480 ART OF APPROACHING, SEIZING, AND TAMING 
will probably be off again. Want of judgment in these cases is 
often productive of great mischief. 
If, however, he is caught, the crowd should be kept at a dis- 
tance, and the animal caressed and spoken mildly to ; then, hold- 
ing him firmly by the forelock or ear with one hand, the halter or 
bridle should be slipped over his head, and his attention engaged 
with a piece of bread or a few oats, until he is properly secured 
and can be led to the stable. 
A furiously vicious horse is much more dangerous than one 
that is frightened. He must only be approached with the utmost 
caution, and at the same time with firmness and presence of mind 
sufficient to act promptly. One man is rarely sufficient to master 
and subdue a furious horse. As we have before stated, his eyes 
should be covered with a cloth or barnacles, and a snaffle with two 
straps, or a strong halter, and to this may be added, if necessary, 
a cord round the nose, or mourailles on the upper lip or the ears. 
Two men should lead him ; and if he tries to bite, recourse must be 
had to a nose-band, cradle, & c. 
The straps of the snaffle should be kept firmly extended, each 
man placing himself opposite to the level of the shoulder and 
drawing his strap tightly. In some cases, a furious horse is fixed to 
a solid iron ring, or a post, or they harness him to a cart of such 
weight that his utmost efforts will not enable him to move it. 
Then, after he has fruitlessly exhausted all his strength, he may 
be loosened, and, being carefully restrained by a strong halter, 
trotted up and down until entirely worn out. 
Some horses that have learned to know their own powers, from 
having been committed to the care of timid and inexperienced per- 
sons, require, however, great severity of treatment before they can 
be inspired with a sufficient degree of fear to reduce them to obe- 
dience, and render them docile and tractable. I knew a very clever 
horse-dealer who was in the habit of buying up all horses de- 
nounced as untameable, and he could subdue them in a very short 
period. It was by these means that the stallions Desire and Re- 
serve, belonging to the stud at Alfort, were tamed. The trainer 
had a leaden knob at the end of his whip, and with this he struck 
the animal on the nape of the neck every time it kicked, plunged, 
or shewed any sign of vice. This came on the creature like an 
electric shock, and, being struck on a part so sensible, it soon 
ceased to resist, and stood as if stunned for a moment. The 
breaker-in then caressed and spoke coaxingly to it, and gradually 
succeeded in bringing it to do all that he required. It was by thus 
alternately using severity and kindness that he succeeded, not only 
in rendering these two stallions docile, but also in subduing a 
