REQUIREMENTS, IN THE BREAKER. 



REQUIREMENTS IN THE BREAKER. 



To break-in a horse properly, one requires to have know- 

 ledge, patience, readiness of resource, sympathy, skill, 

 coolness, and pluck. Horse-breaking, I may state, is 

 partly an art and partly a science. In its former relation, 

 dexterity to carry out its mechanical details is necessary. 

 In the latter, acquaintance with the laws which respec- 

 tively govern the working of the animal's mind and body is 

 needed. All such indispensable knowledge will, however, 

 be in vain, unless the breaker has patience to apply it in an 

 exact manner, and without allowing himself to be influenced 

 in any way by feelings of impatience, anger, or resentment. 

 Horses vary mentally as much as they do physically. 

 Some are quick and docile ; others, stupid and stubborn. 

 If their lack of comprehension or wilful disobedience causes 

 their teacher to lose his temper, the exliibition of his annoy- 

 ance will assuredly frighten out of the timid ones whatever 

 sense may have been in their heads, and will provoke the 

 sullen ones to resistance, if not to retaliation. To be suc- 

 cessful, he should adopt the maxim of patience, patience, 

 and still more patience. Not alone are horses of infinite 

 variety as regards their dispositions ; but the causes of their 

 failings or vices differ so much that the breaker must be 

 essentially a man of ready resource, and not a mere follower 

 of routine. Again, he must have sympathy with weakness, 

 and must be quick to appreciate and reward progress in 

 learning and compliance with his wishes. Skill can be ob- 

 tained, and " the magic touch " developed, only by long 

 practice. The handling of bad horses in breaking, cer- 

 tainly demands a large amount of coolness and pluck, 

 both of which can also be improved by practice. 



