To Pur — NOT Ti/.'roiv Down. 565 



The old way of putting a horse down in order to castrate, fire, or perform any other 

 Surgical operation (which is still in use among practitioners too prejudiced to profit by 

 Rarey's lectures), was to shackle all his four legs, and then with ropes in the hands of a 

 number of men to violently throw him on a layer of straw, a method that frightens the 

 animal most unnecessarily, and not unfrequently strains, sometimes breaks, his back. With a 

 Set of Rarey straps properly applied, one active man can alone put down and tie fast almost 

 any horse without a struggle, if he chooses for the operation a fold-yard a foot deep in straw 

 and dung. If a man has to tackle a well-bred horse full of hard food, he should be in good 

 condition, very patient, and with that confidence in himself that cool courage gives. The great 

 point is not to alarm the animal, or give him a chance of struggling. 



If after the first lesson on lying down he shows any objection to being saddled or 

 mounted, his leg must be strapped up again, and sometimes, but not often, he must be laid 

 down again. 



If a horse intended for harness shows a natural inclination to kick — almost all horses 

 have a decided preference for either kicking or rearing, when they are irritated or alarmed, 

 only the confirmed brute rears and kicks — it is a good plan, after putting him down once, 

 to strap up one leg and harness him to a light two-wheeled vehicle, balanced like a hansom 

 cab, so that no weight falls on his back. In this condition, his knees of course protected by 

 well-stuffed knee-caps, he may be driven first in a school and then in a soft meadow, or 

 along a shore of sea-sand below high-water mark. If a steady break horse, who understands 

 every word of the driver, is harnessed to an outrigger, the lesson will be still more easy 

 and complete. 



One precaution must be adopted in using this invaluable expedient of strapping up a 

 fore-leg. After a reasonable time it must be unstrapped, the leg first strapped being 

 vigorously hand-rubbed to restore circulation ; otherwise, a horse is likely to stumble with 

 the benumbed limb. This plan of breaking to harness is of value where it is necessary to 

 break thorough-bred, or nearly thorough-bred, three-year-old colts, that are not strong enough 

 to carry more than light weight, in a place where competent light weight horsebreakers are 

 not to be had. 



TO SUBDUE A VIOLENT HORSE. 



It, however, sometimes happens that you have to break, to ride, or drive a horse of full 

 age, that cither from ill-usage, or from having got the better of a timid horseman, or from 

 natural vice, is not to be deceived into submission like a raw and placid-tempered colt. In 

 such a case, the application of the Rarey straps in the following manner aft'ords a better 

 chance of success than the ordinary exhausting plans of old-fashioned colt-breakers and of 

 circus-riders. 



Such a horse, as soon as he recovers from his astonishment at being thrown on his knees, 

 if not immediately hampered by hobbles buckled on his two hind-legs, will begin to fight, 

 rearing and springing about with extraordinary activity. The breaker must follow him, keep- 

 ing close to him behind his shoulder, steering him by the bridle. This can easily be done 

 by an active man, even in a box not more than twenty feet long by fifteen feet wide. From 

 time to time the horse may be forced to walk backwards by pulling at the bridle, and this 

 will hasten his fatigue. The first struggle raroiy lasts ten minutes, even with a horse in hard 

 condition. When at length he sinks forward on his knees, covered with sweat, with heaving 

 flanks and shaking tail, his off fore-leg, if not already secured by the catch of the strap, 



