18 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[chap. 



seem to prefer being rubbed just above the 

 eyes. 



If a horse does not show pleasure at being 

 caressed it means that he is either frightened or 

 in a bad temper, and he must therefore not be 

 trusted for a while. Caressing is a most valu- 

 able aid to our being able to gain a horse's will 

 and affection ; therefore in training him its full 

 use must never be forgotten. It must also be 

 remembered that it can be overdone, and that 

 a horse can easily be spoiled. He should be 

 treated like a child — kindly but strictly. 



Associations 



68. The horse associates objects that he sees, 

 and acts that he performs, with either pleasant 

 or unpleasant things. Remembering the horse's 

 wonderful memory, our aim must be to try to 

 associate objects and actions with pleasant sensa- 

 tions. This is the secret of successful horse- 

 training. 



A horse in passing a motor-car shows a little 

 fear and is whipped or spurred ; he associates this 

 pain with the car, and not with the fool behind 

 him, and the next time he passes a car he expects 

 the pain and shies worse than before. In such 

 a case he should have been caressed and shown 

 that only pleasant things could arise from the 

 presence of the motor. 



If a horse, while jumping, is jerked in the 

 mouth, he associates this pain with the jump and 

 not with the bad rider on his back ; he thus is 

 made to dislike jumping, and will try to refuse 

 next time. Similarly, if he is shouted at or 

 whipped when doing his best he will be encour- 

 aged next time not to do his best. Associations 

 of pain may cause fear as well as hatred, as 

 was explained in the case of the motor-car. 



69. A horse that is being made a kicker by 

 ill-treatment associates being left alone with his 

 kicking. I remember a horse of the Royal 

 Horse Guards which had a red ribbon tied in its 

 tail ; he was supposed to be very savage, and no 

 one except his groom ever went up to him. The 

 sight of the ribbon caused everyone who passed 

 to keep at a distance. This horse soon learnt 

 that everyone was afraid of him, that he was 

 superior to them ; and whenever anyone ap- 

 proached near to him he would kick. He dis- 

 liked all men except the one who fed him. In 

 his early days he had associated his kicking with 

 being left alone by man, eventually he hated all 

 men, and the more he saw them avoid him the 

 more he thought he was conqueror of man. One 

 day I walked right up to this horse without 

 taking any notice of him, and stood behind him 

 and smacked him casually on the croup ; the 

 groom thought that I was mad, as the red ribbon 

 was apparent enough. But the horse thought 

 that I was his superior, he saw that I was not 

 afraid of him ; I took him by surprise and he 



allowed me to do anything. Had I been foolish 

 enough to approach him slowly as if he were a 

 man-eating lion and shown him my fear, of 

 course he would have kicked me, and I should 

 have deserved it. The reader will notice that in 

 this case I approached right up to the horse's 

 hocks before halting, because had he kicked at 

 me his hocks would have only lifted me ; on the 

 other hand, had I stood a few feet away the 

 metal-shod ends of his legs, which act like levers, 

 would have caught me and probably done con- 

 siderable damage. Whenever a horse kicks at a 

 man standing behind him, the latter should ap- 

 proach quite close to him unless he wishes to 

 feel the horse's shoes. In this instance this horse 

 should have been put into a stall and so held 

 that he could not kick, and caressed by all the 

 men of his stable until he became friendly with 

 them. The ribbon, which was the cause of most 

 of the trouble, could then have been dispensed 

 with. 



70. A horse will associate things entirely 

 foreign ; for instance, I was bridling a well-bred 

 horse one day in a low-roofed stable ; I lifted my 

 hand carelessly in front of his eyes and he threw 

 up his head suddenly from fear. His forehead 

 hit the roof and got quite a bad cut. For weeks 

 afterwards it took me ten minutes to bridle that 

 horse ; he associated the intense pain with the 

 bridling. I could not convince him that he 

 had himself caused the pain by throwing up his 

 head. 



In bridling and harnessing horses, especially 

 in putting on the crupper, care must be taken 

 not to abuse the horse in any way, because if 

 he is abused he will only be more troublesome 

 next time. He will associate receiving the bit 

 into his mouth or the crupper under his tail with 

 the pain, and will object next time to open his 

 mouth, or will depress his tail tightly. Abuse 

 will never do good ; extreme patience and kind- 

 ness are required from the first. 



Punishment 



71. Santa Paulina, three centuries ago, when 

 speaking of horses, said, "Prevention is better 

 than cure " ; this is a golden rule that horse- 

 trainers must never forget. It must not be for- 

 gotten either that trust must be obtained before 

 punishment (unless inevitable) is given. Above 

 all things, a horse must never be punished while 

 its trainer is in a bad temper. The trainer had 

 far better put the horse in the stable for an hour 

 and have a quiet smoke himself. A threat should 

 be given before real punishment is resorted to, 

 and then the punishment should be given mildly 

 at first. The best method of punishing a horse 

 is to stand at his shoulder and not to be in the 

 saddle ; and to use a riding-whip on his back, if 

 saddled, behind the saddle. The trainer must 

 never stand in front of a horse while punishing 



