440 



SUBJECTION. ILLUSTRATIVE CASES. 



CASE 10. ROBERTS HORSE. 



I include this case because it was the first really vicious 

 stallion subdued by me ; also to show the bad effects of 

 rough treatment, and the facility with which a horse that 

 has been even very vicious can be made gentle when the 

 treatment is right. 



This was an "Ethan Allen" stallion, about eight or 

 nine years old, owned by a 

 gentleman named Roberts, 

 in Utica, N. Y., at the time 

 supervisor of the fifth dis- 

 trict of that city. The 

 horse had previously been 

 of such good character that 

 he was used as a family 

 driver. A groom in the 

 habit of drinking occasion- 

 ally, was employed to take 

 charge of him ; and to make 

 him show up, was in the 

 habit of whipping him until 

 he grew vicious and got to 

 fighting. The owner, hearing of this, discharged the man, 

 and took charge of the horse himself; when, the first he 

 knew, the horse pitched suddenly at him, biting him, and 

 undoubtedly would have killed him had not two men who 

 happened near driven the horse off with rails. 



When I visited the city, the horse had been confined 

 to his stall for seven months, fed through a hole or window 

 in the wall, it not being considered safe for any one to go 

 near him. In consequence of his serious injuries, Mr. 

 Roberts was yet confined to his room, a helpless invalid. 

 As a condition of doing anything there, the citizens insisted 

 that I should first subdue this horse. Consenting to make 



FIG. 295. Roberts Horse. 



