22 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[chap. 



cause him to follow. We must never tie him 

 up with a rope that he can break. If he dis- 

 covers that he cannot break the rope when 

 he first tries he will probably not try again, 

 unless he is terribly frightened. Horses of dif- 

 ferent dispositions require modifications in their 

 methods of training. A horse that has a good 

 will and a good disposition is easy to train ; 

 whilst a timid horse will not have sufficient 

 spirit. Horses vary so much in their disposi- 

 tions that a great deal of common sense and tact 

 is necessary for success in horse-training. 



85. The early portion of a horse's training 

 should be done dismounted, because when the 

 trainer is by the horse's head he is able to con- 

 trol him more readily, to dissipate fear and to 

 caress him more easily. A timid horse should 

 not be mounted nearly as soon as a horse of good 

 will. The horse should always be alone, as the 

 presence of other horses will distract his atten- 

 tion. By being on foot the trainer is able to 

 prevent reactions which he would be unable to 

 prevent if he were in the saddle, providing the 

 horse is untrained. As a horse is very sus- 

 ceptible to being excited by motion, the trainer, 

 if in the saddle, may perhaps cause his mount 

 to run away by feeling too heavily on the rein 

 or leg and thus upsetting the horse. In teaching 

 the horse to perform any act, our principle is 

 to give rise to ideas we desire in him. We can 

 do this by setting an example, e.g. asking him 

 to follow another horse or a man, to jump after 

 another horse, to follow another horse into the 

 water, etc. The idea of doing these things is 

 given to him and he does them. Or we may let 

 him see objects, see our movements, or feel cer- 

 tain aids which will call forth these required 

 ideas in him. At the same time we must pre- 

 vent ideas arising in him that would cause him 

 to do things against our wish ; for instance, 

 if he passes a motor-car and shies at it, he 

 gets the idea that he need not pass close to it, 

 and the next time he passes a car he tries to keep 

 away from it. 



In teaching a horse to perform actions we 

 must give him indications that he can under- 

 stand, things suited to give rise to the actions we 

 require. He will thus associate certain indica- 

 tions or aids with certain movements, and in 

 time, on account of marvellous memory, we shall 

 have only to give the slightest indication of what 

 we require and he will perform the act. Thus 

 there is a great difference between riding a 

 trained horse and riding an untrained horse ; 

 the former knows exactly what is required 

 the moment we commence to apply an aid, 

 however badly we may apply it ; in fact, he 

 probably knows what we are going to ask 

 by our subconscious preliminary movements. 

 Thus we see a well-trained horse performing 

 acts before an indifferent rider has really applied 

 any indications. 



86. The same associations should always be 

 used to indicate the same actions ; and the 

 horse's body must never be asked to do what it 

 has not been prepared for. Hence the great im- 

 portance of gradation in training a horse. The 

 voice is of great use in training, and will be 

 used in conjunction with aids and indications 

 from the very beginning. The horse will thus 

 associate different sounds with different move- 

 ments. The same word (i.e. sound) is always 

 used with the same action. The word "Whoa" 

 is to be used when the horse is required to stop, 

 and in time he can be made to stop upon this 

 word being used. " Whoa " should never be 

 used when quietening a horse or approaching 

 him in his stall, as he is already standing still ; 

 but some other sound should be used. If he is 

 already standing and he is told to stop, what can 

 he be expected to do? With ordinary saddle 

 and harness horses, after the horse is fairly well 

 trained, the voice is dispensed with and aids and 

 indications only used ; this is also done with 

 high-school horses, but with circus horses the 

 voice is often used afterwards alone, and in this 

 way the so-called "talking" horse is produced. 

 As a matter of fact, the horse does not under- 

 stand words, but only tones. A circus horse 

 associates by long practice a certain sound with 

 a certain action, and upon hearing this sound 

 he performs the action because thereby he knows 

 he will be caressed. The voice should always 

 be used in a soothing manner when a horse is 

 frightened, and if the horse is veiy timid the 

 rider should dismount and go to his head. The 

 leading of another horse between the object that 

 the horse is afraid of and himself is a good way 

 to accustom him to the object ; a man whom he 

 knows well and whom he is fond of will often 

 serve the same purpose. 



87. Music can be used to assist in training 

 horses with wonderful effect. Horses love music 

 as a rule, but some are afraid until they become 

 used to it, as they fear it will cause them harm. 

 Horses' ears are very acute, and they generally 

 like soft music better than noisy drums. Horses 

 are taught to trot, canter or gallop to various 

 tunes, and upon hearing these tunes afterwards 

 they will often break into the step suited for 

 that particular tune. I remember the colonel of 

 a cavalry regiment objecting to having any more 

 remounts take part in musical rides, because 

 whenever many of his horses heard the sounds 

 of " Bonnie Dundee " they would break into a 

 slow canter in spite of the riders' attempts to 

 prevent them. 



The horse must not be expected to do things 

 that are against his nature. Thus, if he will not 

 stand alone he must not be punished ; no horse 

 will stand still alone for any length of time. In 

 teaching him to stand alone we should try for a 

 quarter of an hour a day for several days, by 

 having his head held by assistants with ropes 



