October, 1913 



^19 



How Horses are Spoiled. 



Were it iiossible to arrive at a 

 correct estimate of the ivercentajfe 

 of horses that are nnned every 

 ycar by misiuanajr^incnt, the total 

 would surprise a g'ood many people 

 who have not troubled to consider 

 tlie matter. Beyond all doubt, a 

 larjje number of such animals are 

 spoiled, by being broken hurriedly 

 — that is to say, that although 

 they may have been entrusted to 

 capable hands, their breakers have 

 not possessed sufficient time to at- 

 tend to their duties thoroughly, 

 and consequentlv ha^ e, through no 

 fault of their own, been compelled 

 to hasten their work. A still larger 

 number of young horses owe their 

 subsequent bad manners and con- 

 sequent reduction in value to hav- 

 ing been under the tutelage of men 

 who either have possessed little 

 knowledge of how to make a colt, 

 or else have been handicapped by 

 an inability to act by their 

 charges as they ought to. Finally, 

 there comes a tliird catagory,. and 

 this is bv no means a small one — 

 namely,! that which includes horses 

 which practically have never been 

 broken at all, as they have been 

 put) to work alongside a steady old 

 horse almost as soon as they have 

 been brought up from grass, and 

 have been coinioelled to pick up 

 their ideas of harness as best they 

 could. 



Regarding these three classes of 

 young horses from 'a closer point 

 of view, it can only he obserbed of 

 the first and third that the remedy 

 can be found b}^ the .owners if they 

 desire to discover one. There is 

 no necessity for an employer to en- 

 trust a valuable colt's future to 

 one who has not the time to do 

 justice to his charge, as assietance 

 can always be obtained to relieve 

 the latter from a portion of his 

 other duties ; and, when it is re- 

 miembered that the value ofl a well- 

 bred colt mav be diminished to a 

 very large amo|unt by imperfect 

 breaking, it is extremely bad 

 economy to grudge a small outlay 

 for extra help in the stable. The 

 horses in the third class are, of 

 course, to be sympathized with to 

 a certain extent, for, although 

 their value at the outset was 

 probablv nothing very great, some 

 of them, had they been properly 

 broken, might have aspired to bet- 

 ter things than they succeeded in 

 achieving, and, if so, their lives 

 might have been more comfort- 

 able, for a time at all events. As 

 regards the horses in the second 



division the case is entirely differ- 

 ent, for the owners of the' majority 

 of thvm may be credited with a 

 desire to have every justice done 

 to their colts. Unfortunately, how- 

 ever, thev nuiv not be aware of the 

 lack of knowledge or the infirmi- 

 ties of the breaker until the pup 1 

 has been ruined, and gaining ex- 

 perience in such a way is decided- 

 ly- expensive. Of course, a man 

 who does not imderstand the work 

 IS hopeless ; but there are plenty of 

 breakers who are perfectly capable 

 but who spoil their charges in 

 various ways. If the colt is timid, 

 the methods employed by some of 

 these will break his heart, and 

 should he be inclined to show tem- 

 per, an ini'patient or rough breaker 

 is likely to make bad a great deal 

 worse. 



— Other Failings. — 

 Then, too, there is a tendency on 

 the part of some people to overbit 

 their charges, and whilst this is as 

 bad as it well can be in the case 

 of an old horse, it is absolutely 

 fatal to a young one's progress. A 

 sharp bit breaks the heart of 

 many a colt, and almost as many 

 are ruined by overwork. Such in- 

 flictions as the above engender a 

 hatred of the sight of harness or 

 saddle even before the youngsters 

 have an idea of what is expected of 

 them, and, therefore, as a prelim- 

 inary word of advice it may be 

 laid down tha,t the earlier lessons 

 should be as light as possible. No 

 doubt there woidd be fewer fail- 

 ures if breakeirs were, as a rule, 

 to make some attempt to discrim- 

 inate as regards the difference of 

 tempers that exists amongst 

 horses ; and not only' this, but if 

 they were to treat the animals as 

 though the latter possessed some 

 degree of intelligence. For instance, 

 if, when a young horse is being 

 schooled to |ump, it were a gene- 

 ral practice to wait until he got 

 well on to his hind legs before let- 

 ting him go, there would be fewer 

 failures than there are if he is 



sent at the obstacle and made to 

 rise at it before he ia properly on 

 his balance. As soon as the colt 

 gets to understand what is rc(pdred 

 of him he will usually try his best 

 to do it ; but if he is taught a 

 bad style it will stick, to him to 

 the end, and his prospects for life 

 will be spoiled. 



It is to be feared, however, that 

 there are a good many people who, 

 either by reason of their bad or 

 careless driving, succeed in spoil- 

 ing a horse which came to them 

 as free from vice or tricks as coidd 

 be desired. A horse which by na- 

 ture is not a shier can easily be 

 transformed into something very 

 like one by being unmercifully 

 thrashed if he becomes startled at 

 some unfamiliar sight. The next 

 time he encounters anything of the 

 kind he remembers big thrashing 

 and associates the sight with suf- 

 fering ; then he shies again, and 

 the punishment is repeated, with 

 disastrous effects. The man who 

 is careless about his harness, and 

 who allows his horse to drive him- 

 self, will spoil any animal, and is 

 as likely to end up by letting the 

 horse down as not. But this ob- 

 servation must not be taken as 

 suggesting that a driver should al- 

 ways be fidgeting and worrying his 

 horse. His aim should be to get 

 the animal to go right and to 

 keep him at it ; it is often the 

 slovenly coachman who produces 

 the ill-mannered horse. In frequent 

 cases it is the driver's fault when 

 a horse stumbles, but even when 

 it is not so it is quite unnecessary 

 to use the whip in nine cases out 

 of ten. If the horse once begins 

 to connect a stumble with a 

 thrashing, he gets flurried when he 

 puts a foot wrong, and is very 

 likely to come down in conse- 

 quence ; but if he gets careless it 

 is necessary to wake him up by a 

 light stroke just to remind him 

 that he must keep awake. Of 

 course the jagging at a horse's 

 mouth is as certain a vv'ay to ruin 



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