HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP. t) 



dare, but without the power to do what the rough-rider has 

 just done ! First comes the false indication of the rider ; 

 then the confusion and hesitation of the horse ; next the 

 violence of the rider ; then the despair and rebellion of the 

 horse. The finish is a fractured limb, from a rear or a 

 runaway ; the poor brute is set down as restive, and in 

 fact becomes more or less a misanthrope for the rest 

 of his days. I have seen the gentle and brave, under 

 such circumstances, act very much like the cruel and 

 cowardly; that is to say, first rough an innocent animal 

 for their own fault, and then yield to his resistance. It 

 is in consequence of this that we find so many restive 

 horses ; that so few thorough-bred horses — that is horses of 

 the highest courage — can be made hunters ; that, in fact, 

 almost all high-couraged young horses become restive, after 

 leaving the colt-breaker's hands. It is, indeed, in consequence 

 of this that the class of people called colt-breakers exists at 

 all. For if we all rode on their principle, which is the true 



