■i88 HORSES WITH VICES. 



before he can do so, strike him sharply with the stick on that 

 side of the nose. I have never met a horse which has not 

 been quickly made obedient by this method of correction 

 when it has been applied with severity and precision. After 

 a few times the mere sight of the stick will be enough.* 



I like to work alone without any help, not even that of a 

 groom. Those who do not believe this can easily verify my 

 statement. I have kept my horses at livery in several schools 

 and I have always broken them in these places. I have never 

 asked the help of any one at the maneges of Latry, Vincent, 

 'Quartero, or I'Etoile. 



HORSES WHICH THROW THEIR HEADS ABOUT. 



There are very few horsemen who have not had the trouble 

 and even the danger of riding animals which threw their heads 

 about. Some forcibly lower the head, and thus, so to speak, 



* The most disagreeable animal I ever met was a stallion which was very- 

 restive and a fiend to bite. 



As it is impossible to break a horse without the help of the legs and spurs, it 

 was necessary to find a means to make this horse bear their touch. The first 

 six weeks passed off fairly well, because I did not ask him to do much, but as 

 soon as I tried to get him in hand by means of the spurs, he tried to bite my 

 legs, threw himself violently on his knees, and in this position made desperate 

 efforts to catch hold of my feet ; and he had the best of the struggle, because I 

 was not able to use the spurs, on account of having to draw back my feet out of 

 the way of his teeth. 



I then put on the snaffle reins two iron rods, fifteen or sixteen inches long. 

 Having thus put the animal in such position that he could not turn his head 

 round, and as my legs were then safe from his teeth, I felt sure of victory. But 

 this demon of a horse, being rendered furious by his feeling of powerlessness, 

 continued to throw himself on his knees, and being unable to bite my feet, bit 

 his own breast, which I thought he would stop doing on account of the pain. 

 ■So far from that, he tore away strips of flesh from his breast, and I have no 

 ■doubt that if he had unseated me, he would have devoured me. I then put on 

 him a very thick leather apron, which was in shreds in three days. 



I succeeded, however, in mastering him by placing under his chin a kind of 

 half funnel made out of white metal. Being unable to bite, he soon dropped 

 that detestable habit, and I completed his education at No. 78 Avenue Malakoff, 

 in a place kept by the son of Mr. Gost, who w^as a horse dealer, and who more 

 ■than once was present at these equine battles, which I fought singly as a rule. 



