284 CONFESSIONS OP A HORSE DEALER. 



to stand in his front, with a man at his head, who will 

 continually soothe him with voice and touch ; then, when 

 he appears thoroughly reconciled to a full discharge from 

 a double gun, the barrel may be rested on the saddle 

 while it is fired ; and if he stand that quietly, let him 

 be mounted by a person who understands his business (a 

 cavalry soldier is the best man to train a shooting cob) ; 

 and, above all things, never punish or speak to him 

 harshly ; and, if he appear more nervous during one 

 lesson than another, his trainer should take into consi- 

 deration that horses, like human beings, are at some 

 times more nervous than at others, and if abused for 

 this a thing he cannot help the confidence between 

 them will be lost, and it will take some time before it 

 is, if ever regained. 



"When the cob is properly trained, and well settled 

 down to his work, his rider will do well to consider, that 

 while he takes every precaution to provide himself with 

 sandwiches, and the accustomed flask of old mountain 

 dew, his cob may require some stimulant to comfort him 

 in his arduous duties ; but if it be considered inconve- 

 nient to carry a feed of corn in addition to the ordinary 

 equipment of a sportsman, I would recommend him to 

 provide a lean steak from a rump of good beef, which he 

 may carry in his pocket, and after two or three hours' 

 ramble, he should dismount, and first detaching the 

 bridle bit on one side from the head stall, he will wrap 

 the steak round the bit from end to end, and secure it 

 with twine seven or eight times round, and replacing 



