54 TAMING HORSES. 



arized to you ; for there is no danger, after you 

 once handle his head, if you proceed according to 

 the above directions; that is, always advancing by 

 degrees. Whenever you can handle the horse in 

 every part, you must handle him much more vig- 

 orously than at first, though without hurting him. 

 Those horses which appear to fear nothing, but 

 kick at every thing with a kind of spite, and run 

 at men when confined in a close place, are not al- 

 ways the longest in becoming j)erfectly gentle. 

 Though a man may sometimes be an hour before 

 he can touch them, yet they frequently become 

 reconciled to him, as soon as he can handle their 

 head , and it is not unfrequent to see them very 

 easy to be saddled and ridden, and more especially 

 if they have never been handled ; because a horse 

 that has once been taken, in order to be broken 

 the common Avay, and has resisted with success ; 

 that is to say, has flung his rider and run away — 

 or one that has been beaten, whipped, or badly 

 used in any way, is a great deal worse than one 

 that has never been touched ; for it is more diffi- 

 cult to unlearn than to learn. It is necessary al- 

 ways to bear in mind, what I have said concerning 

 first impressions. 



To conclude : To which soever of the three classes 

 horses belong, deal with them as with the third 

 class; that is, those that fear every thing, with 



