more .S teady—GO slower o r pul l les s .Wha y—StOp instan tly .

Back—Walk ba ckwa rds or push ba ckwards .

Haw—Turn to the left .Ge e—Turn t o the righ t .

1 94 GUIDING WORDS .

learned fas t enough , inde ed y ou canno t preven t h i s learning them .

H

e wi ll know h i s own name a lmos t a s soon a s y ou have fixed

upon i t he will be t rying t o go o n be fore y ou can s ay“ gently,

a nd will very soon associate the word “n ow- then

,wi th a

threaten ing swing o f the whip , and quicke n his pace accordin gly.

I t i s only the guiding and the slowing words tha t presen t anydi fficul ty . These will n ever be ta ugh t very quickly

, a nd will

never be taught we l l, except by the most patie n t, forbea ring,con si s tent at ten tion .

4 3 7 .- The guiding words should be taught a t the dai ly

work . When y ou first put the co lt in to the l ight chain ba r r ows

(4 1 1 ) will be a good t ime to begin thi s . Every time y ou pull

e i ther rein,le t the corresponding word “ haw”

o r“gee , be

uttered,a ndcont inue slowly repeating the word as lon g as y ou

pul l the re in o r want the col t t o turn in that d ire ction . AS y ou

drive him towards a fence o r other obstacle keep hi m s traigh t up

t o i t, and as he hesi ta tes whi ch way t o t urn from i t give him the

order, quie tly and dis tinctly,“ haw”

o r“ gee,

” and pul l the

corresponding rein . As he ge ts t o unde rstand the word turn h im

to the word alone , keepi ng the rein re ady t o e nforce obedience .

When he i s yoked t o a no ther horse con tinue the same

t reatmen t,and make both horses obey the guiding words at e ve ry

turn .

4 3 8 .—The resul t cou ld be has tened by a Sharp bi t o r a l oop

bridle severe ly used, but the calm unagi tated turn ing tha t i s so

desirable in a team would be los t,s o that i t i s much be tter t o

quie tly con t inue the lesson a t e very day ’s work than t o e xci te

the col t by any rough handl ing o f that sor t .

4 3 9.- The le sson can be equally wel l taught , al though still

more slowly,by working the col t alongside o f a wel l ta ught

horse tha t i s constantly guided by the voice, the col t be in g so

t ied that the o ldhorse can comman d his moveme n ts .

440 .—The Sl owing word “ s teady ,

”i s the o n e most rare ly

taugh t e f fectual ly . We consta n tly he ar i t used , bu t we se ldom

se e a horse that pays much at ten t ion t o i t . I t i s mos t e ffectual lyt augh t by driving the ho r se wi th re in s in any kind o f single

harness where he ha s n o t much t o pull . You can soon tea ch

STEADY, AND STOP. 1 95

him t o slow down from a tro t t o a walk a t the sound o f the word

steady,” softly and calmly repeated, enforcing at firs t obedience

wi th the re i ns . After he has been made qui te obedien t a t t hat,

teach hi m to slacken a walking pace t o a very slow walk as he

hears the word repeated, gently enforcing obedience wi th the

re in . This wil l be fa r more diffi cul t,and wil l only be taught t o a

l ively horse,wi th very persevering consistency

,un frustrated by

a n y thoughtless act calcula ted to exci te the horse . F o r instance,a fter y ou cease to repeat the word , and want the horse t o quicken

h i s pace , take care that y ou do n o t spoi l the slowing business

al toge ther by suddenly touching the horse up wi th a whip , but

give him plen ty o f harmless verbal noti ce o f the change y ou

desire . I t i s chiefly a ques tion o f confidence, and i s o f course

far more easily taught to a trusting, easy going an imal than to an

impatien t eager o n e .

44 1 .—St 0 p p i n g al toge ther to the word “ whay , i s ve ry

easily and quickly taught t o any young horse , and often more

quickly taught to a l ive ly than t o a sluggish an imal . Only a

harshly treated horse that has not been a l lowed t o s top Whi ls t

the word o r some combination o f i t has been shouted i n hi s

ears e ver gives any trouble about s toppin g t o order .

442 .

—There i s perhaps nothing in whi ch horse s di ff e r so ve rym uch as the ir will in gness o r unwi ll ingness t o go backwards .

Some horses take t o i t natural ly, and can hardly be preventedfrom doing so in season and out o f se ason . O thers are most

unwilling t o take a single s tep backwards, a nd ca n nei ther be

forced n o r frightened i n to any action i n tha t dire ction . The

di fficulty is general ly increased by b l inkers,and sometimes

rendered very grea t by forcing the col t backwards i n to some

danger,inj ury

, o r alarm t o begin wi th .

I t i s n o good t o threat en o r to strike him from the fron t , o r

to drag sa vagely a t his hi t . Take o ff his bl inkers, and standing

behind him,keep a firm

,s trong

,s teady pull o n both re in s un ti l

he gives back a step a nd t hen insta n tly slacken the rein , and le t

him f eel that he ha s relieved his m o n th by giving a step back

wards . Pet him a li t t le , and then repeat the proce ss . In this

way you will Slowly get hi m reconciled to the unnatural move

1 96 BACKING.

men t , and get him t o find out that no harm resul ts from i t . As

y ou use the reins repea t the word back,

” and he wil l n o t be long

in learning what y ou mean by i t .

44 3 .- Never at tempt to teach any horse to back a load until

y ou have taught him t o go backwards wi thout a load, and then

teach him to push a load backwards in the same gradual way ,and with the same precau tion s

,to give him confidence i n his own

power,as y o u use to ge t him to pull forwards Make hi m

thoroughly unders tand the word back , ,

by using the word and

the re ins toge ther,as long as may be necessary . I t i s a great

advantage t o have a Shaft horse that wil l back wi thou t any one

near his head,and when thus taught the horse always backs far

better that when pulled about wi th the bi t .

1 98 KICKING .

a pplied hee ls . The propensi ty has,to a grea t exten t been both

bred and educated out o f many s trai n s o f the domestica ted

horse , so far as to make them resor t to i t unwillin gly, and to

threaten lon g before they s trike .

446 .—There are many di ff eren t ways in which a resort t o

this n atural weapon i s dan gerously develope d by faul ty educat ion,

e ach requirin g to be m e t i n a differen t way,because proceeding

from very di ff eren t causes . The most common e xh ibi tion o f the

dangerous propensi ty i s kicking i n harnes s . We can only wonderthat an animal whose na tural defence i s kicking a nd runn ing

away, can s o com monly and s o soon be made t o all ow al l kind o f

s igh ts , sounds, and sensations t o fo llow him up wi thou t trying t o

do ei ther . When he does kick o r run away in harness , i t i s

a lmost always the con sequence o f fear , and ge nerally the dread o f

a repe ti tion o f something that has really hurt h im . The remedy

is to Show him that a carriage may fol low him close ly without

hurti ng him,and that therefore ne i the r runn ing away nor kicking

are n ecessary t o prote ct himsel f.

447 .—The firs t lesson m ay be directed t o the sense o f touch .

U se the smooth pole ( 3 8 1 to 3 83 ) o n every pa rt o f the body,

first wi thout and then wi th the bl inkers o n . F o r thi s purpose

the horse may be e i ther held by a rel iable assis tant, t ied up, t ied

t o hi s own tail o r secured by s tra pping up o n e fore leg

I t may take much longe r t o reconcile a horse tha t hasbee n hurt in harn ess than an unt ouched col t, e i the r t o Sights

,

sounds, o r touch . Al l that we have said a bout doing i t thoroughly

wi th the young horse , a ppl ies e qually here

44 8 .—You must nex t reconcile hi m t o the sigh t o f anything

tha t has alarmed h im . Put him in to some pla in l igh t f ourwhe e l,wi thou t blinkers, with a strong bridle , a nd wi th o n e fore legsecurely strapped up Howe ver wild o r vici ous he m ay be ,

he canno t kick o n three legs, and he cannot run fa r . The only

da nger i s that he may throw himse l f down , so tha t hi s kne es

should be protected wi th caps, the groundunder him be soft , and

the shafts Should n o t be very fra i l o r val uable . An experienced

m a n wi ll soon se e when he firs t s traps up a leg, wha t danger there i s

t hat the horse will n o t s tand up , a ndi f i t i s great will n o t t rus t

CONTACT W I TH CARRIAGE . 1 9 9

him i n shaf t s,but put a quie t horse i n the shafts and fasten the

kicker o n as out rigger .

449 .

- If the horse i s i n shafts alone,and ha s neve r been

bef ore a carriage wi thout bl i nkers on before,i t wi ll be desirable

that a m a n Should be o n e ach side of his head wi th a moderate ly

long strap at tached to his hi t , so tha t they can keep hi m in any

desired d irection , and cannot be thrown from his head however

violen tly he plunges . He wil l exert h imself pre tty ac t i v ely when

he first sees the wheels rol l ing after him,but wil l soon be obliged

to s top,and thus prove that the wheels s t e p whe n he s t e p s .

You must n o t keep hi m o n the same three legs long, but put o n e

leg down and strap up the o ther . I f you are not very skil ful a t

this,or have n o t a practised eye to s e e when the horse can be

trusted a few mom ents, i t will be wise t o unhi tch the horse

whils t you do i t .

45 0 .-When he ha s ceased to be alarmed about the wheels and

carriage running after hi m , unhi tch the breeching and traces , and

taking the shaf t s out o f the ba ckha nd, draw the carriage on to

his hind legs . Push i t backwards and forwards o n to h im

without hurting him, and ge t him to care as l i ttle abou t i t as

about the poling you have previously given him,before you

des is t.

4 5 1 .-You have n ew gentled him to the senses o f touch

and sight,you may next deal wi th his ears . Tie a common sack

to his tail and le t i t drag o n the gr ound after him . Then t i e a

large ti n can o f som e kind to the end o f the sack,and le t i t

j ump about and rattle after him . If he has any particular alarm

f o r any kind o f sound, give him plen ty o f i t , and le t him s e e tha t

noi se i s very harmless .

4 52 —In this way a horse will find out that a carriage may

follow hi m up,or r un o n him , o r make any amount o f n o i se

wi t hout hurti ng him , and wil l soon cease t o make any desperate

e ff orts t o r un away from i t .

45 3 .—You may n ow get a piece o f small s trong rope

,about

1 8 fee t long . Double i t,and taking the middle o f the rope ,

put i t over the horse ’s head,behind hi s e ars . Bring i t down o n

e ach side of his f ace , and cross i t i n hi s mouth , taking the re pes

2 0 0 CHECK LINE .

up agai n over his forehead and be twe en hi s ears . The two re pes

must be loosely tied together with loose h em o f small rope, o n e

o n the forehead and o n e behi nd the ears,the la tter bein g

securely fixed to the head o f the bridle . I f a ring were fixed in

the top o f the bridle for this purpose i t is ra t her be tter than

a lOOp . Bring the ropes back through some secure rings, o r

ropes,o r s traps on the saddle

,to a stron g ri ng o n the rump ,

abou t fift een inches from the roo t o f the tail . From this rump

ring bring down o n e re pe o n each side and tie securely to the

shafts,leaving n o more slack than i s necessary to le t the horse

move f ree ly . The traces and breechi ng must be s o hi t ched tha t,

the horse canno t get far forwards o r backwards,s o as to much

al ter the posi ti o n o r tightness o f the re pe . With a powerful

bridle and strong rei ns,you may now take your sea t behin d the

horse i n a carriage wi th a powerful break at your command .

Your assis tan t may then le t down the foot a n d you may drive

away . If the horse a t tempts to kick he cannot s ucceed, and

wi ll punish himself s o sev erely in the m o n th that he wi ll not try

many times .

4 5 4 .—This i s a rough lesson and o n e th at wi ll never be

necessary excep t wi th a horse tha t has been Spoi led, o r allowed

to hurt himself i n harness . Whilst the check l ine i s o n try

everything that i s l ikely to s e t him kicking and le t hi m clearly

s e e the i nstan t and i nvariable connection between k i cking and

punishing his own m o n th. When you canno t provoke the horse

to kick any more i n tha t gear, y ou m a y al ter i t by fas teni ng

the check li ne t o each S ide o f his hi t , instead of crossing i t in hi s

m o n th. You may drive him i n that way for several days , and

when that is discontinued,a secure

,well - placed

,common ki cking

s trap should be used for a long time,or unti l you are quit e sure

that there is no disposi t ion lef t to kick . I f at any time he Should

at tempt to ki ck wi th the common ki cking s trap o n , put o n the

punishing gear a gain,and le t h im give himsel f another lesson .

Thi s wi l l make the most dan gerous horse quie t e n o ugh for ordinary

purposes,and wil l keep him sa f e wi th constan t hard work, but

such horses are often l iable t o kick again af ter a lon g rest, o r i n

very frisky condition, o r under any Special provocation , and

2 0 2 KICK ING IN STABLE .

Whilst the lat ter i s a vice t o which any horse may be brought

by acciden t o r bad trea tmen t,and to which the timid are most

prone, t he former is n o t un frequen tly di splayed by horses that

have great confiden ce in themsel v es,and have been surrounded

by men o r boys who have e i ther teazed o r been afraid o f them .

Point ing o r poking at a horse, using uncertain hesi t atin g means to

make him stand - over i n the s table , runn ing from him as soon as

he turn s hi s heels towards you,or showing any signs o f f ear to

approach him,o r hurting him in the ac t o f clean ing will of ten

in duce a horse to kick . Some severi t y i s n ecessary here,bu t

there must be no pi tched bat tl es,o r doubt ful confl ic ts

,o r s triking

matches, which would be sure t o make matters far worse .

4 5 8 .—After y our ho r s e ha s don e feeding pu t o n a loop

bridle S trap up o n e of his legs and buckle a short

strap round the hind leg,clos e above the he ck , and ano ther

close below i t . Put ano ther s trap , loop, or r ing through both o f

t hem , in fron t o f the leg, and draw t hem together . Bring back

the l ine o f the loop brid le through a ri ng i n a surcingl e , at the

horse’s side , and fa s ten i t t o this fron t s trap, s o that when the

horse kicks he wi l l v iolen tly j erk his own j aw. Then pu t down

the fore leg and approach your horse in a way mos t likely to

make him k i ck wi th that leg . Thi s wil l soo n cure hi m o f the

habi t , and may be kept o n mos t o f th e t im e day a f ter day i f

necessary, merely taking o ff the lOOp bridle t o f eed h im ,al though

he ca n fee d fairly well wi th i t o n i f required . A re pe may be

brough t back t o ea ch hind leg i f necessary.

4 5 9 .—Whils t the loop bridle i s o n you can at tach a small

r ope t o the l eft side o f the loop, round the horse’s j aw, and bring

i t to the l eft s ide o f the s tal l n ear the manger . I t m a y there

pass t hrough a pulley,or a pie ce of wood wi th a large smooth

hole i n i t for the rope to pass freely , and come back to ano ther

p ulley on the in side o f the l e ft back stal l post. When you are “

goin g i n to the s tal l go in boldly , and t aking hold o f this rope pull

i t smartly,and s ay dis tinctly a t the same momen t stand - Over.

Re pe at this as often as necessary, and the horse will soon learn

t o turn h i s h ind quarters away from y ou when e ver y ou approach

the stall,o r wheneve r h e hears the o rde r t o s ta n d - over.

IN F IELD . 2 0 3

E v ery horse should be taugh t to do this , as i t makes h im handy,and preven ts his being taught to kick by t im i d hesi ta ting

approaches .

4 60 .—A horse that has acquired the hab i t o f kicking at the

s tall ca n be checked i n the same way . F o r th i s purpose a very

loose,easy loop bridle m ay be kept on day and nigh t un ti l the

habi t i s checked .

4 6 1 .—Kicking in the field o r a t any o n e who approaches

him is a very dangerous vice . A horse liable t o do t his should

be severely checked wi thou t delay. Turn hi m out wi th an easy

loop bridle o n,to which a very long and ligh t rope may be

a ttached . The rope may be kept so that the horse canno t tread

o n i t by supporting i t wi th the mane and the tai l . Tie a strong

lo ok of each with a p iece o f waxed string, and dividing i t i n the

m iddle pass the l in e through i t . In th is way the l in e may trail

so far behind the horse that you can ge t hold o f i t , and eff ectual ly

order him to stop , and to turn the righ t e n d towards y ou. Do

th i s very often , and somewhat severely, whilst the br idle i s o n

him,always using the same words , and he will soon learn t o

understand and obey the words,even when y o u have n o means

t o en force your commands .

4 62 .—The same means may be used with a horse tha t run s

awa y when y ou approach hi m , and fo r t hat purpose the l ine may

be l eft any length t ha t y ou may know to be n ecessary . If the rope

i s ve ry small, and the loop loose round the j aw, i t will not greatly

in t erfere with hi s fee ding. O f course the dragging end o f the rope

m ust be we l l bound t o preven t i t unravel l ing. The horse will

soon lea rn to drag i t careful ly, and i t will make him for a longt ime afterwards more gentle and submissive in his grass rambles .

B EARING .

4 63 .—H igh conditioned and live ly horses that are least

liable t o kick, a r e often mos t l iable to rear, o r stand o n t h e i r

h ind legs. They are most likely to do this when roughly handle d

o r checke d wi th a curbed bi t . With most horses gen tle,sensible

t re a tmen t, a nda mi ld bi t will pre vent this . With a ll mild cases,

andwith all young horses that remedy should be pat ien tly tried .

2 04 STICKING UP.

W i th some few horses t he habi t becomes ve ry i n vet erate a ndverydan gerous , and t he n the o ldrough r ider

’s remedy must be resorted

t o , but wi thout the ri sk that he very unnecessari ly in curs.

464 .—Put o n a pair o f bl inkers wi th a severe curb bi t.

T a ke your horse to a very deeply and uni formly covered dung

yard, o r other very soft ground . Put o n a pa i r o f long re ins,and drive your horse abou t wi t h t hem . I n a good clear spo t

check him , so a s to make him r ear, and when he rears pull him

over on his back . Repeat this un ti l y ou~ca n ge t him t o rear n o

more . He wil l rem ember the lesso n for ever afterwards,and will

probably never re ar dangerously again . This i s a very rough

lesson and unl ess the ground i s very carefully chosen the horse

m ay be seriou sly inj ured by the high fall, but i t i s less dangerous,e ven to the horse himsel f, t o adop t th is severe remedy t han t o

leave hi m t o choose hi s own ground fo r a similar fall in

unskilled hands . A severe curb b i t i s always l i ab le t o make a

horse rear,and wit h such a bi t a r earing horse should never be

t rusted in unskilful hands . A loop bridle,a lo op round the j aw,

o r a ring bi t, give gr e a t 'ho ldi n g power wi thout the same tendency

t o cause rearing.

ST ICKING U P

4 6 5 .—Or insi sting upon going where they please, o r up on

not going in any parti cular direction,i s a vice very common wi th

badly broken horses, m , wi th horses t hat ha ve been a l lowed t o

fi ndout the i r own power. . I t m ust n ever be mistaken fo r j ibbing,which r esul t s from quite a di ff eren t cause

,and requires to tally

differen t treatmen t J i bbi n g comes from a wan t o f confidence

i n his own power sticking up from t o o much fai th in his own

power,and t o o l i t tle i n yours . S t icking up i s more often shown

in saddle than in harness,though i t i s common enough i n bo th .

4 6 6 . I t may be shown in a hundred diff e re nt ways and may

require a hundred differe n t st ratagems t o overcome i t , but t here

a r e some rules that will apply t o a ll ca ses .

Never accept the horse ’s own challen ge ne ver m ake a

m arty r of him " n ever attack him in the way he e xpect s to be

a t tacked, and has prepared to resi s t y ou. Ne ver le t the e ncoun ter

2 0 6 STRATAGEMS .

i t, and taking the re ins over hi s head, draw them through the

ha ir o f the ta il so a s to give his head a sharp bend towards

the tail (3 4 6 t o This i s most easi ly and safe ly done i f y ou

have provided a f ew ya rds o f s tring i n your p ocke t . Ti e the

s tring t o the end o f the re i ns,and passing i t through the hair o f

the tai l , draw the re ins t o the requiredti ghtness and t i e the s trin gt o the left s ide o f the bi t

,in a bow that can e asi ly be un tied wi th

a single pull .

4 72 .—Fail ing the s tring

,unbuckle the re i ns from the left

ring of the bi t , and pass the re ins through the left ring, so tha t

the rein will rem ain buckled to the righ t ri ng a ndpass under the

jaw through the left ring . Pass the re in back through the ha ir

o f the tail , and bringing i t forward t o the head , buckle o r t ie i t

a t the required len gth t o the left ring o f the bi t .

I f the tai l i s a short o n e , o r i f there i s any difficul ty abou thair

, y ou ca n use o n e o f y our s tirr up leathers t o give al l the

length y ou require . S t art your horse turning round,a nd a s

soon as he appears giddy o r threatens t o l ie down,un tie the rein

,

ge t o n his back and go on . I f he ha s had enough circl ing a ll

thought o f resi stance will have left him if he has not had enough

give hi m another dose .

4 7 3 .

—A harness horse may be t aken out o f a carriage,and

served i n the same way if n ecessary, but the back ing remedy wil l

general ly answer the purpose wi th them o r taking them out a nd

giving them a shor t lounge round o n the rein. Never figh t wi ththem whi lst hi tched t o any vehicle, o r y ou may teach them the

f a r more i ncurable vices o f kicking o r j i bbi n g.

4 74 .—Wi th some horses i t has proved qui te easy t o bre ak up

the habi t by simply let tin g them turn the ir own way, a nd then

t aking them where y ou want t o go by some lon ger route .

4 75 .

—We once knew a horseman who cured hi s horse by

s i t ting quie tly o n hi s back f o r seven hours , o n the spot where he

chose dai ly t o s t ick up , and then doing the j ourney the horse

had obj ected to go .

LYING DOWN,

4 76 .

—So common ly resorted to by a refractory, o r weak, o rweary, o r overheat ed, o r persecuted ox , i s very ra rely attempted

JIBBING IDIOSYNCRACIES . 2 0 7

by a heal thy horse, s o that when he does li e down , something

wrong with hi s heal th may be very seriously suspected . E i ther

a n ox o r a horse can be i nstan tly brough t t o hi s legs by s topping

his breath,without resorting to any o f those sicken ing cruel ties

sometimes practi sed upon them . S topping thei r nostrils wi th aclo th

,a turf

, o r a lump o f s ti ff mud o r cl ay, will compel them to

rise wi thou t a moment ’s delay . Turnin g up their muzzle and

pouring a l i t tle water down the nos tri l , i s another form o f the

same o ldand effectual remedy .

JIBBING .

4 77 .—Is the most common and the most incurable o f a ll

equine vices . We have shown that i t i s always the resul t o f

faul ty education,but nothing in the world will en tirely cure i t

after i t has been beaten in t o a horse,al though judicious

treatmen t will preven t i ts exhibi tion under ordinary circums tances .

4 78 .- No two j ibs are exactly al ike . Each horse wil l be

prone to exhibi t the stran ge weakness most readily under the

c i rcumstances i n which he ha s learned i t, o r i n which he

remembers t o have suffered most . Thus, i f he was whipped

when firs t put i n to the col lar, he will always be pro n e t o obj ect

to a cold col lar,though he may perhaps work fairly well i n a

warm o n e , and even pul l hard and wel l after he ha s been some

t ime at work . Such horses are usually called collar proud.

”

I f,o n the o ther hand , he was properly taugh t to pul l a t first

,

but whipped at some heavy pull afterwards, he may go a ll righ t

at first,but stick - up when he z

o om e s to anything heavy . O thers

wi l l associate some parti cular kind o f work, some part o f a

particular hi ll,some voice , o r s ight, o r sound, wi th the ir punish

ment,and will stick - up , without any apparen t rhyme o r reason

,

o n the most unexpected occasions .

4 79 .—Thus e very j ib will require somewhat di ff eren t treat

men t,some Special precaution , al though the obj ect i s the same

with them all,and that i s to restore some confidence i n their own

power,and to m ake them forge t any i ll usage they have suff er ed

,

and learned to associate wi th the collar .

48 0 .- The utmost patience and gen tleness under every p r o

2 0 8 PATIENCE .

vocation,combined wi th very regular rather Slow, fand suffi cien t

dai ly work,that wil l keep the horse constan tly associated

with the col lar,without any o f the al arm o r suffering he has

l earnedto connect wi th i t, i s the surest way to convert a j ib i nto

a m ode r a t ely useful worker . Such horses should never be f ed

above thei r work . Grass,roots , or any soft or bulky food will

keep them less nervous, and consequen t ly more rel iable than too

much corn , or hard , concentrated food would do .

4 8 1 .

—Much that we have said on this subj ec t under the theoryand pract i ce o f breaki ng to harness , will require to be borne i n

mind i n the treatment o f these Spoi led horses . The differen t

ways o f retrieving a mis take ( 3 95 to 3 99) will often apply here ,a s wel l as what we have said under the head o f exercise ( 1 3 9 ,

4 8 2 .—The collar proud horse , o r the horse that i s prone n o t

t o s tar t wel l in a cold collar, should have the harness pu t o n some

hours before he i s wan ted to work , and the traces tied tight ly

back t o the breechi ng, so as to press the collar on to the warm

shoulders . If that i s not found suffi cien t to se cure a quie t start,

the horse m ay be lounged with the col la r s o t ied,j ust enough to

warm him a l i ttl e be fore he i s pu t.

i n to the carriage , o r asked to

pull anything ( 1 3 9, Take whatever precautions o f thi s

kind may be necessary to secure a quie t s tart when first put in to

the carri age . Under such treatment the horse will Slowly but

constan tly improve , and will ul timately forge t the habi t wi th

regular constan t work,but i f once you pu t him in to the col lar

,

and whip hi m up to i t,you will ef fec tually undo a ll the resul ts

of mon ths of careful train ing . There i s s omethi ng in cold itself,

which has a great eff ec t upon these horses , s o tha t you will find

that they wan t more precautions or preparation to start them o n

a col d day,tha n o n a warm one . This more especial ly applies to

a cold summer da y , or to a cl ipped horse , as horses with fine

short coats are more affected by a cold collar than horses with

thei r wi n ter coats o n .

4 8 3 .

—The horse that wi l l no t pull when the load comes

heavily and slowly behind him , i s not so easily m anaged , and the

habi ts of such horses are so various tha t "volumes could not

describe them all . For heavy draft , such horses are useless o n

2 1 0 TRY SOMETHING NEW .

day wi th certain ty,without any o n e near him

,but to the end o f

his l ife he would never try to take s i x.

4 8 8 .—If the horse s tops af t er h is shoulders have been

warmed,and where the pull ing i s not heavy, y ou have a puzzl inga nd very uncertai n case to deal with " most likely o n e upon

which many doctors have tried their mischie vous hands . Horses

that have long been used i n the saddle only,and have been quie t

enough to put i nto harness , at an advanced age , without having

been taught to pull o r ge tting any real harness education ,a r e mos t often seen to exh ibi t thi s form

l

o f j ibbi n g. When such

a horse s t e p s , y ou will see by his e very at ti tude that he expects

t o be beaten o r persecuted i n some way, and ye t he s ti cks up

a nd prepares himself, as i f he practical ly wanted a repe ti t ion o f

the suffering he ha s learned t o dread and expect.

4 89 .

—Whate ver y ou do wi th these poor but provoking

creatures y ou mus t n o t obl ige them wi th what they are thus so

e viden tly prepared to rece i ve , but at once dire ct their a t tention

from the s trange fear, fancy, o r frenzy that has come over them .

Do some thing tha t is not l ikely to have e ntered i nto the horse ’s

calcula tions . Fasten up the re in s , s o that they wi l l be qui te

loose o n the horse’s mou th , a nd wi thin reach whe n you hastily

re turn to your se at . Put a handkerchief round o n e o f his fore

pa s tern s, and hold up o n e o f his fore legs f o r a f ew minutes,o r ti e i t up to hi s girth . Whe n the foo t is p ut down , i f he shows

no des i r e t o go o n , take him ge ntly by the head , and ge t him to

go backwards f o r a l i ttle way. Then leave hi s head and

going back to hi s Shoulder, give h im a sudden push,firs t from

o n e side, and then from t he other,so a s to make him move

s ideways . Whe n he s tar t s forward, don’ t s te p him t o ge t in to

the carriage, but ge t ba ck t o your seat wi t hou t touching the

r e ins " o r fail ing that, r un by hi s S ide fo r a whi le,a nd very

gen tly slow him down a s much as may be ne cessary, but do n o t

s te p i f you can help i t.

4 90 .—Some times a s tart ca n be made by p utting your

handke rchief r ound o n e o f h i s fo re pas terns, a nd pull ing

the foot forwa r d o n the ground, holding i t t here un t il the

horse brings hi s o ther legs up t o i t, and then repeating the

DWYER ’S MARTINGALE . 2 1 1

action . I n thi s way he comes slowly i nto the collar,and finding

that i t yields to him the s trange spell i s some times broken .

4 9 1 .—But wi th the very best possible treatmen t

,every th ing

i s uncer tain and unsatisfactory wi th these Spoi led animals . We

have never see n o n e we could n o t s tar t i n some way wi thout

viole nce,but we canno t give any o n e way that would be certa in

to do i t . Fail i ng success i n any o ther way, take them out of the

harness,and drive them about , o r l ounge them and pu t

t hem in again .

RUNNING AWAY

4 92 .

—Is a term appl ied to an uncon trollable gallop,which

may pro ceed from very diff eren t causes , and presen t very di ff eren t

degrees o f dan ger . There i s the sel f- wille d gallop of the hard

m outhed horse , who chooses to go his own pace,and in his own

directio n . There i s the uncon trollab le gallop,exci ted by emula

tion in company, or the determination not to be le f t behind , so

common i n the hun ting field , o r riding parti es . And there i s

the far more dangerous pani c fl igh t o f the terrified horse .

4 93 .—The two former are l i t tle dreaded by a good horseman

,

a l though n o o ther should attempt to ride them . A more power ful

b i t , o r what is much be tter, o n e o f Dwyer’s running m artingales,

which i s shortened o r lengthened by the rider,under great

mechani cal advan tage,and the head brought in to any required

posi t ion wil l compel these horses to pay a ttent ion to the re in s .r arder work o r lower fare , o r putting them where they will ge t

m ore galloping than they l ike, will soon effec t a great reform i n

t he manners o f such horses.

4 94 .

—The pani c - stricken horse running away in terror

under the i mpress ion that some frightful animal has go t o n h is

back, o r i s following o n his heels, is a pi tiable sigh t, and o n e

f ul l o f danger . H is exertions are so despera te and exhausting,

a n dthe speed so te rrific,tha t e i ther a f al l o r a col l isio n is sure t o

be somethin g very serious , a nd the horse loses h is senses so

c omple tely that he. i s far more l ikely to r un i n to, than to avo i d

the most eviden t danger . I t rarely i f ever occurs wi th the wel l

educated horse, bu t sometime s at tacks a hal f educated saddl e

2 1 2 H OLDING BY THE TA IL.

horse, l ike the animal that killed Mr . John ston at Adelaide

and i s common with harness horses that have not been

t aught t o work before carriages without blinkers,and t o se e a ll

that i s coming beh ind them .,Such l p broken horses a r e

a lways l iable t o catch a sigh t o r sound o f something that they

have not been re conciled to , and t o gallop o ff in fran tic terror .

A horse that has once run away in harness,and inj ured o r hur t

himself i s rarely sa fe again,and should n o t be trusted in s ingle

harness . Such horses should be consigned to work where the ir

companions, o r a s trong carriage, harness, and break , i n good

hands,will securely restrain them .

BREAK ING BRIDLES,

4 95 .—Or anyth ing he i s t ied wi th, i s a habi t preven t ed by

careful education but when a horse has once found out

what a frai l thing a bridle is,when opposed to his strength, i t i s

no t always possible to make hi m again bel ieve tha t he cannot

break i t . The most probable way o f des troying the hab i t i s t o

s o t ie the horse for a wh i l e,that he will hurt hi s tai l whenever

he hangs back . Ge t a pi ece of good , new , smal l rope , about 1 5

o r 1 6 fee t lon g . Put the middle o f i t under h is tai l l ike a crupper

Cross the rope o n his back , and bring an end down 0 1 1 each side o f

his Shoulder, and t i e the ends together Securely over his breast

T ie a s trong cord to this,and passing t hrough h is hal ter tie i t

securely t o some thing s trong . Tie h is hal ter to the same post

wi th a l ine that the horse can r eadily break, and S ix i nches

shorter than the s tr o n g l i n e connected with his tai l .

4 96 .

—N ow roll a barrel , or do something i n fron t of thehorse that you kn ow wil l make hi m fiy back . The hal ter rope

will thus break , and he wil l rece ive a severe j erk of the strong

rope under his tai l,and wil l find that he i s no t loose after a ll .

This may be repeated,but the horse wil l n o t repeat i t m any

times . After thi s he Should for a week or two never be t ied up

excep t w ith a strong hal ter,wi th the halter rope passing round a

smooth pos t,or through a ring

,a n d t ied at his breast t o the rope

passing under hi s tai l , s o tha t when he hangs back the weigh t

wil l be divided between his head and hi s t ail , and he wi l l take

2 1 4 GETTING OAST.

a n ddoes not lead to col i c,or t o hal f the il l consequences usually

a ttributed to i t. We have known an ardent crib - b i t er tha t never

had an at tack o f co li c i n h i s l i fe . The habi t may generally be

prevented by coverin g the edge o f the manger, o r any t hing the

horse i s i n the hab i t o f se izin g with sheep skin,wi th close short

a )

wool o n i t, and wel l dus ti ng the wool wi th cayenne pepper .

ROLLING

5 0 0 .

—Is not a bad,but a very good habi t wi th the horse in

a sta te o f nature, as i t i s nature’s wa v to remove and deodorise the

excretions from the ski n . But when practi sed i n the stall, whils t

the horse is ti ed up,i t i s ap t to ge t him in to difficult ies o f several

kinds . Mischief i s general ly prevented by tyin g him moderately

shor t, and always to a weigh t that wil l draw i n any slack rope

out of danger . I f th is does no t preven t the horse ge tting cast

o r en tangled , he can be prevented from roll ing a t al l , by tying

a smal l rope i n to a ring,sewn into the top o f his hal ter , at the

poll , and bringing the rope over a pul ley fixed j us t above h is

head and carrying i t on to another pulley fixed in the wal l o r

stal l post . From this the rope should fall through a small hole

o r s taple , where i t wil l be out o f the way, and have a smal l weigh t

at tached t o i t, at such a distance from the hole o r staple, as wil l

al low th e weigh t to rise h igh enough f o r the horse to reach the

ground with h is muzzle,but no t to lay his head flat

,wi th hi s

ear o n the ground , as he always does before rol l ing. O f course

a far be tter way when practi cable i s to give such a horse, o r

i ndeed any horse , a loose box and not to t ie hi m up a t al l .

5 0 1 .—Rushing through a s table door, s o as t o s trike

h i s h ips o r sides violen tly against the door posts , i s a habi t

that a nervous horse soon picks up , and which wil l ge t worse

e very time he hurts himself a t i t . When a young horse is firs t

harnessed, o r whi ls t l i ttle accus tomed t o s table doors , he should

always be led through them without bli nkers , whi ch are the

cause o f the mischief. I f this canno t convenien tly be done, he

m ay be backed through the door ways wi th the bli nk ers o n .