1 82 BREAKING ON FOOT. 



and tail plan (see page 169). When the horse has 

 been thus fixed up, we can easily tell the state of his 

 temper ; for if he be nervous or excitable, he will go round 

 and round at the slightest provocation. If, on the contrary, 

 he be sulky, he will '' take as little as he can out of him- 

 self" ; but when released will be as bad, or nearly as bad, 

 as before. The more he " fights," the more good will the 

 lesson do him, and the sooner will he give in. Our object, 

 therefore, should be to make him " fight " ; not by punish- 

 ment, but according to principles I have already discussed. 

 For sulky horses, and for them alone, would I advocate the 

 taming means of making them lie down and keeping them 

 on the ground with their heads pulled round. No matter 

 how violent or how aggressively vicious a horse may 

 be, he can be made, for the time being, perfectly quiet 

 to handle in a couple of hours, or, if need be, in one 

 hour, by the methods I have just mentioned. A few 

 repetitions — say, half a dozen at the outside — will even in 

 the worst cases confirm the habit of obedience ; always 

 supposing that the animal remains in the hands of fairly 

 capable people. It is almost needless to point out that by 

 injudicious management, even placid-tempered horses may 

 be made difficult to handle ; to say nothing of temporarily 

 reformed characters, out of the minds of which the good 

 effects of a previous victory of discipline over vicious habits 

 are rapidly fading. 



After the horse has been gentled all over and rendered 

 as quiet as practicable by the foregoing measures, any 

 unsteadiness, nervousness, or renewal of resistance may 

 be readily conquered by the use of the rope-twitch (see 



