PRINCIPLES OF TREATMENT 



49 



It is generally supposed that the most important qualification 

 for success in the control of vicious horses, is being a sort of strong- 

 ish bully, gifted with power to master a horse physically, or whip 

 him into submission. Now, no mistake could be greater. In many 

 hundreds of instances, in fact, it was a matter of almost daily occur- 

 rence, horses were brought to me to experiment upon, which the 

 most persistent efforts of the strongest and most pretentious or so- 

 called best horse-breakers had failed upon, — horses that were sup- 



Fio. 64. — The Horse Ready to be Thrown. Old Method referred to. 



posed to be so bad that nothing could be done with them. Such 

 men were almost invariably members of my classes ; and the results 

 I was able to produce before them became of the greatest interest 

 t to them, because proving to them the necessity and value of bring- 

 ing into exercise their highest intelligence and ingenuity in the per- 

 formance of this duty ; and that, in its true light, the study of the 

 subject was one of the most interesting and Instructive to which a 

 thoughtful and intelligent mind could be directed. 



Finally, above almost any other profession or business, the 

 proper and successful management of horses requires peculiarly fine 

 qualifications ; and while in other « directions one point of excel- 

 lence may be sufficient to give a man marked success, this not only 

 calls for a combination, but a very rare combination, of good qualities. 

 First, a man must be fine and clear in his perceptions ; that is, he 



