The Horse, as Comrade and Friend 



Instead of a succession of little steps, all of which 

 the horse can understand, he wants to make big 

 steps, which the horse will not understand and 

 will resent. And so mutual antagonism is set 

 up at the beginning of the course, and the result 

 is, not only little or no progress in breaking, 

 but the very effective spoiling of the horse. 



Some horses are so sweet-tempered that 

 even a short-tempered man cannot help but 

 succeed in breaking them into harness. But 

 it is when difficulties arise that he fails. It is 

 most essential that, in giving orders to assist- 

 ants during the breaking, a level tone of voice 

 should always be employed, without a trace 

 of excitement in it. Something scares the 

 horse and he gets excited, and to this particular 

 brand of fool it appears appropriate that, in 

 such circumstances, he should shout his in- 

 structions at the top of his voice. It does not 

 occur to him that he is adding to the terror 

 of the horse. The more the horse gets scared, 

 the more excitedly the groom yells to the 

 assistants, and, unless he succeeds in getting 

 control of the horse by main force, he ends 

 in scaring his assistants too, and thus the 

 accident happens, which, when he relates the 

 result to the owner viewing the remains, appear 

 to him clear proof that " that there 'oss might 

 be a good saddle 'oss, but 'e'd never make an 

 'arness 'oss as long as he Uved, and it's lucky, 

 sir, we found it out in time." 



174 



