Cruelty to Animals.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 10, 10 September 1874, Page 4

Cruelty to Animals.

THE COMMON COLT BREAKER AND THE' .:.-.• -. TRAINER., ' ' The -• following ids ithe. '^Prairie' Farmer' :~The 'difference of the system' of the common colt-breaker and the. trainer is- r this: The first, by punish-, merit and. brute'fprce-:" breaks" his colt of doing wrong; the latter " teaches him to do right ; he takes care to avoid his being placed, in situations and under circumstances that might induce him to rebel. Let the common breaker get a colt that is nervous: timid, and apt to' be frightened at anything he meets or sees, what would he do ? He would take the horse purposely where he would be sure to' meet Constant objects to alarm him ; and every time he starts the. whip goes to work. Now, if he had a head that was any use to him, he would reflect a little, and this would show him" the "folly and brutish- ignorance of his conduct. So because the colt is alarmed already by what he sees, he frightens him' ten times more by voice and whip. Hence we so often find that after a horse has shied, say. Ac a carriage, when the object has. passed it takes a considerable time before he becomes pacified. All this arises from the dread of punishment which he has been accustomed, to. Horses have good memories, and do not easily forget illusage., -We frequently see a man, on his horse refusing to face an object, determine that he shall do it, and immediately force him up to it. The very exertion used to make him do this increases his terror of it, and a fight ensues, when, should the man gain his point and get him up to the object, the moment his head is turned to leave itj he bolts off as quickly as .possible; hhre r has not been reconciled to it, and will shy at it just as much (perhaps more) the next time he sees it ; for now he recognises it as an enemy, and has been taught to know by experience what he only feared before; namely, that it was a something that would (and as ' he found, did) cause him annoyance and injury, rlad- the man, as soon as he found his horse alarmed on seeing the object, stopped him, let him stand still, caressed and encouraged Him, the horse would have looked at ifc, and finding no attempt made to injure him, would have gradually approached it ; theri smelt of it (if a stationery object), and finally have walked away very coolly, collectedly, a-nd satisfied ; and the next time he saw it, or a; similar object, would care very little about it A little reflection would tell us that these would be the different results of the two different treatments ; but, Unfortunately for horses, reflection and consideration are not ! he predominant qualities of tbe generality of horsebreakers, Now, we will suppose a trniner had a colt which was easily alarmed by passing objects, other horses galloping near him,: or persons coming up to him ;' how would he be treated ? He would be sent away by himself where it was certain no objects would approach close enough to alarm him ; here he would be exercised, whether for three days or three weeks, till he had gained composure and confidence ; he would then be brought a little neaTßr to the object of .his alarm, where they might attract his observation, but could in no way annoy or frig-ten him. Day by day he would be brought still nearer to them, till they became so familiar to him that he would cease to notice them at all, or merely : as indifferent objects Assuredly tins is a more reasonable mode of treatment than the one generally resorted to, and, what is more, it never fails — the fault or infirmity is got over, and for ever. There is one description of horse with which we might be tempted, perhaps, to oblige a common colt-breaker.; namely, some brute which appeared so incorrigibly sulky and vicious that we might not wish men who were valuable. for better purposes to undergo the trouble and risk of having anything to do with him ; not but what we should be quite aware that a man with a better head would be more likely to succeed; bur, for the reasons we state, we would perhaps, give the savage to one of these kill-or-cure gentry, and let the two brutes fight it out. ,