15z THE HORSE. 
pages of Sir F. B. Head, who has had ample opportunities of judging 
both the varieties of the species which he describes, It shows the neces- 
sity for the cautious proceedings which I have endeavoured to describe as 
the proper mode of breaking our young horses, and which I am satisfied 
will enable the breaker to perform his task in a way which will be satis- 
factory to his employer. It may, however, be worth while to examine 
into the methods adopted in the French school, as first introduced by 
M. Baucher. 
His “ Meruop or Horsemansuip” was published nearly twenty years 
ago, and has been generally received on the continent, where the prin- 
ciples of the manége have always been more highly prized than in this 
country. The author tells us, as his first principle, “that all the resist- 
ances of young horses spring from a physical cause, and that this cause 
only becomes a moral one by the awkwardness, ignorance, and brutality 
of the rider. In fact, besides the natural stiffness peculiar to all horses, 
each of them has a peculiar conformation, the greater or less perfection of 
which constitutes the degree of harmony that exists between the forces 
and the weight. The want of this harmony occasions the ungracefulness 
of their paces, the difficulty of their movements—in a word, all the 
obstacles to a good education.” To remove these defects, M. Baucher 
adopts certain methods of suppling the neck, in which he considers the 
chief obstacle to perfect action resides. Without going into the long 
details of the various supplings, it will be sufficient to describe the general 
division of the work which the author considers necessary. ‘This, he 
thinks, must extend to two months, divided into one hundred and twenty 
lessons of half an hour each, two being given each day. During the first 
series of eight lessons, the breaker will devote twenty minutes to the 
stationary exercise for the flexions of the jaw and neck, which can hardly 
be efficiently described without the illustrations given in the book itself. 
During the remaining ten minutes, he will make the horse go forward at 
a walk, without trying to animate him ; applying himself all the time to 
keeping the horse’s head in a perpendicular position. In the second 
series, comprising ten days, the first fifteen minutes will be occupied in 
stationary supplings and backings, followed by an equal time devoted to 
moving straight ahead in the walk and trot. The rider, while taking care 
to keep the head in good place, will commence a slight opposition of 
hand and legs, in order to give regularity to the paces. The third series, 
making up twelve days, will combine the previous supplings with 
pirouettes; while the fourth and fifth series, making up the whole time, 
will go on to develop the various elementary paces of the manége. Now, 
in all this, it appears to me that we have only our best English modes of 
breaking carried out to excess; and I am yet to learn that any great 
novelty has been introduced by this standard authority of the French 
school. 
SUPERIORITY OF THE ORDINARY METHOD. 
Ir WILL READILY BE GATHERED from what I have already written that 
for breaking the average colt I greatly prefer the methods which have 
been in use for many years in this country. Mr. Rarey is entitled to 
every credit for introducing a novel mode of controlling a vicious horse, 
which is also of service in training cavalry and circus horses. Beyond 
these departments, however, his plans effect no good as far as my Judgment 
goes, and instead of improving the mouth they have a tendency to. injure 
it. I have shown that time and patience are grand elements of success 
