CHOKING THE HORSE. 51 



artifice can induce him to again resume the unequal 

 contest. It is, then, reasonable to suppose that 

 choking will have a similar effect on the horse. 

 When it can be done without injuring the animal, it 

 is an easy mode of subduing him, for by its opera- 

 tion he becomes docile, and will thereafter receive 

 any instruction which he can be made to understand. 

 Teaching the horse, by this means, to lie down at 

 our bidding, tends to keep him permanently gentle 

 towards man, for it is a perpetual reminder of his 

 subdued condition. 



It requires a good deal of practice to tame a horse 

 successfully by choking ; also a nice judgment to 

 know when he is choked sufficiently, as there is a 

 bare possibility that he might get more than would 

 be good for him. We advise persons not perfectly 

 familiar with a horse to resort rather to the strapping 

 and throwing-down process, unless the animal to be 

 operated upon is so vicious and intractible that he 

 cannot be cured by it. It is the fault of most peo- 

 ple who have owned a horse to imagine that they 

 are experts in his management ; while, on the con- 

 trary, many professional horsemen are the very worst 

 parties to attempt his subjugation. 



In practicing the choking process, retire with the 

 animal to be operated upon into a close stable, with 

 plenty of litter upon the floor (tanbark or sawdust is 

 preferable). In the first place fasten up the left 

 fore-leg with strap No. 1, (p. 36,) in such a manner that 

 it will be permanently secured. Then take a broad 

 strap with a buckle, or buckle-frame at the end, and 



