BREAKING IN 



push his horse's education too hard, and to neglect 

 some items which do not seem important to him. 

 The result is that there comes a time when the 

 trainer has to go back and pick up these neglected 

 elements. 



Often, too, it happens that a horse, well trained 

 by a master, is ridden by some one without eques- 

 trian tact, and has to go back to the master to be 

 retrained. Sometimes, also, a man buys a horse 

 which has already been ridden, but in accordance 

 with some other method than his own; and since 

 the memory of the horse is very persistent, the 

 training may have to be started over again from 

 the foundation. 



In all these cases the trainer needs to be expe- 

 rienced, patient, persevering, energetic, and posi- 

 tive, besides having a genuine affection for his pupil. 

 No two horses are alike in conformation or morale, 

 nor in the results of their first contact with man. The 

 trainer needs, therefore, to diagnose his animal, to 

 consider his strong and weak points, so as to pick 

 the right place for the training to begin. If, for 

 example, a horse is anxious and timid, before I do 

 anything else, I give it confidence, by means of work 

 on foot with the whip. If it is young and not strong. 

 I develop its muscles by means of the cavesson with 

 the Bussigny breaking-straps. 



One ought, in a word, to study his horse, find out 

 its special needs, and commence the education by 

 removing the causes of its imperfections. Meth- 



65 



