46 ' THE AKT OF TAM1XO HOUSES. 



or blow their breath into his nostrils, &c., &c. All of 

 which, as far as the scent goes, have no effect whatever 

 in gentling the horse, or conveying any idea to his 

 mind ; though the acts that accompany these efforts hand- 

 ling him, touching him about the nose and head, and pat- 

 ting him, as they direct you should, after administering the 

 articles, may have a very great effect, which they mistake for 

 the effect of the ingredients used. And Baucher, in his 

 work, entitled " The Arabian Art of Taming Horses," 

 page 17, tells us how to accustom a horse to a robe, by 

 administering certain articles to his nose ; and goes on 

 to say that these articles must first be applied to the 

 horse's nose, before you attempt to break him, in order 

 to operate successfully. 



Now, reader, can you, or any one else, give one single 

 reason how scent can convey any idea to the horse's 

 mind of what we want him to do ? If not, then of course 

 strong scents of any kind can be of no use in taming the 

 unbroken horse. For, everything that we get him to do 

 of his own accord, without force, must be accomplished 

 by conveying our ideas to his mind. I say to my horse, 

 "Go -long!" and he goes; "Ho!" and he stops, be- 

 cause these two words, of which he has learned the 

 meaning by the tap of the whip and the pull of the rein 

 that first accompanied them, convey the two ideas to 

 his mind of go and stop. 



It is impossible to teach the horse a single thing by 

 the means of scent alone ; and as for affection, that can 

 be better created by other means. 



How long do you suppose a horse would have to stand 

 and smell a bottle of oil, before he would learn to bend 

 his knee and make a bow at your bidding, " Go yonder 

 and bring my hat," or "Come here and lie down?" 

 The absurdity of trying to break or tame the horse by 



