PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING 



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Reactions 



64. When a horse is disobedient he makes a 

 reaction. Now, we can physically prevent a 

 horse making many reactions by placing his 

 body in a position in which he cannot make 

 the preparatory motion. But to stop a horse 

 attacking his rider or his groom is far more 

 difficult, as the horse knows his superiority. In 

 the first instance he probably attacked the man, 

 and found that the man became afraid and also, 

 perhaps, ceased to ill-treat him ; hence the horse 

 continued to attack to avoid ill-treatment. This 

 attacking soon becomes a habit; the horse is 

 very susceptible to acquiring habits. Later he 

 probably attacks without any reason. 



The cure of this fault or habit (if it has 

 become one) requires kindness and no punish- 

 ment ; then the horse will learn that he is not 

 going to be ill-treated. He must also be placed 

 in a position in which he cannot attack, he will 

 then learn man's superiority. If he attacks we 

 must show him that his attacks do not harm 

 us ; he must also be shown that we are appar- 

 ently superior to him in other ways. Many re- 

 actions are caused by the horse doing something 

 to try to avoid pain or irritation ; for example, a 

 rider may be hurting a horse's mouth, the horse 

 bucks or perhaps throws the rider, the latter 

 ceases to hurt the horse ; the next time his mouth 

 is hurt he does the same, because he associates 

 this behaviour with relief from the pain, and 

 this reaction becomes a vice. Again, a horse may 

 attempt to refuse to do something asked of him, 

 and through the ignorance or the weak methods 

 of the trainer, the horse succeeds ; he then learns 

 that he need not do this act, and reacts next 

 time. 



If a horse on being whipped or spurred is 

 able to raise his croup or to rear up and the rider 

 ceases to abuse him, the horse learns that he can 

 do these things, and that by doing them he 

 causes the pain to cease. Hence reactions are 

 very often due to the horse not being taught 

 proper obedience. A kicker may be produced 

 through the same method. A horse kicks 

 through fear, we will suppose, of his cruel 

 groom ; the groom ceases to ill-treat him, so he 

 kicks next time he is ill-treated. 



65. A timid rider may also cause reactions in 

 a horse ; he applies certain aids with the leg, and 

 the horse objects and reacts ; the rider not being 

 capable of preventing the horse from reacting 

 ceases to apply the aids ; he thus gives way to 

 the horse and causes him to react the next time 

 these aids are applied. 



Other reasons for causing reactions in a horse 

 are using too much and too severe punishment, 

 thereby causing him to look upon you as his 

 enemy, against whom he will instinctively fight ; 

 excessive exuberance of spirits, which may cause 

 him to disobey your requests ; advancing his 

 education too rapidly, and thereby asking him to 



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do what he cannot do physically, on account of 

 his body not being sufficiently prepared. We 

 cannot expect the man who has only been in a 

 gymnasium for a week to perform a long-arm 

 balance on the bars, nor can we expect a recruit 

 after one week in the riding-school to vault 

 into the saddle of a galloping horse ; then why 

 on earth do so-called horse-trainers expect to 

 develop the equine frame and muscles in a week 

 when it takes months? If the horse is not pre- 

 pared, he evinces pain and therefore reacts. 

 Hence we see that our ignorance is really re- 

 sponsible for all reactions in a horse. 



66. The time required to make a horse give 

 up bad habits depends on the length of time that 

 those habits have existed and upon the horse's 

 character. It must be remembered that punish- 

 ment, saving in exceptional cases, will make 

 matters worse ; he must be prevented by physical 

 means from doing these things and be caressed, 

 so that he will see that by not trying he is 

 caressed. If a horse has acquired a habit, such 

 as that of shying, which shows no viciousness, 

 then physically to force him to approach the ob- 

 ject at which he has shied and before which he 

 was probably beaten or spurred, would make 

 him much worse. He should be placed under 

 the same circumstances again and caressed ; this 

 must be repeated until he learns to take no ap- 

 parent notice of the object. 



Every young colt when first brought into the 

 school must be treated with great kindness, and 

 for a considerable time little reactions should be 

 overlooked ; our principle being, as stated be- 

 fore, first to gain the animal's confidence, and 

 this will never be gained if we commence by 

 punishing him and making him think that we 

 are his enemy. A thoroughbred horse requires 

 much more careful handling than a common- 

 bred horse. 



Caresses 



67. Kind treatment causes a horse to do well, 

 because thereby he expects to be well treated. In 

 countries like Arabia the horse is looked up to 

 by everybody, because they love the horse. The 

 horse is of greater value to its owner if he is a 

 friend to him, therefore at all times the owner 

 should treat his horse with the utmost justice. 



The horse is particularly susceptible to re- 

 ceiving and appreciating caresses unless he is 

 very frightened or in a bad temper. The best 

 place to pat a horse is on his neck ; the patting 

 must not be done hard enough to hurt the horse 

 and yet not soft enough to tickle him. The 

 horse likes being stroked or rubbed better than 

 being patted, as this more resembles the way 

 his mother licked him on the neck and around 

 the head when he was a foal. The best place to 

 rub a horse is on the top of the head, unless he 

 has been damaged in this part; some horses 



