VICE IN THE HORSE. II 



for, having obtained confidence in respect to one 

 thing that has caused it fear, it will be less shy of 

 others that are strange and terrifying. A horse 

 may be taught in a few lessons to face flying 

 paper, banners, etc., if it be fed on carrots laid 

 upon a piece of paper, and be gradually accustomed 

 to have the paper afterwards flourished in its face, 

 and then placed upon the ground for it to walk 

 over. I may say here that an unwilling horse 

 may be led almost anywhere if the man will walk 

 quietly forward with his back to the animal. 



I believe that the methods I have described are 

 the best that a rider can employ in controlling 

 difficult horses, but vice can be repressed or cured 

 only by suppling the horse, and teaching it to 

 instinctively obey the bit and the heels in the 

 manner I explained at the outset. There are very 

 few horses that cannot be made, by skill and 

 patience, perfectly obedient, and once the theory of 

 such a method is acquired there is neither difficulty 

 nor danger in following it. 



