30 THEORY OF HORSE-CONTROL. 



borne with becoming resignation ; as, for instance, prancing, 

 chucking up the head, star-gazing, boring, refusing to jump 

 particular kinds of fences, refusing to jump in " cold blood," 

 showing excitement in harness when the whip is cracked, 

 shying off the ball at polo, disinclination to stand steady 

 when being mounted, etc. The knowledge (which I shall 

 endeavour to supply to my readers) of the way to give a 

 horse a good " mouth," and to render him steady and 

 reliable, is of infinitely more value to everyone, except a 

 showman, than instruction (which I shall try to afford) in 

 methods for taming man-eaters and other exceptionally 

 dangerous animals. The art of mere " horse-taming " 

 is of little practical use ; for the need of its application is 

 of but rare occurrence, especially in countries where horses 

 have been brought up under civilised conditions. Even 

 the celebrated Rarey, after subduing three or four 

 " savages," when in England, had to content himself with 

 exhibiting them about the country as reformed characters, 

 for lack of new subjects on which to show his skill. When 

 wishing to form a class for practical instruction in horse- 

 breaking, during my various tours, I have frequently met 

 with the objection that there were no vicious horses in 

 that particular place. But as I always replied that I 

 needed animals with only common faults of mouth and 

 temper, I have never been at a loss, on such occasions, 

 for subjects to demonstrate the fact that there are but 

 few horses entirely free from some riding or driving fault 

 which more or less impairs their value, and which, as a 

 rule, can be readily corrected. Besides the formation of 

 " mouth " and " manners " in the unhandled horse, as 

 well as in the " spoiled " one ; breaking comprehends the 

 special education of the horse in many different capacities. 



