MANAGEMENT OF HORSES BY THE VOICE. 321 



kicked it and the owner thereof clear from him 

 before he would be satisfied ; and yet this colt was 

 naturally of a good temper, but alarmed at the too 

 sudden and too tight pressure of these unusual 

 bandages round his body. It was invariably my 

 practice with our own young horses, which were 

 broken at home (when keeping a stud of brood 

 mares to supply me with hunters), to accustom 

 the colts to a cloth and surcingle round their 

 bodies almost from the first day of their being 

 handled, so that they were thoroughly used to this 

 kind of pressure long before a saddle was placed 

 upon their backs ; and I am quite satisfied by ex- 

 perience that our gradual system of breaking, al- 

 though apparently slow at first, was eventually the 

 most successful, without risk of life or limb to 

 man or animal. 



Another part of our education, and a very ne- 

 cessary one, was to teach our colts to do what we 

 required of them by the voice, without whip or 

 spur. Stand still, come on, go on, walk, trot, or 

 gallop, are terms soon understood by a horse when 

 continually repeated, with a corresponding move- 

 ment of his breaker ; and it is of great advantage 

 to a horse to understand by the voice, instead of 

 by whip or spur, what he is required to do to pre- 

 pare himself for the action. For instance, by the 



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