TRAINING VS. BREAKING 263 



"Broncho Buster" is the typical horse breaker. 

 Those who have not been on the frontier have 

 seen the Broncho Buster's methods in the Wild 

 West circuses. A young horse or a wild horse is 

 saddled and bridled. A Rough Rider mounts 

 and stays on the back of the young thing until the 

 animal is conquered and subdued through fear 

 and fatigue. This brutal method of treating 

 young horses used to be universal in America. 

 That so much of it should still be done is not 

 complimentary to the intelligence and kindli- 

 ness of American horse owners. It is about on 

 a par with the treatment that weak-minded 

 persons received a century or so ago. They 

 were beaten and maltreated and kept in order 

 by cruelty and harshness — ruled, indeed, by 

 the fear of those who should have treated 

 them with the most patient kindness. When 

 the spirit is taken out of a horse by his early 

 handling, we can never hope to develop his small 

 intelligence very far, or to guide his instincts in 

 the right direction. While a horse's intelligence 

 is of a low order, he has a fine memory. His 

 fear being aroused in the beginning, he remains 



