HORSE TAMING.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 640, 15 January 1859, Page 3

HORSE TAMING.

The following is Mr. Rarey's pamphlet, containing ♦J earliest announcement of his principles, since developed by ln>«solf and'numerous pupils m all countries; KE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF MT THEORY. TUFODNPI3I> ON TUX LEADING CHAUACTEIUMIOB OF wvV—Tlmt he is so constituted by nature that i/wm not offer.resistance to any demand made ot Hn which he fully comprehends, if made in a way " " utent with the laws of his nature. ■ Socond,-That he has no consciousness of us -♦SSrth beyond his experience, and can be handled to our will without force. ■ a%S-Thatwecan,in compliance with the laws «f 1 is nature by winch he examines all things new t im take any object, however frightful, around over, or on him, thut does not inflict pain, without «.nn<;'inir him to fear. , . Si Ake these assertions in order, I will first give you some of the reasons why I think he is naturally Sent, and will not offer resistance to anything full" comprehended. The horse, though possessed if some faculties superior to man s, being deficient 5 reasoning powers, has no knowledge ot right or rromr of free will and independent government, and Sows not of any imposition practised upon him, however unreasonable these impositions may be. Consequently, he cannot come to any decision as to iff he should or should not do; because he has Jcit the reasoning faculties of man to argue the jusice of the thing-demanded of him.. If he had takii^T into consideration his superior strength, he would be useless to man as a servant. Give him «niW in proportion to His strength and he will demand of us the green fields for his inheritance, where he will roam at large, denying the right of servitude it nil God has wisely formed his nature so that it can bo operated upon by the knowledge of man acrordhur to the dictates of his will; and he might: well be termed an unconscious, submissive servant. This truth we can see verified in every day's experience by the abuses practised upon him. Any one who chooses to be so cruel, can mount the noble steed and run him till he drops with fatigue, or, as in often the case with-the. more spirited, tails dead beneath his rider. If he had the power to reason, would he not vault and pitch his rider rather than suffer himtorunhimtodeath?Orwouldheeondescend at all to carry the vain impostor, who, with but equal intellect, was trying to impose on his equal rights and equally independent spirit? But, happily for us he has no consciousness of imposition, no thought of'disobedience except by impulse caused by the violation of the law of his nature. Consequently, when disobedient, it is the fault of man. Then, we can but come to the conclusion that, if a horse is not taken in a way at variance with the laws of his nature, he will do anything that he fully comprehends without making an offer of resistance. Second,—The fact of the horse being unconscious of the amount of his strength can be proved to the satisfaction of any one. Eor instance, such remarks as these are common, and perhaps familiar to your recollection. One person says to another, "If that wild horse there was conscious of the amount of his strength, his owner would have no business .with him in that vehicle; such light reins and harness, too, if he knew, he could snap them asunder in a minute, and be as free'as the air we breathe;" and •'that horse yonder,.that is pawing and fretting to follow the company that is fast leaving him—if he knew his strength, he would not remain long fastened to that hitching-post, so much against his will, by a strap that would no more resist his powerful weight and strength than a. cotton, thread would bind a strongman." Yet these facts, made comr mon by everyday occurrence, are not thought of as wonderful. Like'the ignorant nitm who looks at the different phases of the moon, you look at these things as he looks at her different changes, without troubling your mind with the question, "Why are these things so?" What would be the condition of the world if all our minds lay dormant? If men did not think, reason, and act, our undisturbed, slumbering intellects would not excel the imbecility of the brute; we should live in chaos, hardly aware of our existence. And yet, with all our activity of mind, we daily pass by unobserved . that which would be wonderful if philosophised and reasoned upon; and, with the same inconsistency, wonder at that which a little consideration, reason, and philosophy would make but a simple affair. 1 • 111 : --

Third,—He will allow any object, however frightful in appearance, to come around, over, or on him, that does not inflict pain.

We know, from a natural course of reasoning, that there has never been an effect without a cause, and we infer from this, that there can be no action, either in animate or inanimate matter, without there first being some cause to produce it. And from this self-evident fact we know that there is some cause for every impulse of either mind or matter, and that this law governs every action or movement of the animal kingdom. . Then, according to this theory, there must be some cause before fear can exist; and if fear exists from the effects of imagination, and not from the infliction of real pain, it can be removed by complying with those laws of.nature by which the horse examines an object, and determines upon its innocence or harm.

A log or stump by the roadside may be in the imagination of the horse some great beast about to pounce upon him; but after you take him up to it and let him stand by it a little while, and touch it with his nose, and go through his process of examination, he will not care anything more about it. And the same principle and process will have the 6ame effect with any other object, however frightful in appearance, in which there is no harm. Take a boy that has been frightened by a false face, or any other object that he could not comprehend at once,- but let him take that face or object in his hands and examine it, and he will not care anything more about it. This is a demonstration of the same principle. .

With this introduction to the principles of my theory, I shall next attempt to teach you how to put it into practice; and whatever instructions may follow you can rely on, as having been proven practically by my own experiments. And knowing from experience just what obstacles I have met with in handling bad horses. I shall try to anticipate them for you, and assist you in surmounting them, by commencing with the first steps to be taken with the colt, and accompany you through the whole task of breaking.

HOW TO SUCCEED IN GETTING THE COLT FKQM

„ PABTURE. fco to the pasture and walk around the whole nerd quietly, and at such a distance as not to cause them to scare and run. Then approach them very swwiy and if they stick up their heads and seem to dc frightened, hold on until they become quiet, so as not to make them run before you are close enough w drive them in the direction you want them to go. Ana when you begin to drive/do not flourish your arms or halloo, but gently follow them off, leaving the direction free for them that you wish them to 5 ilius taking advantage of their ignorance, you w«i be able to get them into the pound as easily as "unter drives the quails into his net. For, if iity nave always run in the pasture uncared for )Z t !* y ses do in Prairie countries and on large r na ™"s). there is no reason why they should not ' W11(1 as the sportsman's birds, and require the out f 11 treatraent.if y°u want to get them with-. as w-it : for the horse in llis natural state, is mnrr a?i any of the undomesticated animals, though more easily tamed than most of them. lOW 10 STABLE A COLT WITHOUT TROUBLE. or sV,' ci neX 'pBtep Will be t0 £et tne llOrße into a staMe CUI IJIIB should be done as quietly as possible > as not to excite any suspicion in the horse of any , *nf r him. The best way to do this, is to ,'irl a,Rentle horse into the stable first and hitch nim men quietly walk around the colt and let him go in of 1,,s own accord. It is almost impossible to j men who have never practised on this principle •ni'° i y and considerately enough about it. >Z , y „not k»ow that in handling a wild horse, iw.ii ' otll(ir things, is that good old adage true, tZ . I, hilH. tc makw waste';'' that is, waste of time— lorthc gain of trouble and perplexity. . m X" e wr°ng move may frighten your horse, and for» lnl thlnk H necessary to escape at all hazards wnri I tv of hiß life-ftnd thus make two hours' "urK 01 a ten minutes' job 5 and this would be all

your own fault, and entirely unnecessary—for ho will not run unless you run after him, und that would not be good policy unless you knew 'that you could outrun him,' for you will have to let him stop of his ; ovrn accord after all; But he will not try to break ! away unless you attempt to force him into measures. If he dots not see the way at once, and is a little fretful about going in,-do not undertake to drive him, but give hWalittle less room outside by gently closing in around him.' Do not raise your arms, but let them hang at your side, for you might as well raise a club ; the horse has never studied anatomy, and does not know but that they will unhinge themselves and fly at him. If he attempts to turn back, walk before him,, but do hot run ; and' if he gets past you, encircle him again in the same quiet manner, and he will soon find that you are not going to hurt him ; and then you can walk so close around him that he will go into the stable for more room and to get farther from you. As soon as he is in remove the quiet horse and shut the door. This will be his first notion of confinement-—not knowing how to get into.such a place, nor how to get out of it. That he may take it as quietly as possible, see that the shed is entirely free from dogs, chickens, or anything that would annoy him. Then give him a few ears of corn, and let him remain alone fifteen or twenty minutes, until he has examined his apartment and has become reconciled to his confinement. '■'•'•.' ■ • > . TIME TO REFLECT. And now, while your horse is eating these few ears of corn, is the proper time to see that your halter is ready arid all right; and to reflect on the best mode of operations ; for in horsebreaking it is highly important that you should be governed by some system. And you should know, before you attempt to do anything, just what you are going to do, and how you are going to do it. And, if you are experienced'in the art of taming wild horses, you ought to be able to tell, within a few minutes, the length of time it would take to halter the colt, and' teach him to lead. !

THE KIND OF HALTER,

Always use a leather halter, and be sure to have it made so that it will not draw tight round his nose if he pulls on it. It should be of the right size to fit' his head easily and nicely, so that the nose-band will not be too tight or too low. Never put A rope halter'on an unbroken colt under any circumstances whatever. They have caused more horses'to hurt or kili;theniselves than would pay for twice the cost of all the leather halters that have ever been needed for the purpose of halting oolts. It is almost impossible to break a colt that is very wild with a rope halter, without having him pull, rear, and; throw himself,.and thus endanger his life ; and I will tell you why. It is j ust as natural for a horse to try and get his head put of anything that hurts it, or feels unpleasant, as it. would 'be.for you to get your hand out of a fire. The cords of the rope are hard and cutting; it makes*him rise his head and draw on it; as soon as he pulls, the slip noose (the way rope halters are always made) tightens, and pinches his nose, and then he will, struggle for life, until perchance, he throws himself ;and who would have his horse, throw himself; and run the risk of. breaking his neck, rather than pay the price of a leather halter ? But this is not .the worst. A horse that has once pulled on his halter can never be as well broken as one that has he ver pulled at all.

REMARKS ON THE HORSE.

But before we attempt to do anything more with the colt, I will give you some of the characteristics of his nature, that you may better understand his motions. Everyone that has ever paid any attention to the horse has noticed his natural inclination to smell everything which, to him looks new and frightful. This is their strange mode of examining everything. And when they are frightened at anything, though they look at it sharply, they seem to have no confidence in this optical examination alone but must touch it with the nose before they are entirely satisfied; and as soon, as this is done, all is right. ..■.,.-. • . "■ ■ ■

EXPERIMENT WITH THE ROPE.

_ If you want to satisfy yourself of this characteristic of the horse, and learn something of importance concerning the peculiarities of his nature, &&,, turn him into the barn-yard, or. a large stable will do. And then gather iip something you know will frighten him ; a red blanket, buffalo robe, or something of that kind. Hold it up, so. that he can see it —lie_wj^;Bti«j)e^wfxJilaicftd..»nd^uW6r™Tlien"tlirpW"1 it clown somewhere in, the centre of the lot or barn, and walk off to one side. Watch his motions, and study his natxire. If he is frightened at the object, he will not rest until he has touched it with his nose. You will see him begin to walk around the "robe and snort, all the time getting a little closer, as if drawn up by some magic spell, until he finally gets within reach of it. He will then very cautiously stretch out his neck as far as he can reach, merely touching it with his nose, as though it was ready to fly at him. But after he has repeated these touches a few times, (though he has been looking at it all the time), he seems to have an idea what it is. But now he has found by the sense of feeling, that it is nothing that would do him any harm, and he is ready to play with.it. And if you watch him closely, you will see him take hold of it with his teeth, and raise it up and pull at it. And in a few minutes you can see that he has not that same wild look about his eye, but stands like a horse biting at some familiar stump. .

Yet the horse is never so well satisfied when he is about anything that has frightened him, as when he is standing with his nose to it. And, in nine cases out of ten, you will see some of that wild look about him again as he turns to walk from it. And you will probably see him looking back very suspiciously as he walks, away, as though he thought it might come after him yet. And in all probability he will have to go backhand make another examination before he is satisfied. But he will familiarise himself with it, and, if he should run in that lot a few days, the robe that frightened him so much at first will be no more than a familiar stump.

SUGGESTIONS OF THE SENSE OP SMELLING.

We might very naturally suppose, from the fact of the horse's applying his nose to everything, new to him, that he always does so for the purpose of smelling these objects. But I believe that it is as much or more for the purpose of feeling, and that he makes use of his nose or muzzle (as it is sometimes called) as we would of our hands ; because it is the only organ by which he can touch or feel anything with much susceptibility. . . . I believe, that he invariably makes use of the four senses—seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling —in all of his examinations, of which the sense of feeling is, perhaps, the most important. And I think that, in the experiment with the robe, his gradual approach and final touch with his nose was as much for the purpose of feeling as anything else —his sense of smell being so keen that it would not be necessary for him to touch his nose against anything in order to get the proper scent; for it is said that a horse can smell a man the distance of a mile. And if the scent of the robe was all that was necessary, he could get that several rods off. But we know from experience that if a horse sees and smells a robe a short distance from him he is very much frightened (until he is used to it) until he touches or feels it with his nose; which is a positive proof that feeling is the controlling sense in this case.

PREVAILING OPINION OF HORSEMEN,

It is a prevailing opinion among horsemen generally, that the sense of smell is the governing sense of the horse. And Faucher, as well as others, has with that view got up receipts of strong smelling oils, &c, to tame the horse, sometimes using the chesnut of his leg, which they dry, grind into powder, and blow into his nostrils, sometimes using the oil of rhodium organum, &c, that are noted for their strong smell; and sometimes they scent the hands with sweat from under the arm, or blow their breath into his nostrils, &c, &c—all of which; as far as scent goes, have no effect whatever ingentiing the horse, or conveying any idea to his mind; though the works that accompany these efforts— handling him, touching him about the nose and head, and patting him, as they direct you should after -administering the articles, may have a great effect* which they mistake to be the effect of the ingredients used. And Faucher, in his work, tells us how to accustom a horse to a robe, by administering certain articles to his nose; arid goes on to say that these articles must first be applied to the

horse's nose, before you attempt to break him, in order to operate successfully. ; Now, reader, can you, or any one •lso, give one singlt reason how scent can convey any idea to the librae's mind of what we want him to do? If not, then, of course, strong sceits of any kind are of no account in taming the unbroken horn*. For, everything that we get him to do of tils twit accord, without force, 'must be accom plished ky some means of conveying our ideas to his mind, I say to my horse, "Go-long!" and ho goes; "Ho!" and he stops; because these two words, of which he has learned the meaning by the tap of the whip and the pull of the rein that first accompanied them, convey the two ideas to, his mind of go and stop. Fauoher, or no one else, can ever teach the horse a single thing by means of scent alone. How long do you suppose a horse would have to stand and smell a bottle of oil before he would learn to bend his knee and make a bow at your bidding, "Go yonder and bring your hat," or " Come here and lie down?" Thus you see the absurdity of trying to break or tame the horse by,the means of receipts for articles to smell at, or medicine to give him, of any kind whatever. . The only science that has ever existed in the world, relative to the breaking of horses, that has been of any account, is that true method which takes them in their native state, and improves their intelligence.

HOW TO TROCKBD IP YOUR HORSE IS OF A STUBBORN

DISPOSITION.

If your horse, instead of being wild, seema 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 that 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 thewhip about the legs pretty close to the'body. It will crack keen as it plies around his legs; and the; crack of the whip will nffect 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 and. more tender than on his back. But do not whip him much—just enough^to scare him. It is not because we want to hurt the horse that we whip him—we only do' it to scare that bad disposition put 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 scare him at all, you must do it at once. Never go into a pitched battle with your horse, and whip him till he is mad and will fight you; you had better riot touch him at all, for you will establish, instead of fear and regard, feelings of resentment, hatred, and ill-will. It will do him no good but an injury to strike a blow, unless you can scare him; but if you succeed in scaring 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 the other has disappeared. As soon as you have frightened him so that he willstand up straight and pay some attention to you, approach him again and caress him a good deal more than you whipped him, then you will excite the two controlling passions of his nature--loye and fear—and then he will love and fear you too, and as soon as he learns what to do, will obey quickly. - >

HOW TO HALTER AND LEAD A COLT,

As soon as you have gentlechthe colt a little^ take the halter in your left hand and approach him as before, and on the same side that you have gentled him. If he is very timid about your approaching closely to him, you can get up to him quicker by making the whip a part' of your arm, and reaching out very gently with the butt-end of it; rubbing him lightly on the neck, all the time getting a little clqser-^shortening the whip by tak-i ing it up in your'hand, until you finally get close enough to put' your hands on him. If he is inclined to hold his head from you, put the end of the halter-strap around his neck, drop your whip and draw very gently; he will let his neck give, and you can pull his head.to you. Then take hold of that part of the halter which buckles over the top part of his head, and pass the long' side, or that part which goes into the buckle, under his neck, grasping it on the opposite side with your right hand,: letting the first strap looser^the latter will be sufficient to hold his head to you. Lower the halter a little, just enough to get his nose into that -pactjvJiich goes aroyji~d_ij;j_ite^raise itrsoniewKat, and fasten thei top buckle, and you will have it all right. The first time you halter a colt, you sHbuld stand-on the left side, pretty well back to his shoulder, only taking hold of that.part of the halter that goes round his neck; .then, with your two hands about his neck, you can hold his head to you'and raise the halter on it without making him dodge by* putting your hands about his nose. You should have a long rope or strap ready, and, as soon as you have the halter on, attach this to it, so that you can let him walk the stable without the letting go of the strap, or without making liim pull on the halter, for if you only let him feel the weight of your hand on the halter, and give him rope when he.runs from you, he will never rear, pull, or throw himself, yet you will be holding him all the time, and doing more towards gentling him than if you had the power to snub him right up and hold him to one spot; because lie does not'know anything about his strength, and, if you don't do anything to make him pull, he will never know that he can. In a few minutes you can begin to control him with the halter, then shorten the distance between yourself and the liorse by taking up the strap in your hand. .'..-.'.. -

As soon as he'will allow you to hold him by a tolerably short strap, and to step up to him without flying back, you can begin to give him some idea about leading. But to do this, do not go before and attempt to pull him after you, but commence by pulling him very quietly to one side. He has nothing to brace either side of his neck, and will soon yield to a steady, gradual pull of the halter; and, as soon as you have pulled him a little to one side, step up to him and caress him, and then pull him again, repeating this operation until you can pull him around in every direction and walk about the stable with him, which you can do in a few minutes, for he will soon think, when you have made him step to the right or left a few times, that he is compelled to obey the pull of the halter, not knowing that he has the power to resist your pulling; besides, you have handled him so gently that he is not afraid.of you, and you always caress him when he comes up to you, and he likes that, and would just as lief follow you as not. And after he has had a few lessons of that kind, if you turn him out into a lot, he will come' up to you every opportunity he gets. You should lead him about in the stable some time before you take him out, opening the door so that he can see out, leading him up to it and back again, and past it. See that there is nothing on the outside to make him jump when you take him out; and as you go out with him, try to make him go very slowly, catching hold of the halter close to the jaw with your left hand, while the right.is,,resting on the top of his neck, holding to his mane. After you are out with him a little while, you can lead him about as you* please. Don't let any second person come to you when you first take him but; a stranger taking hold of the halter would frighten him and make him run. There should not even be any one standing near him to attract his attention or scare him. If you are alone and manage him rightly, it will not require any more force to lead or hold him than it would to manage a broke horse. HOW TO LEAD A COLT BY THE SIDE OP A BROKE HORSE. If you want to lead your colt by the side of another horse, as is often the case, I would advise you to take your horse into the stable, attach a second strap to the colt's halter and lead your horse lup along side of him. Then get on the broke horse and take one strap round his breast, under his martingale, (if he has any on), holding it in your left hand. This will prevent tho colt from getting back too far: besides, you will have mote power to hold him with the strap puUing against tho horse's breast. The other strap take up in your right hand to prevent < him, from running ahead; then turn him a few times in the stable, and if the door is wide enough ride out with him in that position; if not, take the broke horse out first, and stand his breast up against the door, then lead the colt to the same spot and take the straps as before directed,

one on each side of his neck, then let some one start the colt out, and as he comes out, turn your horse to the left, and you have them all right. Thia is the best way to lead a colt. You enn manage any kind of colt in this way, without any trouble, for if he tries to run a-head or pull buck, the two straps will bring the horses facing eueh'other, so that you can very easily follow up his movements without doing much holding, and as soon as he stops running backwards you are right witli him and all ready to go ahead; and if he gets stubborn and does not want to go, you can remove till his stubbornness by riding your horse against his neck, thus compelling him to turn to the right; and as soon as you have turned him about a few times, he will be willing to go alone. The next thing, after you are through leading him, will be to take him into a stable, and hitch' him in such a way as not to have him pull on the halter, nnd as they are often troublesome to got'into a stable the first i'aw times, I will give you some instructions about getting him in.

HOW TO IJKAT) A COLT INTO THIS STABLE AND HITCH HIM WITHOUT HAVING HIM VUhh ON THE HALTKIt.

You should lead the broke horse into the stable first, and get the colt if you can to follow in after him. If he refuse to go, step up to him, taking a light stick or switch in your right hand, then take hold of the halter close to his head in your left hand, at the same time reaching over his back with your right arm, so that you can tap him on the opposite side with your switch, reaching asfar back with it as you can. This tapping, by being pretty well back, and on the opposite side, will drive him ahead and keep him close to you; then, by giving him the right direction with your left hand, you can walk into the stable with him. I have walked colts into the stable this way in less than a minute, after men had worked at them half-an-hour trying to pull them in. If you cannot walk him in at once in this way, turn him about and walk him around in every direction until you can get him up to the door Avithout pulling at l'iinv Then let him stand a few minutes, keeping his head in the right direction with the halter, and he will walk in in less than ten minutes. Never attempt to pull the colt into the stable; that would make him think it was a dangerous place, and if he was not afraid of it before he would be then. Besides, we do not want him to know anything about pulling on the halter. Colts are often hurt and sometimes killed by trying to force them into the stable; and those who attempt to do it in that way go into an up-hill business, when a plain smooth road is before them. If you want to hitch your colt put him in a tolerably wide stall, which should not be too long, and should be connected by a bar or something of that kind to the partition behind it, so that after the colt is in he cannot get far enough back to take a straight backward pull on the halter; then, by hitching him in the centre of the stall, it would be impossible for him to pull on the halter, the partition behind preventing him from going back, and the halter in the centre checkinghim every time he turns to the right or left. In a stall of this kind you can break every horse to stand hitched by a light strap anywhere, without his ever knowing anything about pulling. But if you have broken your horse to lead, and have learnt him the use of the halter (which you should always do before you hitch him up to anything), you can hitch him in any kind of a stall, and give him something to eat to keep him up to his place at first, and there is not one colt in fifty that will pull on his halter.

THE KIND OF BIT, AND HOW TO ACCUSTOM A HORSE TO IT.

You should use a smooth snaffle bit, so as not to hurt his mouth, with a bar to each side to prevent the bit from pulling through either way. This you should attach to the head-stall of your bridle, and put it on your colt without any reins to it, and let him run loose in a large stable or shed sometimes until he becomes a little used to the bit, and will bear it without trying to get it out of his mouth. It would be well, if convenient, to repeat this several times before you do anything more with the colt; as soon as he will bear the bit, attach a single rein to it without any martingale. You should also hare a halter on your colt, or a bridle made after the fashion of a halter, with a strap to it, so that you can hold or lead him about without pulling at the bit much. He is now ready for-the saddle.

~ MOW—TO -SADDLIL A ...COLT.

Any one man who has this theory can put a saddle on the wildest colt that ever grew, without any help and without scaring him. The first thing will be to tie each stirrup-strap into a loose knot, to make them short and prevent the stirrups from flying about and hitting him. Then double itp the skirts and take the saddle under your right arm, so as not to frighten him with it as you approach. When you get to him, rub him gently a few times with your hand, and then raise the saddle very slowly, until he can see it, and smell, and feel it with his nose. Then let the skirt loose and rub it very gently against his neck the way the hair lies, letting him hear the rattle of the skirts as he feels them against him, each time getting a little farther backward, and finally slip it over his shoulders on his back. Shake it a little with your hand, and io less than five minutes you can rattle it over his back as much as you please, and pull it off and throw it on again, without his paying much attention to it. As soon as you have accustomed him to the saddle, fasten the girth. Be careful how you do this. It often frightens the colt when he feels the girth binding him, and make the saddle fit tight to his back. You should bring the girth very gently, and not draw it too tight at first, just enough to hold the saddle on. Move him a little, and then girth it as tight as you choose, and he will not mind it.

You should see that the pad of your saddle is all right before you put it on, and that there is nothing to make it hurt him, or feel unpleasant on his back. It should not have any loose straps on the back part of it, to flap about and scare him. After you have saddled him in this way, take ji switch in your hand to tap him with, and walk about in the stable with your right arm over your saddle, taking hold of the reins on each side of his neck with your right and left hands—thus marching him about in the stable until you learn him the use of the bridle, and can turn him about in any direction, and stop him by a gentle pull of the rein. Always caress him, and loose the reins a little every time you stop him. ,You should always be alone, and have your colt in some tight stable or shed the first time you ride him; the loft should be high, so that you can sit on his back without endangering your head. You can teach him more in two hours' time in a stable of this kind than you could in two weeks in the common way of breaking colts out in an open place. If y6u follow my course of treatment, you need not run any risk, or have any trouble in riding the worst kind of a horse. You take him a step at a time, until you get up a mutual confidence between yourself and horse. First learn him to lend and stand hitched; next acquaint him with the saddle and the use of the bit; and then all that remains is to get on him without scaring him, and you can ride him as well as any horse.

HOW TO MOUNT THE COLT,

First gentle him well on both sides, about the saddle and all over, until he will stand without holding, and is not afraid to see you anywhere about him.

As soon as you have him thus gentled, get a small block, about one foot or eighteen inches in height, and set it down by the side of him about where you want to stand to mount him; step up on this, raising yourself very gently; horses notice every change of position very closely, and if you were to step up suddenly on the block, it would be vei*y apt to scare him; but by raising yourself gradually on it, he will" see you without being frightened, in a position very near the same, as when you are on his back. As Sdon as lie yvill bear this without alarm, untie the stirrup-strap next to you, nnd put your left foot into the stirrup, and stand square over it, holding your knee against the horse, and your toe out, so as to touch him under the shoulder with the too of your boot. Place your right hand on the front of the saddle, and on the opposite side of you, taking hold of a portion of the mane and the reins, as they hang loosely over his neck with

your left hand; then gradually bear your weight on the stirrup and on tlie right hand, until tlio horse feels your whole weight on tlie saddle; repeat this several limes, each time raising yourself" a little higher from tlie block, until lie will allow yon to raise your leg over the croup and place yourself in tlie saddle.

There are three great advantages in having a block to mount from. A Biidden change of position is very apt to frighten a young hum; who has never

been handled; he will allow you to walk up to him, and stand by his side without scaring at you, because you have gentled him to that position; but if you get down on your hands and knees, and crawl towards him, he will be very much frightened; ami upon the same principle, he would frighten at your

new position if you had the power to hold yourself over his back without touching him. Then the first great advantage of the block is to gradually gentle him to that new position in which he will see you when you ride him.

Secondly, by the process of leaning your weight in the stirrups, and on your hand, you can gradually accustom him to your weight, so as not to frighten him by having him feel it all at once. And, in the third place, the block elevates you so that you will not have to make a spring in order to get on the horse's back, but from it you can gradually raise yourself into the saddle. When you take these precautions, there is no horse so wild but what you can mount him without making him jump. I have tried it on the worst horses that could be found, and have never failed in any case. When mounting, your horse should always stand without being held. A horse is never well broken when he has to be held with a tight rein when mounting ; and a colt is never so safe to mount as when you see that assurance of confidence and absence of fear ■which cause him to stand without holding.

HOW TO KIDE THE COLT.

When you want him to start, do not touch him on the side with your heel or do any thing to frighten him and make him jump. But speak to him kindly, and, if he does not start, pull him a little to the left until he starts, and then let him walk off slowly with the reins loose. Walk him around in the stable a few times until he gets used to the bit, and you can turn him about in every direction and stop him as you please. It would be well to get on and off a good many times, until he gets perfectly used to it, before you take him out of the stable. After you have trained him in this way, which should not take you more than two hours, you can ride him anywhere you choose without ever having him jump or make any effort to throw you. When you first take him out of the stable be very gentle with him, as he will feel a little more at liberty to jump or run, and be a little easier frightened than he was while in the stable; he will be pretty well broken, and you will be able to manage without trouble or danger. When you first mount him take a little the shortest hold on the left rein, so that if anything frightens him you can prevent him from jumping by pulling his head round to you. This operation of pulling a horse's head around against his side will prevent any horse from jumping ahead, rearing up, or running away. If he is stuborn and will not go, you can make him move by pulling his head around to one side, when whipping would have no effect. And turning him round a few times will make him dizzy, and then by letting him have his head straight, and giving him a little touch with the whip; he will go along without any trouble. Never use martingales on the colt when you first ride him ; every movement of the hand should go right to the bit in the direction in which it is applied to the rein, without a martingale to change the direction of the force applied. You can guide the colfc much better without it, and teach the use of the bit in much less time. Besides, martingales would prevent you from pulling his head around if he should try to jump. After your colt has been ridden until he is gentle and well accustomed to the bit, you may find it an advantage if he carries his head too high, or his nose too far out, to put martingales on him. You should be careful not to ride your colt so far at first as to heat, worry, or tire him. Get off as soon as you see he is a little fatigued, gentle him, and let him rest; this will make him kind to you, and preveut him from getting stubborn or mad.

THE PROPER WA"S TO HIT A COLT.

Farmers often put bitting harness on a colt the first thing they do to him, buckling up the bitting as tight as they can to make him carry his head high, and the:i turn him out in a lot to run a halfday at a time. This is one of the worst punishments they could inflict on the colt, and very injurious to a young horse that has been used to running in pasture with his head down. I have seen colts so injured in this way that they never got over it. A horse should be well accustomed to the bit before you put on the bitting harness, and when you first bit him, you should only rein his head up to that point where he naturally holds it, let that be high or low; he will soon learn that lie cannot lower his head, and, that raising it will loosen the bit in his mouth. This will give him the idea of raising his head to loosen the bit, and then you can draw the bitting a little tighter every time you put it on, and he will raise his head to loosen it; by this means you will gradually get his head and neck in" the position you want him to carry it, and give him a nice and graceful carriage without hurting him, making him mad, or causing his mouth to get sore. If you put the bitting on very tight the first time, he cannot raise his head enough to loosen it, but will bear it on all the time, and paw, sweat, and throw himself. Many horses have been killed by falling backwards with the bitting on; their heads being drawn up strike the ground with the whole force of the body. Horses that have their heads drawn up tightly should not have the bitting on more than fifteen or twenty minutes at a time.

HOW TO DRIVE A HORSE THAT IS VERY WILD AND HAS ANY VICIOUS HABITS.

Take up one fore-foot and bend his kneetill his hoof is bottom upwards and nearly touching his body; then slip a loop over his knee, and up until it comes above the pastern joint, to keep it up, being careful to draw the loop together between the hoof and the pastern joint with a second strap of some kind to prevent the loop from slipping down and coming off. This will leave the horse standing on three legs; you can now handle him as you wish, for it is utterly impossible for him to kick in this position. There is something in this operation of taking up one foot that conquers a horse quicker and better than anything else you can do to him. There is no process in the world equal to it to break a kicking horse, for several reasons; First, there is a principle of this Mnd in the nature of the horse, that by conquering one member you conquer to a great extent the whole horse. You have perhaps seen men operate upon this principle by sewing a horse's ears together to pre•vent him from kicking. I once saw a plan given in a newspaper to maUe a bad horse stand to bo shod, which was to fasten down one ear. There were no reasons given why you should do so; but 1 tried it several times, and thought it had a good effectthough I would not recommend its use, especially stitching his ears together. The only benefit arising from this process is, that by disarranging his ours we draw his attention to them, and he is not apt to resist the shoeing. By tying up one foot we operate on the same principle to a much better etlect. W hen you fasten up a horse's foot he will sometimes j,vt very mad, and strike with his knee, and try every possible way to get it down; but he cannot do tluit and will soon give up. , . This will conquer him better than anything you could do, and without any possible danger of »n«iuj? himself or you either, for you can tie up his toot and sit down and look at him until he pms.-uy. When you find that he is conquered, go to «»"•«;*. down his foot, nib his leg with your ham , c.m»s him, and let him rtst a little; then punt up a^a n. Repeat this a few. tunes, always puttins. i t»£ same foot, and ho will soon learn to tnn c » thf» you need not be fearful of Ins doing anj Uania c c

while; hep-litCs': one foot up, for -he'cannot kick, nei4licr can he run fast -'enough to do any harm. Ami, if he is the Wil&est horse that ever had harness on, and has run away every time he has been MtchofVyoii'-fan now.hitch him in a sulky, ami •drive him as you please. And if he.wants to run you can Jet him .have the lines, and ,'the whip too, with perfect safety, for he can go but a. slow gait on ; three legs, and will soon be tired, and willing to > stop; only hold him enough to guide. him in the right direction, Tind he will soon be "tired, and willing to'stop at the word. Thus >you wiU'effectnally cure 'him at once of any further notion of running off. Kicking horses have always been the dread of everybody; you always hear men say, when they speak abotit*a bud horse, —" I don't "care what he does, so he don't kick." This new method ; is an effectual cure'for this worst of all habits. ' There are plenty of ways by which you can hitch i a kicking horse, and force him to go, though he > Mcks allthe time; but this doesn't have any good effect towards breaking him, for we know that horses kick because they are afraid of what is behind them, and when they kick against it and it - hurts them they only kick the harder; and this ; •.will hurt them still more and make theixuremeinber ; the scrape much longer, and make it still more difficult to persuade them to have any confidence in anything dragging behind them ever after. But by this new method you can hitch them to a rattling sulky, plough, waggon, or anything else in its worst shape. They may be frightened at first, but cannot kick or do anything to hurt themselves,; and will soon find that you do not intend to hurt. them, and then'they wi 11 not care anything more, . about it. You can then let down the leg and drive along gently without any further, trouble. By this new process a bad kicking horse can be learned to go gentle in harness in a few hours' time. ON BALKING. Horses know nothing about balking, only as they ' are brought into it by improper management,-and when a horse balks in harness it is, generally from some mismanagement, excitement, confusion, cr - from not knowing how to pull, but seldom from any unwillingness to perform all that he .understands. > ■ High spirited, free going horses are'the most subject ■to balking, and only so because drivers do not • properly understand how to manage this kind. A v i free horse in a team may be so anxious to go that • when he hears the word he will start with a jump,, ■i which will'not move the load, but give him such a ■ severe jerk on the shoulders that he will fly back and stop the other horse; the teamster will continue his driving without any cessation, and by the time he has the the slow horse started again he will find that the free horse has made another jump, and ( again flown back; and now he has them both badly balked, and so confused that neither of them knows what is the matter, or how to start the load. ■Next-will come the slashing and cracking of the whip and hallooing of the driver, till.^something is broken, or he Is through with his course of treat- -\ ment. But what a mistake the driver commits'by j ■whipping his horse for this act 1 Reason and common sense should teach him that the horse was wil-

ling and anxious to go, but did not know how to

start the load. And should he whip him for that? "•If so, he should whip him again for not knowing vhow to talk. A man that wants to act with any rationality and reason should not fly into a passion, but should always think before he strikes. It takes a steady pressure against the collar to move a load, and "you cannot expect him to act with a steady determined purpose while you are whipping him. There is hardly one balking horse in five hundred that- will pull true from whipping; it is only adding fuel to fire, and will make him more liable to balk another time. You always see horses that have been balked a few times, turn their heads and look back, as soon as they are a little frustrated. This is because they ' been whipped and are afraid of what is behind them. This is an invariable rule with balked horses, just as much as'it is for them to look around at their sides when they have got bots; in either case | they are-deserving of the same sympathy and the same kind, rational treatment. ■ ■: When your horse Tjalks, -or is a little excited,1 if he wants to start quickly, or looks around and doesn't, want to go, there is something wrong, and he needs kind treatment immediately. Caress him kindly, and if he does'nt understand at once what you want him to dd^he will not be so much excited as to jump and break things, and 'do everything wrong rihrough fear. As long as you are calm, and keep 'down the excitement of the horse there are"ten ■ chances to have him understand where there -would not be one under harsh treatment, and then the little flare up would not carry with it any un-:-favourable recollections, and he would soon forget .all about it and learn to pull true. Almost every ■wrong act the horse commits is from mismanagement, fear, or excitement; one; harsh word will so excite a nervous horse as to increase his pulse ten beats in a minute. When we remember that we are dealing with dunib brutes, and reflect how difficult it must be for them to understand our motions, signs, arid language, we should never get out of patience with them because they don't understand us, or wonder at their doing wrong. -With all our intellect, if we were placed in the horse's situation, it would be difficult for us to understand the driving of some foreigner of foreign ways and foreign language. We should always recollect that our ways and language are just as foreign and unknown to the horse as any language in the world is to us, arid should try to practise what we could understand were we the horse, endeavouring by some simple means to work on his understanding rather than on the different parts of his body. All balked horses can be started true and steady in a few minutes-time; they are all willing to pull as soon as they know how, and I never yet found a balked horse that I could nofteach to start his load in fifteen, and often less;than;three ..minutes' time.

Almost any team, when first balked, will start kindly if you let them-stand five or ten minutes, ■as though there was nothing wrong, and then spea« to them with a steady voice, and turn them a little to the right or left, so as to get them both in motion before they feel tiie pincli of the load. But if you wish to start a team that you are not driving yourself, that has been balked, fooled, and whipped for-some time, go to them and hang the lines on their .h'ames, or fasten them to the waggon, so that they will be perfectly loose; make the driver and spectators (if there are any) stand off some distance to one side, so as not to attract the attention of the horses ; unloose their check-reins, so that they can get their heads down if they choose; let them -stand a few minutes in this condition until you can see that they are a little composed. While they are standing you should be about their heads gentling them ; it will make them .-a little more kind, and the spectators will think that you are doing something that they do not understand, and will not learn the secret. When you" .have them ready to start stand before them, and as you seldom have but one balky horse in a team, get as near in front of him as you can, and if he is too .fast for the other horse, let liis nose come against your breast; this will keep him steady, for he will •,go slow rather than run on. you; tnrn them gently -to the right, without letting them pull on the traces, •as far -as the tongue will let them go; stop them •with a Uind word, geni le them a little, and then turn 'them back to the 'left by the same process. You will have them under your control by tlriVtime, and as you turn them again to the right, steady them in the collar, and you can take them where you /please. There is a quicker process that will generally start a balky horse,-but not so sure. Stand him a little a-head", so that his shoulders will be against ■ the collar, and take up one of his. forefeet in your ■hand, and let the driver start them, and when the -weights come iipainst his shoulders he will try to •stop; then lot him have his foot, and he will go ■ri"ht along. If you want to break a liorse from :balking that has long been in that habit j-pu ought to setTipart a half-day for that-purpose._ Put him by the side of some steady horse, have" check lines •on them, tie up all.the traces and straps, so that there is nothing to'excite, them. Do not rein them up, but let them have their heads loose. Walk them about together for some time as slowly and lazily as possible; stop often, and go up to your baity horse and gentle him. Do not take

any whip about him or do anything-to excite him, but keep him just as quiet as you can.; He will soon learn to start off at the word, and stop whenever you tell him. As soon as he-performs rightly, hitch him in an empty waggon j have it stand in a favourable posi- ; tion for starting. It would be well to .shorten t,he stay-chain behind the steady horse, so that if it is necessary he can take the weight of the waggon the first time you start them. Do not drive but a few rods at first; watch your balky horse closely, and if you see that he is getting excited, stop him before he stops of his own accord, caress him a little, and start again. As soon as they will go drive them over a small hill a few times, and then over a large one, occasionally adding a little load.^.This process j will make any horse true to pull. ■■ ; TO BREAK A HOUSE TO HARNESS. Take him in a tight stable as you did to ride, him; take the harness and go through thevsame process that you did with the saddle, until you get him familiar with it, so that you can put it on him and rattle it about without his caring for it. As soon as he will bear this, put on the lines, caress him as you draw them over him, and drive him about in,. Ins stable till he will beari;hem over his hips. The lines are a great aggravation to some colts, and often frighten them as much as if you were to raise? a whip over them. As soon as he is familiar with ■ the harness and lines, ta^e him out and put him by the side of a gentle horse, and go through the same process that you did with the balking horse. Always use a bridle without Blinds when you are breaking a horse to harness. HOW TO HITCH A HOUSE IN A SULKY. Lead him to and.-around it;, let him look at it, touch it with his nose, and stand by it till he does, not care for it; then pull the shafts a little to the left, and stand your horse in front of (the off wheel. Let some one stand on the right side of; the horse and hold him. by the bit, while you!i stand on the left side, facing,the sulky. This will:: keep him straight/ Run your left hand backand let it rest on his hip, and lay hold of the-,, shafts with -your right, bringing them up very gently to the left hand, which still remains stationery. Do not let anything but your arm touch his back, and as soon as you have the shafts square over him let the person on the opposite side take hold of one of them, and lower them very gently to the shaftibearers. Be very slow and deliberate about hitching; the longer time you'take the better, as a general rule. When you have the shafts placed, shake them slightly, so that he will feel them against each side. As soon as he will bear them without scaring, fasten your braces, &c., and start him along very slowly. Let one man lead the horse to keep him gentle, while the other gradually works back with the lines till he can get behind and drive him. After you have driven him in this way a short distance, you can get into the sulky, and all will go right. It is very important to have your horse go gently when you first hitch him. After you have walked him awhile, there is not halfV sso much danger of his scaring. Men do very wrong to jump up behind a:horse to drive him as soon as'they have him hitched. There are too many things for hira-to comprehend all at once.1 The shafts, the lines, the harness, the rattling of the sulky, all tend to scare him, and he must he made familiar with them by degrees. If your horse is very Wild, I would advise you to put up one foot the first time you drive him. HOW TO MAKE A HORSE LIE DOWN. Everything we want to teach the 'horse must be commenced in some way so as to give him an. idea of what you want him to do, and then be* repeated until he learns it perfectly. To make a horse lie down, bend his left foreleg and slip a loop over it, so that he cannot get it down. Then put a surcingle around his body, and fasten one end of along strap around the other foreleg, just above the hoof. Place the other end under- the surcingle, so as to -keep the strap in theright direction ; take a short '•hold-of it with your right hand ; stand on the left side of the horse, grasp the bit in your left hand, pull steadily on the strap with your right ; bear against his shoulder till you cause him to move. As soon as he lifts his weight, your pulling will raise the other foot, arid he will have to come on his knees. Keep the strap tight in your hand, so that he cannot straighten his legs if he_nses up_,_ _Hold.-hini_in-this position^ari"d~tuTiriris"hea'ortowards you ; bear against his side with your shoulder, not hard, but with- a steady equal pressure, and in about ten minutes he will lie down. As soon as he lies down he will be completely conquered, and you can handle him as you please. Take off the straps and straighten out his legs'; rub him lightly about the face andc neck the way the hair lies ; handle, all his legs, and after he has lain ten or twenty minutes, let him up again. After resting him a short time make him lie down as before. Repeat'the operation three or four times, which will be sufficient for one lesson. Give him two lessons a day, and when you •have given him four lessons he will lie down by • taking hold of his foot. As soon as he is well broken to He down in this way, tap on the" opposite leg with a stick when you ta'<e hold of his foot, and in a few days he will lie down from the motion of the stick. HOW TO MAKE A HOUSE FOLLOW YOU. Turn him 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 towards you, at the same time. touch 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 as you lead him, " Come along boy 1" 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 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 towards you, when you must always caress him. A few lessons of this kind will niake him run after you, when he sees the motion of the whipi 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 lot and train him, and from thence you can take him into the road and make him follow you anywhere, and run after you.

HOW TO MAKE A HORSE STAND WITHOUT HOLDING.

After you have him well broken to follow you, stand him in the centre of tlie stable—begin at his head to caress him, gradually working backwards. If he moves, give him a cut with the whip and put him back to the same spot from which he started. If he stand, caress him as before, and continue gentling him in this way until you 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 stand, go to liim frequently and caress him, and then Avalk 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 stand him in another place, and proceed as before. You shonld not train your horse more, than half an hour at a time.