Ill] 



PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING 



23 



attached to the cavesson ; and later by replacing 

 the rope with strong black thread which he will 

 not be able to see very easily. The trainer will 

 move farther and farther away, but will ad- 

 vance and check him the moment he attempts to 

 move. He should be caressed whenever he 

 stands for a few minutes. Punishment should 

 not be resorted to until this training has been 

 tried for a week and the horse still reacts. 



88. Whatever we ask the horse to do we 

 must first cause an idea to be produced in him 

 by means of an aid or indication that will sug- 

 gest this action ; on performing the action we 

 must caress the animal and thus show our ap- 

 proval of what he has done, and he will then 

 associate our aid or indication with the act he 

 performs. In giving a drench to a horse he must 

 not be tied up by the head and have his throat 

 pinched and face smacked, as is often done, 

 because he will associate the sight of a drenching 

 bottle with unpleasant things. If he is treated 

 kindly and given a tit-bit afterwards he will like 

 the sight of a drenching bottle and take the 

 drench readily, knowing that something nice is 

 to follow. The same principle is to be followed 

 in picking up a horse's foot ; if he is shouted at 

 or kicked because he will not readily lift the 

 foot, or because he will not keep it still, he will 

 be worse next time. He will associate any lift 

 of his foot with the bad treatment, and natur- 

 ally object to having it lifted. Had he been 

 spoken to quietly in the first place he would 

 probably not object to lift his foot. I find by 

 this method that a horse of ordinary intelligence 

 can be taught in two or three days to pick up all 

 his four feet in turn by merely rubbing the hand 

 lightly down the near fore ; his memory telling 

 him to raise them in the right order. I re- 

 member one horse that I had trained refusing to 

 pick up one of her hind feet to a fresh groom 

 until he had attended to the fore feet. 



89. It is a good thing to use soft padded 

 bandages on the forelegs of the young horse in 

 order to save the flexor tendons and to minimise 

 the risk of producing splints. After the horse 

 has been given the same indications day after 

 day and performed respectively the same actions 

 he becomes almost a machine, which requires 

 only the slightest indication to start it in per- 

 forming these actions. Thus in asking him to 

 canter on a slight circle in his earlier training 

 we feel both reins, the outer the stronger, and 

 close both legs, shifting our weight slightly 

 inwards ; stronger feeling is made with the outer 

 leg in order to make him strike off with the 

 inner leg. It may be necessary to turn his head 

 momentarily outwards to make him strike off 

 correctly, immediately afterwards turning it in 

 the direction he is going. He thus learns that he 

 is to lead with the inward leg. After a while, 

 however, we can make him do this by merely 

 shifting our weight and closing our legs. If the 



horse is taught various acts one after the other, 

 always in the same order, he will remember 

 them, and upon being given the indication for 

 the first act he will go through the whole of the 

 performance. It is upon this principle that the 

 circus horse performs his acts. 



If a horse refuses to take the bit into his 

 mouth, his mouth must be partly opened by 

 placing one's fingers in between the bars of the 

 mouth ; and he must be caressed upon opening 

 his mouth. On no account must the bit be 

 forced into his mouth, because he will associate 

 being bitted virith pain — but many grooms cannot 

 understand this. I have spent many v/eeks in 

 making a bit-shy horse take the bit nicely, but 

 it is always worth the pains taken. A horse will 

 open his mouth for the bit as willingly as a child 

 for sweetmeats once he has learnt that he will 

 not be hurt. 



In catching a loose horse, chasing after him 

 will only excite him to motion, so we must re- 

 main quiet and approach him only when his 

 attention is attracted elsewhere, remaining still 

 directly his attention is directed on us. If a 

 horse is running away he should not be chased, 

 but be cut off if possible by making a detour 

 around and thus getting ahead of him. This, 

 as a rule, cannot be done on foot. 



90. A horse which has become bad through 

 ill-treatment requires to be very carefully 

 handled for a long time ; he must never be 

 teased. Teasing ruins any horse. A horse that 

 has once been spoilt will be suspicious of further 

 ill-treatment ; he must be shown that no one will 

 harm him and that we are his friend. Such a 

 horse will have to be very sparingly punished 

 until his affection and confidence are gained. 

 Some writers say that it is not worth while 

 training a bad horse ; they say that we do not 

 take criminals and educate them into high posi- 

 tions. True, but this is scarcely analogous to the 

 horse. A bad horse, unless he has been ill-used 

 for a long time, can be made into a good one if 

 taken over by a competent horse-trainer. 



It has often been stated that the most suc- 

 cessful horse-trainers have a hypnotic influence 

 over their subjects. I do not believe this, nor 

 that they have a mesmeric effect over horses. 

 I do believe, though, that the most successful 

 horse-trainers fascinate their pupils very con- 

 siderably ; the horse is not able to concentrate its 

 mind sufficiently to be mesmerised or hypnotised. 

 I was fortunate in having a long conversation 

 on this subject with the hypnotist. Professor 

 McEwen. He told me that he had experimented 

 on horses without result. 



Circus Horses 



91. A few words on the general principles 

 adopted in training circus horses and on the 

 cruel methods sometimes used to make stage 



