152 HOW TO BREAK A HORSE. 



a liorse must be so disciplined as to have apparently no 

 will but his rider's. He must have been so educated as to 

 carry his body, his head, all his limbs, in the easiest, the 

 most graceful and the most accurate position. Ilis neck 

 must be like a steel bow, yielding to the pressure of the 

 hand, but returning with the head to its natural position 

 the moment that the pressure ceases. His mouth must be 

 like velvet to the touch ; and if the animal at times pull 

 or resist the pressure of the bit and the command of the 

 rider's finger, it must be from exuberance of animal 

 spirits and force of animal courage, not from hardness of 

 mouth, as it is usuall}^ called, or in truth, from rigidity 

 and intractability of the muscles of the jaw and neck — as 

 has been demonstrated by M. Baucher, the great French 

 equestrian teacher. 



He must change his leg, alter his paces, moderate his 

 paces, all at the will of his rider or driver, and must, in 

 fact, be little or nothing more than a living and spirited 

 automaton in his hands. 



The next question that arises is, how shall this be done ? 

 Clearly, we answer, not by allowing the colt or filly to go 

 wild and run riot, until it shall have attained its full 

 strength, its full energies, and the full sway of its natural 

 temper unconstrained, without making an effort to train, 

 or teach, or even tame it, until> it be two and a half or three 

 years old, and then to take it up, saddle it and bridle it by 

 force, and, putting it into the hands of some fearless, hard- 

 hearted, mutton-fisted, rough-riding fellow, scarce less a 

 brute, in all points of humanity, than that which he pro- 

 fesses to teach, expect it to be turned out, by dint of whip 

 and spurs, a gentle animal, rendered gentle by brute vio- 

 lence, and a well-instructed animal. 



The education of a liorse should commence when he is 

 a colt. He should be handled frequently by different per- 



