208 THE HORSE 



as will serve to make them barely rideable. This is objectionable in prin- 

 ciple, though it is very difficult to know how to improve upon it without 

 running the risk of extortion; but when a colt is to be broken for the use of 

 the owner, or any of his family, he will do well to see that plenty of time is 

 devoted to the formation of the mouth, and this I have already said should 

 extend to a fortnight. If the breeder has a lot of colts which are to be 

 placed in the breaker's hands, the latter can, with the assistance of a few 

 lads, go on with a dozen at the same time, and in that way too great an 

 outlay of money is avoided ; but if there is only one in his hands, he can 

 hardly do justice to his employer at the ordinary rate. Hitherto I have only 

 alluded to longeing, without describing it or alluding to the object with 

 which it is adopted. I must now, however, say something more about it, 

 because in this stage it becomes an important element of success. It may 

 be remembered, that I have laid down a fortnight as the least interval which 

 should elapse from the commencement of breaking before the colt is fit to be 

 backed with safety to the breaker or his assistant. Not that he may not be 

 ridden in much less time than this, but that if he is, it will be at the 

 expense of his mouth. Longeing is a means of at once giving exercise in a 

 short space of time, and also of accustoming the colt to use his limbs while 

 some degree of pressure is made on the mouth by the bit, without giving 

 himself pain from moving the head. Now, the act of keeping this part still 

 necessitates an even and smooth style of going, and so all things work 

 together to produce the pleasant feel which is given to the rider by a per- 

 fect hack. A good mouth may be acquired in the stable, but it is soon 

 spoiled out-of-doors, either by longeing in a hurried manner, or by the bad 

 hands of the rider, whether breaker or subsequent user. To keep it great 

 care is required at every stage of breaking; and none but a man possessed 

 of head, temper, seat, and hands can finish a colt as he should be turned out. 

 Longeing, therefore, I hold to be a most important part in the art of break- 

 ing; and its absence from Mr. Rarey's principles and practice shows that he 

 has taken the dull pulling mouth of the American horse as his model, and 

 not the beautifully yielding, yet steady one of the English hack. 



At length, when the breaker is satisfied that the colt has gained the power 

 over his limbs at all paces, which he will have gradually given him in his daily 

 longes, by increasing the tightness of the reins and accelerating the pace 

 (taking care to change the direction of the circles), he thinks it time to give 

 his pupil the finishing lessons, which can only be done in the saddle. Before 

 mounting, however, he is enabled to teach the colt the meaning of each pressure 

 of the rein, which is at first utterly unintelligible. By taking both in each 

 hand, and pressing backwards, he causes him to back ; and by drawing them 

 forward, to proceed in that direction. The right hand moved to the right, 

 makes the colt move his head, and afterwards his body, towards that side, and 

 vice versa with the left hand. In this way, all is prepared for the mounting, 

 which should be first attempted when the colt is somewhat tired after a long 

 and steady longe. The breaker should, during the last week's daily exercise, 

 put on a saddle instead of a roller and surcingle, keeping it in its place by 

 loose girths and a crupper. Every day he should bear occasionally upon the 

 stirrups, smacking them against the saddle, and thus accustoming the colt to 

 noises, and also to pressure on his back. When all is ready, he has only to 

 put his' foot in the stirrup, standing with his back to the shoulder, and then, 



