Ill] 



PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING 



21 



methods are now adopted by all successful horse- 

 trainers who live in the parts where these 

 " wild " horses still exist. Professor Beery, 

 under whose valuable instruction I was for some 

 time, has shown marvellous skill in the manner 

 in which he has trained so-called vicious horses, 

 basing his principles upon those of kindness 

 from the first. {See story of Alexander the 

 Great, Sec. 11.) 



Unfortunately for the horse, many cruel 

 horse-breakers have shown apparent success in 

 the past, and thus cruel methods have been fol- 

 lowed by others. We should remember the old 

 saying : " There is none so cruel as the coward 

 who has attained success." It is to abolish this 

 brutal method of horse-training that I have de- 

 voted part of this book to the humane training 

 of our four-footed friends. Everyone who has 

 had much experience with Western Canadian 

 horses knows well how soon a subdued horse 

 gives in when put to a test afterwards ; and how 

 the horse that has been trained by kindness will 

 never give in until physically obliged to. Why 

 is this? Because the former's heart has been 

 once broken, and a horse's heart if once broken 

 is always broken. Such a horse is quite a dif- 

 ferent animal from his brother that has been 

 scientifically and humanely trained. These 

 remarks do not so much apply to the better-bred 

 horse, or to the horse born and bred amidst 

 civilisation, although the principle of using 

 gentleness from the first is seldom adopted by 

 the average horse-breaker. 



82. While a horse is being trained he must be 

 given good food and his rations must be in- 

 creased. The old idea of keeping a horse quiet 

 and free from reaction is wrong, it does not tend 

 to assist in educating our horse ; we must please 

 him and associate his training with nice things. 

 A full stomach tends to make a horse contented ; 

 it prevents him from always thinking about the 

 next meal, and thus allows us to hold his atten- 

 tion. If the horse is high-spirited he must be 

 exercised, unmounted, before the daily training 

 is commenced. 



The best method of exercising a horse is to 

 lunge him with the cavesson and lunging-rein, 

 Hsing a lunging-whip to keep him in his place ; 

 the whip should be used as an indicator, and not 

 as a means of punishment, for we must gain his 

 love and confidence before we resort to any form 

 of punishment. Little reactions at first should 

 therefore be overlooked. Idleness is the root of 

 all evil. Want of exercise causes an overstock 

 of energy that irritates horses ; this will tend to 

 cause reactions, tend to cause him to wish to 

 kick, buck, rear, bite, and eventually to convince 

 him of his superiority over man. Thus it is of 

 the utmost importance not to attempt to ask an 

 untrained horse to be obedient if he is in high 

 spirits. 



83. The lunging-rein and cavesson are of the 



utmost use in teaching a horse, because with 

 them we control the horse's head, which is the 

 centre of his mechanism, and our object is to 

 start at his head. It is also practically im- 

 possible to react when being lunged around in 

 a circle, because he cannot go out, he cannot 

 stop or turn in, because he will be shown the 

 whip ; therefore he must go forward, and he 

 soon learns his first lesson of obedience, and 

 associates going forward with caresses whilst he 

 associates reactions with the sight of the whip. 

 With some horses that are not at all timid and 

 that show a little obstinacy, it will be necessary 

 to use the whip if they react while being lunged ; 

 merely showing the whip will probably have no 

 effect. With such horses there is little risk of 

 losing their love and confidence if we adopt the 

 above method. Want of exercise induces a 

 horse to take more notice of things which cause 

 a little fear, and thus we are unable to get his 

 proper attention. 



So we must gain the pupil's attention and 

 have his confidence and obedience before we can 

 commence physically to train him. In asking 

 him to do any act, associations of pleasure must 

 immediately follow his obedience, and associa- 

 tions of displeasure must immediately follow his 

 disobedience. But before asking him to per- 

 form any act we must be quite sure that he is 

 physically able to perform the act. Thus our 

 whole system of training must be to develop, 

 stage by stage, his various muscles, etc., and 

 thus prepare his body so that he feels no incon- 

 venience in performing these acts, because if he 

 were to he would probably offer opposition. 

 Absence of gradation causes opposition. 



84. After the horse has done a good deed he 

 should be rested as well as caressed, because it 

 eases his mind. Lessons must be short and re- 

 peated to avoid any risks of tiring muscles and 

 ligaments, and also of upsetting his temper. The 

 school is of the greatest use in training young 

 horses ; but a horse that has been trained only 

 in a school becomes cramped in his actions. 

 Hence a young horse requires to be taken across 

 country before his education can be considered 

 complete. His freedom of action may also be 

 hampered if his training is done at the halt 

 instead of while moving forward. We must at 

 all cost prevent him from performing acts which 

 are disobedient ; for instance, we must not ask 

 him to stand still if we are not able to make him 

 do so, nor must we ask him to lead by the halter 

 if we are not able to make him follow us by 

 means of encouragement from behind, and so on. 

 In the former case if he had his own way he 

 would discover that he could walk about 

 wherever and whenever he liked ; in the latter 

 case, that he need not be led, and might even 

 object to being tied up in his stall by the halter. 

 So our method would be to use the cavesson and 

 leading-reins, with an assistant, and a whip to 



