TRAINING. 293 



any attempt to drive — while others are so sullen, obstinate, 

 and ill-conditioned, that gentleness seems thrown away 

 upon them, and nothing save fear and force are capable of 

 accomplishing any good. So it is, precisely, with horses ; 

 but, just as instances of dogged obstinacy and evil disposi- 

 tion are happily rare among children of well-bred parents, 

 so in like manner have I found it to be with colts that have 

 come of a good stock. I may here take occasion to say, 

 however, that even with the most viciously disposed animals, 

 such as future experience proved to be incapable of any- 

 thing either good or generous, I invariably commenced 

 with — and persevered in — the very gentlest treatment, 

 discarding all force, ignoring the uses of whip and spur, 

 and seeking to subdue by the mildest and most kindly 

 methods, until compelled to adopt severer ones by the 

 hopelessly unimpressionable and intractable nature of some 

 among my misguided charges. Having, then, found so wide 

 a difference of temper and disposition to exist in the various 

 animals with which I had to do, I long ago came to the 

 conclusion that to lay down any fixed laws for training 

 wa's mere fallacy and nonsense ; the system that works 

 admirably with one may prove a dead failure with another, 

 and taking this into account I cannot, I think, do better in 

 a chapter like the present, than state the plan on which I 

 always began to work, and which, as a rule, I found to 

 succeed, better than any other. 



Advising you by my own experience, I should say never, 

 when you can help it, submit young animals to a so-called 

 professional breaker, but rather take them in hand yourself, 



