50 TAMING HORSES. 



never come nigher than about five or six feet to 

 you ; and if he is in a yard, he will rarely come 

 nigher than ten or twelve. Such a horse should 

 never be put into too small a place. Here we 

 must make use of a precaution, which is not neces- 

 sary in the two other kinds of horses : and give me 

 leave to say, that I am fully persuaded, that no 

 horse of this description was ever gentled in a few 

 hours by any one but myself, and by the secret which 

 I had discovered. The precaution I speak of, is : to 

 let no one come into the stable or yard with you, 

 for it would be dangerous. His attention must be 

 fixed upon you, and your hand alone. I once 

 came near being killed, by a horse of this descrip- 

 tion, before I had discovered this part of the secret. 

 Therefore, it is of the greatest importance, to put 

 the horse where he can see no moving object, at 

 the time you approach him. The case I men- 

 tioned was this: I was about to draw nigh the 

 horse, after having entered the stable where he 

 was, and after he had stood still som^ time, when, 

 on a sudden, a hen flew down from a scafibld ex- 

 actly over the stable where the horse stood, and 

 where I was to perform the operation. The horse 

 gave a jump at me, and struck his foot so nigh me, 

 that he grazed my shoulder ; then turned round 

 almost as quick as lightning, and let fly a pair 

 of heels, which knocked ofl' my hat, but knocked a 



