ORDINARY ENGLISH MErilOD. 141 



place their friends in the same predicament. This is the only way 

 in which I can account for the extraordinary conclusions to which 

 so many practised horsemen arrived in 1858. Since that time, it 

 is true, the fashion has subsided, and a more temperate view has 

 been taken, the general opinion of good judges being, I believe, 

 pretty much in accordance with those which I have always held 

 publicly and privatel}', and which I have here endeavored to con- 

 vey to my readers. 



Before proceeding to inquire into the merits of Mr. lla- 

 rcy's plan as compared with our own mode of breaking, it will be 

 well to describe what the latter is, and then ascertain which is the 

 best mode of carrying out our object. No horseman in this country 

 would dream of using the animal he intends to ride or drive with- 

 out the control of a bit, and although he may aid this powerful 

 instrument with his voice, his leg, his whip, or his spur, yet it 

 always has been, and still is, the chief agent in the management of 

 the horse. Again, no colt is to be considered as broken until his 

 rider or driver has altered his paces, and given him such an action 

 in the walk, trot, canter, and gallop, or in some two or three of 

 these paces, that he has become pleasant and safe. Now the plans 

 which I have just described do not effect either of these objects, 

 indeed their tendency is rather to interfere with the making of a 

 ^ood mouth, for the bit will sometimes cut the angles of the lips, 

 and in this way tend to make it afterwards dull. 1 do not mean to 

 assert that this is necessarily carried far enough by Mr. llarey to 

 make his plan objectionable on that account, but merely that if 

 anything is done towards breaking a colt, it is injurious rather than 

 beneficial, with the single exception of the establishment of a 

 mental control, which, as I shall presently show, is not wanted in 

 more than one or two per thousand of our horses. 



THE OEDINARY ENGLISH METHOD OF BREAKING FOR THE 

 SADDLE. 



In this country the breaker of the hack is not only supposed 

 to produce in his pupil what is called a good " mouth," but also to 

 teach him the use of his legs, so as to give a pleasant feel to his 

 rider in the walk, trot, and gallop, and in the canter, where spe- 

 cially required. The racehorse is only " mouthed" and " backed," 

 his subsequent education being confided to the trainer ; and the 

 hunter, in addition to these developments, is taught to get over 

 the various fences which he is likely to meet with, in a clever 

 manner. Each class must, therefore, go through the same pre- 

 liminary process, which consists in producing a good mouth, and 

 in making the colt bear his rider patiently in the saddle. To efl"ect 

 these objects when the colt is running at large ho must be caught 

 and haltered, and I shall now proceed to show how the matter is 



