horse taming and horse training—horse management—whip training—curing bad habits, etc.
some few persons imagine that to possess a proper mastery over their horses, they must maintain their authority by brute force. this is a great mistake. more work, within the limit of safety, can be got out of a horse by kindness than by cruelty, and as far as managing a horse is concerned the chief point is to teach him confidence in you. if he believes you to be his friend he will not only strive to please you, but will have less fear of strange objects which otherwise might startle him and render him refractory.
the rareys—there are two or three of them—taught the world a most important lesson when they taught it the “power of kindness” and “self-control” in the management of horses, donkeys, zebras, and other animals. how often do we see inconsiderate parents fly into a passion and, without reason or religion, thrash the object of their displeasure. so of brutal, heartless drivers, when the “blinded” horses chance to misstep, get off the track, stumble, or in the wrong place. by their actions it would appear that they expected a horse or an ass to reason quite as well as themselves. employers may not look for the same talent in their apprentices as in their foreman. teachers may expect every little urchin to be self-regulating and to mind his books; but this it is his duty to teach him to do, and he should be all patience, all kindness, affection, perseverance, if he would produce the best results. the same spirit is required to subdue and manage a horse. if you say you are not equal to the task; if you say your child, your horse, or 18your ox knows more than you, is your master, then you are not the one to manage him, and you should resign in favor of one who is superior to child, horse, or ox. a weak man in intellect may indeed be outwitted by a sagacious child or horse.
there is no disguising the fact that viciousness is innate with some horses. but far more so with some, nay, most, men, from whom they get it. it is no doubt sometimes hereditary, and follows some of the best strains of blood we have. that viciousness should accompany a highly nervous organization is not to be wondered at. hence it causes no surprise when we find such dispositions among the finely organized thoroughbreds—animals of a most sensitive and nervous organization—from which the common expression “thin skinned,” as applied to a too sensitive man, is obviously derived. the treatment horses receive, and the moral atmosphere in which they are thrown, have a much greater influence than most horsemen are generally inclined to admit. the pinching, tickling, rough, boisterous stable boy who annoys a spirited horse for the sake of enjoying his futile, though almost frantic kicks and leers, is affecting the disposition of the horse and his descendants for generations to come, besides putting in jeopardy the lives and limbs of those who are brought in contact with the horse so tampered with. a horse is surely influenced by the character of the men with whom he associates.
sometimes, however, it is necessary to conquer a bad tempered horse, and if possible to secure a radical conversion or change of character which shall be lasting. no timorous man need undertake this task; he will only make matters worse. a horse tamer should be calm, cool, brave, and fearless—the horse will know it; he should be quiet, for then the horse will be put off his guard; he should be firm and give the brute no advantage, but crowd him up to doing something, and that, invariably, what the tamer wants him to do. thus any ordinary horse will soon give up and own man his master. the kindest treatment and even petting must always follow yielding; and if possible to help it, the horse should never be frightened by any treatment, and above all things he should never be angered by petty torture. his own contrariness should appear to him to be the cause of all his trouble, and man his best friend. this principle is at the foundation of rarey’s successful practice.
powell’s management of wild horses.
place your horse in a small yard, or in a stable or room. if in a stable or room, it ought to be large, in order to give him some exercise with the halter before you lead him out. if the 19horse belongs to that class which appears only to fear man, you must introduce yourself gently into the stable, room, or yard, where the horse is. he will naturally run from you, and frequently turn his head from you; for you must walk about extremely slow and softly, so that he can see you whenever he turns his head toward you, which he never fails to do in a short time, say in a quarter or half an hour. i never knew one to be much longer without turning toward me.
at the very moment he turns his head, hold out your hand toward him, and stand perfectly still, keeping your eyes upon the horse, watching his motions, if he makes any. if the horse does not stir for ten or fifteen minutes, advance as slowly as possible, and without making the least noise, always holding out your left hand, without any other ingredient in it than what nature put in it. i have made use of certain ingredients before people, such as the sweat under my arm, etc., to disguise the real secret and many believed that the docility to which the horse arrived in so short a time was owing to these ingredients; but you see from this explanation that they were of no use whatever. the implicit faith placed in these ingredients, though innocent of themselves, becomes “faith without works.” and thus men always remained in doubt concerning the secret. if the horse makes the least motion when you advance toward him, stop, and remain perfectly still until he is quiet. remain a few moments in this condition, and then advance again in the same slow and almost imperceptible manner. take notice, if the horse stirs, stop, without changing your position. it is very uncommon for the horse to stir more than once after you begin to advance, yet there are exceptions. he generally keeps his eyes steadfast on you, until you get near enough to touch him on the forehead. when you are thus near to him, raise your hand slowly and by degrees, and let it come in contact with that part just above the nostrils as lightly as possible. if the horse flinches (as many will,) repeat with great rapidity these light strokes upon the forehead, going a little farther up toward his ears by degrees, and descending with the same rapidity until he will let you handle his forehead all over. now let the strokes be repeated with more force all over his forehead, descending by lighter strokes to each side of his head, until you can handle that part with equal facility. then touch in the same light manner, making your hands and fingers play around the lower part of the horse’s ears, coming down now and then to his forehead, which may be looked upon as the helm that governs all the rest.
having succeeded in handling his ears, advance toward the 20neck with the same precaution, and in the same manner; observing always to augment the force of the strokes whenever the horse will permit it. perform the same on both sides of the neck, until he lets you take it in your arms without flinching.
proceed in the same progressive manner to the sides, and then to the back of the horse. every time the horse shows any nervousness, return immediately to the forehead, as the true standard, patting him with your hands, and thence rapidly to where you had already arrived, always gaining ground a considerable distance farther on every time this happens. the head, ears, neck, and body being thus gentled, proceed from the back to the root of the tail.
this must be managed with dexterity, as a horse is never to be depended on that is skittish about the tail. let your hand fall lightly and rapidly on that part next to the body a minute or two, and then you will begin to give it a slight pull upward every quarter of a minute. at the same time you continue this handling of him, augment the force of the strokes as well as the raising of the tail, until you can raise it and handle it with the greatest ease, which commonly happens in a quarter of an hour in most horses, in others almost immediately, and in some much longer. it now remains to handle all his legs; from the tail come back again to the head, handle it well, as likewise the ears, breast, neck, etc., speaking now and then to the horse. begin by degrees to descend to the legs, always ascending and descending, gaining ground every time you descend, until you get to his feet.
talk to the horse while thus taming him; let him hear the sound of your voice, which at the beginning of the operation is not quite so necessary, but which i have always done in making him lift up his feet. “hold up your foot,” you will say; at the same time lifting his foot with your hand. he soon becomes familiar with the sounds, and will hold up his foot at command. then proceed to the hind feet and go on in the same manner; and in a short time the horse will let you lift them, and even take them up in your arms.
all this operation is no magnetism, or galvanism; it is merely taking away the fear a horse generally has of a man, and familiarizing the animal with his master. as the horse doubtless experiences a certain pleasure from this handling, he will soon become gentle under it, and show a very marked attachment to his keeper.
managing horses by kindness.
a lady visiting egypt some years ago, gave in one of her 21letters to her friends at home, an instance of the power of gentleness in controlling even the most spirited of horses. she gives the following description of her experience with the arabian horses: “i fear you may deem me rather boastful of my horsemanship when i tell you that the two arab horses which threw their cavaliers did not throw me. the cause of the exception was not in me or my skill; it was the very remarkable predilection these intelligent animals feel toward individuals of the weaker sex. let the wildest and fiercest arabian be mounted by a woman, and you will see him suddenly grow mild and gentle as a lamb. i have had plenty of opportunities to make the experiment, and in my own stables there is a beautiful gray arabian which nobody but myself dares to ride. he knows me, anticipates my wishes, and judiciously calculates the degree of fatigue i can bear without inconvenience. it is curious to see how he can manage to quicken his pace without shaking me, and the different sorts of steps he has invented to realize those contradictory purposes. horses being as liable to forgetfulness as other organized beings, my incomparable gray would allow his natural ambition to overcome his gallantry, and if another horse threatened to pass him, would start off with the speed of the whirlwind. woe to me if, under these circumstances, i were to trust to the strength of my arm or the power of the bridle! i knew my gallant charger better. leaving my hand quite loose, and abandoning all thoughts of compulsion, i would take to persuasion; pat him on the neck; call him by his name; beg him to be quiet and deserve the piece of sugar waiting for him at home. never did these gentle means fail. instantly he would slacken his pace, prick up his ears as if fully comprehending his error, and come back to a soft amble, gently neighing as if to crave pardon for his momentary offense.”
this power of women over the arabian horses is partly due, no doubt, to the fact that when still a colt he is reared in the back part of the tent, the movable harem of the arab. he is constantly petted, and it is the women who see that he is supplied with food, and tenderly cared for. it is the attachment which is by these means awakened in the horse that leads him to so cheerfully yield obedience to the female voice. deservedly high as may stand the arabian horse for docility and sagacity, it should not be forgotten that, in the absence of all other amusements, the education of the foal becomes a pleasure as well as a business; it thus becomes attached to its biped companions, and takes a pride in enacting all that is required of him. if his rider falls, the horse will stand by and neigh for assistance; if he lies down to sleep, the horse will watch over him 22and give notice of the approach of man or beast. similar anecdotes are related of all horses kindly treated, no matter where may be their home. we heard of one who had a drunken master, and this horse surpassed the arab example even in intelligence, for he would modify his gait so as to keep his reeling rider from falling off; and if this catastrophe did happen, the horse would stand for hours, regardless of food or drink, and with anger and determination attack man or beast that would approach too near.
to cure a stubborn disposition.
if your horse, instead of being wild, seems to be of a stubborn or mulish disposition; if he lays back his ears as you approach him, or turns his heels to kick you, he has not the regard or fear of man that he should have to enable you to handle him quickly and easily; and it might be well to give him a few sharp cuts with the whip, about the legs, pretty close to the body. it will crack keenly as it plies around his legs, and the crack of the whip will affect him as much as the stroke; besides one sharp cut about his legs will affect him more than two or three over his back, the skin on the inner part of his legs or about his flank being thinner, more tender, than on his back. but do not whip him much—just enough to frighten him; it is not because we want to hurt the horse that we whip him—we only do it to frighten vice and stubbornness out of him. but whatever you do, do quickly, sharply, and with a good deal of fire, but always without anger. if you are going to frighten him at all, you must do it at once. never go into a pitched battle with your horse, and whip him until he is mad and will fight you; it would be better not to touch him at all, for you will establish, instead of fear and respect, feelings of resentment, hatred, and ill-will. it will do him no good, but harm, to strike him, unless you can frighten him; but if you can succeed in frightening him, you can whip him without making him mad; for fear and anger never exist together in the horse, and as soon as one is visible, you will find that the other has disappeared. as soon as you have frightened him, so that he will stand up straight and pay some attention to you, approach him again, and caress him a good deal more than you whipped him; thus you will excite the two controlling passions of his nature, love and fear; he will love and fear you too; and, as soon as he learns what you require, will obey quickly. the stubbornness once broken down, there is seldom any farther trouble of that score, if the horse be afterward managed with judgment and kindness. he will appreciate your kindness and become desirous of pleasing you.
23
the cord and line webbing.
one of the main appliances used by horse tamers is a three or four ply cord or rope, one of cotton being the best, such as is used by the indians for subduing their horses. this cord is a powerful instrument for either good or evil, as it is properly or improperly used. it may be prepared by any one in the manner shown in the engraving:
looping the cord.
a knot is to be tied in each end, then make a loop by doubling the cord and passing the knot through as represented above. be careful to make the loops at such a distance from the knot as will allow the cord to pass around the neck at one end, and the lower jaw at the other, passing the knot through the loop from the opposite side of the loop to where it passed through in making the lap. the necessity for this will be seen on applying the cord. the object is to obtain steady pressure upon the lower jaw, as well as friction in the mouth.
in addition to the cord a piece of worsted webbing, such as is used for driving lines should be prepared in the following manner: divide it into two parts, one piece being of sufficient length to girt the body. make a loop in one end large enough for the other end to pass through, so as, when adjusted it is sufficiently long to tie. these pieces of webbing will be useful in carrying out future directions.
to teach a horse to stop.
the word “whoa” should be used only to stop a horse when he is in motion. never use it when you approach a horse standing quietly. horses soon learn to distinguish any word often addressed to them, and they should learn to associate it with some definite and exact duty which you wish them to perform. if any word of command is used indiscriminately, or out of its proper place, the animal becomes confused and loses the association between the word and the object desired.
to teach a horse the meaning of the word “whoa,” the arrangement shown in the accompanying illustration may be used. put the large web, previously described, around his 24near fore foot, pass it under the girth; and as the animal walks along, pull up the foot, saying at the same instant, “whoa.” he will be brought to a stop, and by repeating the lesson he will soon raise the foot and stop even though the web is not pulled upon.
“whoa.”
teaching the horse to back.
to teach a horse to back.
put the cord upon the horse, using the small loop; draw it with a steady pull; this brings the horse’s nose toward his body. keep a firm hold upon the cord until he steps back a little, using at the same time the word “back.” then caress him; by doing so you show him that he has done exactly as you wished him to, and the caresses should be repeated every 25time he obeys. the utmost gentleness must be observed in order not to excite him, and the lesson should not be long enough to tire him. five to ten minutes being the best length, repeated at intervals of a few hours. as soon as he understands what you desire he will probably back promptly at command.
to make a horse follow you.
the directions make simple what have hitherto been among the mysteries of the circus. turn the horse into a large stable or shed, where there is no chance to get out, with a halter or bridle on. go to him and gentle him a little, take hold of his halter, and turn him toward you, at the same time touching him lightly over the hips with a long whip. lead him the length of the stable, rubbing him on the neck, saying in a steady tone of voice, “come along, boy!” or use his name instead of “boy,” if you choose. every time you turn, touch him slightly with the whip, to make him step up close to you, and then caress him with your hand. he will soon learn to hurry up to escape the whip and be caressed, and you can make him follow you around without taking hold of the halter. if he should stop and turn from you, give him a few sharp cuts about the hind legs, and he will soon turn his head toward you, when you must always caress him. a few lessons of this kind will make him run after you, when he sees the motion of the whip—in twenty or thirty minutes he will follow you about the stable. after you have given him two or three lessons in the stable, take him out into a small field and train him; and thence you can take him into the road and make him follow you anywhere, and run after you.
to stand without holding.
to make a horse stand without holding, after you have him well broken to follow you, place him in the center of the stable—begin at his head to caress him, gradually working backward. if he moves give him a cut with the whip, and put him back to the same spot from which he started. if he stands, caress him as before, and continue gentling him in this way until you can get round him without making him move. keep walking around him, increasing your pace, and only touch him occasionally. enlarge your circle as you walk around, and if he then moves, give him another cut with the whip, and put him back to his place. if he stands, go to him frequently and caress him, and then walk around him again. do not keep him in one position too long at a time, but make him come to you occasionally, and follow you around the stable. then make him stand in another 26place, and proceed as before. you should not train your horse more than half an hour at a time.
whip training.
so accustomed are we to the use of bit and reins for driving that we have got to consider them absolutely requisite for guiding a horse. horses however may, if properly taught, be driven without either bit or reins, merely by signals with the whip. probably the simplest and most concise directions for whip training are given by mr. jennings in his valuable work on training horses. mr. jennings says:
“to train a horse thoroughly to drive without bit or line, under the whip, requires from four to six weeks’ time; it requires also a man of strong nerve and self-control to be a successful trainer in this particular branch. whip training illustrates the beauty and power of our system of horse training. such a feat as driving a horse without bit or line cannot be accomplished by any other system known to man. having selected a horse with a moderate share of intelligence, the next thing is to secure a suitable place for training. an enclosure twenty-five or thirty feet square is required. if you have it smaller, and your horse should be disposed to kick, you would be in danger; if larger it gives the animal too much room to get away from the whip. it is better that you go in with the horse alone, as then the animal will have no other object to take his attention. turn him loose without bridle or halter in the enclosure; take your position in the centre, holding in your right hand a straight whip nine or ten feet long; you crack the whip as you take your position; this alarms the horse and causes him to run into one corner of the enclosure; crack it several times that he may learn that you do not intend to hurt him; now commence tapping him lightly upon the near shoulder, but not to hurt him; if a nervy fellow he is all excitement for a few minutes; continue the tapping until he turns his head toward you, which he will do in a short time. the moment he turns it, however slight it may be, cease the whipping; as soon as he turns it away again repeat the tapping with the whip; in a few minutes he again turns his head toward you; stop the motion of the whip; as he turns away repeat the whip tapping as before; in a very short time he turns around so that you can approach him; now gently caress him; move away and again approach him; should he turn away repeat the whipping, by this means you teach him to come to you on the near side. after he has learned this thoroughly, which requires about one week’s training, half an hour each day, then proceed in the same manner upon the off side; as soon as 27he obeys the motion of the whip upon this side, take your position behind him, and turn him by the motion of the whip to the right or to the left; as soon as he performs nicely, put the harness upon him, take the lines behind him, and, as you give him the word to go forward, throw the whip down by his right side without touching him, at the same time have the long web around the near fore foot, and give it to an assistant; you want him to stop, give him the word ‘whoa,’ at the same time your assistant pulls up the foot, turn the whip in a horizontal position above your head—in this way you teach him that the whip in that position means ‘whoa.’ by repeating these motions, he learns in about four weeks to turn to the right whenever the whip is thrown toward the right shoulder; to the left when thrown toward the left shoulder; to go ahead when thrown down by the right side; and to stop when held in a horizontal position. you now want to teach him to back; having previously instructed him according to our rule, put the cord, using the small loop, in his mouth; take the cord in your hand with the reins, pull upon the reins and say ‘back,’ at the same time keep the whip directly over the animal’s back, giving it an upward and downward motion, or you may tap him gently upon the back with the whip—this is best done in a sulky. if he starts forward, set him back by pulling quickly upon the cord; repeat the operation until he will go back by the motion of the whip alone. should he make repeated efforts to go forward, bring the whip quickly once or twice down over his nose, he will not then repeat the operation very often; with this training, it is necessary to use an open bridle, so that the animal will see the motion of the whip; you are now prepared to hook him up for the first drive. take an assistant with you; have the foot strap or long web secured upon the near fore foot; give it in charge of your assistant; let the lines lie over the dash, as a matter of precaution. now commence operations with the whip; if the animal acts promptly, remove the foot web and begin again, having the lines over the dash as before; drive the animal in this way at least two or three weeks before removing the bit from the mouth. your horse is now safe to drive under the whip.”
the large and noble looking horses which draw the trucks of the safe manufacturers in this city, are hitched in single file, only the rear one having reins attached. sometimes six or eight horses will be required to draw the ponderous load, and the coolness and dexterity with which they wend their way through the confused mass of vehicles in the crowded streets is a truly remarkable sight. without any guidance the leader will press onward through the mass, deftly avoiding collisions 28and entanglement. changes of route, stoppages, etc., are effected by such orders as “whoa,” “gee,” “haw,” which the leader promptly and intelligently obeys.
to cure balky horses.
from the number of “infallible recipes” given in the papers for curing balky horses we should judge a little light on the subject is called for by horsemen. the various remedies which different correspondents describe as having proved effective in their own experience would form a curious collection, though some of them betray a remarkable lack of real knowledge about the matter. one genius has discovered that stuffing a horse’s mouth and nostrils with road dust is highly successful. another humane individual deeply deplores the barbarous practice of whacking balky horses over the head and legs, and suggests that there should be substituted a system of steady, but not very severe, pounding in one spot with a “smooth club,” until “the pain grows intolerable and he starts nervously forward.” one hero, whose valor deserves to be chronicled for the admiration of future ages, thus modestly relates his experience with “one of the perverse animals,” as he calls his horse:
“the first work i did with him after he came into my possession was to draw a load of hay from the meadow. he started a few rods and then stood still, and no amount of urging that i could command would induce him to budge an inch. i took the pitchfork and sat down on the fore end of the load and began to prick him about the root of his tail, inserting the tines just through the skin. he kicked, but the load of hay was a complete protection. i kept on, moderately and persistently pricking for about five minutes, when he started for the barn. he never attempted to balk but once after, when the mere sight of the pitchfork was sufficient to make him draw.”
in cecil county, maryland, a farmer resorted to a rather novel expedient for getting some “go” out of a balky horse. having loaded his wagon rather heavily with wheat, the horses were either unable or refused to draw it. after trying for some time to put them in motion, he set fire to a sheaf of wheat, and applied the flame to one of the horses. the horse, not relishing the application, by a well directed kick deposited the blazing sheaf in the load of wheat. this becoming ignited, was entirely consumed, together with the wagon. one of the horses, also, narrowly escaped perishing in the conflagration.
many of the cases of “balkiness” are nothing but want of power to perform the task assigned; a necessary pause from temporary exhaustion. a driver who understands his business 29will give his team a breathing spell occasionally while pulling a heavy load. another thing, if you find your team becoming exhausted and about to give out, it is well to stop them of your own accord; and it is well, too, to give them a few moments rest before encountering a peculiarly difficult part of the route.
if you have balky horses, it is your own fault, and not the horse’s, for if they do not pull true there is some cause for it, and if you will remove the cause the effect will cease. when your horse balks he is excited and does not know what you want him to do. for instance, a young horse that has never been “set” in a gully with a load before, is whipped by his owner or driver because he does not draw the load out. the animal is willing to do what he can, but he does not know how to draw out the load. he tries and finds that it does not move, not knowing that a steadier and stronger pull would do it, and when the lash comes down upon him and he hears the yells of his driver he is frightened, and jumps and rears through fear rather than ugliness or balkiness. no better way could possibly be devised to make a horse balky than to beat him under such circumstances. when he gets a little excited, stop him five or ten minutes, let him become calm; go to the balky horse, pat him and speak gently to him, and as soon as he is over his excitement, he will, in nine cases out of ten, pull at the word. after you have gentled him a while, and his excitement has cooled down, take him by the bits; turn him each way a few minutes as far as you can; gentle him a little; unrein him; then step before the balky horse, and let the other start first, then you can take them anywhere you wish. a balky horse is always high spirited and starts quick; half the pull is out before the other starts; by standing before him the other starts first. by close application to this rule, you can make any balky horse pull. if a horse has been badly spoiled you should hitch him to the empty wagon, and pull it around a while on level ground; then put on a little load and increase it gradually, caressing as before, and in a short, time you can have a good work horse.
you might as well attempt to make a horse move a three story building and draw it off, as to get out of a slough with a heavy load, when the animal has never been taught by degrees to draw a load out of such places. it is true that it is bad policy to unhitch a horse from a load under such circumstances, but it is far worse to beat him an hour and then have to do it. our way of teaching colts is as follows: we put on light loads, after they are well broken to a harness, and go into bad places where it requires hard pulling by degrees; and the animal learns how to draw the load out. he reasons as a man does, thus: 30“i have been here before and got out, and i can do it again,” and out he goes. we add to the load one or two hundred pounds, and go through the same process, then wait a day or two and try him again, taking care that we require nothing to be done extra except with a lighter load. this is teaching a horse to have confidence in himself, which is the basis of all good draught horses.
a scotch paper describes a curious case of horse management, and though the same treatment has been equally successful in other instances we are inclined to believe the true secret lies partly in gentling the animal while the preparations are being made. the fact related is curious and may be useful, so we reproduce it:
“on saturday last a groom, mounted on a high mettled hunter, entered the high street of coldstream, and, when opposite sir john majoribank’s monument, the horse began to plunge and rear to a fearful extent, swerving to the right and then to the left, but go forward he would not, nor could all the exertions of the groom overcome his obstinacy. the street was filled with people expecting to see the animal destroy himself on the spikes of the iron railing around the monument, when mr. mcdougal, saddler, walked up to the groom, and said: ‘i think, my man, you are not taking the proper method to make the horse go; allow me to show you a trick worth knowing.’ ‘well,’ says the groom, ‘if you can make him go, it’s more than i can;’ when mr. mcdougal took a piece of whipcord, which he tied with a firm knot on the end of the animal’s ear, which he bent gently down, fastening the end of the string to the check buckle of the bridle, which done, he patted the horse’s neck once or twice, and said, ‘now, let me see you go quietly home like a good horse,’ and, astonishing to relate, it moved off as gently as if nothing had happened. mr. mcdougal says he has seen, in london, horses which no manner of force could make go, while this mild treatment was always successful.”
how to prevent harnessed horses from running away.
for the following useful suggestion we are indebted to mr. robert mcclure:
“it has often occurred to our mind, on account of the many and destructive runaways of horses harnessed to sleighs, that have taken place in this city and its neighborhood the present winter, that some mode of training might be adopted for family or carriage horses, which would entirely prevent or at least mitigate the violence and excitement of horses that may take fright. a good plan, based upon our knowledge and observation 31of the excitability and nervous temperament of horses disposed to take fright, would be to harness them with strong harness to an old but stout carriage a few times before the sleighing season, and have them taken slowly out of the city to a country road, not too hard for the horses’ feet, and drive them at a full run or gallop for a few rods at a time. repeating this several times during the drive will so accustom the horses to the excitement of a run in harness and the rattle of a carriage behind them, that it will become familiar, and when occasions arise, as they sometime will in all large cities, to start them to run, they can be at once brought up and kept under complete control. the training to an occasional run has familiarized such horses with the excitement; but conversely, once let a team not used to it in harness, get a start and run, the excitement every moment becomes greater, takes the place of animal instinct, and all control of them is lost—till brought up against some obstacle, with a general smash of all surroundings, and perhaps the loss of valuable and useful life. whether the horse be hurt or not, they are forever of no value for family purposes, and the groom or coachman not unfrequently loses both situation and character as a driver. to familiarize your horse to an occasional run in harness will do them no harm; and our word for it, much good will be done, and safety insured.”
how to instantly stop runaway horses.
when a canadian family party, traveling in winter over ice covered rivers and swamps, is so unlucky as to cross a place where the horse sinks, they save him from drowning, and themselves from the danger of sharing the same fate, by pulling a rope so arranged that it chokes him. the water being thus prevented from entering his gullet or windpipe, he floats on the surface, and it only requires a long and firm pull to bring him to solid ground, when the rope being relaxed he quickly recovers his wind and is ready once more to start on his journey.
perhaps profiting by this example, a similar means has been adopted with success for stopping runaway and subduing infuriated horses whether in riding or driving. it consists of a rein composed partly of thread-covered cat-gut, and partly of common leather, one end of which is attached to the bridle at the top of the horse’s head, while the other rests at the pummel of the saddle, or on the coach box, as the case may be. running upon the cat-gut part by means of loops, is a short cross piece of cat-gut which rests against the windpipe of the animal, ready to be pulled up against it by taking hold of the nearer end of the rein. a quick and firm pull, to stop the breathing of the 32animal, is all that is necessary to bring him to an instantaneous pause. he may be in a state of panic, running off with the bit between his teeth in spite of every ordinary means of checking him: but no sooner does he feel the stricture on his breathing than he is conscious of being outwitted and nonplussed and becomes instantly as quiet as a lamb; at the same time he keeps quite firm upon his legs—the check not being by any means calculated to bring him down. on the contrary, from the position in which it places the horse, his shoulders being brought up, and being pressed back upon his haunches, the check is, indeed, calculated to keep him up.
