158 METHODS OF HORSE-CONTROL. 



endeavour to frighten him by flourishing in front of, and all 

 over him, a white banner or other cloth fixed to the end of 

 the pole. In doing all this, our object should be to make 

 him go round as much as possible, by startling him, though 

 without hurting him in the slightest ; for the more trying 

 will have been his experience, the less likely will he sub- 

 sequently be to become startled at anything unusual 

 happening. When he has thoroughly given in, the cord 

 may be taken off his head and tail. 



The foregoing method of rendering horses quiet, or of 

 impressing on their minds the idea that they cannot resist 

 the power of man, is applicable only to excitable horses 

 which, under the various kinds of provocation I have 

 described, will go round and round until all the " nonsense " 

 has been taken out of them for the time being. It is 

 not suitable to sulky horses, whose defence against punish- 

 ment would be to jib. It is useful for curing biters and 

 kickers of their respective vices ; supposing that these 

 animals are not also afflicted with stubbornness, in which 

 case a course of making them lie down (see page 144) 

 and keeping them on the ground (see page 149), would 

 be more appropriate. While using the head and tail 

 method, I have never had a horse hurt himself, even when 

 he has fallen on the side to which his head is turned, as will 

 sometimes happen. 



After having given the head and tail plan a trial of 

 several years in hundreds of cases in various parts of the 

 world, I now rarely employ it, except as a means for 

 saving labour. Its chief weak point is that it teaches 

 nothing except quietness, which can, as a rule, be better 

 obtained by the use, for instance, of the long reins and 

 rope- twitch. We can also inculcate by the former, obedi- 

 ence to the " aids " ; and, by the latter, obedience to the 

 voice, which can also be taught to a considerable extent 



