142 STABLE MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



qualification in a lady's horse, to moderate his pace, stop 

 by degrees, or stop short, in accordance with the voice that 

 directs him ; a lady's horse should be perfect in this with 

 the reins resting on his neck. Why this is learned so much 

 more readily in a school than elsewhere is, that the animal's 

 attention is solely occupied by his rider's voice and move- 

 ment, whereas out of doors it is more than divided by other 

 objects. Independentl}^ of this, there is a confinement felt 

 by a horse w hen encircled by four walls, that he, of course, 

 does not feel in any open space, that makes him obedient. 



In a school there are found guns, flags, drams, trumpets, 

 umbrellas, and every other monstrosity to which a lady's 

 horse should be subjected ; it therefore follows that in such 

 a school a horse would be placed in a situation to see more 

 strange sights in six weeks than in ordinary situations he 

 would see in six years. For instance, a lady might ride 

 her horse about Bath and not see the colour of a regiment 

 once in seven years ; in London it might happen she never 

 rode at an hour when regiments were moving ; conse- 

 quently years might elapse, and the first time her horse 

 saw such a sight he would start at it ; and so on with any 

 unusual thing that came across him ; but in the school a 

 day makes him conversant with everything of the sort. 

 Let a man walk fifty yards' distance from him round the 

 school with a banner, he hardly notices it ; get nearer to 

 the man by degrees, and in an hour or two the horse will 

 walk with the banner fluttering before his fftce (so with 

 anything we wish to accustom him to see) without alarm. 

 The great mistake people make is in thinking that by 

 doing too much at a time they accelerate what they wish, 

 when, in fact, they retard it by such means. 



If, for instance, we wish to teach a horse to stand fire — 

 if we let off a guo, we should alarm him to such an extent 

 that it would perhaps take a month to reassure him, if we 

 even did it then. A more judicious man might let off a small 

 pistol with a little powder in it. This is ten times too 

 much. A flash iQ the pan is too much, except at a great 

 distance. First burn a few grains of gunpowder so as to 

 show no flash, while he is eating his corn in the stable ; let 

 him smell that ; even this will arouse his attention, but, 

 while it accustoms him to the smell, will not alarm him. 

 Begin by clicking a pistol twenty yards from him ; then 

 put powder enough in not to piake more ignition than the 



