The Arabian Art of Taming and Training Wild and Vicious Horses by P. R. Kincaid
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P. R. Kincaid >> The Arabian Art of Taming and Training Wild and Vicious Horses
Yet the horse is never well satisfied when he is about anything that has
frightened him, as when he is standing with his nose to it. And, in nine
cases out of ten, you will see some of that same wild look about him
again, as he turns to walk from it. And you will, probably, see him
looking back very suspiciously as he walks away, as though he thought it
might come after him yet. And, in all probability, he will have to go back
and make another examination before he is satisfied. But he will
familiarize himself with it, and, if he should run in that lot a few days,
the robe that frightened him so much at first, will be no more to him than
a familiar stump.
SUPPOSITIONS ON THE SENSE OF SMELLING.
We might very naturally suppose, from the fact of the horse's applying his
nose to every thing new to him, that he always does so for the purpose of
smelling these objects. But I believe that it is as much or more for the
purpose of feeling; and that he makes use of his nose or muzzle, (as it is
sometimes called.) as we would of our hands; because it is the only organ
by which he can touch or feel anything with much susceptibility.
I believe that he invariably makes use of the four senses, seeing,
hearing, smelling and feeling, in all of his examinations, of which the
sense of feeling is, perhaps, the most important. And I think that in the
experiment with the robe, his gradual approach and final touch with his
nose was as much for the purpose of feeling, as anything else, his sense
of smell being so keen, that it would not be necessary for him to touch
his nose against anything in order to get the proper scent; for it is said
that a horse can smell a man the distance of a mile. And, if the scent of
the robe was all that was necessary, he could get that several rods off.
But, we know from experience, that if a horse sees and smells a robe a
short distance from him, he is very much frightened, (unless he is used to
it,) until he touches or feels it with his nose; which is a positive proof
that feeling is the controlling sense in this case.
PREVAILING OPINION OF HORSEMEN.
It is a prevailing opinion among horsemen generally, that the sense of
smell is the governing sense of the horse. And Faucher, as well as others,
have, with that view, got up receipts of strong smelling oils, etc., to
tame the horse, sometimes using the chesnut of his leg, which they dry,
grind into powder and blow into his nostrils. Sometimes using the oil of
rhodium, organnnum, etc.; that are noted for their strong smell. And
sometimes they scent the hands with the sweat from under the arm, or blow
their breath into his nostrils, etc., etc. All of which, as far as the
scent goes have no effect whatever in gentling the horse, or conveying any
idea to his mind; though the works that accompany these efforts--handling
him, touching him about the nose and head, and patting him, as they direct
you should, after administering the articles, may have a very great
effect, which they mistake to be the effect of the ingredients used. And
Faucher, in his work entitled, "The Arabian art of taming Horses," page
17, tells us how to accustom a horse to a robe, by administering certain
articles to his nose; and goes on to say, that these articles must first
be applied to the horse's nose before you attempt to break him, in order
to operate successfully.
Now, reader, can you, or any one else, give one single reason how scent
can convey any idea to the horse's mind of what we want him to do? If not,
then of course strong scents of any kind are of no account in taming the
unbroken horse. For every thing that we get him to do of his own accord,
without force, must be accomplished by some means of conveying our ideas
to his mind. I say to my horse "go 'long" and he goes; "ho!" and he stops:
because these two words, of which he has learned the meaning by the tap
of the whip, and the pull of the rein that first accompanied them, convey
the two ideas to his mind of go and stop.
Faucher, or no one else, can ever learn the horse a single thing by the
means of a scent alone.
How long do you suppose a horse would have to stand and smell of a bottle
of oil before he would learn to bend his knee and make a bow at your
bidding, "go yonder and bring your hat," or "come here and lay down?" Thus
you see the absurdity of trying to break or tame the horse by the means of
receipts for articles to smell of, or medicine to give him, of any kind
whatever.
The only science that has ever existed in the world, relative to the
breaking of horses, that has been of any account, is that true method
which takes them in their native state, and improves their intelligence.
POWEL'S SYSTEM OF APPROACHING THE COLT.
But, before we go further, I will give you Willis J. Powel's system of
approaching a wild colt, as given by him in a work published in Europe,
about the year 1811, on the "Art of taming wild horses." He says, "A horse
is gentled by my secret, in from two to sixteen hours." The time I have
most commonly employed has been from four to six hours. He goes on to say:
"Cause your horse to be put in a small yard, stable, or room. If in a
stable or room, it ought to be large in order to give him some exercise
with the halter before you lead him out. If the horse belong to that class
which appears only to fear man, you must introduce yourself gently into
the stable, room, or yard, where the horse is. He will naturally run from
you, and frequently turn his head from you; but you must walk about
extremely slow and softly, so that he can see you whenever he turns his
head towards you, which he never fails to do in a short time, say in a
quarter of an hour. I never knew one to be much longer without turning
towards me.
"At the very moment he turns his head, hold out your left hand towards
him, and stand perfectly still, keeping your eyes upon the horse, watching
his motions if he makes any. If the horse does not stir for ten or fifteen
minutes, advance as slowly as possible, and without making the least
noise, always holding out your left hand, without any other ingredient in
it than that what nature put in it." He says, "I have made use of certain,
ingredients before people, such as the sweat under my arm, etc., to
disguise the real secret, and many believed that the docility to which
the horse arrived in so short a time, was owing to these ingredients; but
you see from this explanation that they were of no use whatever. The
implicit faith placed in these ingredients, though innocent of themselves,
becomes 'faith without works.' And thus men remained always in doubt
concerning this secret. If the horse makes the least motion when you
advance toward him, stop, and remain perfectly still until he is quiet.
Remain a few moments in this condition, and then advance again in the same
slow and imperceptible manner. Take notice: if the horse stirs, stop
without changing your position. It is very uncommon for the horse to stir
more than once after you begin to advance, yet there are exceptions. He
generally keeps his eyes steadfast on you, until you get near enough to
touch him on the forehead. When you are thus near to him, raise slowly,
and by degrees, your hand, and let it come in contact with that part just
above the nostrils as lightly as possible. If the horse flinches, (as many
will,) repeat with great rapidity these light strokes upon the forehead,
going a little further up towards his ears by degrees, and descending with
the same rapidity until he will let you handle his forehead all over. Now
let the strokes be repeated with more force over all his forehead,
descending by lighter strokes to each side of his head, until you can
handle that part with equal facility. Then touch in the same light manner,
making your hands and fingers play around the lower part of the horse's
ears, coming down now and then to his forehead, which may be looked upon
as the helm that governs all the rest.
"Having succeeded in handling his ears, advance towards the neck, with the
same precautions, and in the same manner; observing always to augment the
force of the strokes whenever the horse will permit it. Perform the same
on both sides of the neck, until he lets you take it in your arms without
flinching.
"Proceed in the same progressive manner to the sides, and then to the back
of the horse. Every time the horse shows any nervousness return
immediately to the forehead as the true standard, patting him with your
hands, and from thence rapidly to where you had already arrived, always
gaining ground a considerable distance farther on every time this happens.
The head, ears, neck and body being thus gentled, proceed from the back to
the root of the tail.
"This must be managed with dexterity, as a horse is never to be depended
on that is skittish about the tail. Let your hand fall lightly and rapidly
on that part next to the body a minute or two, and then you will begin to
give it a slight pull upwards every quarter of a minute. At the same time
you continue this handling of him, augment the force of the strokes, as
well as the raising of the tail, until you can raise it and handle it with
the greatest ease, which commonly happens in a quarter of an hour in most
horses; in others almost immediately, and in some much longer. It now
remains to handle all his legs. From the tail come back again to the head,
handle it well, as likewise the ears, breast, neck, etc., speaking now and
then to the horse. Begin by degrees to descend to the legs, always
ascending and descending, gaining ground every time you descend until you
get to his feet.
"Talk to the horse in Latin, Greek, French, English, or Spanish, or in any
other language you please; but let him hear the sound of your voice, which
at the beginning of the operation is not quite so necessary, but which I
have always done in making him lift up his feet. Hold up your foot--'Live
la pied'--'Alza el pie'--'Aron ton poda,' etc., at the same time lift his
foot with your hand. He soon becomes familiar with the sounds, and will
hold his foot up at command. Then proceed to the hind feet and go on in
the same manner, and in a short time the horse will let you lift them and
even take them up in your arms.
"All this operation is no magnetism, no galvanism; it is merely taking
away the fear a horse generally has of a man, and familiarizing the animal
with his master; as the horse doubtless experiences a certain pleasure
from this handling, he will soon become gentle under it, and show a very
marked attachment to his keeper."
REMARKS ON POWEL'S TREATMENT HOW TO GOVERN HORSES OF ANY KIND.
These instructions are very good, but not quite sufficient for horses of
all kinds, and for haltering and leading the colt; but I have inserted it
here, because it gives some of the true philosophy of approaching the
horse, and of establishing confidence between man and horse. He speaks
only of the kind that fear man.
To those who understand the philosophy of horsemanship, these are the
easiest trained; for when we have a horse that is wild and lively, we can
train him to our will in a very short time; for they are generally quick
to learn, and always ready to obey. But there is another kind that are of
a stubborn or vicious disposition, and, although they are not wild, and do
not require taming, in the sense it is generally understood, they are just
as ignorant as a wild horse, if not more so, and need to be learned just
as much; and in order to have them obey quickly, it is very necessary that
they should be made to fear their masters; for, in order to obtain perfect
obedience from any horse, we must first have him fear us, for our motto is
_fear, love, and obey_; and we must have the fulfilment of the first two
before we can expect the latter, and it is by our philosophy of creating
fear, love and confidence, that we govern to our will every kind of a
horse whatever.
Then, in order to take horses as we find them, or all kinds, and to train
them to our likings, we will always take with us, when we go into a stable
to train a colt, a long switch whip, (whale-bone buggy whips is the best,)
with a good silk cracker, so as to cut keen and make a sharp report,
which, if handled with dexterity, and rightly applied, accompanied with a
sharp, fierce word, will be sufficient to enliven the spirits of any
horse. With this whip in your right hand, with the lash pointing backward,
enter the stable alone. It is a great disadvantage in training a horse, to
have any one in the stable with you; you should be entirely alone, so as
not to have nothing but yourself to attract his attention. If he is wild
you will soon see him in the opposite side of the stable from you; and now
is the time to use a little judgement. I would not want for myself, more
than half or three-quarters of an hour to handle any kind of a colt, and
have him running about in the stable after me; though I would advise a new
beginner to take more time, and not to be in too much of a hurry. If you
have but one colt to gentle, and are not particular about the length of
time you spend, and have not had any experience in handling colts, I would
advise you to take Mr. Powel's method at first, till you gentle him, which
he says takes from two to six hours. But, as I want to accomplish the
same, and what is much more, learn the horse to lead in less than one
hour, I shall give you a much quicker process of accomplishing the same
end. Accordingly, when you have entered the stable, stand still and let
your horse look at you a minute or two, and as soon as he is settled in
one place, approach him slowly, with both arms stationary, your right
hanging by your side, holding the whip as directed, and the left bent at
the elbow, with your hand projecting. As you approach him, go not too much
towards his head or croop, so as not to make him move either forward or
backward, thus keeping your horse stationary, if he does move a little
forward or backward, step a little to the right or left very cautiously;
this will keep him in one place, as you get very near him, draw a little
to his shoulder, and stop a few seconds. If you are in his reach he will
turn his head and smell at your hand, not that he has any preference for
your hand, but because that it is projecting, and is the nearest portion
of your body to the horse. This all colts will do, and they will smell of
your naked hand just as quick as they will of any thing that you can put
in it, and with just as good an effect, however much some men have
preached the doctrine of taming horses by giving them the scent articles
from the hand. I have already proved that to be a mistake. As soon as he
touches his nose to your hand, caress him as before directed, always using
a very light, soft hand, merely touching the horse, all ways rubbing the
way the hair lays, so that your hand will pass along as smoothly as
possible. As you stand by his side you may find it more convenient to rub
his neck or the side of his head, which will answer the same purpose, as
rubbing his forehead. Favor every inclination of the horse to smell or
touch you with his nose. Always follow each touch or communication of this
kind with the most tender and affectionate caresses, accompanied with a
kind look, and pleasant word of some sort, such as: Ho! my little boy, ho!
my little boy, pretty boy, nice lady! or something of that kind,
constantly repeating the same words, with the same kind, steady tone of
voice; for the horse soon learns to read the expression of the face and
voice, and will know as well when fear, love or anger, prevails as you
know your own feelings; two of which, _fear and anger_, a good horseman
_should never feel_.
HOW TO PROCEED IF YOUR HORSE IS OF A STUBBORN DISPOSITION.
If your horse, instead of being wild, seems to be of a stubborn or
_mulish_ disposition; if he lays back his ears as you approach him, or
turns his heels to kick you, he has not that regard or fear of man that he
should have, to enable you to handle him quickly and easily; and it might
be well to give him a few sharp cuts with the whip, about the legs, pretty
close to the body. It will crack keen as it plies around his legs, and the
crack of the whip will affect him as much as the stroke; besides one sharp
cut about his legs will affect him more than two or three over his back,
the skin on the inner part of his legs or about his flank being thinner,
more tender than on his back. But do not whip him much, just enough to
scare him, it is not because we want to hurt the horse that we whip him,
we only do it to scare that bad disposition out of him. But whatever you
do, do quickly, sharply and with a good deal of fire, but always without
anger. If you are going to scare him at all you must do it at once. Never
go into a pitch battle with your horse, and whip him until he is mad and
will fight you; you had better not touch him at all, for you will
establish, instead of fear and regard, feelings of resentment, hatred and
ill-will. It will do him no good but an injury, to strike a blow, unless
you can scare him; but if you succeed in scaring him, you can whip him
without making him mad; for fear and anger never exist together in the
horse, and as soon as one is visible, you will find that the other has
disappeared. As soon as you have frightened him so that he will stand up
straight and pay some attention to you, approach him again and caress him
a good deal more than you whipped him, then you will excite the two
controlling passions of his nature, love and fear, and then he will fear
and love you too, and as soon as he learns what to do will quickly obey.
HOW TO HALTER AND LEAD THE COLT.
As soon as you have gentled the colt a little, take the halter in your
left hand and approach him as before, and on the same side that you have
gentled him. If he is very timid about your approaching closely to him,
you can get up to him quicker by making the whip a part of your arm, and
reaching out very gently with the but end of it, rubbing him lightly on
the neck, all the time getting a little closer, shortening the whip by
taking it up in your hand, until you finally get close enough to put your
hands on him. If he is inclined to hold his head from you, put the end of
the halter strap around his neck, drop your whip, and draw very gently; he
will let his neck give, and you can pull his head to you. Then take hold
of that part of the halter, which buckles over the top of his head, and
pass the long side, or that part which goes into the buckle, under his
neck, grasping it on the opposite side with your right hand, letting the
first strap loose--the latter will be sufficient to hold his head to you.
Lower the halter a little, just enough to get his nose into that part
which goes around it, then raise it somewhat, and fasten the top buckle,
and you will have it all right. The first time you halter a colt you
should stand on the left side, pretty well back to his shoulder only
taking hold of that part of the halter that goes around his neck, then
with your hands about his neck you can hold his head to you, and raise the
halter on it without making him dodge by putting your hands about his
nose. You should have a long rope or strap ready, and as soon as you have
the halter on, attach this to it, so that you can let him walk the length
of the stable without letting go of the strap, or without making him pull
on the halter, for if you only let him feel the weight of your hand on the
halter, and give him rope when he runs from you, he will never rear, pull,
or throw himself, yet you will be holding him all the time, and doing more
towards gentling him, than if you had the power to snub him right up, and
hold him to one spot; because, he does not know any thing about his
strength, and if you don't do any thing to make him pull, he will never
know that he can. In a few minutes you can begin to control him with the
halter, then shorten the distance between yourself and the horse, by
taking up the strap in your hand.
As soon as he will allow you to hold him by a tolerably short strap, and
step up to him without flying back, you can begin to give him some idea
about leading. But to do this, do not go before and attempt to pull him
after you, but commence by pulling him very quietly to one side. He has
nothing to brace either side of his neck, and will soon yield to a steady,
gradual pull of the halter; and as soon as you have pulled him a step or
two to one side, step up to him and caress him, and then pull him again,
repeating this operation until you can pull him around in every direction,
and walk about the stable with him, which you can do in a few minutes, for
he will soon think when you have made him step to the right or left a few
times, that he is compelled to follow the pull of the halter, not knowing
that he has the power to resist your pulling; besides, you have handled
him so gently, that he is not afraid of you, and you always caress him
when he comes up to you, and he likes that, and would just as leave follow
you as not. And after he has had a few lessons of that kind, if you turn
him out in a lot he will come up to you every opportunity he gets. You
should lead him about in the stable some time before you take him out,
opening the door, so that he can see out, leading him up to it and back
again, and past it. See that there is nothing on the outside to make him
jump, when you take him out, and as you go out with him, try to make him
go very slowly, catching hold of the halter close to the jaw, with your
left hand, while the right is resting on the top of the neck, holding to
his mane. After you are out with him a little while, you can lead him
about as you please. Don't let any second person come up to you when you
first take him out; a stranger taking hold of the halter would frighten
him, and make him run. There should not even be any one standing near him
to attract his attention, or scare him. If you are alone, and manage him
right, it will not require any more force to lead or hold him than it
would to manage a broke horse.
HOW TO LEAD A COLT BY THE SIDE OF A BROKEN HORSE.
If you should want to lead your colt by the side of another horse, as is
often the case, I would advise you to take your horse into the stable,
attach a second strap to the colt's halter, and lead your horse up
alongside of him. Then get on the broke horse and take one strap around
his breast, under his martingale, (if he has any on,) holding it in your
left hand. This will prevent the colt from getting back too far; besides,
you will have more power to hold him, with the strap pulling against the
horse's breast. The other strap take up in your right hand to prevent him
from running ahead; then turn him about a few times in the stable, and if
the door is wide enough, ride out with him in that position; if not, take
the broke horse out first, and stand his breast up against the door, then
lead the colt to the same spot, and take the straps as before directed,
one on each side of his neck, then let some one start the colt out, and as
he comes out, turn your horse to the left, and you will have them all
right. This is the best way to lead a colt; you can manage any kind of a
colt in this way, without any trouble; for, if he tries to run ahead, or
pull back, the two straps will bring the horses facing each other, so that
you can easily follow up his movements without doing much holding, and as
soon as he stops running backward you are right with him, and all ready to
go ahead. And if he gets stubborn and does not want to go, you can remove
all his stubbornness by riding your horse against his neck, thus
compelling him to turn to the right, and as soon as you have turned him
about a few times, he will be willing to go along. The next thing, after
you are through leading him, will be to take him into a stable, and hitch
him in such a way as not to have him pull on the halter, and as they are
often troublesome to get into a stable the first few times, I will give
you some instructions about getting him in.
HOW TO LEAD A COLT INTO THE STABLE AND HITCH HIM WITHOUT HAVING HIM PULL
ON THE HALTER.
You should lead the broke horse into the stable first, and get the colt,
if you can, to follow in after him. If he refuses to go, step up to him,
taking a little stick or switch in your right hand; then take hold of the
halter close to his head with your left hand, at the same time reaching
over his back with your right arm so that you can tap him on the opposite
side with your switch; bring him up facing the door, tap him lightly with
your switch, reaching as far back with it as you can. This tapping, by
being pretty well back, and on the opposite side, will drive him ahead,
and keep him close to you, then by giving him the right direction with
your left hand you can walk into the stable with him. I have walked colts
into the stable this way, in less than a minute, after men had worked at
them half an hour, trying to pull them in. If you cannot walk him it at
once this way, turn him about and walk him round in every direction, until
you can get him up to the door without pulling at him. Then let him stand
a few minutes, keeping his head in the right direction with the halter,
and he will walk in, in less than ten minutes. Never attempt to pull the
colt into the stable; that would make him think at once that it was a
dangerous place, and if he was not afraid of it before, he would be then.
Besides we don't want him to know anything about pulling on the halter.
Colts are often hurt, and sometimes killed, by trying to force them into
the stable; and those who attempt to do it in that way, go into an up-hill
business, when a plain smooth road is before them.