266 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



MR. RAREY, THE AMERICAN HORSE- 

 TAMER, 



When the sportsman or the horBemaD, who has studied the 

 animal all his life, and knows too well his freaks of temper and 

 easily alarmed disposition — when such a one is told that the 

 worst-tempered brute that ever was handled, or the greatest 

 savage th.tt ever was put into a box, can be conquered and 

 quieted in five or ten miuutes— when simply by leaving with 

 bim, for some such space of time, an unassuming young man, 

 all the vice is effectually taken out of him — and when he hears, 

 moreover, of there beiug no perceptible means by which this i? 

 accomplished, but that the thing is merely "a secret" — When, 

 we say, a sportsman reads or is told of all this, wh&t in ninety- 

 nine times out of a hundred will he do ? With a plea-ant 

 smile, and a slight shrug of the shoulders, he will most likely 

 answer at once that "it must be humbug." Or, if he does 

 not say so, he is sure to think so, which comes to very much 

 the same. 



Now there is just one step beyond this. He must exercise 

 another of his senses before he quite condemns the discovery. 

 By this, thanks to The limes and other channels, he has no 

 doubt heard a good deal of the borse-tamer; but if our friend 

 is a practical man, as we will take him to be, he will go a step 

 further, and see him. He will juHge for himself, as many have 

 already. He will go something more than sceptical as to what 

 is to be palmed-off on him, and he will come away convinced, 

 at least, there is a great deal in it. We slate this as tue gene- 

 ral iii)pre?sion left on all who have hitherto seen the effects of 

 Mr. Rarey's system, and we f;ive it as our own. Horse-tamers 

 and Whisperers are, or have been, by no means unknown 

 amongst us; and we walked into Mr. Anderson's yard quite 

 ready to assure ourselves that we were going to witness some 

 clever trick, or some individual exhibition of personal power 

 of hand or eye, that might be as curious and amusing, perhaps, 

 as a scene in the Circus, and that would be all. 



We found the exhihiter, a young well-made American, just 

 recgiiizdlile from the tone of his voice as a Statesman, in an 

 inner yard in com,.any with a gnodish-looking bUck horse. 

 In one word, he was diiin:f just what he pleased with this ani- 

 mal. And there stood Mr. Ander.-ou and Mr. Rice ready tu 

 assure you that a week since they, with all tneir knowledge of 

 their business — George Kiie with all his fine te nper and fine 

 hand) — C'<uid du nothing at all with him. He had been sold. 

 and returueii as restive and unmanageable, aud there was no 

 help for it but to take him back. He was one of those sad 

 brutes, thit with all the look and power of two or three hun- 

 dred Kuinea horses, sink down into street cabs sheerly from the 

 impossibility of ever being a'lle to trust them. Mr. Rarey 

 wanted a patient, and here was one that promised to try all his 

 art. Htf requested only one quaiter-of-au-hour's conversation 

 with the unreasouahle creature; at the end of that time ihe 

 black horse was black only in colour. His nature was changed, 

 aud the detil lairly gone out of him. We saw what we write. 

 We saw this violent-tempered animal that had been, stand 

 quietly in the middle of the yard, with a plain hard-and-sharp 

 iu his mouth, aud the rein hanging loose on his neck — and 

 we saw the American wheel a heavy barrow straight up to his 

 head and round bira, without the horse flioching in the least. 

 Then the horse-tamer cracked a csrriage-whip over his head, and 

 still the animal stood as placidly, and, apparently, as uncon- 

 cerned as ever. Mr. Rarey next proceeded to mount him, and 

 here perhaps to a sportsman was the most pleasing part of the 

 whole performance. With the rein still loose on his neck, the 

 horse moved and turned, just as the rider moved his hand. We 

 .have all seen a " wonderful pony" in the Circus stop and twiat 

 round iu obedience to the promptings of a tolerably well- 

 pointed whip. But there was nothing of this sort with Mr. 

 Rarey. There was no effort on his part, and there was no- 

 thing anxious or nervous in the look of his horse. In fact, he 

 was 80 calm, his eye so steady and so much at ease, that it 

 was difficult to imagine he ever could have been the vicious 

 obstinate brute too many could speak to. " The manner" of 

 the horse gave one more the notion of an old family pony, not 

 so much subdued, as won over by kind treatment and long 

 usage. You got ou him " any-how," and got off him "any- 

 how." One old sportsmen mounted the hoise with his half- 

 cigar in his mouth, and slid down again over his tail. A week 

 since the same horse would have kicked his brains out, could 

 any man have been found fool-hardy enough to attempt sach 

 sa aet, Jilr. Rarey conduded this demonstration of his power 



over the horse by taking him into a stall, and lying dowu by 

 his side — knocking his hoofs together — pillowing bis bead on 

 his quarters ; with similar feats, not quite so seemly to look at, 

 although all tending to prove his complete subjugation of the 

 animal. 



The horae-tamer declares his means are simply rational and 

 kindly treatment. He denies the use of any drug-, or appliance 

 that can in any way injure the proper spirit or true nature of 

 the horse. He maintains his secret can be imparted to others, 

 and can be as effectually used by them as by himself. Aud he 

 guarantees that a horse once conquered is conquered for ever. 

 It is only fair to say that the recent performances before her 

 Majesty and the Court all tend to confirm this. Lord Alfred 

 Paget, to whom the secret has been entrusted, has already 

 appeared as a successful practitioner of the art, while the horses 

 operated upon have shown no disposition to return to their 

 former evil ways. 



We must repeat there is a good deal in this — more than 

 many a man who has been contending all his life with vicious 

 an I restive horses will like at first to aimit. It is sugtrestive, 

 however, at least, that no one who has seen the effect of what 

 is done, but has gone away with a very different opndon to that 

 he entertained on only hearing of it. Mr. Harry Hill, who 

 strolled in to witness the experiment with very doubting eyes, 

 ended by asking if his colts could not be broken on such a 

 principle? Of course they can. Horses shy of water can be 

 made to face it, aud, indeed, to do a vast deal more than we 

 mean to tell of here, purely because we do not want to have 

 our word questioned. On the first available opportunity let 

 every one go and judge for himself. Mr. Rarey is accompanied 

 by Mr. Goodenough, who, we will answer for it, rom our own 

 experience, will treat every appliraiion made to him with all 

 proper courtesy and respect.— /Spor(!H^ Magazine for Februaiy. 



SIMPLE RExMEDY FOR THE PLEURO- 

 PiXEUMONIA. 



Sir, — Being a constant reader of your va'uable paper, I 

 have seen several remedies recommended for that fatal disease 

 called pleuro pneumonia, which is now so prevaleu'. amoni;st 

 cattle and sheep, iu all parts of the country, to the great loss 

 a id almost ruin of many stock masters ; and which I think 

 may be, iu mauy cases, prevented by a little attention aud the 

 following treatment, wnich I have app ied for mauy years, with 

 great success; indeed, I never knew it to fail, if properly 

 carried out; and I have had some little experience, havii g bad 

 the manageiueiit of stock and sheep for many years m different 

 counties. The pleuro-pneuuiouia visits us at all seasons, but, 

 generally, most in the autiimu or winter — no doubt from the 

 loggy aud wet state of the atmoiphere, which affects the lungs, 

 particular of tho^e that are pre-Jispo-ed ; therefore, ahout the 

 last week iu Octoher, when the stock are generally taken into 

 the yard, I give lo each beast, according to size and age, from 

 half-a-pound to a pound of Stockholm tar, and a handful or 

 two of salt, mixed ; taking care, at the time, t > rub it well 

 into their nostrils. This I repeat once a week, if the disease is 

 prevalent near us, only iu less quantity ; if not, I repeat it 

 once a month, aud at all times, wheu I buy in a fresh lot of 

 beasts, give them a dose of tar and salt. VVhen I first beard 

 of the disease, we had about 90 head of cattle, and had a two- 

 yr old heifer attacked, which died in four days. The disease was 

 very destructive all around the neighbourhood ; I gave all the 

 other stock a dose of tar and salt, aud we had no more taken, 

 I then recommended the same dose to my neighbours, and had 

 the pleasure of seeing the same result. There is no doubt 

 about the disease being contagious; I therefore advise all per- 

 sons who keep cattle, to be particular in keeping the houses 

 and sheds clean, and lime-washed once a year at least. For 

 sheep, I give about two table-spoonsful of the same, with the 

 like result. Any gentlemen who may think proper to try this 

 simple preventive, will find themselves amply repaid for their 

 trouble, and if they will please to make known to me the re- 

 sult, I should be greatly obliged. What I have staled is from 

 my own practical experience; and if you think it worth a small 

 space in your valuable pages, I should take it as a great com- 

 pliment to myself, and hope it would prove a benefit to all. 

 I am, sir, your humble servant, 

 R. Mayston, 

 Bailiff to Mrs. Dixon, Stansted Park, 



Emsworth, Hants. 



