62 THEORY OF MOUTHING. 



pressed by the proper signals. The breaker will do well 

 to bear in mind the maxim, that a horse should never get 

 the chance of pulling successfully against the reins, or 

 unsuccessfully against the collar. As a man on foot has as 

 thorough command over a horse, as the horse has over his 

 rider (supposing that both know how to exercise their 

 respective powers) ; the breaker should naturally commence 

 his lessons on foot, and should, as a rule, refrain from giving 

 the horse the advantage of having him in the saddle until 

 the habit of obedience to the aids (or to their breaking 

 substitutes, such as the pressure of the long rein on the 

 quarter, for that of the rider's outward leg) be fully con- 

 firmed. In all this, we act on the principle of association 

 of ideas in the mind of the horse to guard ourselves from the 

 evil consequences which might ensue from the exercise 

 of the animal's instinctive impatience of control. 



With some horses, and especially with those which have 

 learned to know their own power, the process of inculcating 

 the habit of obedience to the aids by their mere application, 

 may be ineffective, or may be too tedious for practical 

 requirements on account of the impression produced being 

 lacking in intensity (see page 6). In such a case, I would 

 advocate the advisability of exacting obedience, in the first 

 instance, by some ready method, for instance, making the 

 horse lie down (see page 152), or keeping him on the ground 

 (see page 153), so as to impress him with the idea of our 

 supreme power, and to banish from his mind any thought 

 of resisting our will, even on a point concerning which he 

 would always prove victorious, had he sufficient intelli- 

 gence to see through our artifice. Our power over the 

 horse when we are on his back, being necessarily limited 

 in extent, may, with all our teaching, fail us at times. I 

 in no way wish to say that competent riding or driving 

 cannot in time accomplish the object in view, in the case 



