“A GENTLE HAND MAY LEAD THE ELEPHANT BY A HAIR.”
Cause your horse to be put into a small yard, stable or room. If in a
stable or room, it ought to be a large one, in order to give him more
exercise with the halter, before you lead him out. If the horse belongs
to that class which appears only to fear man, you must introduce
yourself gently into the stable, room or yard where the horse is. He
will naturally run from you, and frequently turn his head from you; but
you must walk about extremely slow and softly, so that he can see you,
and whenever he turns his head towards you, which he never fails to do
in a short time, say in a quarter of an hour, or half an hour--I never
knew one to be much longer without turning towards me--at the very
moment he turns his head, hold out your left hand towards him, and stand
perfectly still, keeping your eyes upon the horse, and watching his
motions, if he makes any. If the horse does not stir for ten or fifteen
minutes, advance as slowly as possible, and without making the least
noise, always holding out your left hand, without any other ingredient
in it than what nature put in it. The reason of my having made use of
certain ingredients before people--such as the sweat from under a man’s
arm, &c.--was, to disguise the real secret; and Drinnen, as well as
several others, believed that the docility to which the horse arrived,
in so short a time, was owing to those ingredients. It will be seen, in
this explanation of the secret, that they were of no use, whatever; but,
by placing so much confidence in them, those who had succeeded in
breaking one horse, failed in another, and that is what I foresaw.
No one can accuse me of bad faith, to whom I discovered this or any part
of the secret; for I always intended to publish the whole. In the second
place, many revealed what I had told them, after the most solemn promise
to the contrary. Caution is the parent of safety: I, therefore, by
multiplying the ingredients, caused a confusion amongst those who
thought they knew the real secret. Though I revealed enough of the
secret for a man to break a horse in a few hours, it was not enough to
make the horse remain gentle; that is, generally speaking: for some
horses would be perfectly gentle ever after; but the greater number
would not. The implicit faith placed in these ingredients, though
innocent of themselves, became faith without works; and thus men
remained always in doubt concerning this important secret. The secret is
a complete lesson of morality; for all is GENTLENESS--PATIENCE--PERSEVERANCE.
But, I return to the explanation of the secret. If the horse makes the
least motion when you advance towards him, stop and stand perfectly
still till he is quiet. Remain a few minutes in this position, and then
advance again in the same slow, almost imperceptible manner. Take
notice: If the horse stirs, stop without changing your position. It is
very uncommon for a horse to stir more than once, after you begin to
advance, yet there are exceptions. He generally keeps his eye steadfast
on you, till you get nigh enough to touch him upon the forehead. When
you are thus near to him, raise slowly, and by degrees, your hand, and
let it come in contact with that part just above the nostrils, as
lightly as possible. If the horse flinches, (as many will,) repeat with
great rapidity those light taps or strokes upon the forehead, going a
little further up towards his ears by degrees, and descending with the
same rapidity, till he will let you handle his forehead all over. Now
let the strokes be repeated with more force over all his forehead,
descending by lighter touches to each side of his head, till you can
handle that part with equal facility. Then touch, in the same light
manner, making your hands and fingers play around the bottom or lower
part of the horse’s ears, coming down, now and then, to his forehead,
which may be looked upon as the helm that governs all the rest. Having
succeeded in handling his ears, advance towards the neck with the same
precautions, and in the same manner; observing always to augment the
force of the strokes, whenever the horse will permit it. Perform the
same on both sides of the neck, till he lets you take it in your arms
without flinching. Proceed in the same progressive manner to the sides,
and then to the back of the horse. Every time the horse shows any
uneasiness, return immediately to the forehead, as the true standard,
patting him with your hands, and from thence rapidly to where you had
already arrived; always gaining ground, a considerable distance further
on, every time this happens. The head, ears, neck and body being thus
gentled, proceed from the back to the root of the tail. This must be
managed with dexterity, as a horse is never to be depended upon that is
skittish about the tail. Let your hand fall lightly and rapidly on that
part next to the body a minute or two, and then you will begin to give
it a slight pull upwards every quarter of a minute. At the same time,
you continue this handling of him, augmenting the force of the strokes,
as well as the raising of the tail, till you can raise it and handle it
with the greatest ease, which commonly happens in a quarter of an hour
in most horses; in others almost immediately, and in some much longer.
It now remains to handle all his legs. From the tail come back again to
the head; handle it well, as likewise the ears, neck, breast, &c.,
speaking now and then to the horse. Begin, by degrees, to descend to the
legs, always ascending and descending, gaining ground every time you
descend, till you get to his feet. Talk to the horse in Latin, Greek,
French, English or Spanish, or in any other language you please, but let
him hear the sound of your voice, which at the beginning of the
operation is not quite so necessary, but which I have always done in
making him lift up his feet:--“Hold up your foot,” “Leve le pied”--“Alza
el pie”--“Aron ton poda,” &c., at the same time lift his foot with your
hand. He soon becomes familiar with the sounds, and will hold up his
foot at command. Then proceed to the hind feet, and go on in the same
manner; and, in a short time, the horse will let you lift them, and even
take them up in your arms. All this operation is no magnetism, no
galvanism. It is merely taking away the fear a horse generally has of a
man, and familiarizing him with him, as the horse experiences a certain
pleasure from this handling of him. As a striking proof of this
assertion, I will relate what I performed in the state of Neuvo Leon,
upon a wild boar, taken two days before in the woods, without being
wounded. He was shut up in a pen, or kind of cage, and was so furious
that he had eaten nothing for thirty hours. When I came to the cage,
which was standing in a back yard, he gnashed his teeth, and became
enraged, and foamed in a terrible manner. I stood still before him for
more than three quarters of an hour. I held a staff in my hand, around
the end of which I wrapped a cloth pretty tight, and advanced it, by
little and little, towards the head of the boar. He at first tried to
catch it in his mouth; but, by continually repeating the trial, I
succeeded in touching the bristles of his head. He made some resistance;
but, after I had slightly touched his head a dozen times, he stood
still. I continued this operation around his head, and then upon his
sides, for half an hour, and also upon his belly and back. At the end of
an hour, he appeared half asleep, and I passed the staff over him with
great facility, till at last, seeing him so easy, I ventured to pass my
hand through the grates, and touch him with it; which, so far from
irritating him, he seemed to take an uncommon pleasure in being rubbed
and scratched. Here, it must be observed, that, instead of giving light
strokes or taps with the hand upon this animal, as I do with a horse, I
rather scratched and rubbed him; and, in this manner I continued, till I
handled him with as much ease as I could a dog, and even took hold of
his tusks. I left him for half an hour, and when I came back, he was
eating corn, for the first time since he had been caught. He appeared to
have been about two years old. In the afternoon, I handled him again,
for some time; and, finding him so extremely gentle, I ventured to take
him out of the cage into the yard, though with the precaution of tying a
rope about his neck, in case of his becoming refractory. Before I took
him out, however, I made my servant and two or three Indian boys handle
him. This last precaution was useless, as he followed me into the house,
and ate corn out of my hand. I caused him to be handled and fed that
evening and the next morning, when he was finally turned loose among the
pigs. This was in the year 1825. I came away the next day, and heard no
more of him, and have never had a second trial upon that kind of
animals.
To return, again, to the horse, which we left already familiarized to
man. Supposing him, as I said in the beginning, to belong to that class
which only fears man, or has little fear of any thing else: the horse is
gentle, in doing which you may have employed two or three hours; but he
has no knowledge of being led by the halter. Put the halter on him, and
handle him in the forehead, and pull him gently round towards the left,
forming a circle. Let him follow you several times round in this way,
till he will go as fast as you wish him to go. Then change the position,
and turn to the right in the same manner, talking to him, telling him to
come along, &c. When he is familiar with forming a circle, make him
leave it; and, by degrees, he will follow you in a straight direction.
In all this operation stop him every now and then, and handle his head
and all his body, &c. When he is following you, stop him short, always
speaking to him, as likewise when you start him: “Come on”--“follow
me”--“come along.” In a short time, he will follow you without your
pulling him by the halter. The first impression is so great upon horses,
that a horse broken in this manner will always follow well ever after.
Now take a whip, crack it at him, and drive him from you, but without
whipping him. Then go up to him, and handle him and caress him, taking
his head in your arms, putting your arms around his neck, &c. Finally:
Take away the fear he had of you at first. The next operation is to
saddle him, which is done almost immediately, if he belongs to the
second class of horses, which fear very little else than man; and as he
will make no resistance at being saddled, he will make none at being
ridden, and so your horse is broken.
I shall now explain the difference to be observed in gentling the third
class; that is: those horses which appear to fear every thing. The
operation is to be carried on, as above directed, till you come to that
part where you are to saddle him. If you should undertake to put the
saddle on a horse of this latter description, he would fly from you as
quickly as a deer, although you might handle him with the greatest ease.
How shall we then proceed? Take away the fear he has of different
objects, by making him acquainted with them, and convincing him, as it
were, by gentle means, that those objects he so much dreads will not
hurt him. Familiarize him with them. In order to succeed in this, every
thing must be done by gradation. Firstly: Take a handkerchief and move
it gently before him; at the same time, you handle his forehead; make
him smell it; toss it up a little in your hand before him, till he is
not frightened at it. Then throw it upon his head, and over his ears:
then, by degrees, upon his neck, and so continue on; for if you should
throw it immediately from his head to his back, or on his sides, he
would jump and kick with all his might. Throw it upon his back, and upon
his sides; let it fall off on one side, and then on the other. Let it
fall before him and behind him, so that it will fall upon his heels.
Make him walk with it upon his back. Let it fall whilst he is walking,
till he gets completely familiar with it. After this, take some one or
two yards of heavy stuff, such as cotton bagging or the like, throw it
down at a distance two or three times; then make him smell it. Throw it
up before him till he no longer flinches at it; then over his head,
always talking to him, from time to time, and handling him every now and
then. Then throw it upon his back, whilst you hold it in your hand, till
you see that you can throw it upon his back, and let it hang down upon
each side, without frightening him. Let him walk round with it: then
make him trot with it, till it falls off. Pick it up and throw it upon
him as he stands, and let it fall off on both sides of him, under his
belly. Let it fall off from behind, over his heels. Repeat this last
operation a great many times, and lift up his tail and pull it smartly.
Tie something light to it, that will hang down over his hams; but not so
low as to touch the ground. Make him follow you, in this manner.
Afterwards, tie a large piece of mat or something similar to it, so that
it will touch and drag upon the ground. Touch him and handle him in the
forehead, making him advance slowly at first, then faster, till you make
him run with it, and go around in every direction, till he becomes
perfectly familiar with the object tied to his tail. Drive the horse
away from you. Then call him back again. Untie the mat from his tail,
and tie it to his neck, letting it hang down on one side, and making him
run in the same manner as before. Take it off. Take a rattling, dry deer
skin or ox-ide, and throw it down at some distance before the horse.
Raise it up and throw it down several times, till the horse pays no
attention to it when it falls, or when you let it fall and rattle it.
Let it fall close before him, and make him smell of it. Then throw it
upon his neck. Let him first walk and then run with it, till it falls
off. Then continue with it, as you did with the mat, till you tie it to
his tail, and let him walk and run with it, without showing the least
signs of fear, which he will do in a very few minutes. Next comes the
girt. To familiarize him to it, you will take, firstly, a common rope,
and throw it over his back, and make him walk with it. Stop him, and
double the rope. Let the middle of it hang upon the right side, low
enough for you to take it in your hand where it is doubled, and draw it
towards you. Slip the two ends of the rope through the doubled part, and
haul it gently and by degrees, as if you were girting the horse. Loosen
and tighten it many times; at last, fasten it, not very tight. Make him
walk and run in this manner. Loosen and tighten it again, till you have
him girted up with the rope in this manner. Walk and run him in this
way. Stop him. Throw another rope around his body, just before his hind
legs, so as to encompass his flanks. At first, let it rub him gently,
and by drawing first one end and then the other. This is very important,
especially if the horse be naturally of a fearful, timid nature. The
effect it has upon him, ever after, is truly astonishing. I speak after
more than twenty years’ experience, having done every thing as above
directed. Take a heavy Spanish saddle, with wooden stirrups, if you have
such a one. Throw it down before him, rattle it well, and make him smell
of it. It must be observed, that in all these manœuvres, you must now
and then handle the horse, by taking up his feet, speaking to him,
patting him all over on both sides pretty vigorously; going away from
him, then running suddenly up to him, &c.
To return to the saddle. Throw it up towards his back; and if he makes
no resistance, as it is probable he will not, throw it upon his back and
girt it lightly. Handle him in every part. Strike first lightly, then
very hard upon the saddle: walk him and run him with it. Stop him, and
girt up tight. Pull upon the stirrups, on both sides. Make a noise upon
the saddle, by striking it hard with your hand. Handle his tail, by
raising it and letting it fall, and striking upon it; then put a small
cord under it, in form of a crupper, and tie the ends to the hinder part
of the saddle. Walk and run him, &c. Pull the cord that serves as a
crupper, till he gets familiar with it. Unsaddle: saddle up again
immediately. Put on the crupper: girt up tight. Exercise the horse, by
leading him, and making him run. Stop him all at once. Put your hand on
his forehead. Say to him, “Come along:” at the same time advance, and
pull him gently by the rope. In a short time, you may let the rope fall,
and he will stop at the word “Stop,” and will follow you, at the words,
“Come along,” without your pulling him by the rope. Now ungirt the
saddle, and let it fall down upon the left side. Put it loose upon the
horse again, and let it fall several times upon the right side and over
his heels. Then take it and throw it over his head, upon his back;
saddle him roughly, striking and making a noise upon the saddle. Pull
the stirrups strongly, and lead him about. Load him with any baggage
that comes in your way, and make him walk and run with it. Mount half
way upon him, bearing hard with your left foot upon the stirrup: then
upon the other side. If the horse shows no signs of fear at any of these
operations, you may get upon him with all safety, and ride him through
the most populous city in America, without his being frightened at any
of the objects he meets in it. But I generally make it a rule, to
accustom the horse to sound, before I take him out: in order to do
which, I take something that is similar to a drum, or an empty barrel,
and beat upon it till he becomes perfectly indifferent to it. Then I
show him a pistol or a gun, and flash it before him. Then I load it very
lightly, and fire it off before him, close to his head, making him smell
it before I fire. I flash it off two or three times before-hand. I load
it again, and by repeating this exercise two or three times, you may
fire off the gun while placed upon his neck, without frightening him in
the least.
I have already observed, that the first impressions are the strongest
and most lasting. It is a great deal easier to learn, than to unlearn.
Therefore, it is extremely necessary, that the horse should be exercised
in every thing that tends to render him docile and useful, when you thus
break him, and you will have very little to fear from him afterwards.
After you have thus gentled your horse, so as to be able to ride him, it
will be necessary for you to come up to him with one or two other
persons: let them touch him, and let him smell at them: otherwise, he
would be afraid of other people: but, by coming up to him with other
[Illustration: THE HORSE WITH LEG STRAP AND SURCINGLE ON.]
persons, he will let any one handle him and manage him, as easily as the
one who broke him. The greater part of wild horses thus gentled, will go
off with facility: others will be a little awkward at first. It is,
perhaps, the best way, (though I have generally ridden them out alone,)
and especially if they show any awkwardness in going at first, to ride
them out in company with another horse. It will do no hurt to any.
Horses broken in this way, become almost immediately bridle-wise, and
need but very little exercise, to obey the bridle with uncommon
facility. The reason is plain: they are no longer afraid, and
consequently have no inclination to resist.
Having thus shown how one must proceed, to break the second and third
class of horses, I now retrocede to the first class, which appear to
fear nothing. When this first kind of horses are let loose, after having
been dragged by force into a pen or stable, it is very dangerous for any
one to go in where they are; for, if you step back or try to get out of
their way, when they run at you, they will be sure to bite, kick or
stamp you under their feet. But if you stop, stand perfectly still, hold
out your left hand, and look at the horse, he will stand still,
likewise, before he arrives at where you are. This may appear very
strange; but so it is, and I have experienced it very often. He will
never come nigher than about five or six feet to you; and if he is in a
yard, he will rarely come nigher than ten or twelve. Such a horse should
never be put into too small a place. Here we must make use of a
precaution, which is not necessary in the two other kinds of horses: and
give me leave to say, that I am fully persuaded, that no horse of this
description was ever gentled in a few hours by any one but myself, and
by the secret which I had discovered. The precaution I speak of, is: to
let no one come into the stable or yard with you, for it would be
dangerous. His attention must be fixed upon you, and your hand alone. I
once came near being killed, by a horse of this description, before I
had discovered this part of the secret. Therefore, it is of the greatest
importance, to put the horse where he can see no moving object, at the
time you approach him. The case I mentioned was this: I was about to
draw nigh the horse, after having entered the stable where he was, and
after he had stood still some time, when, on a sudden, a hen flew down
from a scaffold exactly over the stable where the horse stood, and where
I was to perform the operation. The horse gave a jump at me, and struck
his foot so nigh me, that he grazed my shoulder; then turned round
almost as quick as lightning, and let fly a pair of heels, which knocked
off my hat, but knocked a useful lesson into my head. From that day
forward, I have never received the slightest hurt, or even run any risk,
in breaking some of the fiercest and most ferocious horses of New Spain.
But to come to the point. Hold out your left hand, keeping it high
enough to touch him upon the forehead: keep this position for at least
one whole hour, lowering your hand now and then, unless the horse should
advance, after ten or fifteen minutes, a step or two towards you; in
which case, let your hand be ready to meet his forehead, rather higher
up than in the other two kinds of horses; and, if he should appear
uneasy, repeat the strokes very fast between his eyes, fetching your
hand partly over them now and then. Your position, at first, ought to be
exactly before him. Then, by degrees, fall off towards the left side.
Never flinch, or show any signs of fear, when you are gentling this kind
of horses. You must remain a great deal longer about their heads, than
in others. They will often flinch, and frequently show signs of
resistance, whenever you advance an inch from the place you have already
handled; so that it requires some judgment, and more patience, to know
how to manage them. But, by going on, after you have once touched them,
as you would do with the other two classes, though a great deal slower,
you will never fail of making them as gentle as a lamb. I never
employed more than ten hours but with one, which belonged to the
Governor of San Louis Potosi, Don Jose Ildefonso Leon. This animal kept
me between fifteen and sixteen hours, in gentling him; at the end of
which time, men, women and children could ride him and handle him with
as much ease as they could any old, gentle cart-horse, and ride him
bare-backed through the streets of the city, as many did--five or six
being mounted upon him at once. For he was a stud of ten years of age,
of great strength, of the Arabian race, and very high spirited; and the
governor himself, who possessed several thousands of wild horses--and
was the best horseman and herdsman in America, always had thought, for
the last four years, that it was not in the art of man to break him. He
was offered a thousand dollars for him the same day I finished breaking
him, by an English gentleman, by the name of Humstead, who was
travelling through the country: a great price, in a country where you
can get a good horse for thirty or forty dollars. I would always advise
a man, that goes to break a horse, to have a watch with him; for the
time will always appear long to him, when he undertakes a horse of this
description. It is very uncommon to meet with a horse you cannot come up
to, so as to touch him in the forehead with your left hand, in less than
a half a quarter of an hour. Now, any person who may in the least doubt
of his own capacity to perform the operation, according to the rules
laid down here, can always have a halter, or what the Spaniards call a
jaguima, (which is generally used in riding young horses, before the
bridle is put on them,) put upon the wild horse, before he is let loose,
with a long rope tied to it, dragging upon the ground. When he goes in
to the horse thus haltered, he will take care to take the rope up gently
in one hand, whilst he holds out the other; taking care that the rope
may keep clear of all his feet, and lie before him, gathering it up as
he approaches. Another precaution may likewise be used, by persons
naturally afraid of horses, which is: to have a barrier placed between
them and the horse, and the end of the rope on the side they stand,
which they may take hold of, and proceed as above directed. The barrier,
if made use of, must be open enough for the horse to have a full view of
the person who is going to break him. It is always a considerable
inconvenience; but, it has this advantage: it places the most timid out
of the reach of all the harm he might fear from horses of this
description, till he can handle their head, which is already a great
point; but, as one can handle but a small part of the horse, in this
manner, it is necessary to go in to him afterwards, when he is thus a
little familiarized to you; for there is no danger, after you once
handle his head, if you proceed according to the above directions; that
is, always advancing by degrees. Whenever you can handle the horse in
every part, you must handle him much more vigorously than at first,
though without hurting him. Those horses which appear to fear nothing,
but kick at every thing with a kind of spite, and run at men when
confined in a close place, are not always the longest in becoming
perfectly gentle. Though a man may sometimes be an hour before he can
touch them, yet they frequently become reconciled to him, as soon as he
can handle their head, and it is not infrequent to see them very easy to
be saddled and ridden, and more especially if they have never been
handled; because a horse that has once been taken, in order to be broken
the common way, and has resisted with success; that is to say, has flung
his rider and run away--or one that has been beaten, whipped, or badly
used in any way, is a great deal worse than one that has never been
touched; for it is more difficult to unlearn than to learn. It is
necessary always to bear in mind, what I have said concerning first
impressions.
To conclude: To which soever of the three classes horses belong, deal
with them as with the third class; that is, those that fear every thing,
with this difference: the first class, or those that appear to fear
nothing, must not be approached so suddenly as the others. Take notice:
Whenever a horse that you begin to handle, hangs down his head, or
appears sleepy and careless, (and this will happen in some in less than
an hour,) your business is half over. I have broken an extremely wild
horse, so as to saddle him, bridle him, and make him follow me without
pulling him by the halter, and so that men, women and children have
ridden him, without the least danger, in the streets of one of the most
populous towns of the United Mexican states: and this I have done in
less than two hours from the time I went into the place where the horse
was. I always carried a watch with me, when I broke a horse. I have now
and then gentled one, so as to ride him with perfect safety, in less
than one hour. However, these are rare cases. I never had but two that
kept me ten hours, and one nearly fifteen hours and a half. I began him
at two o’clock, and worked upon him till seven; and the next day I began
at five, and finished him a little after one o’clock. This was the
Governor of San Louis Potosi’s, and one of the highest spirited horses I
ever saw. I have generally employed from four to six hours, and some
times eight, in rendering a horse completely gentle and useful, and on
which a man or woman might undertake a journey of a thousand miles, the
very next day after being broken, without any kind of fear of his
becoming refractory on the road.
To come now to the most important part of the secret. I observed, in the
beginning of my discourse upon the experiments I had made, that I was
surprised to find one of the horses I had gentled the day before, almost
as wild as ever, and one of the others had remained perfectly gentle. I
saw there was something lacking. I therefore broke another; and, after
having finished, I tied him in a stable. I went to him at night, and
made a little negro boy handle him a quarter of an hour: gave him half a
spoonful of fine salt, and not more than about half as much as he would
eat. Early in the morning, I went to him again, handled him in the
forehead and all over, and took up his feet, &c., &c., for a quarter of
an hour: took him to water; fetched him back; gave him another spoonful
of fine salt, and plenty to eat afterwards. I rode him a couple of
miles, and then let him loose. The next day, I caught him in the yard,
amongst the other horses, without throwing the rope, and he remained
gentle ever after. The first day you break a horse, it is always good to
ride him two or three miles; if further, it will do him no hurt. The
first time you ride him out, it will be well enough to accompany him
with another horse, though this is not absolutely necessary; for many
horses, especially high spirited ones, will often go as well as if they
had been gentled for a long time; some others appear a little awkward at
first, but in half an hour they will go well alone. At any rate, they
will not be afraid of any object they meet.
I have here given the whole secret of taming, in a few hours, the most
refractory wild horse.
Whilst residing in the city of Mexico, I wrote a grammar, in Greek,
Latin, French and English, which I intend to publish, in order to
simplify, in some measure, the study of the former. In it I begin by
making the student acquainted with the most common names--such as fall
under his immediate view. The names of birds, fish, plants, trees, the
human body and its parts, &c., &c. In the declination of all these, will
be found general rules; but all, or almost all of these rules, are
subject to some one or more exceptions--as is the case with all general
rules. Thence, perhaps, came our proverb: There is no rule without
exception. Now, as gentling a horse, and writing a grammar, are two very
different occupations, yet they have some things which are common to
both: one of which is, this same exception to the general rule. I have
given a detail of the method I use in breaking the three different kinds
of horses: that is, horses in general; these general rules, however,
are liable to some few exceptions. I have had horses that did not appear
to belong to any one of the three kinds mentioned. I look upon them as
exceptions. Among these, are horses that toss up their heads the very
minute you touch them, and will not let you put your hand upon them. The
first of these I met with gave me so much trouble, that I thought it
would be impossible to break him. I tried to touch him upon the
forehead, as the true standard, but could not. I therefore declared him
to be an anomaly, and determined to decline him in some other way. I
therefore endeavored to touch him upon the neck, which I succeeded in
doing in less than five minutes. I proceeded on in handling him, as I
did other horses. After having lifted up his feet, and handled him every
where except about his head, I succeeded in gentling that part. He
always remained gentle, and not in the least skittish about that part.
To succeed in handling his head, I was obliged to begin at that part of
the neck nighest to the ears, and continue on to them, and then to the
upper part of his forehead, between his eyes; and so descend to his
nose, in the same progressive manner as I ascend in other horses. I had
tried every possible means to begin at that part, but found it utterly
out of my power.
Another exception to the general rule, are those horses which, after
having been begun, and already handled in the forehead, show an
inclination to bite, as you proceed on, and would actually do so,
without your taking some precaution. Now, as my general rule of gentling
horses is all mildness, gentleness, &c., except from this rule horses of
this latter description; and, whenever they show an inclination to bite,
correct them by giving them a pretty smart slap with your hand, and they
will never repeat it more than two or three times. I never knew this to
happen with horses of the first description, which one would be
naturally inclined to suppose more apt to do so than any others. As to
the rest, proceed as in others. If you wish your horse to go in a cart,
coach or plow, after having gentled him in this manner, harness him, put
on lines, and at first make him go round before you several times: you
will tie some light thing behind, for him to drag, and go on
progressively, and in a very short time you may harness him to a cart,
or plough, and he will go off without difficulty; especially if you do
this immediately after having gentled him, for then is the best time to
take away all caprices. It is well to give him a few days exercise.
OBSERVATION. If the horse you are going to break has received a blow
upon his forehead, his ears, or about any part of his head, so that it
is sore or painful when touched, it is useless to undertake to break
him before he gets well: for the very touch which would give him
pleasure being well, gives him pain in this situation, and the more you
try to handle him the more you will irritate him. Let him get well,
before you undertake to gentle him.