DETAILS. 57 



gerous may throw him into a panic of fear, though not 

 touched. Now, the point is, to make the horse able to 

 see and understand that the object, whatever it is, is 

 harmless ; but he must be fully convinced of this from all 

 sides of his understanding. And here, certain conditions 

 and principles of treatment must necessarily govern the 

 efforts, or there will be possibility of failure. 



DETAILS. 



The first great difficulty here, if the case is bad, is to 

 be able to control the horse as desired, so that you can 

 reason the matter with him. I would remind here that 

 the most dangerous cases are those that are usually gentle 

 until the object or cause, whatever it is, is brought to 

 notice, when terror makes the horse both strike and kick 

 with the fury of desperation. Such horses must be made 

 to yield perfectly to control. The second method of sub- 

 jection seems to accomplish this end best. The action of 

 the mind is almost suspended ; and the horse is at once 

 rendered helpless, when you can safely reach him with the 

 object. You should in all cases treat the horse out of 

 doors, and, as nearly as you can, in the very position of 

 resistance. No matter how apparently gentle a horse 

 may become by treatment in a barn or building, when he 

 is taken out of doors he seems to forget it all, making 

 serious disappointment and possible trouble. He must 

 be treated outside of the barn or building where he sees 

 the object in use, and where you can be free from all 

 causes of excitement. Again, you must not on any 

 account overlook the value of kindness and encourage- 

 ment in the treatment for fear. If, for example, afraid of 

 a robe, when you are able to bring it to the head and over 

 the body, give a little apple, oats, or any thing else of 

 which fond, to attract the mind, and associate with it sin- 

 cerity and kindness. 



A ROBE. 



While held under careful restraint, let the robe be 

 brought up gently to the horse's nose. After smelling and 

 feeling of it in his own way until satisfied, rub it gently 

 against the head, neck and body, the way the hair lies, as 



