TRAINING. 30 r 



amply by the fact that one-half the animals that come 

 fresh from the trainers' hands are debilitated by the wrong 

 systems pursued, and are far less capable of enduring 

 exertion than before they were taken in hand. The physick- 

 ing the brow-beatinq- the harshness, scolding-, and fiehtinp- 

 are one and all tremendously pernicious and wrong. The 

 vast majority of horses will, if properly treated, accept 

 their duties without force ; and even the most viciously 

 inclined may be conquered, or at least subdued, without 

 any approach to brutality. 



I may cite one case as a sample of many : an animal I 

 once bought for a song, and subsequently would not have 

 sold for any money that could have been offered. By 

 telling you of the method by which I contrived to cure 

 him of his bad name, you may be guided how to act should 

 any similar occasion chance to arise in your own stable. 



By the aid of a powerful dose of physic — administered 

 with extreme difficulty, I confess, by a strong and resolute 

 man — and aided by a few light whiffs of chloroform, we 

 succeeded in getting the horse so sick and stupid that he 

 suffered himself to be handled almost without opposition. 

 In fact, I could go up to his head, and stroke and fondle it 

 as though he had been the quietest animal alive. We then 

 littered a lofty shed with quite a foot deep of dung 

 and straw (tan would, however, have been better for the 

 purpose), and having led him into it we put on him a 

 single-rein bridle, with a wooden gag-bit, — this latter 

 because he presently showed an inclination to bite. We 

 then tied up the reins quite close to the withers, put a 



