* ^0 '..i. <^^ v-o^ THE PSYCHOLOGY ANH THAININGt OF THE HORSE. THF SYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING OF THE HORSE BY COUNT EII6ENI0 MARTINEN60 CESARESCO ''■t 't NEW YORK CHARLES SCR1BNER»S SONS LOJifDON T. FISHER M^u ; ADELPHl .32510H MAISAHA HH I The Arabian Horse. After a Paititing by Horace Veniet. THE PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING OF THE HORSE BY COUNT EUGENIC MARTINENGO CESARESCO 1 1 ^ NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS LONDON T. FISHER UNWIN ADELPHI TERRACE MCMVI / / All rights reserved. Lihe all other animals the horse is composed of a machine and of a, mind which sets the machine in motion. People who manage horses usually give little importance to the mind. But the mind is most importaiit as to command the machine we must first command the mind. Some ohservations on this subject may he useful to those ivho have to do with horses. I have added a few remarhs on bridling, on the use of the curb -hit and on turning. Said, La (JO di Garda. June, 1906. oonte:nts age 1 » 6 » 8 » 12 The Mind of the horse. Intelligence — Imagination — memory Excitability to motion peculiar to tbe horse Senses, sensitiveness, sensations . Instincts, inclinations, feelings Ideas and feelings. — Their origin. — Ideas anppo.siti()ii of man, this fact forms the motive, which, whenever Jie passes by the stable, makes him want to enter it, and lie will enter it each time until lie has found some one wiio can prevent him. After having been prevented repeatedly from doing this the idea will come to him that he cannot go there, that he ought not to go there, and this will be the reason for his not going. He first wanted to go to the stable because the stable promised him pleasure, but afterwards does not Avish to go there, i. e. renounces his desire to go there, because he has seen that the desire to go to the stable has brought punishment or pain upon him, which Avas inflicted upon him when he desired to go there, and because he has seen that he has not been able to go there — because he has been prevented. If a man has ill-treated him and the horse has seen that by kicking he has inspired the man with fear and has made liiin draw back, this is the motive from Avhich he will always remember to kick and will desire to kick any man who goes near him whom he fears (although he does not kno\A liim), because he (conjectures that he is like THE MIND OF THE HORSE 31 he other man who iivst ill-treated ,him and that e also desires to ill-treat him. I If under certain (circumstances, in the presence pf certain objects or in certain places he has felt [fear and has been a])le to turn back, this fact is (the motive from which lie, finding himself anew 'i in the same circumstances, will again desire to turn back. If on being pricked with the spurs' he jlias been able to throw up the croup, on being touched again he will rc})eat this movement. It dei)ends upon us not to give him ideas, temptations and opportunities for performing ac- ii jtions against our desire or to our detriment, by 1 inot conducting him where he w(Hild be subject to ithem before training has taught him obedience and has enabled him to be collected or put into Ithat position of the body in which he is in our ■ power, and can be held back. kphs h)/ u'liicli he shows his ideas, his feelincis -^--^^^'^ and his intentions. ! The horse gives signs of ideas, feelings, desires, passions, or intentions to perform certain actions, 32 THE MIND OF THE HORSE prompted by sensations^ experienced from the actions ( of oiirselves or others — by liis eyes, his ears, by i nei^hin^, by the movements he makes Avith his body and with - liis own impul- ses in wliatever manner it is done has great in- fluence in giving him the idea of our superiority * and therefore of the necessity of obedience. Work proportionate to liis food and strength has an excel- I lent influence in preventing the horse from becoming too full of spirits, rendering him quieter and less susceptible to fear, and allowing him to gain strength. A bad influence is exercised on the horse by ' fear with which he is sometimes completely over- powered so as to give no heed to aids or punish- ! ments ; by the lack of exercise and the consequent excessive exuberance of spirits by reason of which he feels the need to prance and jump and pays no attention to man, having no respect for him under the excitement of this need; by the bad treatment which gives rise to aversion and anger, working confusion in his mind and causing him to play the worst tricks of self-will; by the stimulus of the procreative instinct when he experiences and is overpowered by it. THE MIND OF THE HORSE 45 He must be diverted from yielding to these feelings by means of aids or punishments and his anger must be removed by caressing him and speak- ing to him in a soothing voice and transferring him to another place, as while he is imder their sway it will be impossible to do anything with him. Effect of good treatment on Ms nature. The conciliating voice, the kind look and cares- ses give him pleasure and have the effect of quieting him, of inspiring confidence in us and make him disposed to obedie^nce. To give him oats is to form anotlier good association for ourselves in his mind making him desire our presence, which becomes agreeable to him. It is advisable to give him a few liandfiils in the riding school when he is first taken tlierc as it puts him in a good frame of mind and he goes there readily. He would acquire repugnance for the riding school if he were ill-treated the first time lie went there. The beneficial effect of good treatment is to prompt and induce him to make the movements 46 THE MIND OF THE HORSE we desire liim to perform. Good treatment fm-ther serves the purpose of showing him that he does well to make the movement he is making if it is the one he is required to perform. To make the horse well disposed towards us and teach him to he giad on seeing us and to love us is the first thing to be done to the end of inducing him to do as we desire. Effect of punishment. The fact of our being able to inspire the horse with a feeling of obedience results from the plea- sure he experiences from good treatment but also largely from the displeasure, fear and pain he suf- fers from punishment, from which lie receives the idea of our superiority. For this reason the vicious horse, who pays no attention to these tAvo kinds of treatment, is not susceptible of training. All the various punishments applied for and associated with an action performed by the horse serve to show disapproval of it, serve to tell the horse not to do it, as they make him see that per THE MIND OF THE HORSE 47 forming this action brings him pnnishment, i. e. pain, and this gives him the idea of not performing the action so as to avoid receiving pain. The special effect of the aids and punishments serving to excite him to motion are the principal means of instruction las by their help it becomes possible to collect him and get him in hand and thus to master him. The term imnwliment includes threats. Threats are pu- nishments in a weak dei^ree. Punishment produces both fear and aversion and [jas aversion impairs the harmony which should exist Ibetween the horse and man, soon after the punish- jment has been administered, and sometimes almost j immediately after, it should be counteracted and ■i effaced from the horse' s memory by the conciliating 'voice and by caresses. This must be done with il special attention to the particular nature of the iiorse. How to act on his mind and feelings. I The mind and feelings of the horse may be I [acted upon by giving him sensations and associa- itions with things calculated to call forth in him 48 THE MIND OF THE HORSE the ideas of the movements we wish to teach him to do and calculated to induce him to do them in the manner stated in the chapter Hoiv the horse learns and how he must be taught. In that chapter it is also explained how he is induced not to per- form the movements he wonld like to make but which we do not desire him to make. The means to be employed for acting upon his mind are those stated in the paragraph Thinffs exercisinc/ an influence upon the horse, and all the aids and punishments. Individual qualities and character. Santapaulina (seventeenth century) was the first to distinguish and classify the various characters of the horse and to observe tliat in training horses they must be treated diiferently according to their dili'erent dispositicms. He established the fact of the combined occurrence of the following qualities and of their opposites: strong — light — good heart — sensitive: n-eah — heavg — had heart — dull. By sensitive he means a Just degree both of feeling THE MIND OF THE HORSE 49 and of intelligence; by dull lie means little sensi- Jtive and little intelligent. ji This classification is a good one, but it is ge- -j neric and comprehends the material qualities of j the horse. As in this chapter I am speaking only j of the mental qualities I think it more logical to I restrict myself to them and to leave out the question II of bodily constitution. With regard to his various mental qualities the horse may be more or less intelligent, may have more or less memory, may be a more or less atten- tive observer with greater or less cunning and acuteness; he may possess a greater or lesser degree of excitability to motion and his nature may be more or less goDd, timid, courageous, irritable or bad. These qualities vary in degree in ditlerent horses. What is meant by character or disposition are: the qualities of the will, the particular degrees of sensibility and the various passions which sway the individual and actuate him, sucli as timidity, su- sceptibility to fear, readiness in surrendering to the will of others, resoluteness or determination to have 50 THE MIND OF THE HORSE Ills own way and not to yield to the will of others, anger wliieU makes him resent being touched, or respond rebelliously to the actions of others towards himself; the feeling of viciousness or aggressiveness; the excess of physical sensibility in any part of the body, or sensitiveness of the month; the sensation of tickling, and excitement induced by the sj)urs; the excess of excitability to motion owing to which he always desires to run and break away; the ex- cessive feeling of fear or dread owing to which he is always in great apprehension. The w liole of tliese qualities of the will together ^v ith the degree of individual sensibility constitutes tlie individual character or disposition in various liorses, wliich may be more or less timid, good, subject to fear, bold, choleric, vicious. Gaiety and melancholy also influence their na- ture and are qualities which contribute to forming tlie disposition. Writers in the sixteenth century regarded gaiety as an advantage, for they coined a proverb attributing cheerfulness as a good quality to the Jiorse and melancholy to the dog. They re- garded melancholy as a bad quality as they thought THE MIND OF THE HORSE 51 tliey liad perceived that m melancholy horse was also inclined to an.i»er. Horses of different disposi- tion require correspondingly varyinii^ treatment in i training. The qualities of bodily structure i. e. lightness or heaviness, may he seen on inspecting x\ie horse (at rest. But all the other qualities and especially the mental ones, require some time to determine, land the horse must also be observed when ridden. I The character of some of them requires a greater length of time to be understood. Generallv horses are more or less timid and jgood and but rarely bad. i^n excess of nervous j excitability, which always keeps him in an excited ! or convulsive condition resulting in a constant en- deavour to break away renders it impossible to master I the horse and makes him dangerous and therefore unsuited to the purpose of riding. Some of these nervous horses may be useful wlien employed alone and not in company with other horses by whom they are excited to run and break away. Others grow excited and break a^v ay only if made to gallop and should never be put to the gallop. Excessive THE MIND OF THE HORSE susceptibility to fear is a great drawback to the j usefulness of a horse as he is ready to take fright at everything. t, To incur as little fatigue as possible is a general instinct, but laziness is particularly bad in a horse, as it is a negation of its essential quality, which is that of moying at the slightest instigation. The anger felt by some horses on the legs and ' spurs being applied is a great defect as it deprives us of a ready and convenient means of guidance. ^ There are strange and inconsistent horses just , as there are strange men who act in one way on one day and differently on the morrow. This may / be called a degree of insanity just as in man. The morose, moody or melancholy horse was in ill repute with the cavaliers of the sixteenth century as they thought him to be meditating attack and rebellicm. The horse may become bad owing to ill treat- f ment or because the man handling Iiim gave him opportunity for successful resistance and thus taught him his own strength and the possibility of his opj)osing man. 8uch a horse may have bis dis- ' TfiE MIND OF THE HORSE 53 • position clianged if he is well treated and sees tliat he is prevented from having his own Avay and Ifrom rebelling, but generally it is a difficult thing !i|to get him to obey after lie has seen that he has been superior to man and has conquered him. He «lcan only forget his superiority to man after the i ilapse of a good deal of time during which he has i received judicious treatment. i The horse which has become bad owing to ill-treat- Iment is obstinate and makes reactions deliberately I even without being provoked and at times with •|the idea of injuring man, because he knoAvs by ^1 experience that man is his enemy and that lie has conquered him. While being ridden he shows the more self-will if he has already noted that he has »' succeeded in throwing his rider, and he always I desires to do so. He may be bad in the stable owing to bad treatment or a bad disposition. The horse who is really bad by nature fears neither threats nor punishments and attacks deliberately, and man is unable to defend himself. It is useless running the risk of taking such an animal in hand as he is not 54 THE MIND OF THE HORSE suitable for the purpose of riding. It would be just the saiue as taking the murderer for one' s valet. Horses are usually more lively, more courageous, more apt to rear and jump, more wilful aiul less disposed to yield and to obey than mares. Mares are more inclined to throw up the croup and less to rear, are quieter, a])andon themselves more easily, are more readily mastered but also more subject to fear. If they are livsterical they are not tit for saddle or carriage use. In our ciin- ges be led out again to the point Avhere he turned back to the stable and a man or more men must be there ready with whips to foi'ce him away and to compel him to follow the men who draw him aA\ay with the lounges so that he cannot return to his stable. It' he has already acquired the vice of returning to the stable or turning backwards at a given j^oint of the road this point must be passed several times a day for several days and he must always be pnnented from turning until he shows that he no longer wishes to turn and it no longer comes into his mind to turn. Care must be taken not to give him associa- tions contrary likcAvise to what it is desired to do or what he is required to do. A contrary associa- tion to recapturing a runaway horse is the running behind him as running behind him excites him to run more. In order to capture the escaped horse we must remain quiet when he is i>aying attention to us and approach very sloAvly Avhen he is occu- HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 89 pied ^\ith soinetliing else stopping again each time lie begins to pay attention to ns or to listen. Tlie vice of backing on our appearing before him, on onr attempting to pull him forward, is due to its liaving been attempted to pull him forward by main force, or to his lijiving been ill-treated or punished by someone standing in front of liim be- cause he would not go forward tlins giving him an association contrary to coming forward. Tliis is con- trary to the most elementary step required in liis teaching, which is that of going forward, of follow- ing, feeling liims(df invited to advance by pulis at the reins or lounge intermittently. I remember a rider wliose horse stopped and refused to go l)ecause lie ill-treated him in the iiiouth with t]ie luiiids. When the horse stood still lie did not punish him. He punished him instead with hands and spurs when, after a while, he started again. That rider did not understand that by doing this he told the horse that to stand still Vvas good and to go on was bad. The horse leai'ns to throw up his croup and kick on being touched with the spurs from seeing 90 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS that his rider does not know how to prevent him by promptly giving raising aids witli the liand and from the fact that the spnrs cease to be applied when he throws np his cronp. Thus iho horse learns that by throwing up the croup he causes his rider to cease applying the spurs. Eor many horses the fact of Jtavhu/ been afraid of an object ayul liavincf been punished or hnrt before it once only suffices for them to remember it always and always fear it, and to think that the re-appearance of the object Avill cause the recur- rence of the punishments or the evil experienced. Eor this reason they should not be punished in the presence of an object which frightens them and care should be taken that they should not be hurt by any object. Another most important rule in teaching and managing horses is not to use continual physical force in order to compel them to perform any mo- vement, as this inspires them with great fear and at times depression, and excites them to revolt, and if owing to superior physical force they are com- pelled to yield, they readily understand that when HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 91 tlie material force is absent they cannot be com- pelled to do it and will not do it. In like way tlie anger of an easily angered horse must not be aroused by punishment because this excites him to violent reactions. With horses mistakes must not be made with respect to associations, they must not be given as- sociations which are bad or against us or the actions it is desired to teach them to do, because much effort is required afterwards to overcome them and to make them forget having been the victors. With the foal, until the moral ascendant has been gained over him by which he is made to obey willingly we must avoid furnishing him with occasions which tempt him to perform actions of his own volition. It is necessary to avoid turning round at the same point in a road several times successively, in order not to give him the idea that at that point he has finished his work and must turn back; instead the roads must be varied. We must avoid passing near the stable when it is not desired to put him there, and if it is necessary to pass that way either have sufficient mastery over 92 HOtV THE aoiiSE LEARNS hiiu to prevent liim going in or liave a man or more men ready wlio by threats and punishments prevent liiin and make him go on. Tlie vices of kicking, of biting and of not al- h)wing the bridle to be put on by raising the head are for the most part caused by bad and contrary associations which the man in charge of the horse lias himself given him by ill-treating him when doing these things, and the horse is not to blame. The horse acts according to what he sees and what is done to him. The vice of kicking is rarely due to a bad na- tural disposition. Usually it is learnt in the follo- wing way. The man who grooms him in the stable suddenly, without a previous voice sound of warning, strikes the tiank, or tlie croup, or the hind-legs of a horse in order to make him go aside. The horse perhaps does not know how or is not accustomed to going on one side, or else is of a timid, nervous or choleri<' nature and kicks. The man shows that he is afraid by running back and the horse directly learns that by kicking he makes the man, his enemy who beats him, run away, and that kicking is the means of making the man cease beating him. HOW THE HORSE LEAENS 93 Biting is soon learnt by the horse who feels tickling behind the second bone of the shoulder, in the flanks, or on the front and interior part of the haunches. The horse is touched by the man who arooms him and who usually takes amusement in exciting the horse by rubbing him in the part where he feels the tickling irritation; the horse na- turally revolts, and, by threatening to bite, seeks to reply, in order to put an end to the excitement to which he is being subjected. The man excites hiin more instead of ceasing to do so and then the horse bites. The man shows himself to be intimi- dated by this and ceases to touch hiin and with- draws, and the horse has learnt that by biting he causes the annoyance of tickling inflicted on him by the man to cease. These things were not inven- ted by the horse but wer^ learnt by him because the man who had charge of him taught them to him by bad associations unfavourable to himself. Biting is learnt still more easily if the man in charge punches or kicks the horse in ihc belly, and if in putting on the saddle instead of pulling the girth straps gradually he tightens them by jerking 94 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS pulls. Tonoliiiig him unexpectedly Avithout warning liini first with the voice may also frighten him and excite him to kick and bite. The horse who has learnt to kick and bite be- cause the man who had charge of him has ill- treated him, is readily inclined to think that every man who approaches him wishes to ill-treat him and rightly judges that it is better to prevent this by placing himself first on the defensive and attack- ing the man. Another man who slnmld subsequently have charge of that horse would need some time to per- suade him that he does not desire to ill-treat him as his predecessor did. He would have to use great skill, care and caution in moving round him in order to avoid being attacked, whilst by conti- nually giving the horse good associations in con- nection with his person and continually treating him well the horse little by little grows to understand and persuade himself that he does not desire to do him any harm; but in the meantime he will be in danger of attack. If the man wishes to persuade the horse that HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 95 he does not wish to do him any harm he mnst remain quiescent, never do anything to him and only be intent on passing round him in such a way as to avoid being attacked. If he were to lose patience once only and to punish the horse because he tried to attack him, he would no longer be able to persuade him. Only after much time in which he has treated him well he can threaten him with his voice and give him a single jmnishment. With horses it is not anger but judgment, pa- tience and an idea of justice which are required. AYhoever does not desire to treat them in accor- dance with this rule should not be allowed to have charge of horses because he will make them acquire vices. The unwillingness of the horse to allow the bridle to be put on or to lower the head for any other purpose arises, in the following way. The man seeks to pull the head down in a rough w ay by material force and the horse becomes afraid and raises it; the man loses patience and hits him on the neck or on the head, and the horse be- comes so much the more afraid and raises the head so much the more. 96 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS His unwillingness to allow tlie crupper to be put on is likewise due to it having- been attempted J by force and without any gentleness, and to ill- treatment on account of his liaving been excited ^ or afraid to allow it to be put on ; and the more | tlien he is ill-treated tlie greater will be liis fear of ^ allowing it to be put e used without stint almost continuously in order to keep their mind well disposed to learn and as a sign of approval, as a reward, and to prevent the occurrence of opposition and anger. As was already mentioned caresses on the eyes and on the occiput have a particular effect like ma- gnetism. They have the eifect of quieting and of inspiring trust in us. 102 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS Way of maJcwff the liorse underafmul that he is desired to perform or not to jjerform an (tction and inducing him to ijerform or not to 2^erform it. Associations of 2)1 ea sure or of approval and associations of ^yain or disaptproval. The instinct implanted in animals cansing them to seek pleasure and flee fear and pain, to feel pleasure on being caressed, to feel fear and pain on being threatened and struck, gives us the means of telling the horse to make those movements we wish him to make and of inducing him to mjjke them, and of telling him not to make those move- ments we do not wish him to make and inducing him not to make them. He is induced to think that it is good for him to make a movement we wish him to make, and is induced to make it by accompanying it, associa- ting it and causing it to be followed immediately by a thing which gives him pleasure. He is induced to think that it is bad for him to perform an action he does and wishes to perform. HOW THE nottSE LEABKS 103 and which we do not wish him to do, and is induced not to do it by accompanying it, associating^ it with and causing it to be foHowed immediafely by a thin^' or an act whicli i^iAes him fear or pain. The horse is induced to come to us by shoAving him oats, i. e. a pleasure and a benefit to him, by giAdng them to him and by caressing him when he comes to us. He is induced to run away from us or from a phice Avhere he AAould Avish to go by threatening him or striking him a\ ith the Avhip, i. e. by making him experience fear, pain or evil. The horse is caressed in order to make him well disposed and, by any means aa hatcA er and in any way whatcA^er, it is sought to induce him to make the movement required. Immediately on his making it he is caressed and the caresses are ac- c( mpanied by the conciliatory voice sound, oh ! Thus the idea is given him that by making this movement he obtains caresses, i. e. a pleasure. He can be given something to eat Avhich he likes, but even caresses and soothing words are sufficient. If he makes a movement Avhich he is not de- 104 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS sired to make he is threatened with a loud, short ^ and angry voice sound eh ! and by gesture, and J to this is added a punishment if necessary, and thus he is given the idea that the performance of such an action produces threats or punishments for \\uv., i. e. tlie threat of pain, or pain itself. The association of the conciliatory voice sound f oh ! of a kind look and caresses, i. e. of pleasure, « with an action he performs means to him ap2)rov Hie associations ivhich are given him for the purpose of teaching him the actions ive desire to teach him, to perform should be — of things that his intelli- gence can understand — in the way he can understand them — and of things suited to give rise to the ideas of the actions we desire to teach him to jmrform, to maTce him understand ivhat ice wish him to do. — The same associations should always he used to in- dicate the same actions, and the movements it is de- sired to teach him should be those which his body can maJce, and for the maJcing of which it has been prepared. The actions it is desired to teach him should be associated firstly with things that he understands naturally or things which he has already learnt. He himself understands being drawn forward by short intermittent pulls with the lounge which are invitations to go forward from the association of HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 117 beirfg threatened from behind by a whip, and so he learns to go forward. Whilst he makes this movement of coming for- ward, we associate with it a given sound of voice, and he learns that this sound of voice means that he is to go forward. He could not be required to understand the sound of the voice given as a signal or an order to advance without it having been first taught him in association with the intermittent pulls on the lounge which draw him forward simulta- neously with the aid of the whip which threatens him behind. I repeat here what I have said elsewhere that voice sounds necessar}^ in teaching should be dis- continued when the instruction is complete. Signals and aids should be used which are un- derstood by his intelligence. He does not understand words, but understands the various sounds of the voice or other special sounds, associated with dif- ferent things and different movements. The same aids of any kind, the same sounds of the voice and the same punishments should always be asso- ciated with the same actions so that he may re- member them. 118 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS A given sound of the voice should always be « associated with and used to direct liini to advance. I Another sound of the voice to stop and halt. The movements he is taught should be those which his body can make, and not contrary to his n mechanical structure. It is also necessary that he should have some little aptitude for some actions it is desired to teach him, and that his body should be gradually prepared to perform them by suitable graduated exercises, so that he should not experience much difficulty in performing them. AU that is taught Mm shonid he tavf/ht a little at a time hy gradation and after preparation of his hody. These things are also necessary decatise their ahsence may cause oppositions and reactions. The absence of preparation of the body and gradation in teaching is the cause of oppositions. By teaching him a little at a time, he is enabled to learn and remember. Teaching him many things together and in succession causes confusion. Teach- ing a little at a time and alternating rest and HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 119 instruction are necessary in order that the horse may not become wearied, grow fatigued and rebel. It is necessary to pass from the easier to the more difficult by gradations so that he should not find difficulty in doing it. In order that the horse may be able to use his body pliantly, and place it in the positions which are incouYenient to him, but which are necessary for the various evolutions, and for the purpose of mastering him, and that he may have no reason to rebel aud revolt from these causes against the aids, which we must give him so as to bring him in such positions, it is necessary that his body should be prepared for them first. It is necessary to render him supple by gradation that he may place himself in the required positions without experiencing phy- sical pain which would excite him to oppositions and reactions. Santapaulina a noblemen of l^aples (1696) spe- cifies the causes of the resistance on the part of the horse to performing an action as follows: — Ms not knoiinng hoiv — Ids not being unllincf — and he says justly that the latter alone can be 120 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS punished. To this may be added his feeling that pain is being caused to his body and this may | even be regarded as the principal cause of his not being willing. This is the reason for the neces- sity of teaching the horse by gradation and stages » so that he may learn to place himself in the va- s rious positions and make the various movements i without feeling pain in the legs or body. If he is to learn to make them promptly and well, this is another reason for teaching them by gradation. If his body is not gradually prepared to assume | the various positions and take up the various pos- tures required for the diiferent evolutions, and he is put into them without prejDaration, he has dif- ficulty and is excited to make oppositions and reac- tions the more so if we want to force him by punishment. By powerful aids, well applied it is possible to succeed in controlling some horses even when un- prepared and not rendered pliant, and forcing them to make some evolutions and movements. But their aversion, resistance and revolt are excited because pain is caused to their body, and if their good nature HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 121 does not cause thein to rebel, their legs suffer from it. It should uot be done, in order to spare the horse. That which it is desired to teach him to do should come of itself, such is the gradation which must be employed, and must always be accompa- nied by flattery and caresses so that the horse should not become tired, should not become impa- tient and should not grow angry. The first time that he is taught any action it is sufficient if he understands it and does it even badly and in a bad position ; this does not matter, he will improve it afterwards. All the actions which he is taught to do should be first taught in an easy position with his head low and then in a better position, first at a walk and afterwards at a trot and gallop. Success in obtaining many, not to say all actions from the horse, of course within certain limits, depends on knowing how to prepare his body in the raechanical positions adapted to perform them. If it is desired to raise a foot by taking hold of and pulling the leg whilst the horse has the weight 122 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS : of his body ou it, it would be very difficult to succeed in lifting it even with great strength, as ) the horse is not in a suitable mechanical posture I to allow of its being done. He is placed in a sui- table position for raising the foot by leaning one » liand against the shoulder or haunch. Thus the * weight of the horse's body is directed on to the other side, and the foot that it is desired to raise remains uncharged, and can be raised easily with slight exertion of strength. It is generally said that the horse will not raise his foot, and it is not understood that he has not been placed in a posi- tion suitable for doing so, and this is not the fault of the horse but that of the man who has not studied how the foot should be raised. The horse who does not know how to traverse should not be required to suddenly traverse by dint of punishments with hand, spurs or whip. He should be prepared for it by bending him gradu- ally, giving him time to grow accustomed to this bent posture and little by little making him tra- verse for a few^ steps until he grows accustomed to it and it no longer inconveniences him. HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 123 Resistance and revolt slionld not be excited by repeated punishments, and if we perceive that the horse has conceived the idea of resisting or revol- ting, we must either cease at once to require the action he was being taught, or place ourselves in a position to be able to oppose and prevent the reaction immediately and not wait until he has carried it out. When we do not succeed in obtaining an action we may be sure that it is not the fault of the horse but our OAvn, who have demanded it from him without having prepared him beforehand or without the gradation which is required by his nature, or have demanded an action which at that moment was not possible for him. The horse should not be required to go through any action Avithout proper gradation and preparation, much less should we seek to force him to such action by means of pu- nishments. The result would be resistance and re- volt, and the horse would attain the knowledge that he is superior to us, that he can refuse to do what we tell him to do. We likewise should not insist upon the horse 124 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS going througli an action if we are not in a posi- tion and under circumstances allowing us to compel him, as being able to successfully resist us he 1 would become aware of his superiority and our inferiority. i This is the reason why mastery should be obtain- . ed in the riding school. Here we can compel him, whilst outside the horse is the master. Santapaulina says that the edge of a precipice is not the place to combat the fear of a horse. It is better to get off and give it up. Actions, aids, punishments, mid associations which the horse understands naturally, with ivhich may he associated the actions it is desired to teach him to perform, and hy which these may he taught him. Just as with deaf mutes it is requisite to make oneself understood by signs, so it is with the horse. The things which he understands naturally, and which he can understand on their being taught him, are various signs, and such signs are our dif- HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 125 I ferent aids and punishments by wiiich we make him understand what we desire him to do. He does not understand words, but the sound of words, or rather the various intonations of the voice, when they are simple and distinct. Eor him words are sounds, aud for this reason all languages are alike. Of these sounds, whatever be the word used in emitting them, he naturally understands : — the so- norous conciliatory sound oh ! which has the effect of soothing him ; — the loud short angry sound eh ! which produces the impression of a menace and makes him afraid. The other sounds adopted for directing him to advance, to stop, or make any other given move- ments, such as to start off at a gallop, and others are learnt by associating them frequently Avitli these actions, which he is induced to perform by means of other aids. He understands naturally; — a kind look and caresses, which have the effect of soothing him ; — a tlireatening look, gesture, or movement with the Avhlp, or being struck with the whip ; — which are things producing upon him usually the effect of 126 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS making him afraid, of making him flee in the op- posite direction, and at times, react. He understands — to advance if lie is threa- tened or struck behind with the whip ; — to recede if treatened in front ; — to go to the left if threa- tened from the right; — to go to the right if threatened from the left; — the cavesson punish- ments; — the intermittent pullings of the lounge which invite him to advance, to follow the person who pulls; — the oppositions made with the lounge on the cavesson, which prevent him from advancing when he would wish to do so, and keep him in one spot or make him recede. Excited by punishment with the whip he is afraid and runs, but when this punishment ceases he understands that it is better to go slowly. He understands enough to avoid objects of sufiicient size to give him the idea that he might be hurt by them. This is not contradicted by the single instances of his going against objects when over- come by fear, or by his breaking out of the en- closure in which he was placed if the sight of other horses excites him to go away. HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 127 Things and actions tvJiicJi the horse does not understand nattiraUy hut which he learns i/inmediatehj hy means of association with the things which he understands, and which it is essential to teach him, owing to their being a, matter of iwime necessity ivith a view to his instrtiction. His coming forward on being pulled for^vard with the lounge although he understands it because it is a material action, may in the beginning give him the idea of being subjected to violence, and he may resist by receding. He is taught not to resist the lounge when pulling by threatening him or striking him behind with the whip, whilst being pulled in front with the lounge to make him ad.- vance. The lounge with the cavesson and the whip are complementary, and assist each other in teaching the other elementary things it is necessary to teach the horse. His advancing towards us, his coming to us whilst he is going in a circle led by the lounge at some distance from us, is explained to him and 128 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS he learns it, from our pulling him with the lounge and forcing him to come to us by another person ' threatening him from behind with the whip. In | order that he should come forward towards the ' man who holds the lounge and pulls him forward, this man must not have ill-treated him. If the man had ill-treated him previously he would have given him an association contrary to coming towards him, as the horse would be afraid of him, and would be right in not wishing to come. He does not understand having to advance at a given sound of the voice which it is desired to use to make him start, when it is employed for the first time. It is explained and taught him by pulling him forward with the lounge while he is simultaneously urged from behind with the whip, and associating with these aids the sound of the voice which it is desired to use as a signal to start. He learns it after these associations have been re- peated a certain number of times constantly in the same way. He does not understand before he is taught the sound of voice which is intended to make him stop. HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 129 It is taught him by stopping him, while he is led with the lounge, and preventing him from going on by oppositions with the lounge on the cavesson at the same time associating the action of stopping with the voice sound meant to make him stop. Oppositions made in front with the lounge on tlie cavesson or on the bridle or on the halter are appropriate for making him stop but he may not understand them or may not be willing to under- stand them. They are explained and enforced by a threat made in front. He learns this after the action of stopping him in this way with this sound of the voice has been repeated a certain number of times. Advancing and stopping are likewise learnt somewhat from the idea of imitation, because in pulling him forward he has seen the man advance, and Avhen resisting his advance and stopping him has seen the man likewise stop. When these sounds are learnt they may be used without the other aids with which they have been taught him, and may be used to teach him other movements which he does not know, and which it is desired to teach him. 130 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS The aids of the hand, of the weicfht of the l)ody of the rider and other aids are mechanical, and after they have been ' learnt heco^ne mental or conventional aids. Except the associations which must be given to the horse in order to acquire his confidence , to teach him to advance at a given sound of the voice, to stop and remain still at certain other s sound of the voice, and to free him from fear, i the other actions which it is requisite to teach him in order to fit him for being ridden depend i on and are taught by means of aids or indications ■ with the lounge, the whip, the hand, the weight of rider's the body, the riding whip and the legs, which act in part mechanically and explain them- selves owing to the mechanical effect they produce upon him, and in part mentally but clearly. By means of these aids, the horse comes to one side because he is actually drawn that way, and goes to the other because he is materially driven there. This is a great advantage, and if HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 131 these aids did not act thus ^neclianically ^ I do not know how the evolutions could be taught him. In proportion as his body, with increased instruction, becomes freer and more pliant, and his motion improves, these aids produce greater and more prompt eifect. After a certain amount of repetition these aids, in addition to acting meclianically , act likewise as mental, conventional or memorised aids, because he remembers their eifect. The horse who has seen himself compelled several times by these aids to assume given positions, and to make given move- ments, on the same aids being repeated remem- bers them, and prepares himself, assumes those positions himself, and does of his own accord what he has already understood he is required to do on the first indication of these aids, not waiting for their meclianical action. Owing to his memory, tlie horse retains the eifect produced on his body by mechanical aids. Opposed by one rein, he is sent to the other side, and this is a meclianical aid, but the horse associates the idea of having been sent to the 132 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS I otlier side, and oi' having been required to go to i the other side with the opposition of that rein. ) He remembers having gone to the other side on the aid applied by the rein, and makes ready and I lends himself to go to the other side at the slightest ► indication of action by the rein given in this way for this purpose. Thus if in teaching him this action, a force which we will call ten was employed to induce him to do it the first few times, when he has learnt it, a force of one is sufficient, i. e. a mere indication. | When these aids become mental aids their ac- tion is more rapid, they are quicker in transmit- ting the orders of the rider to tlie horse, and tlie horse is quicker to execute them because he comes to understand them more quickly. Thus he stops more quickly on the voice signal to stop than on the signal to stop given by the reins. This is the reason why in order to make the horse perform an action which he lias never performed, more capa- city, more precision of aids and more strength is required in the person teaching than after he has learnt it. After learning it, even if the aids are badly HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 133 given, the horse does it just the same because on the first sign of the aid being given, although it may be badly given, he understands immediately or ii^uesses immediatelv what he is to do. This shows the diiference between riding a trained horse and instructing a horse the first time. The aids and punishments of the whip are understood by him yiaturally, he knows their mean- ing, whicli is to go away from them, to flee them, i. e. the action of going and of going in the direc- tion opposite to that in which they are given. They are also mental aids because they act upon his mind by giving sensations of pain. The aids and punishments with the spurs are not so clear. In many horses they excite reactions, and to explain tliem it is necessary to associate them with the whip aids, ap]3lying them together in order to show that they are signals to advance, that on giving them the spurs it is desired they should go forward. The cavesson aids act mechanically and mentally and explain themselves. Their action is powerful because it is exercised on the h-am, the seat of intelligence and will. 134 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS Associations of place ] and associations of time or succession. \ The learning of the various evolutions is faci- litated for the horse by associating them with [ certain given points in the riding school, i. e. by ] giving him associations oi place, by repeatedly cau- sing him to perform a given action at a given ^^o?«f, ^ and by making him perforin an action immedia- tely after another given action, i. e. by giving liiiii associations of time or snccession. Tlie memory of the place recalls the memory of the evolution executed at that 2)lace and the memory of tlse action first performed recalls that which was c(si! stantly performed immediately afterwards, aiul which he must perform after the lirst. Teaching the various evolutions by the aids of the hand and of the weight of the rider's body etc., at given points in the riding scliool causes him to associate such evolutions witli those points and on the same aids being applied at those given points he better remembers the evolutions he has HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 135 been caused to make at those given points and when he is required to make them again by the same aids at those points he prepares for them himself with his body and performs them better. This association of the evolutions with given points of the riding school has the advantage that ihe horse knows where he is to go to and goes there, and whilst he is going there, aids may be applied to improve his position and the execution of the evolution without their confusing him. Thus in making him traverse by a half turn tlie horse knows that he goes from the middle of tlie short wall of the riding school to the middle of the long wall. Whilst he is making this passage hand aids may be given him to hold him in and make him traverse without his growing confused and without their causing him to swerve from his path. If he is taught to perform the pirouette (turn on himself on the croup) by passing lengthwise down the middle of the riding school and stopping in the centre (where the pirouette is always per- formed) and then continuing to advance in the 136 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS same direction he acquires an association which after some repetitions causes him to remember that when he reaches the centre of the riding school he ought to make the pirouette, and he prepares for it himself and does it better. Eoreseeing that he must make a pirouette he prepares his body himself and does it better, and he is not confused by the various aids which are given him for the purpose of securing his executing it in a good position. Promptness in executing evolutions is learnt by teaching him in this way and therefore by tlie horse understanding beforehand what he is requi- red to do from the aids which are given him in order to make him prepare his body for the various evolutions, which he already knows, owing to li ji- ving made them many times. When he has learnt them he makes any evo- lution in any desired place, because with the exe- cution of each evolution he has associated the various special aids which preceded his being put through it, and the aids by which he was made to execute it. HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 137 Erom making him go repeatedly through a gi- ven evolution at a given point in the riding school the horse easily comes to believe that he is desi- red to make it whenever he is made to pass along that point, and when passing along that point lie prepares for it and wishes to make it. This may be soon remedied by being intent on forestalling him and preventing him from going through the evolution, making him continue straight on. Thus he learns that in order to go through that evo- lution in that place, he must wait until told to do so by having the proper aids applied. These associations of place have the same advantage when giving him instruction vvith the lounge because the horse, from the place where he has been made to go through a given evolution has learnt his way and is not confused by the various aids given him with the lounge for the purpose of improving the ]30sition of his body or maintaining it in a good position. With the lounge and with the whip he soon learns the evolutions which he is made to go through in the riding school, because they are constantly carried out at 138 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS certain points in the riding school and he asso- ciates them with these points. Thns at every indi- cation of an aid given at such a point he knows where to go, what he is to do and how he is to do it. This hokls good for every other evolution. As the bugle signal makes him expect that after it he will be given oats because this was done many times, thus the fact of repeatedly ma- 1 king him go through an action immediately after another, forms an association which makes him remember and expect that after he has been put through a certain given action he will be put ; through another given action. This gives him the „ idea of succession in going through various move- , ments, and, foreseeing the second action before he ' is required to go through it, he prepares himself;] for it, and x^erforms it better. For the actions which are prepared and gover- i ned by various aids applied one after the other, he retains their succession and after the first or second aid, he understands what is desired and executes it without waiting to be given the other aids which would follow. HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 139 In order to make liim start off at the gallop the horse has observed that the following moTe- ments were always made in succession ; — he has been collected with the reins ; — he has been slightly bent inwards with the head and croup ; — the weight of the rider' s body has been placed on the inside stirrup ; — the hand has been raised ; — and an outside leg or whip aid has been given. — After this has been done several times, on the first aids he sets off at a gallop and does not wait fur the raising of the hand or the starting signal given from outside. This happens with light liorses which are naturally united and spirited, and not with the disunited and lazy liorse. The horse who was always made to gaHop slightly bent towards the centre of the riding school, understands that it is desired to change, and changes the gallop, if he is agile, on the mere change of the bend of neck and raising of the hand accompanied by a transfer of the weight of the body of the rider to the other stirrup, and does not Avait for the offside leg or whip aid or punishment. 140 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS Way of teacliing. The lounge is the best material way of instruc- ting the horse for the purpose of rendering him t supple and preparing him (as far as his conforma- tion allows it) to keep collected in the hand when the time will come to ride him. It is explained in the Arte di Oavalcare (Devoti - JSaJo, Lacfo di^ Qarda - 1894). In the eighteenth century the Earl of Pem-'| broke recognized the advantage of instructing hor- ' ses with the lounge which was inyented at Naples* by a Prince Pignatelli in the sixteenth century when many Neapolitan noblemen taught riding.' Monsieur De la Broue et Monsieur de Pluvinel' were among Prince Pignatelli' s pupils. ' To teach him to do particular actions and to accustom him to be touched, to be caressed, to be^ groomed, to give up his feet, not to be afraid of! wearing harness and not to fear many objects, the' horse must be made to stand still, isolated, held by two men with two lounges attached to the two^ HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 141 side-rings of the cavesson or led by them at a short walk, according to what is most suited to teach the special action wanted. The two men hold the horse with the lounges at one or two yards I distance or more as it seems best to the teacher. I Held in this way the horse is held and has ,! the appearance of being free. It helps a great deal j to keep him in submission and make him learn I more quickly and thus the teacher is not trou- i bled with holding the horse himself and is free to i do all that is necessary for teaching him. The 1 teacher may hold a third lounge if he finds it of I assistance to teach a special action. While the horse is held standing still isolated or led at a short walk the two men must leave the horse in a natural position of head and neck, not high and not low. The two men ought never to allow the liorse to press, to draw against them or to lean on their lounges but should resist by oi)posing intermittentl}^ the weight of their body put on the lounges. The two men must hold the horse standing still or draw him forward at a short walk, stop 142 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS liim, or pull hiin forward intermittently with gra- dual action and not by jerks, as required by the ^ teacher according as it is suited to teach that spe- cial action. The two men must know of themselves \ how and when the aids and punishments of the j lounge on the cavesson are to be applied. ^ To teach a restless horse to allow himself to be s caressed, groomed and to give up his feet it would i^ be better to put him between two wooden pillars ? or four. Putting the horse between four pillars •• might also he useful in trying to show a horse i which was illtreated previously, that you do not : want to illtreat him. Between four pillars you can j caress him without being in danger of being hurt, s The two front pillars have a ring on the front side for attaching the head through two lounges at the two side-rings of the cavesson and the other two pillars must be situated at the two sides of the horse in front of the middle of his body so ^ that he cannot go across. For the teacher to be more sheltered six pil- » lars Avould be still better, the last two being in front of the croup. HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 143 The ideas which are afterwards translated into ! actions by the horse originate in objects, or events, I or aids which have made an impression upon his senses of sight, hearing or touch and on his ins- I j tincts. Acting upon his senses by objects, impres- sions and aids, we may produce in him associations I calculated to give rise to the ideas of the actions we wish him to perform or which we desire to i teach him. We give him the idea of coming to- I wards us by showing him the sieve in which he is I given oats. The horse does not come to us for our isake but for the sake of the oats which are in the sieve, which he knows to be in the sieve, but the i oats call forth in him also the idea of coming to us. To teach the horse a movement or cause him iito perform a movement we must first of all: I 1. Inspire him with the idea of it by showing him some object connected with it, by giving him la suitable aid, and then by whatever means, find ithe way to constrain him to put the idea in practice. I 2. As soon as he makes tlie movement (whe- ther well or badly does not matter) signs of appro- 144 HOW THE HORHB LEARNS val must be shown by the conciliatory voice sound and by caresses, in order that he may understand that he has done what Avas required of him. 3. A sign, sound, gesture, is associated with the movement which he performs and so he learns to perform it at that sound or gesture. This asso- ciation can be given simultaneously with teaching the movement which must be repeated at intervals (so as not to annoy the horse) in order that he may f learn it thoroughly and, if he refuses to repeat it, i threats or even punishments may be used to give , him the idea that by repeating it he avoids punish- i* ment. In many cases the sign, the sound of the i voice by which it is intended to teach him to do the desired action, are used also when giving rise in him to the idea of it, and when first compel- ling him to execute it. These three thinc/s should be done in their or- der as above. He cannot be taught to make the movement before he has conceived the idea of it. It cannot be required that he should perform the movement at a given sign before he has learnt how to perform it, HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 145 He must first be given the idea of traversing by compelling him with the reins to place himself in traverse, must afterwards be taught the material action of traversing by compelling him to traverse, and then we must teach him to carry out the action of traversing to the aids of the reins and pressure of the leg. If it is attempted to teach him to traverse by dint of punishments whilst his body is not prepa- red and he does not know how, he is surprised and disturbed by it, and feels pain in the legs, and if he is of a timid nature he experiences fear and I dislike, or if he is of a spirited nature he is irri- jtated by it and makes oppositions and reactions. I Teaching the horse to advance at a given sound of the voice. The first things to be taught the horse are : to move forward quietly at a walk on being drawn forward by the lounges and at a given sound of the voice which it is desired to use as a signal to make him advance; 10 .1 146 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS to stop (Mid stand still on being opposed by the lounges, which prevent him from advancing, at I another given sound of the voice which it is desired to use to make him stop and stand still. j The act of advancing on being drawn forward and at a given sound of the voice is taught in this way. By gentle intermittent pulls of the lounges he is invited to advance, being in the meantime threa- tened behind with the whip, and at the same time the voice signal, at which it is desired to accustom him to start, is repeatedly given. He may under- stand his being pulled forward to mean that he is ^ desired to go forward, but he may object to it. The threat with the whip behind gives him the idea of going forward and induces him to advance because by advancing he flees a pain with which \ he is threatened or which is inflicted behind and which is represented by the whip. When he comes forward, the fact of ceasing to ^ urge him to do so by pulling him, and of ceasing the threat with the whip, while we caress him, and give the conciliatory voice sound, shows a]7- proval of his coming forward, of his coming to i^s. tff/W THfi fiOSsi5 LElfiNS 147 Thi^ beiag re|bf(^ate3 a few times he learfiS to ad- Yaiice or come to us On beittg- pulled forward at a ^j given Mide signat arid afterwards at this voice si^fial \ alone without bfeiflg pulled. ^ If whilst inviting hirti to advance by intermit- '\ tenft ptllls at the loithges' T<^e tiirn towards him and I we gor backwards receding from him, his seeing i'lts re6edfe ftom himf by walkiiifg backward, IliviteS I him still mote to come forward. He will mat bfe jthtfS incited t6 advafl6e if th^ person he sees in ; fi^otft has |)reviotfSly ill-treated him while ttirned to^var^g him, because the position of thus facing him is asso'eia;t6d with the infliction of punishment. It is underst(>od that the same sotind of tfi6 voice mitst Always be employed for the sanae action of advancing. After a few repetitions he advances at the voice signal alone without being ptJUed and vfithout threat of the whip behind because he re- members these aids, and if by chance he do6s not remember tliem, he is agaiili pulled forAva'rd an^d menaced anew with the whip behind. The succession of these pWceedings is i^ a!ccor- dance with the rules stated. Drawing him foi'ward 148 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS has given liim the idea of advancing, but perhaps gave liim also the idea of violence, of his being compelled, and the idea of resistance. The whip behind has contributed to persuading him to exe- 1 cute the action of forward motion by giving him the idea that it is good for him to go forward in order to avoid being struck behind with the whip (which is for him an evil) and has induced him to perform the action of going forward. The association of the sound of the voice which has several times accompanied the forward motion, has taught him that this sound signifies that he ' is to advance. The association of the whip shown him from behind, which is a thing he understands naturally, has served to induce him to go forward at the voice signal which alone he could iu)t understand. As in drawing him forward we also advance and present ourselves to him sideways, he thus learns that our standing sideways to him and ad- vancing are signals to advance. As in making him change hands, whilst he is moving in a circle led by the lounge, he av as made HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 149 to slacken his pace, and the lonnge was drawn and folded np and then he also was drawn inwards and we, in doing this, made some steps backwards, he learns that pulling him inwards, folding the lounge and our going back, mean a change of the ihand and that our receding means that he is to I advance. Advancing at a given sound of the voice is the j first thing to be taught the horse because it is a I great advantage on many occasions to be able to jmake use of this voice signal to cause him to ! advance either alone or as a preliminary to other riding aids. It serves to keep the horse intent on i advancing without giving other aids for that pur- 'Ipose. The voice aids to advance and the whip aids ! associated with the leg and spur aids teach those II horses to advance who, owing to their nature would 1 be excited to react at giving them the spurs alone. ,: Teaching ilie horse to stoj) and re^nain still at another given sound of the voice, and to go hackwards. Whilst the horse is walking led by two or three lounges, or even by one, and we advance in 160 now THE nORSE LEARNS ffQjiit pf Uim, slightly to one side or on his flank, he i$ taught to stop at a given soua(^ of the voice | (at which it is intended to liabituate him to stop , ajid tp riemain still) by uttering this sound and • forthwith associating with it our going in front j of him and previenting him from advancing by \ oppositions with the lounges on the cavessoa ii (which is a physical action and which he unders- ; tands by himself,) and immediately on his having « stopped, by caressing him and giving the conci- ] iiatory voice sound. After some repetitions the hor- se associates the voice aids for stopping with being stopped and caressed and with the conciliating \ voice, and stops at tjie sound of tlie voice ak)ne without needing the material action of being stop- ped by oppositions on the lounges. As in going to stop him we walked with our face turned towards liiin, he has likewise Learnt that our going up to him turned towards him means that he is to stop. He is sent a step back by pressing the caves- ] son with the lounge against his head, keeping it straight and h)w, and with this is associated a n HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 161 cjertain other sound of the voice which it is desi- red to use in order to make him recede, and as soon as he puts a leg back he is caressed and gi- ven the conciliatory voice sound. He associates that sound with the backward pressure of the lounge and with going backwards, and after those repe- titions which are necessary to make him remem- ber, he goes backwards on the mere sound of the voice, only however if he is very obedient, because going backwards is inconvenient to him and he does not do so willingly. Going backwards can also be associated with the backward pressure of the hand against the muzzle, against the neck or against the chest. Stopping at a given sound of the voice and re- maining still, and quieting down at the signal of a conciliating voice sound are the most necessary and useful tilings under very many circumstances. The first time the foal is ridden he does not know how to stop on being pulled in by the hand, but if he has been taught to stop at a given sound of the voice he may be stopped by this aid accompa- nied by pulling the reins, and learns to stop on 152 HOW THE HORSE LEAENS being held back by tbe reins, even if the actifni of the reins excites him to run on, as is the case Avith some horses. In like manner if he has been taught the conciliating voice sound used to quiet ' him in case of fear he may be tranquillised (^ui hearing it when afraid. W(if/ of teacMmj him to stand still alone. The horse can be taught to stand still alone, r but we must not rely on his standing still alone i if we stand far from him. The overw(n-ked horse r and the ill-fed horse can stand still if left standing. The well-fed and rested horse cannot stand still ^ because it is contrary to the excitability inherent i in his nature, which is only overcome b)^ exces- l( sive fatigue. Even the much fatigued horse very often does not stand still when he is of an exci- i table nature. If there comes to him the idea of \ going to the stable or if he is seized with fear, and is left alone, he escapes. ^ It is said that the Arab horse waits for his ) master. This may be because he has grown up HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 153 together with man and because, not having pastu- res, he must expect his food from man. Even the Arabs however tie their horses, and tie them to a picket embedded in the ground, passing the tether round the pastern of a fore-leg. (This method of tethering is perliaps better, or perhaps is a neces- sity in places without trees, and seems to have less objections than other methods of tying the horse). It is true that there are many other reasons for keeping him tethered, but if they keep him tethe- red it must be presumed tliat even the Arabs do not believe that the horse waits for his master. It is possible to teach, or rather to endeavour to teach the horse to stand still alone, in the fol- lowing way. He is placed in the centre of an iso- lated spot (preferably in tlie riding school) where there are no distracting causes, and is held (he may be held first by two men witli two lounges) by a black thin cord so that it should not be very visible, attached in front to the cavesson or to the back of the liead strap just as nlien he is taught to walk with a cord. You walk around him on one side and on the other, caress him, giving often 1&4: SOW THE HORSE LEAKNS the conciliatory voice sound and then move away » little by little, so that he does not notice it, conti- ) nuing intermittently to give him the conciliatory voice sound. As soon as it is seen that he is about to move, it is necessary to go up to him, and if he has mo- ved to put him quietly back into his place giving him the conciliatory voice. Gare must be taken however to prevent this and go up to him before he moves. After he has been put back in his place )i i several times it may also be useful to make use somewhat of a threatening tone and slight puni- shment if he moves, if his nature allows it. This punishment should only be given after we have tried to keep him still for a quarter of an hour every day for many days. The end of his lesson is the best time to teach this because he is then i in a more obedient mood and is more disposed to i remain still as he has been in motion until that J moment. * Tlie conclusion of this instruction will however 1 be that after having done much, it will be seen ( that the end is not attained, because it is contrary HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 165 to the natural excitability of the horse, which iiVJites him to run from no greater cause than the stir of a leaf. /Substitution of other aids or other signals for those hy which the horse has learnt to perform the actions taught. Having first learnt to perform an action, and afterwards to perform it at a given sound, gesture, or signal by hand or on a given aid, if it is (Jesi- re.d, another signal may be substituted by associa- ting it with the first signal whilst the horse is performing such movement on the fir-st signal, the movement being repeated until he has learnt to do it at the ncAV signal. This new sigpal should be used in a clear and marked way so as to ^nake an impression on him, and he must at the same time be compelled to perform the action. Thus Avhen the horse is isolated and standing still, being held by two men at one, two or three or more yards from him with two lounges attached to the two side-rings of the cavesson, if whilst the voice 156 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS aid for moving is given a forward gesture is made with an arm and hand as though to show the way, and these two signs are accompanied by a threat with the whip behind, which compels him to ad- vance, he soon learns that at such a gesture he must advance without its being accompanied by the advancing voice signal. Thus whilst the horse advances at a walk, conducted by the two lounges, if we associate the voice stopping signal with a thoroughly visible and conspicuous signal, such as would be that of rai- sing the hand, and having him stopped directly by the two men holding him with the two lounges, this makes him understand that this signal is for him to stop. Touching or striking one of his forelegs with the tip of the whip behind the knee is an aid which means he is to lift that fore-leg and throw out his foot. For the touching and striking with the wliip behind the knee may be substituted the signal of pointing the tip of the whip to the leg without touching it managing as follows. The Avhip is pointed conspicuously in the di- HOW THE HORSE liEABNS 157 rection of the knee, and a moment later lie is struck rather heavily behind the knee and also is given the voice sound used for making him go. This voice sound for exciting motion aids in exci- ting him to move his leg, because it is an order to advance, i. e. to move his leg which he already knows, and as the left leg is touched he raises it and moves it. After some repetitions he under- stands and remembers that pointing the tip of the whip in the direction of liis leg means that he is to raise the leg and paw with it, and he does so without waiting to be given the whip punishment at the back of the knee, which was given at other times after the whip had been pointed to the knee. Eor the signal of pointing the whip to the knee may easily be substituted a gesture towards the knee with the extended arm and hand. Stan- ding to the left of him facing the left shoulder, a very conspicuous gesture is made with the exten- ded left arm towards the left foreleg in the di- rection of the knee and the whip is kept stret- ched out along our right leg pointed downwards so that he should not see it. The left arm is with- 158 ^ow THE Morse LeahnS drftwn £tftd stgsAii si signitl is tiidde ifl the dirfe^tio^i of tbe left leg and the Mak ot the knee i§ shatjr- Ij stl-uck t^itfe th^' whip held in the right hand while the t^oice sound foil' going is git^en ^imtilt^ neously. The whip is then imiiiediately Mddeti along otir right leg. After he bas h^eu naade to repeat the raising of the fore-leg in this wUf sereral times the h6*f^e learris to raise it at the signatl with the left aria and hand stretched out towards the leg, ttithoiit waiting until the leg is strnck with the whip. Im- itfediately after he has raised Ms" leg he naust each time he eaf^esse^i on tWe n€ck and eyes asnd givetf the coftciliatOiry voice soniM, in order to shots^ approval of the actio'ti performed and tell him tt^at it was the action desired. In order to teach him to raise the right fore-lesg \te place ourselves (Opposite the right shoiilder, make a sign with the right arm and strike him with the #hip held in the feft hand hidden aloiig the left leg. If we associate a word, (Avliich for hinii is st ^ound) to the sigrt to Which we have taught him to^ execiite an Action, the horse Will learn- to execute HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 159 the action at the word and we have the stibstitu- tion of the word for the sign. It is not true that the horse guesses ivhat it is desired to make him cto when he is led with the lounge or ridden. The horse keeps well in mind the lounge and whip aids and the points, of the riding school to which we go in order to induce him to go to other points, and thes aids which are given him on horseback and which are employed to make I him go through the various movements, and even jthe special motions we make in the saddle with jOur body unconsciously before giving him the va- rious aids required to make him go through the 'required actions. Erom these motions, constantly made before j.giving him the aids suited to putting him through [the various actions, the horse understands and foresees the action which it is desired to make him [perform and the aids which will be given him, land does not wait for them but executes forthwith 160 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS the action which it is intended to make him go , through. I In order to make him change hand when led . by the lounge we cause him to slacken his pace , and shorten the lounge foldin,<^ it up, then we pull , liim towards the centre, and in doing so we our- selves go back. The horse which has observed all these things, on the first motion made with the arms to fold up the lounge has immediately under- stood that it is desired to make him change, and lie comes to tlie centre to change without waiting ( for other signs or aids. On horseback his being made to go through i, an action is preceded by the various preparatory aids, and the rider, when he has conceived the idea ( of putting him through an action, unknoAvingly - prepares himself to give him the required aids by making special motions with his body, or gives the first aid by habit without noticing that he does so. The horse which is attentive has understood from these special motions or from the first aid inadvertently given Avliat his rider desires, and ; does it without waiting for the otlier aids. HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 161 Thus he goes aside on every inclination of the body on one side ; he traverses immediately on more weight being put upon one stirrup and does not wait for the hand and leg aid; he gallops immediately on being bent in and raised, and does not wait for the outside leg aid. Slackening speed and stopping on horseback is always associated with inclining the body backward, and the horse, which has already observed this many times, has understood that the inclining of the body back- wards by the rider signifies stopping, and stops on the body being inclined backwards without waiting to be forced to stop by the hand. I It is therefore not the horse who guesses the intentions of his rider but the rider himself who reveals liis intentions to his horse by his inadver- i tently-made motions or aids. This fact of the horse j foreseeing what he will be called upon to do is J good, because he prepares himself, but it is bad I when the horse anticipates and makes the evolu- i'tions before the aids are given him by the rider (as in doing so he liolds back and does not make ithem in the fine raised position which would be 11 162 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS *' desirable. To avoid his thus making movements in J advance it is necessary to prevent him making | them, so as to show that he must not make them ., before he receives orders, i. e. aids. * Things which the horse is taught for spectacular purposes. For teaching most of the following special things, as has already been said, it is better to have J the horse held isolated by two men with two loun- ,j ges attached to the two side-rings of the cavesson at one, two, or three yards or more distance from the horse as best suited to teach the action. It appears that the things Avhich horses are now , made to perform in circuses are of ancient date., Oaracciolo and Oorte of Pavia, writers of the 16.th century, in order to prove the intelligence of horses, mention the marvellous games whi(;h they perfor-, med. They should liave said that these games per- formed by the horses in the circus proved on the, contrary the cleverness and intelligence of the men ^ who h«*id taught them. They did such surprising. HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 163 things that at Aries a Neapolitan and his horse were burnt for practising magic, and the same fate befell Bankes' horse Morocco which is mentioned by Shakespeare. Things are marvellous to those who do not see, do not understand how they are done, and circus masters have kept up this idea of their marvel- lousness by keeping them secret. The circus master tells the horse in a loud voice to perform a given action. He gives this order in order to let the public hear it. Of course the horse does not under- stand it. But the circus master together with the words of command uttered in order to be heard by the public, gives the horse the signal at which he has taught him to perform the movement with- out the public perceiving or noticing it. Thus in the eyes of the public the horse has carried out the order uttered, but in reality he has carried out the order given by the signal. The circus master speaks to the horse in order to deceive the public and gives him the signal on which he has previously taught him to perform the movement commanded aloud. In order to teach 164 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS the various actions perspicacity is required in the < master and it is further necessary to know how I to choose horses of suitable intelligence. All the actions performed in the circus are done in this way ; the spoken order is given in order that it ^ should be heard by the public and the horse is made to carry out that order by a certain signal. The horse is taught to perform many actions, but separately on different signals, and afterwards he is made to perform a complex action, i. e. to perform several simple actions one after the other, ^ so as to represent a reasoned process. A handker- chief is hidden under a heap of sand at a spot in ' the circus over which the horse will be made to pass. He is ordered to look for it and bring it and he is made to go at a walk to the spot where it is hidden. Having arrived at one step from the heap of sand among which the handkerchief is hidden the circus master makes the sign to stop^ and the horse stops ; by another sign he tells him to paw the ground, and being at the right distance from the heap, the heap is destroyed and the handkerchief is found. By another sign he tells HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 165 the horse to seize it with his teeth and the horse seizes the handkerchief with his teeth and carries it. These actions have been taught separately and joined together by the circus master in order to make it appear that the horse has himself thought of looking for the handkerchief and bringing it, Avhilst the horse has performed the several actions on the several signals associated with them. By repeating these actions the horse also remembers them and does them better and more readily, and I think that the horse which has many times sought the handkerchief comes to understand that the heap of sand contains the handkerchief. It is the same as regards making the horse write the name of a city or of a spectator. The letters of the alphabet designed on pieces of thin planking attached at a right angle to other pieces of planking to make them stand upright and easy to grasp with the teeth are arranged on the ground in a circle at intervals of one yard or more. To produce the illusion in the spectators the circus master with a loud voice commands the horse to write a name and makes him walk round inside 160 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS ' the circle formed by the letters and he accom- , panics the horse walking some steps away from j him in a smaller circle. Whilst the horse, wal- I king in the circle formed by the letters, amves at the iirst letter of the name Aviiich he is to write , the circus master gives him tlie signal to stop, and, ^ immediately after, the signal to seize the letter, , and immediately after, the signal to come to him. , When the horse brings him the letter the circus , master draws back to the centre of the circle, ) takes the letter t\"om. his mouth and places it on | the ground. This being done the circus master | makes the horse walk round in the circle anew and bring successively the other letters in the order f required to form the name. Thus the name is j formed, but it is not the horse which has formed it. The horse has seized and brought the several letters on the signals to seize them and bring them. The signs with which it is usual to make the ^ horse stop whilst he is walking in the circle are: j to make a step towards him and stop opposite tlie . shoulder or the bead, as thus no motive for advan- , cing or receding is given, and to point the tip of HOW THE HORSE LEAENS 167 the whip a little in front of the fore legs near the ground which is a threat against advancing, and to go and caress him. The signals for starting and advancing are : raising the whip, the master's turn- ing to him his side, walking and menacing him with the whip, swinging it round high and back- wards and in the same direction as the horse is to go. When he has learnt to stop promptly on the stopping signal he can be ordered to point out tlie person who has a special coat or hat because the master will give him the signal to stop when the liorse reaches the person wearing it. For teacliing to apparently choose and form words the circus master in making the liorse go round in the circle holds him with a thin black cord attached first to the middle ring of a light cavesson and later at the back of the cavesson to sliow less. The cord must be thin and black for tlie purpose that the horse may not notice it and may believe himself free. The cord is left not stretched and is only used if necessar}' to oblige the horse to go in the circle and not outside and to stop. 168 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS Teaching the horse to be afraid ' of a man dressed in red, not to be afraid of a man dressed in white, to be afraid of a given object or of a given place. A servant dissuaded his mistress from tlie idea, which involved great trouble to liim, of keeping i a number of cats, by making them appear posses- ' sed by demons. He did it in this way. He gave ' them food, and whilst they were eating drew from i his pocket a long, strong and thick rosary, and whipped them. After having made them run about ^ for some time by beating them he replaced the ' rosary in his pocket and allowed them to eat. Tims the cats learnt not to eat on being shown the ' rosary aud to eat when the rosary was replaced in the pocket. This man possessed sagacity. Bad or good asso- ; ciations may be coupled with anything. A bad association may be coupled with red clothing and the horse may be taught to be afraid of the red clothing by having him severely ill-treated by ' HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 169 a man dressed in red. Good associations may be coupled with white ch)thing and he may be taught not to be afraid of white clothing by causing him to be caressed and to be given something to eat by a man dressed in white. Evil associations may be coupled with any object and he may be taught to be afraid of it by presenting the object to him and having him frigh tened or beaten by someone, and ceasing to beat him on making the object disappear from his sight. The appearance of the object before him is asso- ciated with his being beaten. The disappearance of the object is associated with the cessation of beating. An Abbot of Brittany in the thirteenth century had several fine horses. A nephew wanted to have a particularly good one and the abbot would not let him have it. As the abbot was accustomed to read his breviary on horseback the nephew taught the horse to make jumps when the breviary was taken out by taking it out and exciting him to jump. When next the abbot went for a ride the horse did not fail to make jumps when he took 170 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS out the breyiary and the abbot was afraid and believed the horse had grown vicious and gave him to his nephew. The horse may be caused to acquire dislike and fear of a given place by guiding him to that place repeatedly and there always having him beaten. Passing along the place in which he was always beaten, this place recalls to his mind the punisliments and makes him afraid and he desires to escape or turn back. The associations of fear and those of ill-treatment coupled with given objects do not need to be repeated many times in order ■ to be learnt. With many horses once is sufficient i whilst the associations of caresses coupled with gi- ven objects must be repeated many times in order to be remembered bv other horses. Teaehing him to seise with the teeth. As has been stated, in order to teach him spe- cial actions in which ^valking is not required the horse must be made to stand still alone, held by HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 171 two men each about one, two or three yards or more away from him, with two lounges attached to the cavesson. The idea of seizing with the teeth and the ac- tion of seizing with the teeth are called forth in him by holding in front of liis mouth an object, not a hard one so that he sliould not have an un- pleasant sensation in seizing it, but one which is thin and easy for him to seize, and by pinching him beliind the second bone of the shoulder where he feels tickling. Pinching him gives rise in liim to the idea of biting, excites him to bite in order to stop the tickling irritation and ihe excitation due to the pinches, and iinding in front of his mouth the object held there, he bites the object. The voice signal to advance which lie already knows may assist in exciting him to bite the object if associated with the pinches. As soon as he bites and seizes the object the pinching is stopped, he is caressed and spoken to soothingly, and is given something to eat which he likes; so he understands that the action he is requi- red to perform is to seize the object with his 172 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS teeth. The tirst time he seizes it he lets it go imme- diately. Afterwards, in order that he should learn , to hold it fast for some little time, he is pinched again immediately on his letting it go, and then he seizes it again, the pinching being stopped as soon as he takes hold of the object afresh, and so on , several times. Subsequently it is only necessary , to make as if one were about to pinch him by j adTancing the hand, and he seizes the object held in front without waiting to be pinched. This is j equivalent to seizing at a signal, at an indication by the hand. Afterwards the object which he has seized many times is placed before him and this recalls to him the associated idea of seizing it and he seizes it forthwith and has learnt to seize the object on its merely being presented to him. The object he has learnt to seize has always been the same, but then (me may proceed to make him seize others. Thus by small changes at a time, from the idea of bi- ting the horse has been conducted to the idea of seizing by various signals of diminishing conspi- cuousness. HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 173 The object which he is accustomed to seize is held in front of him h^wer, and he is made to seize it h>wer. It is placed on the .ground, and he seizes it on the ground. It is taken from his mouth and he is caressed and given something to eat, and waits for it to be taken from his mouth in order to have this something to eat. We draw back a little in doing this and the idea comes to him of following after, with the object in his mouth, so that it may be taken out and he may be given the morsel to eat which has been given to him at other times. Thus by various successions of small modifications, from the idea of biting called forth at first he is conducted to carrying and bringing an object held in his mouth. Teaching him to raise his legs alternately and linoclt' at the door. Standing at the side of the left fore-leg whilst tlie horse is held by two men distant one, two, three or more yards from him with two lounges and looking at the horse's eye, with the whip 174 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS held in the right hand we touch the left foreleg just behind the knee or the shin and this touching is repeated with increasing strength until becom- ing vexed he gives a forward stroke with the foot. With this may further be associated the ad- vancing voice signal in order to incite him to move his leg as said above. As soon as he makes this movement with his leg he is spoken to sooth- ingly and caressed, i. e. approval is shown and he understands that touching him with the whip be- hind the knee means that he is to raise his left leg and make a pawing movement. Standing at the side of the right leg and looking at the eye of the horse, with the whip held in the left hand we touch the right foreleg just behind the knee or the shin, and this touching is repea- ted until becoming vexed he raises his leg and makes a pawing movement. He is immediately caressed and he understands that touching him with the whip means that he is to raise his right fore- leg and make this movement. This raising of the leg is taught him in order to prepare him to go through the Spanish, walk (short trot with very HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 175 high action) and to teach him to knock at the door. In order to teach him to knock at the door he is placed close to the door at snch a distance that in making the pawing movement he touches the door and produces the noise of rapping. On making this pawing movement and on the above noise being heard he is caressed, and immediately understands rapping at the door. From touching and striking the fore-legs be- hind the knee in order that he may raise them, we may proceed to make him raise them on a sig- nal being given by pointing the whip towards them. The whip is very markedly pointed towards the back of the knee and held pointed for one moment and the voice signal for advancing being given the back of the knee is struck rather hard if he does not raise the leg. A few repetitions of this teach him to raise the fore-leg on the mere pointing of the whip towards the leg without wait- ing for it to be struck. From making him raise the left fore-leg on a signal by the ^^ hip pointed towards the leg ^ve may 176 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS proceed to make him raise it at a sign with the hand and arm extended towards the leg. We must look the horse in the eye and make a marked sign with the left hand and arm extended in the direction of the left fore-leg, holding them in that position a moment. The arm is withdrawn and after a short interval the left arm is anew markedly extended towards the left fore-leg, inciting the horse with the Toice sound used for making him go and the leg is struck with the whip behind the knee. The whip must be held in the right hand, quite hidden along our right leg, and should not draw the atten- tion of the horse, not even at the moment when the leg is struck behind the knee. The entire at- tention of the horse should be attracted to tlie left arm extended towards the left leg, and in order that it should draw the attention of the horse the arm is held pointed towards the left leg before striking it, when striking it and a while after stri- king it. Thus the horse associates the arm exten- ded towards the left leg with its being struck, and after a few repetitions learns to raise the leg on seeing the arm directed towards the leg without waiting to be struck. HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 177 In this way the horse has learnt that pointing towards the leg, making a signal towards the leg with the whip or with the arm and hand stretched out, precedes striking the leg, and he does not wait for it to be struck, raising it forthwith. If the voice sound upy up is associated with striking him behind the knee he learns to raise the leg at this sound. The same method with suitable modifications is used to teach him to raise the right leg at the signal of the right arm extended in the direction of the right leg. In order to teach him to kick with a hind foot and strike at the door with a hind foot the horse is held in an isolated position by two lounges, with his hind feet in the proximity of the door of the riding school and is excited with the tip |()f the whip at the pasterns of the hind legs until in anger he gives a kick that makes a noise aga- linst the door which he hears. The teacher imme- j/diately goes up to his head, caresses him, speaking |to him conciliatingly, and he learns that kicking |or striking at the door is what he is desired |to do. 12 178 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS TeacMng him to do the Spanish ivaJk. In a preceding paragraph he has been taught* to lift up the two fore-legs and paw with them alternately, and these are thus prepared for goingr through the Spanish walk. It is now necessary to prepare the hind legs, and this is done as follows.! The horse is held by two men with two lounges" and cavesson. The teacher places himself on thei left side of the horse standing somewhat behind the shoulder, facing the body of the horse, and close to it: with his left hand he holds the reins of the snaffle firmly and equally on the withers and with his right hand he holds the whip hori zontally along the spine with the tip on the croup one palm above the rump. In this position witl the left hand he prevents the horse, more or less as may be required, from advancing, from whicl"! he is prevented likewise by the two men holding the two lounges, that he may advance little anc^ make high movements. HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 179 While the teacher encourages him by repeated voice signals for exciting motion he raises the whip and beats with it small and increasing strokes on the croup, now on the right and now on the left alternately. (Striking always in the middle of the vertebral column does just the same as regards making him raise first one leg and then the other because after one he must move the other.) Thus the horse learns to raise the hind legs alternately, and allowing him to advance a little he will make a few steps of marked trot movement. This exercise must be repeated many times for many days in order that he should learn to do the Spanish walk, biit it should be kept short only lasting a few minutes each time with intervals of rest during which his head is left free. He should be allowed to hold his head rather low when doing it, in order to facilitate his raising the hind legs. The holding back is necessary in order to force him to make short and high movements. If he is not held back he advances and makes extended movements. After he has learnt to do the Spanish walk held in this fashion he will do it when rid- 180 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS den if excited by aids for going and held back by the hand. I haTe described how circus masters teach their tricks in order to show how the horse learns but horses meant for ordinary use ought never to be taught tricks as it only spoils them and this is particularly true of what is called the Spanish walk and the school jumps. In the sixteenth century school jumps were much in vogue and all knights were anxious to show ^ their skill in making their horses do them for the sake of being admired by the ladies who sat in the ^ balcony as it was then the custom. Olaudio Oorte a nobleman of Pavia, who wasi some time in the service of Queen Elizabeth, ju- diciously noted that school jumps had no practical utility, damaged horses and were not to be tauglit' to horses intended for military use as they might mistake the aids of hand and spurs given to make^ them run and believe themselves requested to make^ school jumps Avith the consequence of the rider' being easily killed by the enemy. In the eighteenth century Nicolo Rosselmini a' HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 181 nobleman of Pisa who was the first to study the horse's mechanism made the same remark about too much union as it much diminishes the pace. I What is wanted by the rider is that the horse I should go well and that he should be able to control i him. This was known to Xenophon as well as other i things which seem to be ignored nowadays. Imitation is a means of teaching. Imitation is performing the same action as ! others perform, and arises from association of exam- ple ; it is a better means than any other of teach- I ing and persuading a horse to go through an II action in case of fear or repugnance. The example ' of another horse going away from him gives him ij the idea of imitating him, of following him. This tl action is contributed to also, to a great extent, by ( the idea of not wishing to be abandoned, aban- { donment being contrary to his instinct of loving i and seeking the companionship of other horses. Seeing another horse pass or run in front invites and incites him to follow, even if he at first had 182 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS resisted going forward. If be is afraid to go into the water, seeing a man or another horse go in is the most persuasive argument to induce liim to do so. Seeing another horse pass over a small obsta- cle incites him to try to pass over it. The man who, having stood still Avith him, begins to walk, invites him to imitate and follow him. The man who stops whilst walking in front or at the side of him invites the horse to imitate him and stop. This is due also in great part to the action of being pulled forAvard by the lounge which he felt when the man was advancing, and from the phy- sical opposition which the man made him feel with the lounge on stopping, which things he re- members. If he is afraid of any object and does not wish to pass it, seeing the man or another horse go ahead is the best mode of persuading him to pass it and of getting rid of his fear. It is understood that the man must have gained the confidence of the horse. If he were afraid of the man he would not be encouraged to pass the object of fear becau- se he would be afraid even of following the man. ^ HOW THE HOESE LEARNS 183 He sJiouId not he allowed to perform actions with an idea and in a niminer contrary to the idea of obedience. The action of traversing may also be obtained from the horse who goes against the spur by ap- plying the spur on the side on which it is desired to make him traverse instead of the aid given on the opposite side, because he traverses on that side in order to go against the spur, if he has acqui- red the vice of traversing against the spur. This he does owing to his resistance and self-will and he should not be allowed to do it because it con- firms him in the idea of disobedience and reaction. Teaching him to leave off doing some action which is not desired. Teaching him not to perform an action which he performs but which is not desired is effected by associating it immediately with disapproval or pain, represented by threatening look, threatening 184 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS voice or gesture, and if necessary by punishment whenever he does so, until he gives up doing so. Dogs and cats are taught not to commit a nuisance in the room by rubbing their noses in the refuse. They remember this well, as it is a punishment which they dislike exceedingly. On foot the best means of giving associations of disapproval to the horse are the aids and punish- ments of the cavesson, because they act upon the seat of the intelligence and will and do not give rise to reactions as do the whip punishments. On ] horseback, in order to show disapproval of the i actions he performs and is not desired to perform, ^ he may be punished with a whip, by a raising action of the hand, and with the spurs, or even e by all three together. The whip and hand raising punishments are better than the spurs if the horse i is excited to react by the spurs and if it has not been possible to accustom him to yield to the spurs i. e. to advance instead of reacting against them. f| The raising action of the hand is a punishment, and shows disapprobation and is also a prevention of croupades in the horse that throws up the croup HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 185 on the spurs being applied. Associated witli the use of the whip and the spurs it may break him of the desire to react against the spurs. Necessity of giving the horse the hahit of jierforming the actions taught him. The actions which animals perform are called forth either by the decided will to perform them or because the habit of performing them has been acquired. The actions performed by habit no lon- ger need the direct aid of the will ; they are gone through mechanically without thought and without being noticed; it is the body which makes these movements, acting only like a machine. In order to be able to rely on every aid being obeyed and producing on the horse the effect of causing him to do what he has been taught to do, it is neces- sary that he should have been trained to the habit of doing so. Then the horse has become a machine, and we may be sure that on touching the key we shall have the corresponding movement, and then alone he can be called trained. 186 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS Wlieu the liorse is changed into a machine by habit, liis disobedience will be an exception only in case of strong fear or strong excitement arou- sed in him by other horses or by natural instinct. Habit is produced in the horse by methodical daily repetitions of the actions taught for a certain time and in accordance with his mental and phy- sical nature. Until the horse has been endowed with the habit of obeying the aids and performing the ordinary evolutions in the riding school he must not be allowed to be ridden by an incapa- ble person or outside the riding school, because he will be immediately spoilt. Repetition is necessary with a view ' to niaMnff him learn, maMuf/ him remember, and to maintain facility of execution. The renewal of the associations is the means of impressing them upon the mind, and the repetition of the execution of the actions is the means of , teaching how to do them and of rendering their . execution better and more prompt, finally making , HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 187 tliem a matter of habit gone through without thought or requiring very little attention. The con- stant, methodical repetition of the actions tauglit is necessary with a view to impressing and obtain- ing prompt obedience to the aids and an easy execution of the actions. It is repetition which teaches, which keeps a thing in the memory, removes repugnance to per- form a movement, and causes movements to be made by habit without being noticed, and when tlie horse moves by habit we may be sure that on the aids being applied he will go through what is required. He learns even illogical things by dint of much repetition. Few repetitions should be made at a time of the same action, in order not to wea- ry and fatigue him, which would give rise in him to dislike and opposition to performing the action. The habit of performing what is taught only comes after many repetitions and after a certain time of continuing such repetitions. A certain pe- riod of repetition of greater or less length in ac- cordance with the memory and retentive faculties of the horse is necessary in order that he should 188 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS acquire the habit of executing the movements. Therefore the horse' s training requires a certain time and cannot be completed in a few days. Dai- ly repetition of the actions learnt is further neces- sary with a view to maintaining the ability of the body for good and prompt execution. A musical performer or a fencing master who remains for some days without practice loses something of the excellence he had attained. How to 7naJie the liorse forget the actions taught hy J)ad associations. Just as repetition and time are required to teacli him the actions we desire should be perfor- med, and to create the habit of performing them, in the same way repeated prevention is required and time to make him forget the habit of perfor- ming actions which are not desired when once he has acquired it. In the horse which has acquired the habit of carrying out some undesired action or act of revolt against the rider this habit must be broken, and by constant repetitions of the con- HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 189 trary for some time the habit of doing so must be removed and replaced by that of not doing so. The time which is required to bring about forgetfulness of the habit of performing an action which is not desired is proportionate to the length of the time the habit has lasted, and to the nature, talent and goodwill of the individual horse. In the old horse it is more difficult, and more time is required to remove the habit of performing an action than in a young one. To remove the bad association coupled with an object in presence of which he was beaten, or with the place in which he was beaten, he must be led np to the object or to the place, always caressing him, as many times as are necessary to persuade him that in the presence of the object or in that place instead of bad treatment he receives caresses. If it is desired to break a horse of the habit of performing a bad action the circumstances must be known under which he acquired the vice of performing it, and he must be placed under the same circumstances anew and prevented from per- forming the bad action under those circumstances. 190 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS If he does not wish to pass along a place because he was ill-treated there or took fright, or an acci- dent occurred and he was hurt, he must be led to that place, and if he will not go, may be allowed to stand a little way behind and be kept standing still while caressing him and leaving him free and quiet. This must be continued for several days, bringing him gradually closer to the place, and on seeing that no harm is done him he will gra- dually approach the place and pass it, and will lose the fear of that place and the memory of the fear. If it is a question of removing the habit of a movement of revolt, he must be placed under the same circumstances under which he has acqui- red the habit of performing it, and prevented from doing so, and this act of prevention must be repea- ted every day until he gives up trying to perform the movement, loses the memory of it and acqui- res the habit of not performing it. If he was ill-treated for some action which he performed and learnt to make movements of revolt with the special purpose of personal attack, care must be taken to hold him in such a wa}^ as not HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 191 to be attacked, and to do nothing to him, not to punish him. rinding that nothing is done to him the horse may cease to make attacks hut this is a difficult task to attempt and to obtain as the horse having seen his superiority to man very likely will always remember it. HOW THE HORSE IS TAUGHT OBEDIEI!^OE. This Chapter contains the theory and rational explanation of the mode of procednre which must < be adhered to in teaching the horse obedience, which must be taught on foot. The practical me- thod of teaching obedience on foot is by means of the lounge which mode of instruction if practised properly improves also the working of the horse' s mechanism. Teaching the horse to obey the rider is effected by the rider on horseback by teaching him to obey the aids of the hands, the aids of legs 5 and spurs and the aids of the weight of the rider's , body. This is explained in The Functions of the { Hands in Ridinff (Edmhurfjh, 1888, Turnhull and Spears. HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 193 The knowledge of how to acquire the confidence and obedience of horses is a special aptitude of the peoples to whom horses are indispensable in their life in order to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy. The reason is that such people re- gard them as their most precious thing, as tlieir possible saviours, and therefore treat them with care and love. The horse, in order to furnish his maximum of utility, should be a friend to his rider, and in order that he may be so the rider must treat him with the idea of justice. What is Obedience. Whence it comes. Obedience by persuasion. To obey is to agree to do a thing suggested I by another, it is to fulfil the will of others, to do i what another commands 30U to do. Obedience may be the consequence of a physical force which threa- tens and compels by fear that it may inflict pu- nishment or pain, i. e. by superiority of physical (force, or of a moral force or moral influence, of a i moral ascendant acquired by one person over ano- 13 194 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT tlier by means of good offices which have produ-" ced gratitude and love. I Physical force alone, as represented by punish-v ment and pliysical coercion, inspires fear and cau- ses obedience, but on many occasions only for so* long as it lasts, and it always awakens dislike andy often even hatred and resistance. The timid do not j rebel against physical force, because their feari overcomes their anger but the bold and spiritedj rebel in consequence of the hatred which the infflic-ij ted violence produces. j For this reason |>%6'«crt/ force alone is not suf-i ficient to obtain obedience and moral force i. e.i ascendancy of love is also required to persuade thei will to obedience. From the horse obedience must' also be obtained by tliis ascendancy of love — be-r cause it gives him tranquillity of mind ; — because- as his service is required to be })erformed by him in a free state, his goodwill is required to perform it; — because in order to l)e a willing servant he musti be a friend to man, — because being so much stron-i gor than wq are it is not expedient to contrast our; physical strength with his. HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 195 The obedience which arises from the ascen- dancy of love is complementary to the obedience which is due to the ascendancy of physical force, each being complementary to the other, because the obedience due to the sole ascendancy of love would likewise not be sufficient alone to restrain the horse. In many cases the inclinations and temptations to obey liis own impulses, which are given him by his instincts, would be the stronger, and would overcome this obedience. Therefore it is necessary that obedience should be due to an ascendancy both of love and fear. In man likewise the mere moral ascendant, the mere feeling of duty has the power to force some few only to obedience. All others obey the moral ascendancy of anyone if behind this there is in reserve the material force which can physically compel and punish them. By the two ascendancies of Jove and fear, we give rise in the horse to the moral necessity of performing the actions which we tell him to per- form. This idea of fche moral necessity of obedience gives the feeling of ohedience, i. e. an obedience by persuasion. This is the result of the horses seeing 196 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT that they are interested in obeying us because thus they avoid the evil of punishment and receive pleasure. In horses the ascendancy of love and fear is limited to the person who has known how to inspire it, and to those persons who know how to treat them in a suitable manner for maintaining it. With them, as with children, the moral ascendancy can- not be attained or maintained by anyone who does not know the way. Obedience and disobedience in ^ children depends upon the behaviour of the Master, on his knowing or not knowing how to manage them. Necessity that obedience be by persuasion and by habit. The horse controls his own movements and in order to render us service, should be left free ; he cannot do any service when bound and he is ten times stronger than we are. Therefore it is neces- sary that his obedience should be sure and to be sure should be by persuasion, i. e. should be foun- ded on the two ascendancies of love and fear. In order to render it still more certain, that is, con- ! stant, it is further necessary that the oliedience by j persuasion should be converted into a second nature I j hy habit, by long continued acts of obedience and ! by long continued prevention of acts of disobedien- ce. An action which is performed by habit is per- I formed without being noticed, without knowledge j or wish. This is seen from the amount of effort ' and time required to overcome an acquired habit. Obedience hy persuasion, having become a second I nature bv hahit has indeed the effect of making i i the horse no longer think of obeying his own will jbut only ours, and we may rely on the linhit of 'I obedience just as we may rely that on touching a a key of a piano the corresponding note will be given forth. The greater power of the instinct of j self-preservation or of fear or other instincts may i! cause obedience to be forgotten for a moment, but this will be an exception Avhere obedience by ^>er- . suasion has been developed and has become a Jiahit. Ids HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT JBly tvJiat means the horse is taught obedience. Man, tlie pTiiicipal feature of wbose cliaracter \ is vanity, has given rise to tlie proverb : 8elf Jove ^ is the liey to the heart. Tlie horse has no vanity k and cannot be overcome by adulation, but he like- ' wise obeys the principle that love is inspired by u that which is useful and that pleasure is tlie useful J thinii* which creates love. Pleasure and utility ])re- » dispose him to love and contidence and to the I acceptance of obedience. His susceptibility to being rendered obedient i and our power of giving the feeling of the duty \ of obedience to the horse arise from his instinep'i (common to all animals) of sceMng that which gi- i ves pleasure and fearinf/ and fleeing that which gives pain, from his feeling pleasure from good treatment and (lispleasure, pain and fear from })u- ' nishment. The means which serve to make him ' feel pleasure and pain are our various aids and ' punishments. ' aOW OBEDIENCE IS TAJJGtWt 199 The ascendancy of love is created over the horse by means of some aids, of good associations coupled with our person, i. e. good treatment and pleasures, and the ascendancy of fear is created by giving him by means of other auls and /noii- fihments, afisociations of siqyeriority coupled with our person, i. e. letting him see that he can be pre- vented from following his own impulses, and tliat he can be given asfiociatinns of pahi, i. e. jnniis'/i- ments if he performs actions which are not denired and if he does not ]>ertorm the actions wicli Itc is told to d(f in a way proportionate to liis intelli- gence. By tills means benevolence and superiority are shewn him and his confidence and obedience are obtained. After obtaining obedience it is main- tained 1)V keeping the horse between carcases on the one hand and threats and punishments on the otiier if wanted. If we desire to acquire influence over a person we do not begin by itf-treatinf/ that person, as ill—treatment would excite anger, hatred and enmi- ty, but we begin by doing kwd ojfiees towards him. Thus, in order to obtain obedience from the horse 200 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAtJGHl* i we must begin by giving him associations of plea- sure by adopting good treatment towards him, and obtain first the ascendancy of love wliich disposes him to obedience, and afterwards tlie ascendancy of fear which confirms it. This is all the more wanted as the horse is in the highest degree suscej)tible of fear and knows by instinct what a bad animal is the animal cal- led man and regards him as his enemy and flees him. This belief must be removed by treating him well, by shewing him that he receives no harm from us, that he should not fear us, but that on the contrary he has an advantage from us in being well treated. For this reason before acquiring his confidence, i. e. his trust in us, we should not give ' him x^unishment but always good treatment and caresses. If punishments were given him in the ' beginning before he knew us the idea would be maintained in him that we are his enemies. This is less necessary with the domestically reared horse. ' With the horse reared at liberty, the acquirement ' of confidence requires a long time and may be ' lost by a trifle. i Sow OBEDIENCE IS 'CAUGHT 201 Like everything else, obedience is not obtained from the horse in a day, but during a shorter or longer period of graduated daily instruction which may last but a few days with a horse of a good nature. In teaching the horse obedience, we begin by letting him do many things of liis own will gradually preventing some one or another of them each day until we come to leave none of them. His instruction can begin only after he lias been taught obedience. Wai/ of teaching Mm confidence. The horse is tranquillized and is taught to have confidence in and trust ns and is disposed to obe- dience towards us, by speaking to him soothingly, caressing him, and by good treatments of all kinds, and showing him that our person brings him bene- fits. Obsequium tigresque domat rahidosque leones (by kindness the tiger and the ferocious lion are overcome), somebody has said. By good treatments the horse is brought to believe that we are friendly to him, that he may trust us. 202 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAtTGHT At first the horse who does not know us, and probably has been ill—treated before, believes that we also will be like the others who ill— treated him. Therefore he may seek to escape and to attack us by kicking and making reactions. These reactions should not be taken into consideration but should be tolerated and not puuislied. Seeing that he is not punished lie soon quiets down because he un- derstands perfectly well that to go quietly causes less fatigue, and he ceases to belieye that we ap- proach him in order to ill-treat him and acquires Irust and conlidence in us. Wtn/ of .s'howiuf/ the Itorsc (fur foiperionfi/. II He is shown our superiority by gradually and i little by little preventing him from doing as he would wish ; by giving him some punishment if ]io does not do what we wish him to do, or if he , does what we do not wish, but he must always / be immediatel}" pacified by caresses so that he HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 1^03 j . . I sliould not remain in an inimical mood. Our supe- riority over tlie horse is founded : — on his sensiti- veness to and fear of punishment ; — on his seeing I that he is prevented from doing what he would j wish ; — on his excitability to motion at the least I instigation and the least punishment. j Impunity is an inducement to crime. For this I reason it is needful that he should see that on disobeying he receives punisliment and it is like- ' wise needful that the punishment should have the effect of giving him pain so that he may be afraid of its being inflicted. From this arises tlie idea of authority over his mind. If he does not appreciate and does not fear punishment, the horse will do what he likes because there cannot ])e inflicted upon liim the pain wliich Avould induce him to obedience in order to avoid it. Without fear of punishment there is no possibility of subordination and obedience. The act of preventing him from obeying his ! own impulses likewise, although it is not an active measure like punishment, largely assists in giving him the idea that we are superior in sti'ength to 204 HO\\r OBEDIENOfi IS TAUGHT him. Thus if he is preveuted from going to eat the hay he sees close by, although he experiences tlie desire to go and eat it, there arises in him the idea that our strength which prevents him from doing so is superior to liis. It is the same with our preventing him from going to the stable, from following other horses. A good means of showing him our superiority is likewise our stimulating by aids, threats and punishments, his excitability to motion, and for- cing him to put himself in motion in spite of his opposed desire not to move. This excitability of his is the cliief means of compelling him to ad- vance, to perform the actions we desire to put him through, and of enabling us to collect him. Special means of slwwhuf the horse our superiority and how to employ them. The instruction with the lounge is the best suited to teach obedience. Special means of show- ing him our superiority are: — the aids and pu- HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 205 nishments applied when instructing him with the lounge ; — the pulls and oppositions of intermittent force which we make him feel with the weight of our body placed upon the cavesson by means of the lounge, in order to make him go through the movements we desire, and prevent him either making or preparing to make other movements by his own impulse ; — the application of cavesson and whip punishments which produce pain and fear in him and induce him to make the movements we desire, and not perform actions of his own will for fear of receiving such punishment ; — the threats which take the place of the punishment ; — the oppositions made by fixed force which we make him feel by tethering him to a fixed point and by holding him still against his will. As already stated, oppositions with the caves- son should be of short duration and intermittent, because if they were prolonged they would give the horse occasion to draw us away and to see that he is stronger than we are. The fixed power by which he is held back should on the contrary not yield, as if he once 206 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT succeeds in breaking the rope to which he is tethe- red, he always wishes and seeks to break it. If he sees that he cannot break it, he acquires the idea ( of a greater power, of resignation to it, and no longer thinks of breaking it nor attempts it any i more, having seen that he could not break it. If we tether him to a fixed and unyielding point and he desires to go away, and sees that he cannot, and if we are near to tranquillize him by a soo- thing woice, he associates with us his being unable to go away, acquires the idea that he cannot go away because we do not wish it, accepts the idea of being unable to go away and resigns himself to standing still at our mere signal to stop and stand still. Showing him our superiority by punishments should be the matter of a moment only, and after his confidence has been acquired so that he should not be brought to believe that we are his enemies and should not think it therefore necessary to de- fend himself from us, believing his life to be in danger. When first we are together with him he should always be given pleasant associations. If in HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 207 an exceptional case it has been necessary to punish him, he must always be pacified shortly afterwards by caresses and a soothing voice so that he should not remain averse from us and should not conceive the idea of hating us. This rule is subject to some exception with certain horses whom confidence de- prives of respect. In order to obtain obedience it is requisite that the horse should see that he is conquered and overcome by the man who is instructing him on foot; and he must not be induced to advance or make a movement by other horses which are ad- vancing and give him the desire to follow them. If the horse advances because other horses are doing so and give him the desire to follow them, he advances on his own account, by his own will and not from obedience to man. The companionship and sight of other horses should be made use of only to induce the horse to go into water, to pass near an object of which he is much afraid, and to hear and see the discharge of fire-arms in the event of his being exceedingly afraid of them. In other cases we ourselves must master the will of 208 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT the horse, and the horse must see that it is we who are mastering him. I r I Importance of a good cUsj)osition for obedience. t The first quality to be desired in a horse is a good disposition because this brings with it forth- with obedience and with obedience he may be forthwith controlled. It may be said that the timid horse is already obedient and does not need to be I made so. But the timid horse is usually very ap- i prehensive and this is detrimental to his use. A r certain degree of spirit is good in horses because i it adapts them to more and better service. Spirit i causes them to advance in difficult places and also • to pass out of them safely, and it is necessary to \ do this sometimes with horses. ! Readiness to obedience and readiness to motion are the chief things to be desired in the horse. I On a horse of a good dispositien and willing to go, i we are safe and his instruction is easy. A good i rider on a horse of a bad disposition and little inclined to go obtains very little and is always i HOW OBEDIENCE IS J'AUGHT 209 in danger. Given a bad will and a bad disposi- tion, other good qualities such as agility, strength and powers of resistance, are of no value because the horse will not place them at our disj)osal. The horse with a good nature yields service freely and out of hand. In order to get the sly and untrust- worthy horse to obey he must always be kept uni- ted and this very often cannot be done. Obedience is much more necessary in a strong, well-fed horse than in a weak and ill-fed one. With a weak horse there is still some possibility of holding him back by physical strength but none with a strong one. The bad-tempered horse who attacks is not suited for the purpose of riding because he is not afraid of punishment and is therefore not susceptible of persuasion to obedience. He requires many powerful means of material I coercion, and if we succeed in overcoming him by them , after having been set free he again attacks [ man and is a continual danger to man. In our 1 countries the entires are rarely reducible to obe- dience, and for this reason are not suited for the purpose of riding. 14 210 now obei)ience is taught Varidiis ways of proceeding in teaching obedience, according to the various natures of horses. In tekchrag obedience attention must be pai!^ to the vai-ious natures of horseB, aiitd th'e tea!ching innst be soinewhat modified to suit them. After i I having acquired the confidence of the choleric! horse, we should not be ever ready to punish him because he "would be angered by it and offeri] powerful resistance. The timid horse should not bej ^u?nished becatise he will be entirely disc6nraged. Some punishment inay be given even in the bfen ginning to the spirited horse and will do go6d.( The timid horse usually has a good disposition,^ submits to control, and needs to be constantly encouraged, because ipunishment deprives him of all spirit and bewilders him. The spirited horsei j is in lesser or greater degree disinclined to submitj to control and resists it with a greater or lesseiij cunning and shows more or less rebellion and revolt), and some punishment may l)c administered to hiini With the obstinate horse which is little inclined tc HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 211 obey and to go, in order that he should conceive the idea of obedience, we must show that we are n«it afraid of him and inflict punishment on him which causes him severe pain and makes him yield. As regards the really bad horse it is not worth while dealing with him as a good servant cannot be made of an enemy who continually seeks to betray and attack. It is understood as already stated that puni- shment should not be given during the ;|krst time of instruction when what he does should be more or less tolerated so that he should not give Mni instruction bv such gradation that this inconvenienee be reduced to the minimtiBa and he should t)e recompensed by caresses and good treatment. Thus he is given the least possible occa sion for oppositions and reactions. It is natural that he should resist and that he should react in order to try to avoid being forced i and comjielled to perform the actions we desire. It lies with us to avoid his reactions by approaching i him and standing at his side near the shoulder maintaining this position in all the movements' he ' makes, and giving him instruction under the gui- ' dance of two or three lounges. In the beginning we are very likely to have oppositions and reac- tions from the new horse because he has been pro- bably ill-treated or treated in an unreasonable way, and he has learnt to oppose and react. He will soon cease oifering oppositions and reactions if well-treated and not punished, because he will see that there is no motive for making reactions when he is treated well and will acquire trust and confi- dence in us. :pow oBEDi^NgE m taught 215 Erom this moment oixwards there will; be no more ojxppsitions an,d reacti^jas i,f we p^-oceed with the necessary gra^^tion, and in a ma^nn^- suited to the indiyidu^l mental and physical nature of the horse b,e\ng instructed. In t^e l^eginnii^g his oppo- sitions ai^^ reactions sho,nl(l he tolerated, >Ye moying around hi^i in . such a way as to avoid heii\g atta- cked, an^l treating him passiyely by prev^jitiflg only what we can, and neyev punishing him wit^ the whip in o^'^er not to exc^t^ his ang^r as pu- nishment witl^ i]\G whip wq\x^^ make hi^n thin^ that we are his enemies and he could not acquire trust and confidence in us. Kare and moderate cavesson aids alone must be used as they have an irnposing effect without irritating or exciting anger and therefore reactions fis do the whip punishments. If tlip i^vsi ijiove- m^J\t ttf ^'esistancp and every othpv act of revolt is punist^efl \7ith t]\p wh|p l^e Cjuly ^-e volts the iporp, whilst if tl^ey ayp ;iot puui^he^ b^t are takpn ^p notice of, he i^ mpst cases ^t>q,ndoi^s them. Most c^-sp^ of opposition and ^^e^-ctjoi^s i^v^ oypr- couie by patipnce, by not t^^king i^py potjce fif 216 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT them, as by not doing anything we do not excite I in him dislike and anger. He should be chiefly made to see that his reactions do not hnrt ns « and do not matter to us. If he sees that he hurts us by them, or if he breaks the cavesson or j lounges, he will be excited and take pleasure in t the action. In order to avoid his attacking us when instructing him on foot with the cavesson and 1 lounges, it is requisite we should know how to approach him, how to move around him, so as « not to oifer the possibility of attack. Caiises of opposition fi and reactions while he is heing tuught confidence and ohedience. How they may be avoided. The causes of oppositions and reactions shoAvn:i by the horse are: — the want of gradation in showing him our superiority, in preventing thei actions which are not desired whilst giving instruc-i tion ; — requiring from him those actions to whichd his body has not been gradually prepared — ex- cessive spirits, — fear, — and his instincts ; — 3 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHf 217 inflicting on him many punishments which make him think we are his enemies, and make him feel the necessity of defending himself. We must avoid any lack of the necessary gra- dation and not give him lessons when he is in excessive spirits and in places where he may be afraid or when he is dominated by his instincts, and must not excite him to anger by inflicting punishments. When in a state of excessive spirits or under the domination of his instincts nothing should be taught him or required from him, but he should be given exercise to make it pass otf and distract him or if it is the exercise which excites him, his attention sliould be drawn off in some other way. By failing t(> do this we should have oppositions and reactions, and he afterwards retaining the memory of having performed them would desire to do them again. Removing every motive of discontent and of enmity in the horse by every kind of good treatment, by making him see that it is not desired to ill-treat him, and he is not ill-treated, is the method of avoiding as far as possible oppositions and reactions. 218 HOT\r OBEPIENCE IS TAUGHT He shouM not he given any occasion to lose obedience. I We ourselves are guilt}^ of teaching the horsje the greater p^^rt of oppositions and reactions as, by our illogical method of treating him, and by ; placing and allowing him to be under civcumstan- < ces which produce in his mind associations in con- flict with the idea of obedience, we give him Qcca,- sion to see that he is strongev th^n we are, th^t he , c(^n do, as he will, and that we caunat prevesftt it In order to preserve in the horse the idea of oi^rli superiority and of obedience when it ha^s been taught him, there is required op (uir part suitable treatment Avhic]i consists in avoiding giving him the ijii opportunity, and placing him or allowing him to be under circumstances which adi^it of his doing (|{j us he likes and du not allow us to prevent him. , In order to avoid these oppportunities Ave must, avoid doing niany things. Jle must never bp given, occasion to struggle with us so th^t iie should' not see that our sti'engt]i is slight and apparent^ "F t HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAU&HT 219 only, that he is the stronger and can oppose and overcome ns. He should never be opposed, and it should never be sought to prevent him performing an action he desires if we are not favourably placed and do not possess means and strength sufficient for success. Our requiring from the horse that he should not perform an action and the horse succeed- ing in perfonning it teaches him that lie can obey his impulse against our will, it makes him understand his own strength, it teaches him to have no respect for us, not to CvSteem us, and to disobe}^ us. It should not be required that he should perform actions which from want of preparation of his body he cannot perform without experiencing pain. Nothing should be required which we have not the power to compel him to do. His anger should not be excited by our losing patience and inflicting ill-timed punishments. He should not be allowed to acquire the habit of doing things which are not good for us or which are not desired. He should not be required to do what is against his nature as for instance to stand still when at liberty in the open. 220 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT Things should not be allowed to happen which would give him occasion to see his strength and his being able to do as he wishes. The use of weak cords which break gives him the idea that he can break them and he always seeks to do so. His passing near the stable before he is brought to obedience may give him the temptation of going there. If he cannot be prevented he immediately learns that he is the stronger, that he can go to the stable and act as he desires against our will.^ At the beginning many things should be tole- rated and allowed to pass when requiring from him that to which he is not accustomed, and all that we do for the purpose of preventing him should be done passively, and by yielding elastically and intermittently with the weight of our body placed upon the cavesson through the lounges. He should not be given provocation by severe punishmeni with the whip, but shouhl be punished only witli the cavesson and moderately and solely when ne cessary. We should not prohibit an action and ther| allow him to execute it. We must proceed withou HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 221 prohibiting many things, but if we do prohibit them, it must be maintained at all costs and in any way. When we enter into a struggle with him we must conquer and must not lose; and if by chance we lose on a certain occasion, in a certain place und under certain circumstances, we must lead the horse back to the same place under the same circumstances and give him the same occa- sion to act and hold prepared what is necessary for overcoming him. In order to do this the necessary men must be at hand and they must be capable and know what to do. Time required for teaching the horse obedience. In teaching him this, his mechanism must not be spoilt. Obedience must be taught gradually and must be rendered a matter of habit. For this a certain period of time is required. This time however is not only employed in teaching obedience but also while teaching him obedience by exercising him Avith the lounge his action is developed and made 222 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT more regular, he is taugM to put himself and go * in a good position, and in those positions whicii ) are necessaiy to us in order to have the mastery of I him and dominate him when we shall ride him. Thus whilst his mind is instructed his body is also trained, and owing to the mutual influence of the one on the other, by means of his mind his body is trained, and by means of his body hi« mind is insti-ucted. (ifradation is necessary in instruction in order "to avoid oppositions and reactions and also for the purpose of maintaining the strength of the back- bone and legs of the horse. The muscles and in particular the tendons require great gradation in i order to adapt themselves to the positions in which we need to place the horse without suffering from them. Instruction should be given in such a way as to make him gain strength, vigour and elasticity, >and not to diminish these or hurt the horse. mTrmrrrrrnTrrriTtTTTiTriTrrTTTTTTnnTT FEAB. THE B^ATUEE OF PEAR IN THE HORSE AIITD HOW IT MUST BE DEALT WITH. HOW HE CAN BE TAUGT NOT TO BE AFRAID What «> fear. Wear is a sudden involuntaiy nervous cotnmo- tidn i^rodiiced 'l]fy the conception of an idea of being in dlsLnger, or believing dneself in danger. In the 'hm*se it is occasioned — by objects w^hich he sees, — by noises he hears — by punishments, — by real evils, — by feeling himself touched by objects by which he is not accustomed to be touched, the mdre go ff unexpectedly, — by animals that 'threa- 'ten him, — or objects coming against him. — It is due to the instinct of self-preservation com- 'inon to all animals, 224 FEAR Being in danger or not does not make any ' difference in the fear. Fear is inspired by being in danger as in the absence of danger, if there is a ' belief of being in danger. Fear arises from belief \ of danger, and remains fear even if there is no \ danger. Fear differs in degree in horses according to their individual nature, and at times is capri- cious. They occasionally are afraid of little things ' of which they should not be afraid, and have no fear of big things which one Avould think would inspire them with it. It must depend on the man- \ ner and degree of impression produced on them by the objects, and on the state of their mind at ^ the moment of their receiving the impression. Fear is contagious. Where there are many horses if one is afraid and turns back the others imitate him. at the object of fear; — holding back or slacken- ing the pace, — making movements of snrprise" — attempts to stop, — or raising high the head and neck, — and also rearing. This last means^ that the object of fear is advancing towards him or the horse towards it. If^he rears he tnrnsJ back by swinging ronnd on the cronp whilst rear- ing, which means that he was nnable to turn^ back in a low and therefore to him more conve-^ nient position. Looking backward, throwing th-e' ears back to listen behind, kicking and running away mean that the object of fear is behind' him. Pressing in the tail, raising it high, snor^ ting, turbidity in the eyes, and the voiding o1 excrement are signs of great fear. Whilst riding besides seeing the fear by the signs, it may 1)^ felt by the rider who can feel the Jieart l>eatinf' quickly under his seat and the aitempts made U slacken the pace by the spine. FEAR 227 Effects or reactions caused by fear. The greater part of the acts of disobedience, oppositions and reactions in the horse, and the accidents which happen to him are the effect of fear. The instinct of fear makes the horse feel the necessity of getting away from the object which gives him fear, and he does so by swerving on one side, turning back, and fleeing in the opposite direc- tion. He prepares himself for swerving by bending the head and neck towards the object which excites his fear, looking at it, and thus prepares the cen- tre of gravity of his body on the side opposite to the object and executes the action of s^verving b} making a lateral movement with the hind legs. If he is unable to flee, fear may excite him to react against man, animals, and other objects. He kicks against objects which touch him and produce fear until he removes them or hurts himself, and can- not kick any longer. These actions caused by fear may be called reactions of fear. 228 FEAR Eear renders the horse dangerous. Great fear ' bewilders his mind, and dominates it, so as to pre- vent him from feeling aids and punishments. He does not see nor look at anything but the object of fear from which he flees, and very often in or- der to avoid an imaginary danger created by fear,, he A\ill dash over a precipice. He will go over„ a precipice backwards from fear of an object ad-| vancing towards him, or also for fear of punish- ments inflicted on him in front. When frightened) by a noise he does not know where he is going,, but he runs. There are horses which from fear o^ things thrown and animals which they see moving; and running suddenly give way in the forelegs ho^ as to almost fall. Many when they have fallen, become so discouraged that they do not get up voj luntarily, and must be excited to get up. Pear makes them go through extraordinary motions, and .jump over unusual obstacles, thuj making many horses appear more willing to go anc of a better breed than they are. Dealers frightei their horses in order to give them a fine and wil ling appearance in their gaits. FEAR 229 In ivhicJi horses fear is most dcmgerous. In those with excessive timidity and nervous- ness. These are extremely dangerous, because there is no means of tranquillising and mastering them. With one of these horses the best that can be done is to get off and lead him by hand or better still never to ride them. The man on foot can hold him, and even the horse quiets down much better with a man on foot at his side. In the light and strong horse the actions of revolt due to fear are more dangerous, because the hor- se being agile needs little preparation to make them, and they are powerful and almost sudden. Ordinary horses if they take fright are less suscep- tible of being tranquillised and persuaded, and are much ijiore dangerous than thorough bred horses. JTear is an evil ivhich has its useful side. If the horse were not afraid of the objects and dangers, he would not avoid them, and would be 280 FEAR injured by them, and if he were not afraid of pu- nishments it would not be possible to get the mas- | tery over his will, and reduce him to obedience i: and submission. Horses raised at liberty are afraid of ditches and holes, and do not fall into them, because they have already had experience of them, haye already put their feet in them, have already - hurt themselyes or fallen, and are on their guard ^ against them. This fear is an evil which tends to make them avoid greater evils. The horse which always goes along the road and becomes accusto- 1 med to pass over the dark patches formed by pud- dles or wet road, and has never met with an acci- dent, will, if the coachman guides him to it, go] into a hole which to him has the appearance of wet ground, and of his own accord will not think of avoiding it. In this case his not being afraid is no advantage, and it would be better if he were Causes of fear. The fear of the horse is caused: — by a real) evil which has hapi)ened to him in the presence FEAR 231 of an object to which he attributes it; — by a threat of harm, of danger from some large object which is advancing towards him; — by his sin- king into the ground, by his slipping on the ice, I and thus becoming afraid even to move. It may j be and is often caused by a small harmless object such as a leaf or weed bending in the wind. All the objects which he has never seen may call forth in him the idea of fear. Defective eyesight is very often- the cause of the fear of objects. It seems tliat horses having a perfectly good sight are fe^\^ 1 remember a hor- se which if any object ^vhatever were placed on the ground, and lie were led along close to it, was always afraid of it the first time, but not the second. On clianging the ])iace of the same object, and putting it twenty yards further away, tlie first time he passed it he was always afraid of it again. This means that his eye was unable to recognise the same object, and that on tlie second time of his seeing it in the new place where it had been put, he was not afraid of it ])ecause he had seen it once before and remembered having seen it there. 232 FEAR Often fright is produced by excessive nervousness which makes him afraid of every thing and espe- cially of moving things. Excessive nervousness may originate in defective eyesight and one may be mistaken for the other. His being kept still by actual force near an object whicli inspires him with fear much increases the fear he experiences of it. Peculiarly great fear of an object is usually a sign that he was ill-treated when afraid of the object, and was left in a state of fear and revolt, i a thing wliicli should never be done. He may take fright at any object of which he was not afraid if it was associated with the act of striking him with the object itself, or in the presence of the« object. He fears the whip because v>^ith it he lias been threatened or beaten. He fears the man who has beaten him because he remembers having been beaten by him. For tliis reason he may be tauglit f to be afraid of any desired object by merely stri- king him in the presence of that object. 5 FEAR 233 Circumstances which diminish the horse's fear. In the coinx)any of a man in whom he has confidence, and to whom he is obedient, he is much less liable to experience fear, and is more easily tranquillised, because he believes that in his company no harm will CAcr happen to him, having already experienced during some time that in his company no harm was done to him or has happened to him. The various circumstances and ways in wliicli objects are presented cause a lesser or greater de- gree of fear. He is less afraid of a motionless object than of one in motion, — less afraid when standing still than when in motion, — in a place familiar to him than in a place where lie has ne- ver been, — when he is tired than when he is rested or when he is in excessive spirits, — of a faint distant noise than of a powerful noise near at hand, — after he has been guided round and about a great deal, and has seen many and various objects than when he has seen few only. Usually 234 FEAR tlie luales have less fear than the females. Some are less afraid with blinkers, others withont. Circumstanees which increase his fear. When he is well-fed and rested he is more liable to fear becanse he is then more excitable; — when he is not accustomed to seeing objects and tliey are new to him, — and when he is ill- treated in the presence of them. When he is ill- treated by man he is always in a state of alarm and suspicion of eyerything, and is afraid of ere- rything. If a punishment was associated with the object which caused him fear, the fear greatly in- creases and the horse grows more and more appre- hensive, and after the punishment has been repea^ ted several times because he was afraid of tliat o])ject, lie will no longer pass any other object of which he is afraid. Punishment increases fear be- cause in itself it inspires dislike and fear. The horse who has been punished because he was afraid of an object is so much the more atraid wlien he sees it again, and regards it as the cause of the FEAR 235 punishment suffered. He will be more ready to turn back and will forestall the rider next time he sees the object of fear. He has greater fear of an object that moves, — which is moved by the wind, — of an animal running, — on hearing noise and not seeing the cause of it, — of an approaching and increasing noise, — in the place where he has never been and which he does not know, — when he is in a dark stable and in an isolated place and is not accustomed to seeing many things. The object which causes him fear if coming to meet him ma- kes him more afraid than if he sees it sideways. ¥oY this reason it is best to bend his head sideways and make liim see the object of fear from one side, because on seeing it sideways he swerves and turns aside, whilst on seeing that it is coming to- vrards him he turns back and this is worse. Whilst he is in motion he is more afraid and grows more excited than whilst he is standing still. At the trot he is more afraid than at a walk, and at the gallop more than at the trot. For this reason when he is afraid and is excited by it to run, he 236 FEAR should not be allowed to run because he would grow still more afraid and would acquire the bad habit of starting off running at every noise or object which inspires him with fear. He is more afraid alone than in company. If when afraid he is alone and does not hear the voice of the man to which he is accustomed, he becomes still more terrified and takes still more headlong flight. A near object causes much more fear than a distant one. Therefore to accustom him not to be afraid of an object we should first make liim pass it at a distance and then by degrees make him pass closer. A loud noise causes much more fear than a slight noise. Therefore we should make him hear it at first at a distance and then nearer by degrees. Tear always becomes greater on the recurrence of the occasion, on its being caused by the same object. The more often he has occasion to be afraid, the more the susceptibility of the horse increases to take fright at every other object and imagine fresh fears. The more the being afraid is repeated, the stronger the fear becomes and the FEAE 237 more difficult it is to persuade the horse not to be afraid. If on meeting an object which causes him fear he was able to turn back, it becomes more difficult to prevent him doing so another time, because with his being able to turn back from fear of the object, the horse has associated the idea of having been able to turn back and of desiring to do so, and if it is allowed to be re- peated, he acquires the habit of doing so. Care must therefore be taken that he should not be able to turn back whilst he is afraid. He should not be allowed to remain afraid for anv time, but we must try to remove his fear immediately as it is easier to remove it at once. After some time is past the fear has taken root in his memory. Various kinds and degrees of fear. Although the feeling of fear is always the same, it may be said that there are different kinds of fear according to the peculiar nature of the objects which produce fear and their liability to produce a lesser or greater impression on the ima- 238 FEAR gination of the horse. The degree of intensity of the impression depends on the greater or lesser susceptibility of his mental nature. In general his excitability, his all magnifying imagination and his timidity which makes him nervous at every- thing, inspire him with fear of all objects whatso- ever. He is afraid of every object new to him which he has never seen, of the places where he has never been, of stones on the ground, white, black or red, of water puddles, sheets or coverlets stretched on ropes in the air or on the ground, of sacks, of leaves falling from the trees, of paper rolled by the wind, of reeds or shrubs bent and swayed by the wind, of smoke, of fire, of light- ning, of falling water &c., &c. He is afraid of objects that he sees suddenly whether they really appear abruptly, or whether he sees them suddenly on turning his head to one side. He is afraid if we run up to him, if we stretch our arm quickly, instead of going up to him slowly and raising the arm gradually ; if he sees anyone run or throw objects; if he sees a cask or barrel rolling; if he hears the noise of firing, thunder FEAR 239 &c. ; if he sees lightning or fire. He is afraid of bad odours, of discharged powder, of decomposed bodies, of the skins of wild beasts, of bituminous substances, of being touched suddenly, and of the dogs and other animals that run near him and between his legs. Feeling himself drawn by force towards an object of fear before he has been persuaded to ap- proach it little by little, makes him extremely frightened and he draws back. Eeeling himself compelled by physical force to stand by the object of fear, inspires him with peculiar terror and he revolts and seeks to free himself until he has either succeeded or has done himself such harm as to be unable to resist further. Usually harnessed horses on falling and remaining entangled in the harness or with the carriage, either become violent and break everything or lose all spirit and let them- selves lie as though dead. In the stable the horse should be tethered in such a way that he should not be able to get entangled with tlie rope of the halter if it is atta- ched to a fixed hook so that he may not be seized 240 FEAR with fear and hurt liimself in the attempt to get free. If a horse harnessed to a cart in driving away the flies happens to get his bridle entangled in a hook on the shafts, he has a bad fall and becomes extremely afraid. Euuuing into ditches, breaking the shafts of the vehicle to which he was harnessed and being left alone by man, leave a powerful impression, and with some it is difficult to cause them to forget it. Being accustomed to feel the man always with him, his being alone and abandoned and unable to hear the voice of the man any longer gives him great fear. We must seek to dispel his fear. The horse is by nature suspicious and appre hensive and it is natural for him to be afraid. It is our fluty to seek to overcome this. It is the [ chief j)art of his instruction to teach him so far as possible not to be afraid or to be afraid as little i as possible and to remove the fear of objects of i which he has become afraid. FEAR 241 How fear may he removed. It is the idea of many that fear should be pu- nished. By so doing the fear is increased instead of being overcome and the horse becomes ever more afraid. His fear cannot be removed by injflic- ting punishment because the punishment inflicted in presence of the object which has given rise in him to the feeling of fear, owing to his mode of judgment as stated in the chapter « How the horse learns » , is an association of pain coupled with the object of fear and he believes it to be caused by this object of fear. Therefore when he again views this object he expects that he will be pu- nished. ancAV. Thus by inflicting punishments on him his fear has been increased and he has been given a second fear, that of punishments because punishments in themselves inspire fear and dislike. The fear may be removed only by persuading him that the object of which he is afraid does not do him any harm. This persuasion can only come to the horse from seeing that whilst he has 16 243 FEAK any fear of an object, no punishment is given liim and no harm happens to liim, but on the contrary he receives caresses and good treatment. The re- medy for fear therefore, in addition to not puni- shing him, is every kind of good treatment, of pleasing things, and of those things which aroi calcnlated to re-assnre the mind and to inspire ^ courage, and to make him think that he is not in| danger. This good treatment and these things sui- ted to re-assure the mind, may be called for con-| venience means of persuasion. Means of persuasio7i. The following serve for persuading the horse ^ not to be afraid, being means of re-assuring the,i mind, or means of persuasion : — not giving himt threats or punishments; — the presence or com- panionship of the man who has acquired his coli- iidence and who has inspired him with the habit t^ of obedience; — the act of speaking to him] soothingly, — caressing him, — treating him well — leaving him quiet, — not exciting him in any FEAR 243 wa\% — goinc; near liiin ^ilovil}' and patiently; — not making rapid and sudden movements (an arm raised abruptly is sufficient to alarm him whilst he is in a state of fear); — the fact of the man who has his coniidence placing himself between him and the object of fear, or this man walking in front of the horse; — the placing of another horse between the horse which is afraid and the object of fear, or making the other horse walk in front. Einding himself always caressed and seeing that no harm comes to him on seeing the objects which arouse fear in him, after a time his fear diminishes greatly, and even if the idea of fear arises in him, he allows himself to be re-assured by the means of persuasion. Blinkers are not means of removing fear. They prevent his being afraid of those things of which they obstruct the view, and are not suited to remove fear. Very often his being unable to see increases his fear, but mostly it prevents him from being afraid. 244 FEAR On ichat conditions fear may he removed hy the means of persuasion. The application of tlie principles here exposed requires a previous study of instructing the horse with the lounges. Fear may be removed by the means of persuasion on the following conditions:' 1. That during the time that the horse is under the impression of fear, he shall receive no punish-' ment and shall suffer no harm or real injury in, any other wa}. — It is not possible nor right tc require that he should not be afraid of the thin^ which does him real harm if he feels it. (He maj be hit by the harness, and, being excited, not fee] it). Real harm may be caused him by some objecl falling on him, or the same object or animal run ning against him, striking him or throwing hiiij down; it may occur from the subsidence of th( ground, from falling in a ditch, from the carriage to which he was harnessed breaking down, or be cause the tracings break, &c. Kot only must n(, punishment be given whilst he is under the im PEAR 245 pression of fear nor any association of real harm, but not even sensations of unpleasant things must j be caused and it must not be desired to keep him absolutely still by physical force as this alone gives him great fear. I 2. That the man who undertakes to persuade I him not to be afraid should have acquired his I confidence and be trusted by him owing to pre- vious good treatment. — The horse must have acquired the belief that in the company of this man no harm will happen to him. A man strange to the liorse and whom he does not know will I not be able to persuade him not to be afraid, jmuch less the man who has ill-treated him, as he himself is an object of fear to the horse and ma- kes him afraid by his mere presence. 3. That the man should have taught him to 'jobey. Obedience produces respect and respect gives f influence to persuasion. 4 That the man should be on foot and should .hold the liorse with cavesson and lounge, and I should be accompanied by two men holding side 'lounges attached to the cavesson because the horse 246 FEAR allows himself to be re-assured mncli more readily ) by men on foot next him than bv the rider on f his back. The cavesson produces a powerful im- pression without exciting fear or resistance, and on foot it is possible to produce this impression, ,( to hold him and to prevent him bolting, which things would not be possible on horseback. , 5. That the man should be capable and should show patience and indulgence. Without these conditions little can be done to persuade the liorse not to be afraid even by an able man. As it is requisite to give the horse con- fidence and make him obedient before undertaking to teach him not to be afraid, and these two things cannot be obtained in a day, time is requi- red to persuade him not to be afraid. This time will be longer or shorter in accordance with tlie ; nature of the horse and the ability of the man. Mode of teacJdnff the liorsc not to he afraid of a given object. Before undertaking to teach the horse not to j be afraid of the objects of which he may be afraid, ■. I PEAR 247 we must place ourselves and tlie horse under the above stated conditions, and chiefly must have obtained his confidence and inspired him with the feeling of obedience. The means of j)ersuasion must be used with discernment and patience in a closed place where no accidental harm may befall him and where he is not liable to have distractions. In this place he must be tauglit not to be afraid of the greatest possible number of objects, one by one, because this serves to diminish his suscepti- bility to fear. Tt is requisite to proceed gradually and begin with objects which can inspire little fear, passing on to others of which he will be more afraid. The way of doing is to lead him on foot h(d- ding him by the lounge and cavesson, and with two men holding two side lounges buckled to tlie two side-rings of tlie cavesson. Thus he must be led to see and pass near the object of which he is afraid placed on the ground or suspended in the air, always talking to him soothingly aud caressing him, and never inflicting punishment in order to show him that the object which inspii*es hini with 248 PEAR fear does him no harm. He should never be com- pelled to approach the object by physical force, but should be induced to approach it gradually following us and by persuasion. The most suitable place for doing this in the beginning is the riding school, because as he re- ceives lessons there every day it is familiar to him, he knows it well, and it is like his house, and in it he will be much less afraid than in another place. The most suitable time is immediately after his lesson, because then he is quieter, and also because directly after leaving the stable the eye is more susceptible to fear because the stable is usually not brightly lit. This may afterwards ]>e carried out in an enclosure or in a field, where however there must be no disturbance, and finally he must be led about the streets. In leading the horse around in order to let him see the object which it is desired to accustom him not to be afraid of, he must be conducted at a slow pace, because a rapid pace excites him; at the same time he must be spoken to conciliating- FEAR 249 ly and caressed, and a direction taken so as to pass on one side of the object and not to go straight towards the object of fear, which would make him think that we wish to make him pass over it and w^ould arouse extreme fear in him. We must also stand between him and the object of fear in order to give him the idea of defending and protecting him. Quietness in walking is necessary and has influence in tranquillising the mind. When the horse walks quickly or runs he is more liable to excitement and to acquire greater fear. He must be habituated to pass at the trot close by the object of fear only after he has be- come indifferent to passing close by it at a walk, and if by chance he should give signs of excite- ment he must once more be made to pass it at a walk, but this should not liappen, and means that the gradation used was not sufficient. If before approaching the object he gives a sign of fear and desires to stop he should be al- lowed to stop, and caressed, and should be allowed to stand still for some time and look at the object so that his impression of fear may pass away. 250 FEAR After some time we may make as if advancing in front of him in order to see whether lie will approach the object. If he will not approach it, it should not be attempted to compel him to go forward by physical force because this in itself gives him great fear and increases his fear of the object. On the contrar}^ a detour should be made and he should be conducted far from the object, we walk- ing in front and on his side towards the object. If he desires to draw back and run away the i two men who hold him with the side lounges must ; oppose intermittent resistance putting the weight • of their body on the lounges so as not to allow \ him to draw back much. Were they to oppose t with continual resistance they w(nild be dragged : away as the horse has strength and men have little. Each day on our repeating the process of guiding him to the object of fear he will approach nearer to it, will pass it more closely and will end probably by not being afraid of it. Just as all the things which it is desired to r bring the horse to perform must be done little by i little with the most careful gradation, so it is with 1 FEAR 251 this matter of getting him to pass near an object of fear, wliich is a greater requirement than the others. Wliether we rid him of fear will depend upon our adopting a right Avay of procedure, but largely also upon our properly graduated steps. If his fear of the object is great it is necessary to begin to pass it and let him see it from a great distance and approach it by such gradual steps as to avoid arousing fear in him. If it is desired to proceed more rapidly and less gradual steps are employed tlian his susceptibilit}^ to fear requires, his fear being thus aroused, we shall have lost instead of gaining, and it will be necessary to return to stan- ding and passing at a greater distance from the object in order to approach it again little by little During a certain time it is necessary to walk in front of the horse and on the side towards the object when passing close to it, but afterwards he must be accustomed to go alone, we standing at his side at the height of the shoulder, and fi- nally the horse being on the side towards the object. In order to persuade him to go into the water 252 FEAE the first time it is better to let another horse precede him or for us to go ourselves into the wa- ter first in front of him. The various forms of fear are overcome by our passing' again and again, a greater or lesser num- ber of times, together with the horse, near the object which causes him fear, but without forcing him to go close to it, letting him see that he suf- fers no harm from it. When showing him the object which causes him fear nothing more should be done than speak to him soothingly and caress him, let- ting him stand at a distance, not forcing him to approach. The approach must be effected gradually and without forcing him, in proportion as the fear diminishes. When on the road he encounters an object which causes him fear the best mode of persua- sion, if the fear be great, is for us to proceed in front of him and place our person between the object of fear and him, by which he feels himself as it were protected, or else to have another horse put in front of him and make him follow. Being preceded by a man in whom they have confidence FEAR 253 is with many horses a more powerful means of persuasion than following another horse. To rid him of the fear of passing over white and black stones paper must be placed on the ground, and we, holding him by the lounge, must first pass over it, but not force the horse to do so. He will pass over it after having seen us do so many times. If it is sought to force him he grows afraid, and it is of no use if he passes over it by force, on the contrary it leaves him a bad impres- sion of violence and fear. The same must be done to make him pass near or over pools or other conspicuous spots or parts of the ground, and eve- rything which may cause him fear. But we should keep towards these things and in front of the horse and pass over them in front of him and first. It is further necessary to accustom him to being touched by the whip and other objects in all parts of the body and to having the lounge, reins and J saddle fall on the ground without taking fright. In order to accustom him to the harness and trappings he must be made to move at a walk, led by the lounges and afterwards by gradual steps 254 FEAR at a trot in a circle until he has become indiffe- rent to them. By repetitions and gradation the feelings of fear due to his being touched diminish and disappear. Teaching him not to be afraid of objects and to be touched in all parts of the body should be proceeded with after he goes well at the lounge. Great care must be taken that on the first oc- casions of his being afraid of any object no harm should happen to liim owing to any cause foreign to us. The horse would associate it with the object and would be much more afraid of it, and it would be much more difficult to remove the fear. He fi must not be allowed to go under water the first time he is made to go into the water to teach him to swim. It will not be possible to persuade hin to go into the water a second time. In cases of great fear the company of other horses should be used as a more effective means of persuasion. In past times particular care was taken to teach the foal not to be afraid during the year of his teaching. In the company of a ridden horse he was '■ sent everywhere to see whatever might cause him PEAR 255 fear, and to learn to know all the objects in all places where he might have been afraid. At that time this was much more necessary because horses were reared at liberty and were half wild. Kow this is less necessary because their rearing is dome- stic, but they still are afraid of almost everything and must be taught to know every kind of object and accustomed not to be afraid, instead of this not being thought of, as is generally done. They should be led round the streets so as to get used to seeing the various objects after they have been taught not to be afraid on foot with the loimges and cavesson in a closed place. Teaching the horse not to be afraid of an object after he has once become afraid. , The horse has learnt to be afraid of an object j because the object has aroused in him the idea of pear, and he was allowed to remain in this appre- I'hensive frame of mind instead of its being imme- I diately dispelled by the above means of persuasion, for still worse, he has learnt to be afraid because 256 FEAR his idea of fear has proved true and been confir- med by associating the object with bad treatment and punishment. The way of removing fear and , the rules for doing so are similar to those for teach- 1 ing him not to be afraid of a given object. With ^ the lounge and cavesson on foot, and with the aid ^i of two skilled men with two lateral lounges, the teacher, who holds the middle lounge should walk in front and lead him to the object of fear putting him in the same place and under the same cir- cumstances, and there letting him see that he nO|j longer receives ill-treatment and punishment, but on the other hand is spoken to soothingly and ca- ressed, just as was done in teaching him not tol have fear of other objects. The only difference is that more calmess, more patience, more gradual procedure, more time are required in order to make him give up the feai associated with an object and produced by ba^ treatment inflicted on him in the presence of thiS; object, because it has taken much deeper root ii his mind. If the exact circumstances cannot b(j reproduced they should be artificially imitated a. FEAB 257 well as possible. If he has taken fright where there were several objects together, we must be careful to understand which object it was which made him take fright because very often among many objects the greatest impression may be made on the horse by that which makes the least on us. Teaching the horse not to be afraid ivhile ridden. It is not possible whilst riding to teach the horse not to be afraid of objects, but after having taught him not to be afraid with the lounges and cavesson on foot, the lessons given on foot must be repeated on horseback, because when ridden the horse is in a new and different position suited to make him subject to fear, namely he has not the man at his side to reassure him completely and continually. For this reason the first times when mounted he is made to pass alongside objects, the rider should be accompanied by a man on foot in whom the horse has confidence, and this man walking alongside should reassure the horse and prevent him turning back if necessary. 17 258 FEAR The rider alone could manage it, holding him collected and in hand, but this would not achieve the effect and object of making the horse pass it himself without the aids of the rider. The real object of teaching him not to be afraid is that he should not be afraid, not that he should be held s by the reins and by the riding aids and physically i prevented from swerving or turning back. The ri- der will hold him in hand and prevent him swer- ving and turning back when alone only in order! not to let him acquire the idea that he can per-n form these acts of his own choosing. The man oni foot in proportion as the horse appears to have less i fear should walk at a greater distance from himc and cease to accompany him. The rider should! give him alone this exercise of riding him to see objects which may give rise to fear, at the end oft his training, after the horse has been taught to ben united and held in hand, in order to be able to? prevent him from turning back if necessary, so that 5 he should not see that he can turn back. FEAB 259 Punishments given to the horse which shows fear ivhile ridden. No punishment should be given to the horse ! I whilst in a state of fear, in order not to increase his fear. When riding we may, by way of excep- j tion in special cases, inflict punishment, not because j he is afraid, and not to punish his fear (which ' should not be done because it would only increase 1 it) but in order to collect the horse and get him in hand and keep him in hand, so as to prevent him making reactions due to his fear, swerving, or I turning back, and thus leading us into danger, and ' learning an association, detrimental to us, of his ' having been able to turn back, which would give '• him the idea of desiring to do so and of doing so I anew on other occasions. Punishments inflicted f while he is afraid must usually be severe, because i fear overpowers him and prevents him feeling them much. We must not wait to inflict punishment until ! the horse has stopped, but it must be given as soon 260 PEAK as he shows the first sign of being afraid of an ' object in order to bring him in hand and prevent ^ him stopping, because if he is able to stop it will \ be very difficiUt to prevent him turning back. To ' prevent him from swerving or turning back his head and neck should be bent in the opposite di- rection to the object of fear because he is thus i hindered from shifting in this direction the centre ' of gravity of his body and preparing to swerve. Bending him towards the side opposed to that of the object of fear has also the good effect of ma- 1 king it seem to the horse that he is removed from the object of fear, because he sees it as though its were on one side and behind, and is less afraid. I If he is allowed to bend his head and neck to-i wards the object of fear whilst riding and aids and punishments are applied, he thinks it is desi- 1 red to make him go towards or upon the object of fear, and is so much the more afraid. It is understood that the whip punishment'^ should be inflicted on the side opposed to the object of fear and on the flank. Given on the same side' as that occupied by the object it would cause FfiAii 261 his fear to increase, and make him swerve still more. Punishment on the shoulder is of no use when it is sought to induce him to advance. He must be punished with the whip on the flank or under the belly. This can be done with a horse who is afraid if he is well trained and if he yields to the aids, and it must be done in single cases as a tempo- rary remedy for a grave evil (swerving, turning back) but it is an evil as it much increases the fear, and avails a few times only, because the horse will remain greatly in fear of the object, and would always seek to swerve or turn back. This he will succeed in doing, because he will be i intent on discovering the object of fear, and will see it before the rider, and will have turned round i before the rider has seen it or has thought of col- li lecting him and getting him in hand. The untrained horse cannot be prevented from I' swerving aside by bending him in the direction \] opposed to the object of fear, as not being accu- 1 stomed to bend his body he feels pain, is bewil- i dered by it and stops. For this horse it is better 262 PEAR to hold him on both reins and give him severe punishment in the paunch on the side opposed to j the object in order to get him to advance. For these reasons, and in order that the fear | should not have time to take root in his mind, it is necessary immediately or as soon as possible after he has experienced fear of an object and has had to be punished to prevent him from swerving, to lead him on foot with the lounges and cavesson to the object, and teach him not to be afraid of i it in the manner already stated. With a horse which has not been well maste- red, and cannot be got in hand, the best thing to do is to dismount, walk in front of him, and try^ to induce him to to follow; possibly he will not advance even in this way, because he is accusto- med to have his own way. If punishment were n given to this horse in order to get him in hand, i it would not be successful, because not being accu- ! stomed to it he would grow the more afraid, and might be excited to violent reactions. Great abi- lity would be required in the rider to surprise the ; horse with severe punishment the first moment of i| FEAR 263 his showing fear, but even thus, the risk of arou- sing resistance would be great, and the probability of being successful small. Eor the purpose of pulling him forward, the reins being unsuited, the horse in training should have beneath the bridle a light cavesson but strong, with two metres of black twisted leather cord so as not to show too much, and double at the end in order to receive the hand. It should be faste- ned beneath the throat like the halter used by postilions. This cord would be useful when it is desired to walk with the horse, and when it is necessary to pass a bridge or dangerous pass on foot, and the horse should be accustomed to walk beside us and behind us, for which reason he should never have been punished by us from a position in front of him. When walking alongside of him, if it is necessary to stimulate him to advance, this must be done with the whip in the left hand and behind, so that the aid is given him from behind. If we walk in front of the horse the pulls should be intermittent and gentle, and it should not be attempted to draw him by main force, as 264 PEAK this would cause bim great fear and make him ' pull backwards instead of coming forward. If whilst riding him it has been necessary to make him go close to an object of fear, holding him collected and in hand by means of punish-, ment, immediatel}^ the object is passed he must be pacified with conciliating words and caresses in order to remove the aversion occasioned by the pu- < nishment, and the association of the punishment with the object of fear. Afterwards he must be* made to pass again and again quietly, riding him if he is but slightly afraid, and accompanying him on foot and standing between him and the object of fear if the fear is great, passing close to the object which causes him fear, and speaking to hinii continually in a conciliating voice, and caressing him until he becomes indifferent to it. Many good horses can be managed the first time they are afraid even when ridden. This can- not be done with those who are very excitable and nervous. They would be excited by many repeti- tions of going to and fro near the object of fear. They should be made to pass it a few times a day^i and with some interval, not consecutively. PEAlt 265 If the horse is afraid whilst in hand, he can be prevented from swerving or turning back. If he is afraid whilst out of hand, but is very sensi- tive to the aids for exciting motion by applying these aids and holding him he may be brought in hand at the moment he is afraid and prevented from swerving. If he is very much afraid whilst out of hand, and pays little heed to the riding punishments, it is no use applying them, as they do not suffice to keep him in motion, and may excite him to violent reactions. In this case it is best to stop him, to caress him, and to talk to him soothingly, keeping him standing still, and seeing whether his fear subsides, and he can be persua- ded to pass by the voice signal to advance. If he cannot be persuaded, the rider must dismount, walk in front of the horse, and on the side toAvards the object and try to make the horse follow. The way of operating with the hands in order to prevent the reactions due to fear on horseback, is explained in The Functions of the Hands in Biding. To be able to carry out this prevention of the reactions of fear it is necessarv to have studied: 266 FEAR liow to feel the movements of the horse's spine under the saddle; — the acting of the horse's me- chanism in order to recognize from the movements of the spine which actions the horse intends to do ; — the way of applj ing the several aids and puni- shments and at the right moment; and to have taught the horse to go forward promptly when the aids and punishments for exciting motion are ap- plied. — These things are explained in the Arte di Cavalcare. Degree of possibility of allaying fear. Fear may be allayed in many horses, who are not nervous, in the way above described and on the conditions above stated, among which confi- dence and obedience are particularly necessary. It cannot be remedied in nervous horses because they are continually overcome by it and cannot forget it notwithstanding the use of the means of persuasion. If it is seen that the means of persuasion are of no avail for removing the fear of a horse, it is better to give him up before he has led us into danger. FEAR 26t There is great difficulty in removing the fear produced by any material harm he has experienced from an object, or from a serious threat of danger. If he found himself sinking in soft ground, if an object has actually struck him by falling on him or running against him, it will be very difficult to get him to forget his fear of it. If a large barrel were rolled towards him, he could not be persuaded not to swerve aside in order to avoid it. In order to persuade him not to be afraid of a rolling barrel it must be rolled alongside him and not towards him. Rolling it against him would be the way of teaching him to be afraid of it. We must prevent occurrence of accidents to the foal which is taught outside the riding school in order not to give him had associations inspiring him with fear. The foal must not be given bad associations of fear with respect to the actions it is desired to teach him to perform and with respect to the places through which it is desired to make him 268 FEAR ( pass. We must first examine the places through which we intend to ride him in order that he should not find himself under circumstances which may give him bad associations or associations adverse to us, and render him frightened and diso- bedient. The various places with their different appearances and circumstances should be known i and taken into consideration by the teacher who I desires to teach the foal not to be afraid, and should . be arranged in progressive order according as they • are more or less adapted to excite fear. The tea- < cher should then begin by making him pass gra- dually from places which are less calculated to ' make him take fright to those places which may » give him greater fear. If the first time he were made to pass over a i, bridge the bridge were to fall, he would associate the fall with the bridge and would not pass over a bridge a second time. If it happened to him to i sink down into soft ground so as to hurt his legs , or remain embedded in it, he would become so [ frightened that he would be unwilling to advance f wherever he felt the ground yield though ever so FEAB 269 slightly. If in making him leap an obstacle his mouth is hurt by the hand or if he is made to leap over an obstacle beyond his strength or his ability, and he falls, he is given an association of evil in connection with leaping and acquires fear and dislike for leaping. If on catching sight of an obstacle which is new to him, of which he is afraid, and which he does not venture to leap he is puni- shed, his fear and his dislike to jumping it grows so much the more, and he is rendered so much the more rebellious and caused to recede. It is of course understood that the horse who knows already how to jump and has been habi- tuated to leaping over obstacles in the open coun- try does not come under this head. He may be punished to get him in hand and make him jump, and he understands that he is punished because he will not jump. He should always be given short punishments, after which with conciliating words and caresses the aversion produced by the punish- ment should be removed, not only with a view not to leave him in dislike of us but also not to leave a bad special association of punishment cou- 270 FEAR pled in his mind with the place in which he was punished, in order that on passing there anew he should not be afraid. There is great liability to error with respect to the susceptibilitj/ of horses to fear and their excitability to motion. In order to know the mental qualities of a horse a certain amount of time and many tests are required. The horse dealer puts him through tests which last a moment only and even these are rendered of no value by his men who are cle- ver and have already trained the horse in their way. They all keep the horse's attention engaged so that he should not show his vices and fear, and they do not allow him to stand still if, on his standing still, defects could be perceived in his legs which cannot be seen when he is in motion. Ge- nerally the horse is intent on everything that surrounds him and that he meets, but the dealer 1 with his men causes his attention to be distracted and to be engaged with them, and the horse has ^ FEAB 271 no time to observe objects and be afraid of them. Chance may likewise contribute to deceiving the purchaser. At times the horse looks at a thing of which he is not afraid, and on the other hand does not look at something else of which he would be afraid. Thus it may be thought that a horse is not afraid of a given object because on passing in its vicinity he showed no fear, but in reality he was not afraid because he did not look at it. On ano- ther occasion he may chance to look at that par- ticular object and will be afraid of it, and it will then be thought that he is afraid of another object because, as he did not show fear of the one in question on the first occasion, he is regarded as being without fear of it. At times horses are met with which always show signs of fear and swerve on one side only and not on the other. It may be concluded that it is due to a defect of vision on the one side, but it may also be the result of a habit of always looking towards that side. It may be thought that the eye-sight on the side where no sign of fear is given is perfect, and yet it may 272 PEAR not be so. Of many things which are in view at the same time it may be that more impression is made by the thing which in our view would be held less likely to cause it, and the horses are re- garded as being afraid of a thing which does not cause them fear, but which in our opinion should cause it, whilst they in reality are afraid of some- thing else. Eor this reason mistakes are often made as to the susceptibility of horses to fear. The dealer's horse when handled by his men appears very animated, starts forward on the least sign and shows fine movements.- The day after \ when handled by the buyer or his man, the same horse seems sleepy and sluggish, the buyer being , very much astonished and thinking that he is ill. , He does not know that the dealer has temporarily ( enlivened the horse by administering a good whip- ping with a copper-wire tipped whip to the accom- | paniment of a certain sound of the voice. Thus the ; horse whilst he is with the horsedealer well remem- bers the sound of the voice in question and moves l^romptly and rapidly, not waiting for what he knows will follow, but with the purchaser he is not afraid and does not move. J-EAR 273 In riding it mnst he sought to anticipate the fear of the horse in order to he in time to prevent his reactions of fear. Even after having tanghl the horse not to be afraid of manj^ and various objects, and after ha- ving given him the habit of not being afraid, he may still experience fear of manj' things and under many circumstances, although in a lesser degree, because it is his nature to be easily acces- sible to it. A pig or a dog running towards him or between liis legs, an object suddenly coming to meet him, a man who unexpectedly jumps on to the road from a side ditcli, or any other accident may occur at any moment and cause him fear, and this fear may excite him to swerve aside or turn backwards. It should therefore always be borne in mind that the horse may be afraid and we must be always intent on looking out in front for the things which I may be encountered ahead or which may be met 18 274 FEAE with along the road on both sides, and even for! those which may come from behind, although ofj them he may be less afraid. We should also atten- tively follow the horse's motions as felt from the seat, and by the hand, and observe the signs of fear given by the ears and the head which during fear is bent in the directicm from which the horse believes that the object of fear will approach. When' it is foreseen that he may be afraid, the horse must be collected at once by hand aids and aids or) punishments for exciting him to go and his head] must be bent in a direction away from the object of fear, in order to make him see it sideways, so] that he may be less afraid, as these are the only means we possess of preventing him swerving on one side or turning back and running into dangerji If we were to perceive from a distance a spe! cial object coming towards us on the road, which we thought the horse might be very much afraid of, so that it would not be possible to hold him, it would be better to turn back and go into a sidci field, waiting until the object had passed, ratheii than give him occasion to turn back. With horsoi FfiAH 275 it is always to be remembered that, as in other things in life, prevention is better than cnre. I7i ridhiff the fact of the rider keepmi/ the horse's attention fixed on himself assists in preventing fear. When his attention is engaged with the rider the presence of an object of which the horse would be afraid is not noticed, and he is not seized by the idea and feeling of fear. Therefore the first precaution to take when ri- ding, besides that of trying to discover the things which may cause him fear, is the rider keeping his horse attentive to himself by some aids (voice, hand, whip, spurs) applied at intervals now and then to make the horse remember that he has somebody on his back and is not alone and as soon as he shows a sign of incipient fear, collecting him immediatel}^, and endeavouring to remove the idea of fear by conciliating voice and caresses, and by preventing him with the reins from looking at the object of fear, bending him in the other direction, 2U ffiAft and persistently urging him with aids and punish- \ ments for exciting him to go so that he may not j stop and get out of hand, as then he may turn to 1 ii one side or back. Drawing oif his attention and keeping him occupied and engaged with us is the I best means of preventing the horse from being! afraid, and even up to a certain extent from making f reactions for other reasons. Some horse dealers! know this well, and are very skilful in doing it.i Three or four of their men walk around the horsej which they are showing the buyer, and all of themj do something to him, and the horse, having hisi attention engaged by many different actions and? men, goes straight forward without showing fear, and without doing anything. He is afterwards afraid when with the buyer, because the buyer does not do the same to him as the dealer's men did. Pretence of fear. The term « pretence of fear » is used when the horse passes an object while held in hand without FEAR 277 showing signs of great fear, and does not pass it, but turns back when he is left free. I should think this to be fear in no very great degree during which he has been allowed to turn back, and there- fore he always conceives the idea of turning back from having done so. It must be dealt with just like fear itself. We must look out beforehand as far as possible for objects which may give him ground for swerving and turning back and must get the horse in hand, as in all cases of fear, to prevent him from swerving and turning back, but he must afterwards be taught not to be afraid in the way above stated. Teaching the horse not to he afraid of railway trains, fire arms, and motor cars. As already stated it is understood that this like everything else relating to fear, and all mat- ters which it is desired to teach him, can only be done after he has been rendered confident and obedient. To teach the horse not to be afraid of things which cause him great fear, such as rail- 278 FEAK way trains, gun firing, and steam motors (which J make a great noise and have rapidly revolving wheels) time is required and a carefully graduated J scale of instruction. The company of another horse, ] and still better of other horses who are not afraid of these things is very useful, simplifying and fa- t cilitating the task of teaching him not to be afraid ^ if possible. Artillery remounts learn quickly and with few exceptions by being always together with old horses. Bach horse must always be taught se- ' parately in overcoming his fear. By putting toge- \ ther several horses who are frightened, they com- ' municate their fear to each other, and consequently grow more excited and still more afraid. In order to teach the horse not to be afraid ' of things which cause him great fear, the things already stated must be done in the way already explained, but still more gradually. He should be in the company of other horses a little way ahead and nearer to the object of fear ; he must be held ■' facing the object (train, machine &c.) by two men I (of course without blinkers, because in order to I persuade him he must see the object of fear), hold- I PEAR 279 ing him on each side with two lounges attached to the side rings of the cavesson and the man, who is teaching him not to be afraid, should stand in front of him with another lounge and close to him so as to be able to stroke him on the head and on the eyes. Thus, the teacher remains between the horse and the object of fear. Holding the horse with the croup towards the object may give him less fear, but it is not so well because he, being in a position favourable to bolting, might drag the men with him, and he would have learnt that he can run away, which would be very bad. The men on each side should stand a yard or two away and slightly in advance of the horse's head. They should not do anything, save offer an elastic and yielding resistance, if the horse draws back owing to fear, and the same must be done by the man at his head, in order to overcome his fear. Just as not doing anything to him in presence of the object of fear is the way of ridding him of his fear, in the same way when the object of fear passes he should be allowed to look at it without doing anything to him, only speaking to him 280 FEAR soothingly, and stroking him, and letting him re- cede slightly, we following, but preventing him from turning back and running away. His being able to turn back and run away excites him and very much increases his fear, spoiling the lesson because he sees that he can escape. Great care must also be taken to use a strong cavesson and strong lounges which cannot break, because if they broke it would suggest to him that he could break them, and he would always seek to do so. The resistance offered to his receding must be elastic and yielding, because if it were sought to hold him standing absolutely still, his fear would greatly increase. For this reason the horse, in front of whom an object of which he is very much afraid must pass, must not be tied to trees or to the wall, or to a fixed point. There may however, be some exceptions to this. The men who assist in teaching the horse not to be afraid should themselves not be afraid of what the horse may do in consequence of his fear. Therefore to do this duty, men are required accu- stomed to being with horses and trained in the FEAR 281 way of going about them. There is no danger for them since standing as they do on one side and slightly in front towards the object of fear they can only be drawn backwards by the horse when he recedes, and there being three of them together with the one holding the middle lounge they can prevent him turning back without great effort. If other horses are held in front of the one which it is desired to teach not to be afraid, and between him and the object of fear, the backing of the horse will be slight. Care must be taken not to do anything disagreeable to the horse either before or when the object of fear passes or after it has passed. After the object of fear has passed the horse should be kept still for a time as if he were led away directly he might think that he could have turned back of himself. Each day he should continue to be held still, looking at the object of fear once only on the first day and repeatedly for some time on the days following until he shows he is no longer afraid. After he has become quiet he is left without the companionship of the horse which had been placed in front of him in order 282 FEAR to facilitate overcoming his fear, and then the men at the side are dispensed with, the man with the middle lounge remaining alone. The lesser or greater fear he experiences of any object, and his lesser or greater readiness in allow- ing his fear to be dispelled depends upon the degree of confidence and trust and the sense of obedience felt by the horse towards the man lead- ing him or at his side or in front of him, and towards the other men who hold him on both sides, and also according as he is more or less nervous. It need not be said that in order to dispel his fear a place must not be chosen with ditches or other dangers near it into which he may go on his re- ceding or swerving to one side. Then he would attribute the evil of having run into the ditch to the train or other objects coming or passing in front of him, and would be so much the more afraid of it. Whether he draws back more or less depends on the greater or lesser proximity of the point at which he is placed to view the passing train or to hear the discharges or the noise of other ma- FEAR 283 chines. He should be placed a long way off on the first occasion and gradually brought up closer afterwards. He should not be brought up closer if in the more distant place where he was first held he has not become entirely indifferent to the sight of the object or the noise of the discharge. It requires a great deal of time to teach some horses not to be afraid of railway trains. If it is a carriage horse it should be led free and without blinkers, and not attached to the carriage, but with lounges and cavesson on foot as already sta- ted. The horse should be stopped at a distance from the place where the train passes, to that he should see little of it, and hear little of the noise to avoid making too great an impression. Each day on which he is conducted afresh to see the passing train, if his nervousness permits it, the effect of fear will diminish, until finally he will be persuaded to have no fear because no harm happens to him. He should be shown the train once or twice a day, but at long intervals at the beginning in or- der not to excite him too much, and to give him 284 FEAR time to calm down, but this must be continued every day. In bringing him up closer the stages should be very gradual, so that he should not be alarmed. If it is sought to draw him near in a few days in order to get the matter over quickly, he may very easily learn the contrary, i. e. to be afraid instead of learning to have no fear. A great deal has then been lost, and it is necessary to begin anew standing at a greater distance, and at such a distance that he is not alarmed by it, but in this case it has become more difficult to remove his fear, because the fear has taken root in the mind of the horse. An enclosed field near a rail- way and another horse or more horses for com- panionship simplify very much the process of teach- ing him to have no fear. Oxen grazing in the fields near the railway, after having for some days observed that the passing of the train does them no harm, become indifferent to it. It then remains to teach him not to be afraid standing close to the train, because standing at a certain distance causes little fear, but standing close a great deal. Standing near a train going at high speed excites great fear, fEAR 285 and it must be endeavoured to stand at a distance if possible and as far as possible for many days. To teach him not to be afraid of the discharge of guns, he must be held on foot with lounges and cavesson as stated, and brought to a stop at a very great distance, so that he should see little of the flash and hear the minimum of noise from the dis- charge, and so that the odour of the powder fired should become slight by mixing with the air. When he is indifferent at a distance from the place where the firing takes place, he may be guided round at a distance, at a walk, so that he should be ac customed not to take alarm whilst in motion. Here likewise the attempt to force matters and to finish them quickly means retrogression instead of advan- ce, and imperils the success entirely. He should not be led close if at the farther distance he has not become quite indifferent to the flash and the noise of the discharge. Some do not make reactions on hearing and seeing the discharge but cannot help giving a start, which is the effect of a painful sensation experienced in the brain. In order to accustom him to firing whilst he 286 FEAR is ridden, if his nature allows, great gradation is required, and he must first have been rendered indifferent to any firing near him whilst led on foot. A good preparation is holding him still at a certain distance from a target and going gra- dually nearer. At first only caps should be used once every now and again, and afterwards a small amount of powder. When a pistol is fired off on the right with the right hand, many horses acquire the vice of turning round to the left. This means that firing has been done on horseback before they became indifferent to firing on foot near them. The gradual course must be recommenced, and after- wards instead of firing with the arm to the right, the arm should be held perpendicular, and after- wards a little to the right. Much unrest and many vices in the shape of rearing, jumping and turning back when shots are fired (m horseback, are caused by the rider, who instead of remaining still and not giving him un- pleasant sensations before firing, during firing and after firing, jerks his mouth with the hand or ill- treats him Avith the spurs, sits with his body in- FEAR 287 clined forward, and disturbs the horse. The dis- charge of guns is unendurable to some horses be- cause it gives them a painful shock in the brain. For these a remedy may be cotton in the ears. In order to accustom the horse to the sabre, it is attached to the saddle and the trainer walks along with him at his side, holding him with the cavesson and lounge in the riding school after having given him instruction with the lounge and he is always stroked and stopped if he shows signs of agitation. When he is indifferent at a Avalk he is made to go at a short trot and at a gallop, and he must always be brought back to a walk and stopped and caressed if he begins to grow excited, and not allowed to run because he would grow much more excited and so on indefinitely. Corte da Pavia said that he taught the war horse to be courageous by simulating a combat with another rider who always drew back. He taught the horse to allow himself to be ridden by the master only, by having him ridden by others who ill-treated and punished him and allowed him to make reactions and pretended to fall from him 288 PEAR whilst the master when riding him always cares- sed him. This is right. It was giving good asso- ciations to the master and bad associations to the others, but it does not attain its purpose if the rider is a skilled liorseman. To accustom the horse to the motor car these proceedings will be useful. Place a motor in the centre of an open space so that it is conspicuous in the full light of day. Have the horse (of course without blinkers) led round the motor at the di- stance of twenty yards by two or three men with two or three lunges to the cavesson. Walk the horse very slowly and quietly, giving the soothing voice and stroking him while walking. Stop now and then to make him more quiet and meanwhile repeat caressing. The men leading him must be acquainted with the horse and have his confidence. They must not have ill-treated him and be feared by the horse. Gradually let the men leading him round de- scribe smaller circles and (with the gradation requi- red by each particular horse to overcome fear) stop at last at a few yards distance from the motor. FEAR 289 After standing awhile and stroking him, with the soothing voice sound, the men must turn towards the motor and draw the horse behind them but they must not force him to approach the motor if they see some reluctance to do so. This will be exceptional because the horse has the men before him and between him and the motor. If it happens, the horse must be walked round again for some time. Forcing him to approach by material force would excite his fear and teach him to be afraid instead of teaching him not to be afraid. If by a rare case he is not willing to approach the motor the first day, he will be willing another day. Some one sitting on the motor who knows the horse and who welcomes him with the soothing voice-sound will facilitate his approaching. The man sitting on the motor caresses him and may give him oats in the box used for that purpose and known to the horse. To gradually induce the horse to eat oats on an object of fear is to give him a very good association with that object. i To facilitate approaching the motor by a very timorous horse his groom may present him the 19 290 FEAR oat-box at two or three yards distance from the ) motor which will give him the idea of advancing. ^ When the horse advances the groom must stepi backwards towards the motor to induce him to! keep on advancing, still holding the box and letting him have a few oats. After a while the gi'oom mayt retire still more and place the box on the ground i! close to the motor or on the motor itself. These* operations have the object of giving the horse good, associations with the motor. The men leading the> horse with the lounges, the man sitting on the motor and the groom being all close together withe the horse, he Avill be soon persuaded to approach.: The noise of the motor makes an impression on i all horses. It must be tirst heard from a distance the horse standing still with two or three men with* lounges. The men circle round leading the horseii with the lounges and stop now and then before the noise begins, as the tirst times he must hear! it standing still, so that he may remain quiet.? Hearing the noise while walking might excite him.] After he is accustomed to hear it while standing! still he will be kept walking to hear it while* FEAR 291 walking. When he is accustomed to hear it circling from some distance he must hear it gradually nearer and standing behind the motor and on the side of the motor. After this has been done for an hour for several days and the horse is nearing the motor decidedly and is not afraid of the noise, the men leading him must be gradually diminished till only one leads with only one lounge and with- out the man who sat on the motor and without the groom. When the horse is accustomed to the sight and noise of the motor standing still, he should be ac- customed to the motor moving. Have the motor moved very slowly so that the horse may be led to follow it by the men with the lounges at a slow walk. The walk must be very slow. Were the horse to be obliged to follow at a quick walk he would grow excited. After he has been walking for some time behind the motor, stop it and have him led forward passing close to it. Then stop the horse and move the motor passing close to where the horse stands and stop it some yards forward. Repeat this several times and then make the horse walk close 292 FEAR to the moving motor, the man who leads him being between the horse and the motor and later the horse next to tlie motor and the man ontside. When become familiar with these things lead the horse in one direction and move the motor in the reverse so that they circle round meeting, and do this exercise for an hour for many days till the horse is quite indifferent to meeting the motor. These proceedings are intended to show him that i the motor moving does him no harm. To accustom the liorse to the motor moving with velocity choose a mile or two of a broad and , straight road that the horse may see the motor * coming from afar. Place the horse at one end and i the motor at the other and have them meeting | many times with increased velocity but only in- creasing velocity if the horse shows no excitement in meeting it with less velocity. In doing this the , horse must be mounted and quietly ridden and for some time must meet the motor only at a walk that he may not get excited, and then at a trot, » not at a gallop, as many horses are excited by the i gallop. Repeat these meetings for many days till i PI)AR 293 the horse shows himself indifferent to a good deal of velocity but not very great. These proceedings may remove the fear of the horse when the motor moves at no great speed. A great speed will allways frighten horses as it frigh- tens us. To be persuaded of this try to stand at a yard' s length from the rails when an express train passes instead of standing twenty yards off. For this reason motors going at a great rate will be always dangerous to people riding and driving. Horses that are overworked and are used in the crowded streets of a large town are less liable to be seized by the feeling of fear especially when there are two together. A single horse on an iso- lated road will be easily taken by panic on seeing a motor coming against him at great speed. Having put the horse in confidence, in obe- dience and taught him to go in union in the hand, and having accustomed him not to be afraid of many objects we may hope to remain his master. We cannot be quite sure because a great fear may be excited by some object or animal and then the horse may obey his instinct of fear more than our aids and punishments. 294 PEAE Tear, if great, is a very serious matter in hor- ses, because as it is an involuntary nervous com- motion even good treatment att'ords little remedy, and has but slight influence. If there is no success in removing it in the way above explained this means that it is an ill without remedy, and there- fore an ill to which we must resign ourselves, and it is useless to allow oneself to be overcome by anger and to punish the horse, because this only increases his fear. The real remedy is to em- ploy the horse for slow draught purposes. y^ ^^A^WrA^Ws^^Ws^f^W^^W^/fN^*^^^ REACTIONS. « Reacfions » are actions of the horse directed against the rider, who by his aids requires him to perform some movement, or by his punishments seeks to force him to make this movement. They may even be made with the idea of attacking. They may be called reactions because the horse acts against the actions of the rider which excite and provoke him to revolt against them. These material reactions are manifestations of mental opposition, of resentment, of anger, of hatred to- wards the rider. The horse which has acquired the habit of ma- king one or more reactions on the application of some aids or punishments or in some particular circumstances or places is called vicious. He has 29G REACTIONS acquired this Labit from Laving seen once or se- veral times that with his reactions he got the bet- ter of the rider and made the rider cease to give him aids and punishements. Various reactions. The horse may react in various ways and va- rious degrees, for various reasons and in connection with various circumstances. The reactions here re- ferred to are not those of the colt, from which we are not entitled to require that he should be- have well until, after the proper period of instruc- tion, he has been rendered confident, obedient and resolute in going, but those which the horse know- ingly makes against the rider through not desi- ring to perform a required movement or owing to ill-will. The horse may react by rearing — kicking — raising the croup — by jumping sideways or back- ing — by standing still, refusing to go — buck- ing — running awaj^ — The reactions made when the body of the horse is straight are stronger but REACTIONS 29 f those in trayerse cause the rider to lose his ba- lance more easily. General Causes of Reactions. As the obedience of the horse is due to his mind being in a state of confidence and subjection, and his body in the position in which he can be prevented from making actions of his own will, the general causes owing to which the horse makes reactions are — the moral condition of want of confidence and subjection, in which he rebels against and feels enmity towards the rider; — his not being willing to yield and obey the aids of the hand and the aids for stimulating him to go. His want of obedience and subjection is the cause of his desiring to follow his own instincts, and to make reactions if the rider endeavours to prevent him from doing so. His having been able to make a reaction shows him that the rider is not capable of preventing him, that he can do so; it opens his eyes to his own strength, to his superio- rity over the rider, and he always desires to do it 298 BEAOTIONS and does it wheDever provoked. His having made this discovery and retaining the memor}' of it gi- ves rise in him to the impulse to repeat the reac- tions even without provocation or any special reason except that of his remembering having been able to do so, and from repeating them many times he acquires the habit. Save in the case of vicious-natured horses it is for the most part the rider who by his wrong treatment has made the horse his enemy, and by his lack of skill has allowed him to understand that the rider is feeble and that he can do as he desires, can react and conquer. Special cmises of reactions. The ditferent ways in which the horse may be excited to anger are chiefly the particular causes of most of his reactions ; they are — the hand aids which hurt his mouth ; — the aids and pu- nishments for exciting going inflicted when, not being in an obedient frame of mind, he does not tolerate them and by them is excited to anger and REACTIONS 299 to revolt ; — his being forced by the rider by way of punishment to perform some movement from which his body experiences pain owing to his not being prepaired for it ; — the particular condition of excessive sensitiveness which makes him feel excitement and anger even from actions by which other horses are not excited, such as experiencing a tickling sensation or being irritated by the spur ; — his being in a state of idleness and exuberance of spirits from which he becomes very excitable not tolerating many actions which he tolerates when he is not in this condition, and feels the need to jump; — his being excited by anything which hurts him, by the bit, the saddle, the crup- per, tight girths er tiiiie to im-pede reactions. The occasion for making i^eactions hiay also h'e | due to special circumstances which give rise in the hWrse to the idea VO 1> ^ H e ^ © (> ?l H 9 OVH 9f l^tH H O^ THE BRIDLING OF HOKSES A^D THE USE OF THE CUEB-BIT. In the XYI. Century first Oesare Fiasclii a nobleman of Ferrara (1539) and after him Pirr' An- tonio Ferrari a nobleman of Naples (1598) Avrote on the Bridling of horses. Fra Giovanni Paolo d' Aquino, knight of St. John of Jerusalem (Udine 1636) mentions the latter and not the former pro- bably because he was, like himself, a native of the Kingdom of Naples. The Bitter von Weyrother, head of the austrian militar}^ riding school (Vienna 1810), said what was said by Fiaschi before him, but Weyrother employed modern expressions and invented the measuring curb-bit. Fiaschi said moreover that when adapting the bit to a horse besides the shape of his mouth, ON BRIDLING 313 bars, tongue, cavity of the mouth, palate, thickness of the lips, it is necessary to take into account the conformation of his body and neck, the strength or the weakness of the fore part, the back and the feet. He very judiciously remarked also that the curb-bit alone is not sufficient to make hor- ses go well but it is necessary to have them tho- roughly trained in advance to go well and lightly and that only then the head and the neck could be drawn in the right position which their con- formation allows. He might have added that tlie rider must know how to apply the aids of the hand. Regarding the question as to whether the upper cheeks of the curb-bit are more adapted to raise the head, when long or short, the Cavaliere d'A- quiiio said that the upper cheeks if shorter gave greater action to the curb-bit and therefore had greater power to raise the head. It is understood that to raise the head the curb-bit should be made to act by the hand in a raising direction. The object of the curb-bit is to subject the head, neck and bod}^ to the action of the hand in order to control the horse better than with the 314 ON BRIDLING snaffle and to compel him to execute better, with more union, the movements that are desired. The curb-bit acts as a secondary lever in which the power is the hand by means of the reiiis, the re- sistance is in the bars on which th^ cannon is pl^ ced, and the point of support is the curb which makes the bit act. The cannon is the part of the bit which is pla- ced in the mouth and keeps the cheeks firm. The upper cheeks are the pieces above the cannon, the lower cheeks are the pieces that are under- neatli. The cannon would be preferable if hollow, because it is lighter, than if solid, but if hollow it is not so strong and the bit must be strong. It must not be possible that it could break and the horse go free. The cannon must be placed on the bars of the lower jaw between the tusks and molar teeth without touching either. The curb should lie well flat round the outer jaw just above the chin so that when the curb-bit is made to act the curb should not rise if possible. Tlie rising of the curb and its keeping higher than it should be above the chin may be caused by the OK BRIDLING 315 upper cheeks of the curb-bit being long or by the horse having a very low chin or by the cannon being high in the mouth, and these three causes may concur together. The cannon may be made to stay a little higher or lower in the space between the tusks of the lower jaw and the molar teeth through making the head piece of the bridle shorter or longer. The action of the curb-bit tends to bring down the head and more so if the cannon is placed lo- wer in the space between the tusks and molar teeth and less if higher. If it is required that the cannon be high in the mouth on account of the horse's tendency to drop his head the curb will stay higher, but this cannot be altered. The curb must be smooth and of a moderate breadth so as not to cause pain to the jaw for the action of the curb-bit ought to be only on the bars and therefore the curb ought to serve only as a support to the action of the bit. If it were uneven and narrow it would cause the horse pain. If it is seen that the curb gives pain to the horse a leather strap can be put in its stead. 316 ON BRrDLING Curbs with points to cause much pain are used sometimes to force horses with hard mouths to give in. If it succeeds with some horses having hard mouths it may be used, but generally the want of effect of the ordinary curb-bit proceeds from the unskilful hand which allows itself to be weighed upon — or from the stiffness of the body, — or from the bad action of the horse which when going holds his body in a low position — or from weak- ness of the backbone, legs and feet. The curb must be several links longer than what is needed in order to be able to take hold of it with the fingers and put it on its hook and it should be used long at first and shortened gra- dually in order to accustom the horse to its action by degrees. The curb must be sufficiently long to allow the lower cheeks of the bit to go back at least one third of a right angle from the line of the opening of the mouth and, in many cases, to act more gradually, even half a right angle accor- ding as it may be found useful for certain horses and according to tlieir degree of sensibility. A very short curb keeping the lower cheeks in the direc- ON BRIDLING 317 tion of the mouth and not letting them go back has a very strong action, but not gradual. The straight cannon acts flat on the two bars. The curved cannon acts on the outside edges of the bars and gives a little freedom to the tongue, but is more felt by the horse because it acts on a smaller surface of the bars. Eor the same reason the thin cannon has more action than the thick one as it acts upon a smaller surface of the bars. The several curves of the cannon are, according to Weyrother, to give freedom to the tongue so that the tongue is not caught between the bars and the bit with the object that the bit be felt more, as he holds that the bars are more sensitive than the tongue. He says that if the cavity of the mouth is large enough to enable the tongue to settle inside and not receive any pressure the curb-bit acts with greater power. If the tongue does not settle in the cavity but gets jammed between the cannon and the bars, tlie action is smaller. My master Francesco Sayler remarked that the gums are much less sensitive than the tongue and 318 ON BRIBLINCJ that the pressitre bf the bit oil the tongne would be felt more by thte horse than the pressure oU the bars. This is a reason for believing that greater freedom must be given to the tongtie so that it should not feel pressure and pain and that the horse should feel less pain fronl the action of the curb-bit which is in condradictioU to what is sta- ted by Weyrother. To enable the tongue to fit in the arc of the cannon which is intended for it, if the plane of the arc is in the same plane with that of the cheeks of the curb-bit, (as curb-bits are usually made) the lower cheeks should be made to come very much back to form a right angle with the bars. To allow this it would be necessary to have the curb very long in which case no lever action could be made and therefore no curb-bit would exist. This inconvenience may be remedied in the follo- wing way. In order that the arc of the cannon should give the tongue all possible freedom without the curb being very long, the plane of the arc of the cannon should make half a right angle with the plane of the cheeks. Then if the lower cheeks ON BRIDLING 319 of tlie curb-bit fire drawn back by the reihs so as to act at half a right angle, from the position in which they are in the same line with the opening of the mouth, the plane of the arc will become ^rpendicular to the bars and will give the tongue the uttoost possible freedom. The curve of the cannon which is to give free- dom to the tougiite must have a smaller opening than thte breadth bt the cavity of the bars so that the cannon should ke'ep oti the burs. If the opening of the canridn were to be larger than the breadth of the cavity of the bars the cannon would not re- main stationary over the bars but would fall on one Md'e of the bars thus wounding some part of them. If the arc which gives freedom to the tongue were elliptical instead of round, one would think that it would be more convenient to the horse's tougue, as it Would leave the tongue in a position less different from its natural position which is tha^ of being extended in the sense of its breadth. If the tongue is kept curved by a round and nar- row arc it seems that it would feel an uncomfor- table sensation. Both arcs will be more or less 320 ON BRIDLING uncomfortable as they keep the tongue in an unna- tural position. The freedom of the tongue is required more in the case of horses which have the cavity of the bars narrow and a large tongue as in this case the tongue does not fit in the cavity but comes out more. If the cavity of the bars is narrow and the tongue large, much freedom of the tongue is requi- red but not so much as to make the arc touch the palate. If the cavity of the bars is wide and the tongue small, it fits in properly and has no pres- sure from the bit and the bit does not require any freedom for the tongue. Tlie measuring curb-bit invented by Weyrother is very convenient for taking the breadth of the cannon as it can be made narrower and wider; and especially for trying the length to be given to the upper and lower cheeks because these can be made shorter or longer to ascertain which degree of action is best suited to the sensibility of the diffe- rent mouths. The cannon should be of the same breadth as the mouth ; if larger it does not remain firm and if narrower it presses the lips. ON BRIDLING 321 The proportion of the length between the upper and lower cheeks gives a proportionate power of action to the bit by means of the curb. The shor- ter the cheeks are above the cannon and the lon- ger they are under the cannon the more the curb- bit acts. Weyrother says that the upper cheeks must be equal to the depth of the ca^dty of the bars and the lower cheeks double, but to find a bit which suits a horse it is better to try the upper and lower cheeks of different lengths and see which length gives the curb-bit the power of action which will suit him best without causing him too much pain. A degree of pain must be caused so that he should find the necessity of giving way. If the curb-bit can give no pain at all the horse will not obey it. As a rule, the horse, and all other animals yield to a brief infliction of pain and revolt against pain if prolonged. Revolting against brief pain may arise if the horse is particularly excitable, but usually revolting results from provocation of the rider who draws the reins tightly and continuously thus giving the horse continual pain. If we yield 21 322 ON BRIDLING the baud to a liorse immediately after he has yield- ed his head, neck or body to a short action of the hand, this gives him to understand that by yielding the head, neck or body he ceases to feel any pain in the mouth. If continual pain is given by the hand to a horse who is very sensitive he becomes excitable, stops, backs or rears for it is his instinct to try to free himself fi'om a conti- nual pain. This is the reason that the action of the hand must be used intermittently and not continuously. In order to find a bit which suits a horse, the mouth of the horse must be examined so far as it concerns the bars, breadth, depth of the cavity of the bars, thickness of the lips, tongue, etc., and a curb-bit should be tried which seems most sui- table to him according to the principles explained. If we see that it has too little or too much action we should try a curb-bit without freedom to the tongue and one with freedom to see which he obeys best. To find out the proper proportion of length of the upper and lower cheeks Weyrother' s measuring curb-bit is particularly useful because witli it Ave ON BRIDLING 323 can alter the cheeks as Ave will. If the measuring curb-bit is not available we should try several bits with cheeks of difterent lengths. The effect of the different curb-bits must be tried on every single horse and we must not trust absolutely to the abstract theory because usually the lean and pointed bars are very sensitive while those fleshy and round are little sensitive but there are mouths which, to judge from a superficial inspection, appear less sensitive, whereas they are more so and there are other mouths which appear very sensitive while they are not so, and there are horses which are more sensitive about the bars than in the tongue, and others that are the contrary. As to the effect of the curb-bit one must bear in mind that a bod}' on a small base is drawn more easily than a body on a large one. Thus a horse can be drawn any way it is required if his body has been made agile and pliant and if we have accustomed him to go in a good position and collected. Besides this, a study must be made of the way of giving the aids of the hand and of gi- ving them proportionally to the sensitiveness of each single horse. 324 ON BRIDLING The degree of power to be given to the curb-bit should be prescribed by the degree of sensitiveness of the horse' s mouth but also by the degree of skill of the hands of the rider who is to ride a given horse. The curb-bit may have much power if the rider has light and skilful hands: it should not have much power if the rider' s hands are hard and unskilful. The curb-bit must have such power that the action of the hand can lead and regulate the horse without causing him too much pain. If the horse is very sensitive less action must be given to tlie curb-bit and less action to the hand. It is neces- sary however, to give the curb-bit the possibility of acting with power because in case of excitement and fright the horse feels the aids of the hand given him much less than when he is not under these impressions. If the horse does not feel much, considerable power must be given to the curb-bit in order that the hand should have strength enough to compel him to execute what is required of him and to command him. • As a summary of the essential things on tliis ON BRIDLING 825 subject it may be useful to repeat that the mate- rial etfect of the various actions of the liantls bj^ means of the reins on the curb-bit is to cause a certain degree of pain to the mouth (more or less) in order that the horse, to make the pain cease, may be willing to do one of these things : — dimi- nish his motion or stop ; — yield with head, neck and body ; — assume a particular attitude of head, neck, and body ; — bend head, neck or body ; — go to one side and backward ; — do some other par- ticular action; — put his body in a collected position. The several actions of the hands have also the eifect of mechanically indicating to the horse the various positions in whicli it is desired that he should place himself and of inducing him mecha- nically to assume these positions. As soon as the horse yields to the actions of the hands and does that Avhich by these actions lias been demanded of him, the actions of the 1 lands should cease in order that the horse may understand that he causes the pain given to his mouth by the bit to cease ivJieti he yields his head, 336 ON BRIDLING ueck, and body or when lie i^erforms tlie other movements required of liim and indicated to liim by the various actions of the hands. The actions of the hands may be repeated many times ^vith a moment's interval and as often as is necessary to obtain tlie proposed effect but always intermittently and not continuously so as to pre- serve sensibility to the mouth of the horse and not to incite him to use his head, neck and body to defeat them. Only ^vhen the horse goes collected and in good leaning \:\\(i action of the hands is continuous but in that case it should cause very little discomfort to his mouth so that it mav be easily tolerated as if the horse experienced acute pain in the moutli it v>()uld get injured or lie would be excited to make reactions or both eifects might follow or the mouth would become insensible. At the moment when the horse is seized with fear we may hold him with strong leaning and even punish him with the hand in order to prevent him from turning back but it should be done only at that moment and as an evil to avoid a greater evil. ON BETDLTNG 32' We should remember that Avhen the horse is heated by motion he can bear even considerable pain in his mouth without making reactions because being heated and roused he does not feel the pain but the bars become sore and the horse cannot then be used with the curb or the snaffle. The same happens with the saddle and Avith the collar which sometimes cause sores that are noticed only at the end of the journey wlien saddle and harness are removed, because the horse gave no sign of feeling pain while working. With the snaffle not much elfect can be made but a strong effect can be made with the curb. Another thing to be noted is tlie difference between the action of the hand for giving leaning and the action of the hand for stopping. The oppo- sition of the hands made for the sake of giving leaning to the horse and of keeping him in good leaning ought not to be confused with the opposi- tion made for the sake of stopping, in order that the horse may not mistake the one for the other. Tlie opposition made to give leaning and keep tlie horse in good leaning is elastic and continuous. 328 ON BErbLiNO The opposition made for stopping is gradual, increa- sing, ending in an absolute opposition. The elastic opposition made to keep the horse in leaning tends to make him continue his motion and not to make him stop, because it keeps the body of the horse in a constant position of motion and he must change this position for stopping. The horse kept in leaning tends to increase it and to weigh on the hand. It should not last long and ought to cease before the horse weighs on the hands. The martingale is of great advantage for con- trolling the oppositions of head and neck, as it gives a point of support, a fulcrum, to the actions of the hands on both reins and is a safeguard in riding an unknown horse and any horse. An en- glish author (I think Berenger) ascribes tliis useful invention to Evangelista Corte, uncle to Olaudio. The nse of the hands has been minutely explained in the Functions of the hands in riding. The general method of instruction is to ride the colt directly and to teach him to lean directl}^ on the snaffle from the beginning. This has the advantage that it will be possible to ride him in ON BRIDLING 329 a short time but the result will be that the colt will tend to too much leaning, his hind legs will never be brought Avell forward to the maximum relatively to his forehand; and his gaits will not be developed to the maximum. To make the horse supple, to develop well his gaits, to make him bring well forward his hind legs through proper instruction with the lounge without the weight of a rider on his back and without any leaning on the dumb-jockey is a lon- ger method but has not the above inconveniencies. The dumb-jockey is an instrument which teaches the horse to press against the hands and makes him learn the bad habit of leaning on them. The instruction with the lounge ought to be with a free head. Then the spine and all limbs are allo- wed free movements and can acquire suppleness and the hind legs can be brought well forward relati- vely to the forehand. The rules for this instruction are given in chapter X. of l'Arte di Oavalcare and the working of the horse's machine is explain- ed in chapter TV. REMARKS OK TUR:N^IKG WHICH IS MOVING OX A OURYE. When standing on a liorizontal plane witli the weight of the body on the fonr legs placed j)er- pendicularly tlie horse cannot slip. He can slip Avlien the legs move to put the body in motion, as when the body is in motion it is thrown for- ward by the legs and the legs by their movement l)ecome oblique, out of tlieir perpendicular, and in giving the impulsion they perform an oblique action from forward to backward. The horse is more likely to slip in turning than when going straight as in turning he must incline the centre of gravity of his body to the ON TURNIN« 331 side to which he is turning and thus the legs be- come oblique and bent outwards besides the other inclination that they have from forward to back- wards when they are in motion on a straight line. The risk of slipping is greatly increased if tlie tur- ning is on an incline because the weight of the body in that case weighs more either on the fore- legs or on the hind-legs and thus a new obliquity is formed to be added to the two others. When turning at a walking pace, as there is no speed nor strain, the risk of slipping is small provided the ground is flat and not very smooth. If the ground is very smooth it is easy for the horse to slip even in turning at a walking pace and more so if there should be an incline up or down and most of all to the outside. When turning at a trot a horse is apt to slip even if the ground is not very smooth as turning at a trot is done with a fast movement of the legs throwing the body upwards and forward and cau- sing at the same time the body to bend greatly to the inner side and hence the legs become very oblique sideways and outwards. 332 ON TURNING The following" ways of turning facilitate alij)- ping as they increase the oblique position of the body and legs — When the horse while turning ])ends his neck outwards. — While trotting at a fast pace. — If turning sharp. — Smooth ground. — Ground which instead of being flat slopes to the side opposite to which the horse is turning. — The body of the rider bent forward. — To give lea- ning on the reins to the horse when turning. — To draw the outer rein while turning. To make it possible to reduce the risk of slip- j)ing it is advisable when turning to do the con- trary of all the things which make slipping easier. — To take away from the horse any leaning on the hand and make him go on himself in good position detached from the hand before turning and in turning. — To slacken the walk and the trot and make him trot slowly in a good collected po- sition before turning and in turning. — The rider not to bend his body forward, but rather backward. — While turning, to draw the horse' s head to the side to which it is intended to turn by short pres- sures of the rein on this side, but not with any ON TURNING 333 leaning on the hand. — If the incline of the ground is on the outer side to effect a counterpoise to the weight of the horse' s body which, in order to turn, must be bent inwards thus throwing his legs in an oblique position on the outside, the rider must weigh more with his body on the outer side. — Always to make the turning as wide as possible leading the horse well to the outer side before tur- ning and when turning continue to turn. — Usually when turning people keep the turning narrow at first and think to widen the turning by drawing the horse outwards with the outer rein. By that they draw his head and neck outside and his body crossways and more oblique but do not make the turning wider. — The horse should have been instructed with the lounge as by that he is made pliant, agile and stronger and learns to support more quickly the centre of gravity of his body when bent forward, backward or on one side accor- ding to the actions he has to execute. Thus he avoids slipping, and recovers himself more readily if he should slip. — After the proper instruction with the lounge to give more stength and stability 334 ON TUBNING U> the legs, the horse should be exercised in walk- ing very slowly with a free head on ascents and descents, on unequal ground and across country. The Eki). D -9 0. O^ * « 1^ - « • < V ^ h:^ ^^ ^^ ^ Jfe^- %^ / ^'-^ > .^' ■ft." -^ * -~/V>-2-, f O * V «^ 1 * o, ^^ •Ao^ •o V*^ '^0^ *' -^^^^ %^K^" j'^\ "^y^s ^^^\ ^M ^0 4 o>.