The best horse sometimes requires correction, but the sooner a lady gets
rid of a horse that she is compelled to _flog_, the better; the effect
is most unpleasant, though the eclat may be great, and such a sight
would destroy every previously formed idea of her grace and gentleness:
moderate corrections are however some times necessary, and the lady
should make no scruple of having recourse to them when absolutely
necessary, but not otherwise. The best way to correct a horse is to
dishearten him, and make him do what he would fain avoid, not so much by
force and obstinate resolution, in contesting with him openly, and
directly, when he is perfectly prepared to resist; as by a cool
opposition, and indirect means. There are different methods of attaining
the same end, and those which are the least obvious to the animal should
be adopted; a lady cannot rival him in physical strength, but she may
conquer him by ingenuity, or subdue him by a calm determined assumption
of superior power: severe flogging seldom produces good effect, and all
quarrels between a horse and his rider should be avoided; on the other
hand, too much indulgence may induce him to think that she is afraid of
him; should he do so, she will find that he will exercise every means to
convince her, that he considers himself her master, instead of
acknowledging by implicit obedience, that she is his.
When it is necessary to use the whip as a correction, it should be
applied, by giving the horse two or three smart cuts in a line with the
girths, or on the shoulder. The lady should not fret her horse, by
continually tapping him with the whip.