LIFE SKETCH. 59 



The following is from the Boston Herald : 



KICKING HORSES SUCCESSFULLY BROKEN AT THE EQUINE 

 SCHOOL BEFORE A LARGE AUDIENCE. 



"An equine school in Boston is something of a nov- 

 elty, and that such a school is in existence is not as 

 commonly known as it should be, especially by own- 

 ers of vicious horses. Last evening a large audience 

 assembled in what was formerly the Boston Riding 

 Academy, at 1209 Washington Street, to witness Pro- 

 fessor Oscar R. Gleason demonstrate his principles of 

 subduing refractory animals, and making a kicking 

 horse in a few hours' time as docile as a lamb. The 

 Professor's first subject was a kicking horse, which is 

 well known among the horsemen of this city as being a 

 particularly vicious brute, and a terror to the black- 

 smiths who have been intrusted to keep her feet prop- 

 erly shod. When first led into the sawdust arena, the 

 approach of any individual within ten feet of the ani- 

 mal was a signal for her to let drive, with all the 

 force she could muster, with both hind feet. Professor 

 Gleason first put on her head what he terms his Eureka 

 bridle, consisting of a common piece of clothes-line 

 about ten feet in length, arranged in a peculiar manner, 

 so that he has perfect control of the animal; then a 

 strap was buckled around her fore feet, under the fet- 

 locks, in which a ring was fastened, a rope passed 

 through the ring, thence through another one in a sur- 

 cingle; and every time the animal attempted to kick, a 

 quick jerk on the rope would bring her on to her fore 

 knees. After being brought to a kneeling position a 

 score or more times, she finally concluded that it 

 didn't pay to be a kicker, and trotted around the circle 

 as calmly as a man in rubber boots would step on to a 

 crosswalk in one of our flooded streets. So much was 



