42 RAREY ON HORSE-TAMING. 



One advantage of tliis system is, that the horse is 

 allowed to exhaust himself under circumstances that 

 render it impossible for him to struggle long enough 

 to do himself any harm. It has been suggested that 

 a blood-vessel would be likely to be broken, or apo- 

 plexy produced by the exertion of leaping from tbe 

 hind legs ; but, up the present time, no accident of 

 any kind has been reported. 



TREATMENT OF THE HORSE AFTER HE IS DOWN. 



If the horse has fought hard in going down, he 

 will then usually lie perfectly still, and you can 

 gentle him, scrape the sweat off, and rub him down, 

 smoothing the hair of his legs, and drawing the fore 

 one straight out. In this j)osition you have the 

 opportunity of making him perfectly familiar with 

 you, and the more you fondle him and reconcile him 

 to you the better. If you are treating an unbroken 

 colt in this way, you may now mount his back, and 

 thus, by finding out that you mean him no harm, he 

 will learn to submit to being mounted when he 

 stands up. You can also lay a saddle or harness on 

 him and familiarize him with those articles. His 

 head, tail and legs should now be handled with free- 

 dom, caressing and talking to him all the while. If 

 he has hitherto resisted shoeing, handle all his legs 

 with a view to accomplish it, and if he attempts to 

 resist, continue until you subdue him, speaking to 

 him with a voice of authority. If he is a bad 

 kicker you may be obliged to confine his fore-legs ; 

 and with those tied, you may spend an hour in 



