28 FIRST TRIP TO RUSSIA 



taught him to come up to me by adopting Baucher's neat 

 method (see Illustrated Horse-breaking] of lightly touching 

 the animal on the front of the chest with the point of a 

 cutting whip I had in my hand ; ceasing of course this irritat- 

 ing indication the moment the grey, finding that he could 

 not escape it by backing, came forward. Having got so far 

 in obtaining control, I slipped the end of a piece of rope, 

 which on such occasions I always carry in my pocket, over 

 the horse's neck and under his upper lip, and taught him to 

 obey the word "steady!" After that, I gentled him with 

 my hand over the neck, head, shoulders and fore legs ; took 

 off the saddle ; removed the bridle ; and bridled and saddled 

 him while he stood like a statue of good-tempered patience 

 in the open without any kind of restraint being applied to 

 him ; for I need hardly say that I took off the rope as soon 

 as my pupil had grasped the meaning of the word "steady! " 

 Finally, he allowed his cavalry friend to mount without giving 

 the slightest trouble. Repetition of the lesson was then the 

 only thing needed to transform this act of obedience into a 

 habit; but whether that was subsequently done or not, was 

 no affair of mine. The vice in question would certainly have 

 been a very easy one to have overcome in this instance, 

 because it was unmixed with any tendency to sulk. 



The breaking must have made a good impression ; 

 for towards the end of my stay at Krasnoe Selo, Colonel 

 Kasnakof told me that H.I.H. The Grand Duke Nicholas 

 Nicolaivitch, who is the Tzar's uncle and Inspector-General 

 of the Russian Cavalry, would like that afternoon to see me 

 take in hand an unbroken young horse and make him quiet 

 to ride. After luncheon, Colonel Kasnakof drove me down 

 to the Grand Duke's palace, and, evidently from his kind- 

 hearted solicitude on my behalf, asked me three or four times 

 if I really felt certain that I could accomplish the supposed 

 big task within the hour which had been allotted for it. I 



