The Harness for Breaking. 365 



BREAKING TO HARNESS. 



The easiest way of breaking a horse to harness is to put him into the hands of a professional 

 breaksman, who has a break, an old break-horse who understands every word he sa)-s, and 

 all the necessary apparatus. 



These men, when they are sober, good-tempered, and not in too great a hurry to pronounce 

 their pupils "quiet in harness," do wonders. The last is the greatest fault. Nine horses out 

 of ten submit to everything the breaker requires, and with the help of an old break-horse, 

 as sagacious as a tame elephant, may be returned, fit for the use of gentlemen, in three weeks, 

 or even a fortnight ; but the tenth, and perhaps a better animal than either of the other nine, 

 objects to the bit, the collar, and the blinkers, refuses to go, stands still, or stops suddenly 

 (technically, jibs), when forced up to start takes to kicking, and finally becomes so intolerabl)'- 

 vicious as to be only fit for a Hansom cab, the final destination of a number of horses of the 

 finest shape and action, who are not to be trusted in any less commanding vehicle, or spared 

 from daily work. 



There are, however, many instances in which the services of a breaker and break-horse 

 are not to be had. The latter want is serious, because a break-horse at first does all the work, 

 and the raw horse has only to run alongside the pole, and learn by degrees how to share the 

 work. The driver of a break, seated high, and assisted by his intelligent quadruped partner, 

 has such complete command, that only horses of immense power and determined vice dare 

 resist him. 



Horses that have been constantly ridden for a year or two — especially hunters accustomed 

 to all sorts of blows, buffets, scratches, and squeezes in coverts and gateways — are, with 

 rare exceptions, easily and quickly broken to harness, and, with the help of such things as 

 are to be found on every farm, without any professional assistance. 



The foundation of the art of breaking horses, whether to ride or drive, whether colts or 

 practised hunters, is the same — viz., to accustom them by degrees to everything likely to 

 alarm them ; to avoid anything that may needlessly irritate them ; and, finally, to keep them 

 in such positions that they shall never have the least possible chance of successfully resisting 

 the wishes or operations of the breaker. 



That is not the ordinary course in ignorant stables : the animal is pulled out of his stall, 

 where he may have been idly eating corn for a day or two, first alarmed by having a round 

 collar forced over his head and eyes, then irritated by having his tail thrust through a crupper, 

 still more irritated and alarmed by a bridle, with a pair of blinkers, and a huge bit, with no 

 attention to fit, forced into his mouth. He is allowed very little time to get accustomed to 

 all these trappings, even if pains are taken to prevent the traces and straps of the breeching 

 from flapping about in an unpleasant manner. 



The sensible plan is to have a collar that opens at the top ; if he is going into single 

 harness, a crupper that unbuckles, and may be slipped under instead of drawing the tail through 

 it. Breeching is needless as a commencement. The bridle should fit. The bit a snaffle, 

 unless there is reason to fear that he may bolt, when a pair of india-rubber reins may be 

 buckled, as before described, to the lower bar of a Wimbush pattern bit. 



Vieille Moustache, a high authority, the correspondent of The Field and T/ie Qjieen, is in 

 favour of blinkers for breaking ; but I say no, let the horse or colt see what you are doing. 

 This opinion is borne out by an experiment of the American Rarey. 



The commanding officer of one of the regiments of household cavalry placed in his hands 



