i;i:EUviN(i-iN.] MODHKX VETEKINARY PRACTICE. [uuKAKiNO-iy. 



day ; he may probably be in better humour on 

 tlie noxt. 



"Wlu-n till' riili'i- has balaiu-cd liimst'lf for a 

 minute or two, he may gently throw liis leg 

 over, and (juietly seat himself. The breaker 

 will then load the animal round the ring, 

 the rider sitting perfeetly still. After a ft'w 

 minutea ho will take the reins, and handle 

 them as gently as possible, guiding the horse by 

 the pressure of them ; patting him frequently, 

 and especially when he thinks of dismounting; 

 and, after having dismoinited, ofl'ering him a 

 little corn or green meat. The use of the rein 

 in checking him, and of the pressure of the leg 

 and the touch of the heel in quickening his 

 pace, will soon be taught him ; when the educa- 

 tion will be nearly completed. 



The horse having thus far submitted himself 

 to the breaker, these pattings and rewards 

 must be gradually diminished ; and implicit 

 obedience mildly but firmly enforced. Severity 

 will not often be necessary. In the great 

 majority of cases it will be altogether uncalled 

 for: but should the animal, in a moment of 

 waywardness, dispute the command of the 

 breaker, he must, at once, be taught that he is 

 the slave of man, who has the power, by other 

 means than those of kindness, to bend him to 

 his will. The plan of the education of the 

 horse is similar to that which experience and 

 wisdom have suggested to be adopted in the 

 education of the child. Pleasure is, as much 

 as possible, to be associated with the early 

 lessons ; but firmness, or, if need be, coercion 

 must be called in to confirm the habit of obe- 

 dience. Tyranny and cruelty will, in the horse, 

 more speedily excite a feeling of disobedience 

 even than in the child ; and, on every possible 

 practicable occasion, a desire to resist the 

 power of command. The restive and vicious 

 horse is, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, 

 made so by ill-usage, and not by nature. jSoue 

 but those who will take the trouble to try the 

 experiment, are aware how absolute becomes 

 the control which the due admixture of firm- 

 ness and kindness will soon give him over any 

 horse. The breaker should keep in his mind 

 continually the Latin proverb, " quod factum 

 est his factum est ;" what is well done, is twice 

 done. 



Shying is very frequent among young horses ; 

 and, where it appears, it should be particularly 



attended to by the breaker-in. It nriseH from 

 several causes— namely, fear, roguery, want of 

 work, or defective vision. Tlio more racing- 

 blood a horse has, the less ho is subject to this 

 infirmity or vice. The only remedy for it, it) 

 to hold hard and keep quiet. As to the whip 

 and spur, and the silly cheeking a really fearful 

 animal with a sharp curb, as though the intent 

 were to break his jaw-bone, is an injudicious^ 

 if not a cruel practice. Mr. Lawrence savs — 

 " With aflected shyers, some severity mav bo 

 necessary. ' Chaps' generally fix upon some 

 particular shying butt: for example, I recol- 

 lect having, at difierent periods, three hacks, 

 all very powerful ; the one made choice of a 

 windmill for the object or butt, the other a 

 tilted waggon, and the last a pig led in a 

 string. I was once placed in a very danger- 

 ous predicament by this last, on a road filled 

 with carriages. It so happened, however, that 

 I rode the two former when amiss from a 

 violent cold, and they then paid no more 

 attention to either windmills or tilted waggons, 

 than to any other objects, convincing me that 

 their shying, when in health and spirits, was 

 pure afiectation. It is a thing seldom, per- 

 haps never, thought of or attended to, which 

 however detracts nothing from its conse- 

 quence, to accustom colts, during their break- 

 ing, to all the chief objects of their terror, 

 which may occasion the vice of shying. After 

 a colt shall have been a considerable time in 

 hand, and his education nearly finished, should 

 he be a careless and blundering goer, not sufii- 

 cieutly bending his knees, he should be fre- 

 quently, but with great care, exercised daily 

 in a slow trot, over rough and uneven roads. 



" To connect vices with their anomalies 

 together, I once had a fine hunting mare, au 

 incorrigible biter; as a proof of which, before 

 she came into my possession (but I was unap- 

 prised of it), she had killed a stable-boy ; yet 

 her biting was entirely confined to the stable, 

 nor did she ever show either that or any other 

 kind of vice abroad, riding perfectly quiet." 



These defects in the horse will be more fully 

 spoken of when we come to treat of his dan- 

 gerous habits or vices in another part of this 

 work. There also we will notice the power of 

 the Irish "whisperer," Sullivan, over the 

 animal ; and notice IMr. Earey's mode, which, 

 in conjunction with the recent inventions of 



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