AN ARTIST. 387 



I have shown where it is very much to the interest 

 of a Nickem to privately ascertain whether a horse left 

 with him for sale will go in harness or not. It may 

 be easily conceived when it is desirable to make a 

 vicious one go steady : this is, of course, when he is to 

 be got off. When it is equally desirable that he should 

 not go quietly may require a word or two of explana- 

 tion : but to be able to effect this, a thoroughly prac- 

 tised breaksman is required. Now a man may be a 

 very good coachman, though know very little of his 

 business as a breaksman ; but the latter cannot be fit 

 for his business unless he is a first-rate coachman : 

 and he requires much more than this : he must per- 

 fectly understand the habits and tempers of young 

 horses, and, indeed, of all horses: he must have a 

 clear head, quick apprehension, good temper, great 

 presence of mind, strong nerves, strong but light 

 hands, know every contrivance to thwart the inten- 

 tions of violent horses, and the mode of soothing timid 

 ones : he must be able, from habit, to judge at once 

 by the manners of a horse what he is likely or is pre- 

 paring to do : in short, to judge at once what sort of 

 a customer he has to deal with. If he is all this, and, 

 moreover, a civil, sober, and honest man, he is worth 

 any wages he can reasonably ask to a respectable 

 dealer or repository-keeper. He must be all this to 

 suit Nickem (leaving out the honesty), for, to suit 

 him, he must be as great a rogue as his master : he 

 must know by a turn of the eye of that master whe- 

 ther a horse is to go quietly or the reverse : he must 

 not always even wait for this : he must have quickness 

 enough to judge by the circumstances of the case 

 what he is to do, as well as be equal to do it ; and I 



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