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PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING 



19 



him, and never hit a horse on the shoulder while 

 riding him if he is required to advance ; he 

 should be v^?hipped behind the girth. 



I deal with whips and spurs in Chapter VII. 



Impunity is an inducement to crime, so a 

 wilful crime must never be let pass. It is a 

 difficult matter to determine at times whether 

 the horse does not understand our request or 

 whether he is wilfully disobeying ; the former is 

 the more common. Horses vary very much as 

 to the degree of punishment that should be given 

 them. A high-spirited horse has often to be 

 punished early, sometimes almost from the be- 

 ginning of his schooling, whilst a timid horse is 

 entirely discouraged by punishment. 



72. The theory of punishment is that, if a 

 horse refuses to do a thing he has to do, he is 

 punished, and thus learns to avoid the pain pro- 

 duced by doing what he is asked to do ; and still 

 more, he is caressed for doing it. Further, the 

 association of pleasure or of displeasure must 

 immediately follow the action that is, or is not, 

 asked of him. A late punishment will be taken 

 as an ill-treatment and will spoil him. If a horse 

 cannot be punished on the spot he must not be 

 punished afterwards, as he will not be able to 

 associate this punishment with his misconduct. 

 A horse should also be caressed a short time 

 after he has been punished, because an impres- 

 sion must not be left on his mind that we are at 

 enmity with him ; he must therefore never be 

 nagged at, above all things. So a few minutes 

 should only be allowed to pass between a pun- 

 ishment and a caress to show him that we are 

 his best friend. 



In some cases the punishment should be in- 

 flicted while the disobedient act is being com- 

 mitted, for example, while the horse's hind 

 quarters are in the air when he is in the act of 

 kicking ; in which case he should be struck 

 underneath with the whip. He learns then that 

 he is whipped if he kicks. At other times he 

 should never be whipped underneath, particu- 

 larly between the thighs. 



73. Punishment should be as rare as possible. 

 The horse will soon understand that he is 

 caressed whenever he obeys ; bearing this in 

 mind, the rare infliction of punishment is of 

 great value. A previously ill-treated horse may 

 behave badly ; he should not be punished, but 

 allowed to see that he will not be hurt, that we 

 are his friend. Punishment in such a case, 

 until he thoroughly understands us, will make 

 him worse. 



A horse must never be punished when in fear, 

 because punishment increases fear, it can never 

 diminish it. The horse regards anything asso- 

 ciated with a punishment as the cause of the 

 punishment ; therefore he shies when he sees an 

 object that he shied at before and was punished, 

 thinking that he will experience pain again by 

 approaching the object. 



When a horse is doing his best he must never 

 be punished, although it is not uncommon to see 

 livery- and cab-drivers thrashing their horses 

 when they are doing their best ; this is enough to 

 cause a horse to lose heart, because he might 

 well associate the punishment with the work he 

 is doing. So, when a baulking horse starts he 

 must never be punished, or else he may think 

 he is being punished for starting. 



74. The horse's skin varies in thickness, so 

 that certain parts feel pain more readily than 

 other parts. The skin on his legs, for instance, 

 is quite thick, in order to protect them while 

 going through thorn bushes. He is very sensi- 

 tive inside the thighs, on the flanks, beneath the 

 abdomen, and behind the shoulders. 



Bearing in mind that punishment increases 

 fear, it must be remembered that the existence 

 of fear of punishment is responsible for our 

 being able to make a horse obedient. 



Fear 



75. Fear in horses is contagious, and is very 

 peculiar in its degree ancf causes. It will cause 

 a horse to do very strange things. The horse is 

 very susceptible to fear, which is inconvenient; 

 although, as stated above, its existence is the 

 secret of our being able to master him. Fear 

 causes a horse to be careful not to fall down, to 

 be careful not to place his foot into a rabbit hole, 

 not to go into puddles and so on, and therefore 

 increases his usefulness and safety. Fear natur- 

 ally causes a horse to understand the whip 

 actions. 



The horse being very prone to fear, it is 

 better if he has never been ill-treated. Fear re- 

 peated increases in intensity, therefore at all 

 times we must aim at preventing fear as much 

 as possible. Ordinary horses are more danger- 

 ous when in fear than thoroughbred ones, but a 

 very timid horse is most dangerous, because he 

 may fall down or take his rider into great 

 danger ; such a horse is better dismounted and 

 led. The presence of a rider upon a horse's back 

 tends materially to diminish fear, especially if 

 he knows his rider and has affection for him. 



Fear is really a belief of danger, and varies 

 with the momentary state of the horse's mind. 

 Mares are generally more prone to fear. Defec- 

 tive sight, which is not uncommon, due to dark 

 stables, causes much fear, especially when a 

 horse is first brought out into the light. The 

 horse shies at new objects because they frighten 

 him. He fears noises, smells, and being touched 

 suddenly. He should be able to see the object 

 that he is afraid of, and for this reason blinkers 

 often increase fear. 



76. A horse is more susceptible to fear when 

 at speed ; fear causes a horse often to run away, 

 and when at speed the fear increases, hence it 

 is so diflScult to stop the runaway horse. A run- 



