PREFACE. 



The art of training- horses has, until within 

 the last few years, been attended with much 

 cruelty and bad management. The system 

 known as Rarey's, though practiced in this 

 country for many years, was made popular by 

 Mr. J. S. Rarey, to whom the author gladly ac- 

 cords all the credit which is justly due him. 

 His success has given a new impetus to the in- 

 ventive minds of horsemen; but like almost all 

 other discoveries, the original is lost sight of in 

 the improvements which follow it. The Rarey 

 system is one purely of subjugation and exhaus- 

 tion; the spirit of the animal by this method is 

 often broken, which is contrary to the system 

 employed in this treatise. 



The author has employed a method purely 

 his own, which is, that the animal is first taught 

 to understand what is required of him, and when 

 he comprehends your purpose he readily be- 

 comes a willing subject. To attempt to force 

 him to do that which he does not comprehend, 

 is to excite him to resistance; a circumstance 

 always to be avoided. This is the main cause of 

 the many balky, kicking, biting and otherwise 

 unruly horses. 



The system taught in this work does not re- 

 quire an over-abundance of nerve and determi- 

 nation to successfully train a horse. This 

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