THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



217 



HORSE-TAMING. 



Sm,— Numerous articles on tliis .subject in tlio papers 

 have attracted my attention, eiiil)iacing a varicly of 

 theories, in all of which the use of drugs is said to perform 

 a prominent part. It is the conflicting and erroneous 

 opinions advanced in these paragraphs that have induced 

 me to adopt this method of laying before the public the 

 principles of the theory practised, if not by Mr. Rarey, by 

 his confreres, with equal success, in the states of Oliio, 

 Illinois, and other parts of the Union. 



This art is not of very recent discovery. In a work pub- 

 lished about the year 1814, on the art of "Taming Wild 

 Horses," is given Willis J. Powell's system, in which he 

 describes the process, similar in many respects to the fol- 

 lowing : He i-epudiates the use cf drugs, as being quite un- 

 necessarj'-, although he says, " I have made use of certain 

 ingredients before persons, to disguise the real secret ; and 

 many believed that the docility to which the horse arrived 

 in so short a time was owing to those ingredients : but you 

 will see from this explanation that they were of no use 

 whatever." His process was somewhat slower than that 

 practised in the present day. He says that, by his secret, 

 " a horse is tamed in from two to sixteen hours ;" whereas, 

 I have seen the same performed in less than one hour. 



The fundamental principles of this theory are founded on 

 the leading characteristics of the horse, which seldom re- 

 ceive that attention they justly deserve from horse-breakers 

 and those who have the care and management of this noble 

 animal. 



The horse is so constituted that he will not oflFer resist- 

 ance to a demand made of him, which he fully comprehends, 

 if made in a way consistent with the laws of nature. 

 Being totall}' unconscious of his strength, beyond his ex- 

 perience, but little force is required to subdue him, if 

 properly applied. He will allow any object, however 

 frightful it may appear, to be taken round him, over him, 

 and on him, that does not inflict pain, after he has once 

 examined it by smell, and more narrowly by the touch. 

 This last characteristic has caused a diversity of opiuion, 

 and, united with the sense of smelling, has led to many 

 remarkable delusions respecting the use of strong oils or 

 drugs for the taming of wild horses. It is a prevailing 

 opinion that the sense of smell is the governing sense of the 

 horse. Hence comes the idea of drugs being esteemed in- 

 dispensable in horse-taming, the fallacy of which may be 

 easily proved : Can your readers, or any one else, give me 

 one single reason how scent can convey any idea to the 

 horse's mind of what we want him to do.' If not, scents 

 are of no use for taming the horse. Everything we get him 

 to do, without force, must be accomplished by some means 

 of conveying our ideas to his mind. I say to my horse, 

 " Go on ! " and he goes ; " Wo ! " and he stops. The 

 meanings of those two terms have been taught him, by the 

 tap of the whip and piill of the rein that first accompanied 

 Ibera. If he is thus taught to go on and to stop when told, 

 to go to right or left as required by the voice, it is quite 

 certain that much more might be taught him by using 

 proper means to improve his intelligence. And how long 

 do you suppose, reader, a horse would have to stand and 

 amell of a bottle of oil, &c., before he would learn to bend 

 his knee when told, to lilt his foot, or lay down, &c,.^ 



Thus you see the absurdity of trying to break a horse by 

 means of drugs and articles to smell of, or medicine given 

 him, of any kind whatever. 



The only true method of breaking horses, and that which 

 I shall briefly dei-cr'.bc, is thfit Avhich takes them in tiieir 

 native state, and improves their intelligence. Caresses, 

 scratching in parts not easily reached by the animal him- 

 self, ?;ivieg food or water after long abstinence has caused 

 hunger or thirst, and the careful use of various tones of the 

 voice, are useful in the tuition of the horse. A liking for 

 the pupil, and tact in training it— which, if they be not 

 natural, are almost as diflicult to acquire perfectly, as to 

 become a poet — are essential qualifications in the tamer of 

 all animals, throughout their various grades of intellect. 



I will now attempt briefly to describe the system of horse- 

 taming I have seen successfully practised in the Western 

 States of America, on animals of all kinds of dispositions ; 

 those taken wild from the prairies, where they have been 

 subjected to no restraint, and the stubborn, vicious mule, 

 have alike submitted to its influence in a manner almost in- 

 ci-edible to the most sanguine. 



Horses are of two kinds : the one is timid, and appears 

 only to fear man ; but the other class are of a stubborn or 

 vicious Indisposition, and although they are not Avild, and do 

 not require taming in the sense it is generally understood, 

 they take much more subduing. Great tact and skill are re- 

 quired in their management, before a complete reformation 

 can be effected. I will first speak of that kind which only 

 fear man ; and to persons who understand the philosophy 

 of horsemanship, these are the easiest trained. When we 

 have a horse that is wild and lively, we can train him to our 

 will in a very short time ; for they are quick to learn, and 

 always ready to obey. 



Taking a jockey-whip in your hand, with the lash point- 

 ing backwards, enter the stable alone. It is very disad- 

 vantageous to have any one in the stable with you ; you 

 should be entirely alone, so that there is nothing but your- 

 self to attract the attention of the pupil. When you have 

 entered the stable, stand stationary with the whip held as 

 directed, and the left arm, bent at the elbow, projecting 

 forward. In this position, allow him to look at you a 

 minute or two ; and when his curiosity is somewhat satis- 

 fied, approach him slowly, with your arms in the position 

 directed. Go neither too much toward bis head or croop, so 

 as not to make him move backward or forward, thus keeping 

 the horse stationary. If he docs stir, move also very cau- 

 tiously to right or left, which will keep him in one place. 

 As you get very near to him, move a little to his shoulders, 

 and stop a few seconds. If you are in his reach, he will 

 turn his head and smell your hand ; not that he has any 

 preference for your liand, but simply because it is project- 

 ing, and the nearest part of your body to the horse. This 

 all colts will do ; and they will smell yoiu- naked hand just 

 as well as of anything you can put in it, and with as good 

 an effect, however much some men may have preached the doc- 

 trine of giving them the scent of drugs from the hand. 

 When the horse smells, you caress him very gently at first, 

 merely touching him, so that your hand may pass along as 

 smoothly as possible on the forehead ; or the side of the 

 head and neck will answer the same purpose, if more con- 



