Foreword 



the steamer at Cork, without fear, and entu'ely 

 of his own accord. On landing him at Liver- 

 pool, I rode him through the dense traffic of 

 the streets and on to Freshfield, without 

 any untoward incidents. He subsequently 

 developed great affection for me. In really 

 expert hands, any unhandled horse can be 

 broken to saddle on this system — and so that 

 the horse at once regards the rider as his 

 friend and protector, and not as his enemy — ^in 

 three or four days. But he still requires a 

 good rider, and is not yet anybody's horse. 

 That can only come with time, and further 

 careful training of the same sympathetic kind. 



On horse ranches in the United States, and 

 in Mexico, I have seen " the boys " round up a 

 mob of the wildest ponies imaginable, and 

 after they have corralled them, pick out any I 

 liked to choose ; and, without any kind of 

 preparation, lasso, throw, and saddle them 

 and thus commence their education without 

 further ado. It's the most magnificent feat 

 of equitation to be seen in the wide world — 

 but it's a fight — a thrilling contest of human 

 and equine brains and endurance. The man 

 wins, but he leaves the horse his enemy. I 

 have ridden such ponies, long after the contest 

 and when they are considered broken, but the 

 embittered effect remains. Any stranger to 

 them is a potential enemy. It has been long 

 before such a pony has given me his complete 



