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before he can do so, strike him sharply with the stick on that side of the nose. I have never met a horse which has not been quickly made obedient by this method of correction when it has been applied with severity and precision. After a few times the mere sight of the stick will be enough.[1]
I like to work alone without any help, not even that of a groom. Those who do not believe this can easily verify my statement. I have kept my horses at livery in several schools and I have always broken them in these places. I have never asked the help of any one at the manèges of Latry, Vincent, Quartero, or l'Etoile.
HORSES WHICH THROW THEIR HEADS ABOUT.
There are very few horsemen who have not had the trouble and even the danger of riding animals which threw their heads about. Some forcibly lower the head, and thus, so to speak,
The most disagreeable animal I ever met was a stallion which was very restive and a fiend to bite.
As it is impossible to break a horse without the help of the legs and spurs, it was necessary to find a means to make this horse bear their touch. The first six weeks passed off fairly well, because I did not ask him to do much, but as soon as I tried to get him in hand by means of the spurs, he tried to bite my legs, threw himself violently on his knees, and in this position made desperate efforts to catch hold of my feet ; and he had the best of the struggle, because I was not able to use the spurs, on account of having to draw back my feet out of the way of his teeth.
I then put on the snaffle reins two iron rods, fifteen or sixteen inches long. Having thus put the animal in such position that he could not turn his head round, and as my legs were then safe from his teeth, I felt sure of victory. But this demon of a horse, being rendered furious by his feeling of powerlessness, continued to throw himself on his knees, and being unable to bite my feet, bit his own breast, which I thought he would stop doing on account of the pain. So far from that, he tore away strips of flesh from his breast, and I have no doubt that if he had unseated me, he would have devoured me. I then put on him a very thick leather apron, which was in shreds in three days.
I succeeded, however, in mastering him by placing under his chin a kind of half funnel made out of white metal. Being unable to bite, he soon dropped that detestable habit, and I completed his education at No. 78 Avenue Malakoff, in a place kept by the son of Mr. Gost, who was a horse dealer, and who more than once was present at these equine battles, which I fought singly as a rule. ↩︎