86 THE ABT OF TAMING HOUSES. 



lead, strap up, and lay down a colt with as much calm- 

 ness as a huntsman takes his fences with his eye on 

 Ms hounds, you are not perfect. 



Eemember you must not hurry, and you must not 

 chatter. When you feel impatient you had better leave 

 off, and begin again another day. And the same with 

 your horse : you must not tire him with one lesson, but 

 you must give him at least one lesson every day, and 

 two or three to a nervous customer; we have a striking 

 example of patience and perseverance in Mr. Earey's 

 first evening with Cruiser. He had gone through the 

 labour of securing him, and bringing him up forty 

 miles behind a dog-cart, yet he did not lose a moment, 

 but set to work the same night to tame him limb by 

 limb, and inch by inch, and from that day until he pro- 

 duced him in public, he never missed a day without 

 spending twice a day from two to three hours with him, 

 first rendering him helpless by gag-bit, straps and 

 hobbles, then caressing him, then forcing him to lie 

 down, then caressing him again, stroking every limb, 

 talking to him in soothing tones, and now and then, if he 

 turned vicious, taking up his helpless head, giving it a 

 good shake, while scolding him as you would a naughty 

 boy. And then again taking off the gag and rewarding 

 submission with a lock of sweet hay and a drink of 

 water, most grateful after a tempest of passion, then 

 making him rise, and riding him making him stop at a 

 word. 



I mention these facts, because an idea has gone abroad 

 that any man with Mr. Earey's straps can manage any 

 horse. It would be just as sensible to assert that any 

 boy could learn to steer a yacht by taking the tiller for 

 an hour under the care of an " old salt." 



The most curious and important fact of all in con- 



