INTRODUCTION. 



man, and he a stranger. Next day, beyond a few feeble 

 kicks, he exhibited no trace of vice, backed twice the whole 

 circle of the ring, refused to attack though challenged by 

 the whip being flourished in his face, and returned to his 

 stable a conquered horse. Never was victory more complete 

 or more hardly earned. At one time the victor only escaped 

 by " the skin of his teeth." Here, then, is a galvanic com- 

 bination by which a horse with the worst reputation for vice 

 in the United Kingdom, one so essentially dangerous be- 

 cause of his variable moods, and one possessed of a legion 

 of devils, was reduced to reason and usefulness. Previous 

 to being operated on by the deft tamer, Lord Lyon, when 

 the dark fit was on him, would walk clean through the walls 

 of his box and worry at large. The colt and the mature 

 horse were both cured, but by widely different methods; 

 that of the East Riding breaker would have had little effect 

 on the Clydesdale, in fact, he would have dined and supped 

 off his rider, Before quitting this subject, I desire to register 

 my opinion that no horseman's education can be considered 

 complete till he has thoroughly mastered Mr. Galvayne's 

 excellent systems of training and general management of 

 the horse. They are based on "science and humanity" v. 

 "ignorance and barbarity;" on the possession of a little 

 common sense plus the knowledge of how to apply it. 

 They work in the case of untractable animals what Moham- 

 med termed "a goodly thorough reformation," and con- 

 siderably shorten the colt's curriculum of training, to the 

 conservation of legs, temper, and constitution. 



There are three roads, or methods, by which a man pos- 

 sessing the attributes I stipulate for may become an adept 

 in the art of horsemanship. The first is by putting the boy 

 from his earliest days on the donkey or pony, and allowing 

 him to tumble about till practice gives a firm seat, probably 



