DIFFICULT TO SHOE 131 



sight, fled the scene. When Heppener told me how my cruel 

 conducf had wounded the feelings of his chief, I thought that 

 both of them were very hard up for something to find fault 

 with. 



On the following day and at about the same hour I took 

 in hand the horse of the previous morning, and found him 

 greatly improved in manners ; for he let one of the soldiers 

 bridle him without any trouble and without my using any 

 forcible means of control. Seeing that I could cope with the 

 wild animal, the General gave me an old black gelding which 

 had been, I was told, ten years in the cadre as one of the 

 riding horses, and which during that time was never able to be 

 shod without having been previously thrown down and secured. 

 This was his only vice ; but it was a bad one. He was big, 

 strong, crafty and very dangerous if an attempt was made 

 to touch his legs. On several of the occasions when he had 

 been thrown down to be shod, he had injured so many soldiers 

 that the doctor had strongly recommended that the animal 

 should be shot ; but of course the kind-hearted General would 

 not allow any pain to be inflicted on a horse, which costs the 

 Russian Government more than many soldiers. I began by 

 putting a roller on him ; noosed a fore leg, which I suspended 

 to the roller ; slipped on the rope twitch ; and taught him the 

 word "steady!" I then proceeded to gentle his fore legs, 

 and after releasing his near fore leg, I lifted up his hind feet 

 by a neat improvement I have made on an old method. 

 I got permission to call in the shoeing smith, who under my 

 direction took off the animal's shoes and pared down his 

 hoofs, which, to judge by their length and by the horrible 

 stench they gave off, could not have been touched with either 

 rasp or drawing knife for at least three months. I showed 

 on this animal the method of haltering a horse with a long 

 stick. 



On the 23rd September I made the black gelding stand 



