140 OSTROGORCHSK 



unbroken animal had to be taught to obey the indications of 

 the reins, and to advance, turn, change his pace, halt or rein 

 'back, as he was directed. He then had to get over the 

 novel and uncomfortable feelino- of havino- a weight on his 



o o o 



back, by being made to carry a sack full of sand which I 

 placed on the saddle. 



General Ermolin had been absent the first morning, but 

 turned up on the second day in very bad humour ; probably 

 because he had toothache. He stopped the work which I had 

 begun on the green horse of the previous day, and said that 

 I was to take in hand only vicious horses. I tried to explain 

 to him that I wished as a commencement to show my 

 methods on a quiet horse, so that those who saw what I did 

 might be able to help me, when I took in hand a vicious one. 

 He would not hear of this, and sent for a particularly rampagious 

 animal that had open wounds on both sides of the neck from 

 the lasso with which it had been recently captured. I pointed 

 out that this horse should have been under treatment in the 

 veterinary hospital. I happened on that day to be suffering 

 from a bad attack of bronchitis caught from a chill at Liski 

 after having been bathed in perspiration for four hours while I 

 was working in the manege, and I was lame from a nasty kick I 

 had received on the same forenoon. Besides, the manege which 

 General Ermolin had given me to work in, was as hard as a 

 turnpike road, being unprovided with sand or litter, which is 

 always put down in these schools when horses are worked in 

 them. Being afraid that the animal would hurt himself on 

 the hard ground if I used any forcible means of subjection, 

 which would be absolutely necessary if I had to make him 

 quiet in the couple of hours at my disposal, I thought it best 

 to refrain from doing anything of the kind, so I had the 

 horse turned loose in the school with the object of showing 

 how he could be haltered with a long stick. Not being able 

 by myself to get the animal in a corner of this large manege, 



