HORSE-TAMING AND BREAKING 189 



When publicly introduced to the arena his fury was 

 beyond description ; he yelled, screamed, threw him- 

 self on the ground, and lashed his heels with unin- 

 termitting fury. Finally, exhausted, but not subdued, 

 he was removed ; but after another course of private 

 instruction he was quietly ridden into the arena by 

 Mr. Rarey's groom and trotted about ' as tame as a 

 donkey,' as the great horse-tamer remarked. 



There can be no doubt of the subduing power of 

 kindness on most animals, and Mr. Edward Mayhew 

 relates the following story of a ferocious horse being 

 tamed by him quite unintentionally : 



' He (Mayhew) was of middle age when he entered 

 as a student at the Eoyal Veterinary College. His 

 mind became confused by the new sort of companions 

 he encountered ; by the novel objects which sur- 

 rounded him ; and by the strange kind of knowledge 

 he was expected to master. This confusion was the 

 greater because previous habit had not rendered him 

 familiar with horseflesh. An animal, therefore, was 

 needed so that reference might be made to its body, 

 for an explanation of the books which the pupil was 

 expected to comprehend. At length, in the corner 

 of a back yard was discovered a lonely loose-box ; 

 inside there was a quadruped, and to this place the 

 volume was daily taken with various morsels of bread 

 or vegetable. Thus between reading, feeding, exa- 

 mining, and caressing, many an afternoon was most 

 pleasantly whiled away. 



