THE GENESEE FARMER. 



S69 



MR. RAIIEY AT THE ALHAMBRA. 



" Quot homines, tot sententia?." 



What ! never seen Rarey ? 



So one Saturday, like tlie dandy who went down 

 in the coal-pit, not that he cared much about it, 

 but merely to say he had been there, we and a 

 great many more found ourselves, about a quarter 

 past twelve, seated in the Alhambra. 



The jialaee, with the clean straw nicely arranged 

 in the circus, a capital light, a very good audience, 

 not in mourning, as in the evening, but in morning 

 costume, of all colors of the rainbow, with a fair 

 sprinkling of crinoline, and the circus free from all 

 unpleasant odors — which most theatres are not, in 

 the day time, especially where equestrian perform- 

 ances take place — was quite an agreeable surprise. 



Mr. Rarey entered the arena, bowed, and said, 

 he wished to make a few observations, relative to 

 a report of one of his pupils. Cruiser, having wor- 

 ried a man. The fact was, the groom was exer- 

 cising Cruiser ; and some horses he was going to 

 practice ou in an adjoining stable '''■ excitecV the 

 horse, and Cruiser certainly did give the groom a 

 severe bite in the arm ; horses generally bite pretty 

 hard. They must recollect this was the first acci- 

 dent he had had, and he had now been nearly two 

 years among them ; and that Cruiser was allowed 

 to be one of the most vicious horses ever known. 

 He must say that he thought the press had been 

 rather hard on him in making so much of the acci- 

 dent, considering four or live patients were lying at 

 the same hospital, sutFering from injuries received 

 from vicious horses ; and yet some of the press 

 stated tliat vicious horses were so scarce in this 

 country that he could not get any to perform on. 

 He did not pretend that he could teach every one 

 his system, for it required nerve, and, like every- 

 thing else, practice ; and even with all the practice 

 in the world, some would never succeed, &c., &c. 



Cruiser was then introduced, looking "blooming." 



Mr. Rakey informed the company he had only 

 two interviews with Cruiser, since the accident. 

 He then put the horse through the same process — 

 but with nuich more ease and confidence — -as the 

 groom was wont to do every evening at the Al- 

 hambra for some months ago — lying down, follow- 

 ing, standing still, and advancing when told, &c. 

 While Cruiser was down, and Mr. Rarey was rap- 

 ping tlie horse's hind heels together, there was a 

 look al)out the eye of Cruiser — such a look! — with 

 a handful of straw between his nippers, clenched as 

 if in a vice, that put us in mind of Van Amburgh 

 and tlie tiger — so tame. 



Then came a half-bred mare, that did not show 

 anything like vice, went through the business of 

 going down, heels rapped, drum, &c. ; Mr. Rarey 

 repeating parts from his book. 



The next subject was a black Galloway, a "model 

 undertaker" — such a mane and tail, with his head 

 reined up so tight that he had as much liberty with 

 it as one of his master's men would with the addi- 

 tion of an all-rounder to his white choker. We 

 imdert-tood Mr. Rarey to say he had never seen 

 the gentleman in black before ; that the horse was 

 quite master pig at home, and had never been rid- 

 den. We noticed Mr. Rarey did not appeal to our 

 sable friend's frontispiece, like he did in the half- 

 bred mare, and as you are instructed in the book, 

 but touched him in a playful manner in the flank, 



when the brute squeaked, but did not offer to kick, 

 bite, or fight with his fore legs. After several 

 squeaks, Mr. Rarey produced the- straps, and a 

 regular set-to commenced, which lasted with the 

 second round (for the plucky undertaker got up 

 again, after being fairly thrown,) quite half an hour. 

 Mr. Rarey, during a cessation of hostilities, in- 

 formed the audience he had three hours witk 

 Cruiser the first time he got him down, which 

 seemed to alarm a few ladies and gentlemen in our 

 quarter. The undertaker eventually cried peccavi, 

 in a perfect lather, and both man and horse blow- 

 ing as if they had had a four-miler, Mr. Rarey 

 feeling, we should say, pretty much like Napoleon 

 after defeating the Austrian?, as if he did n't care 

 about such another job, at least for the day. When 

 rapping this horse's heels together, he lashed oat 

 viciously three or four times; but vvitli all his vice, 

 some son of Vulcan had managed to nail on a pretty 

 good pair of hind shoes. The liorse appeared after- 

 ward to walk very stiff, and trembling with the 

 near fore leg; there was a curious action abont the 

 knee and fetlock. We fancied Cruiser's knee was 

 slightly enlarged. The performance lasted about 

 an hour and three-quarters. 



Mr. Rarey is decidedly a very clever cool hand 

 with horses, and for once is worth seeing. As to 

 his system, we don't believe in it. We all know 

 what a mess the gentleman who was cured of stam- 

 mering made of " Tha-a-a-at's the ch-a a-ap tha-a- 

 a-at c-u-u-u-red me,' when he got '^ excited''^ on 

 hearing some one mention the doctor's name jn the 

 next box. We all know how a great many ticket- 

 of-leave-men, when they get out of the Reforma- 

 tory, and have half a chance, get '•e.rciteZ," and 

 are up to their old tricks again. We all know that 

 dogs, confirmed sheep-worriei-s, directly they are 

 out of sight, get '■'■excited'''' and are after the mutton 

 as usual. 



It's the same with Mr. Rarey''9 system, and we 

 seriously advise " all friends and the public in gen- 

 eral" — as the advertisers say when thanking im- 

 aginary customers — if they should have anything 

 to do with these said-to-be-tiuned animals, to keep 

 their eyes on the main chance; always be on their 

 guard. By such means only will they be likely to 

 prevent horses like Cruiser and tlie Cretingham 

 Hero from adding more to their list of killed and 

 wounded. 



The only diflerence we saw between Mr. Rarky's 

 and Mr. Cooke's system was, that Mr. Rarey brings 

 the strap of the off fore leg under the horse tlirough 

 the roller by the girth place, and pulls upward on 

 the near side. Mr. Cooke brings the strap of the 

 off fore leg through the roller over the back, and 

 pulls downward on the near side. — London Farm- 

 er's Magazine. 



Cornstalks for Miloh Cows. — It is undesirable 

 that milch cows should be allowed to feed on dried 

 cornstalks. They are apt to cause them to fall 

 back in their milk ; and although the quality of 

 the milk may be improved thereby, yet it will not 

 be in a corresponding ratio to the loss in quan- 

 tity. The same may be said of the frozen grass 

 remaining on the fields. Keep your cows well 

 housed, and give them good hay and roots, or 

 bran mashea, if you wish to have them yield milk 

 in winter. 



