The Original Horse Whisperer

John Solomon Rarey (1827 - 1866)

(Exerpt from "The Horse Whisperer" by Nicholas Evans, Delacorte Press, 1995)

There was a man from Groveport, Ohio called John Solomon Rarey, who tamed his first horse at the age of twelve. Word of his gift spread and in 1858 he was summoned to Windsor Castle in England to calm a horse of Queen Victoria. The queen and her entourage watched astonished as Rarey put his hands on the animal and laid it down on the ground before them. Then he lay down beside it and rested his head on its hooves. The queen chuckled with delight and gave Rarey a hundred dollars. He was a modest, quiet man, but now he was famous and the press wanted more. The call went out to find the most ferocious horse in all England.

It was duly found.

He was a stallion by the name of Cruiser, once the fastest racehorse in the land. Now though, according to the account Annie read, he was a "fiend incarnate" and wore an eight-pound iron muzzle to stop him killing too many stableboys. His owners only kept him alive because they wanted to breed from him and to make him safe enough to do this, they planned to blind him.

Against all advice, Rarey let himself into the stable where no one else dared venture and shut the door. He emerged three hours later leading Cruiser, without his muzzle and gentle as a lamb. The owners were so impressed they gave him the horse. Rarey brought him back to Ohio, where Cruiser died on July 6, 1875, outliving his new master by a full nine years.

---

Rarey's Technique as Depicted 
in "The Horse Whisperer"

In the both the book, and Robert Redford's movie of "The Horse Whisperer," the hero, Tom Booker (Redford), uses Rarey's general approach to horses - respect, gentleness, firmness - to gain the confidence of the high-spirited but horribly traumatized horse, Pilgrim. But the speciific technique that Rarey invented for taming a wild, vicious horse - a technique by which he gained worldwide fame using it repeatedly to completely tame the most malevolent horses in the world in a matter of hours, if not minutes - this technique Tom Booker does not use until the very end of the book, after he has been working with Pilgrim for weeks.

Briefly, the technique consists of hobbling one of the horse's legs with a strap enabling the trainer to completely control the horse and quickly tire him out. The trainer can then make the horse lie down, then stroke and gentle the subdued animal, even laying down on it, until the horse is thoroughly convinced, in the most peaceful way possible, that the trainer is master.

On the left below is a still from the movie of "The Horse Whisperer," in which the Redford character hobbles Pilgrim by strapping up one of his legs. On the right is an illustration from John Rarey's book from the 1860's showing the same technique.

The second pair of pictures shows Tom Booker making Pilgrim lie down, along with Rarey's illustration of the same action.

 

It's amusing that in the fictional work, Booker's taming of the wild horse is drawn out for dramatic purposes to occupy many weeks of intense effort. Rarey's skill with his own technique made the taming of an ill-tempered horse appear so easy as to be boring - except that it dazzled the entire world in a day when the horse was the primary means of conveyance, even as the automobile is today.

Further, Rarey demonstrated that skillful use of his method could enable the trainer, regardless of physical strength, to quickly tame the most violent horse. And that the tamed horse could then be easily handled by anyone; that is, the horse's taming was not personal to the trainer. This is all the more remarkable in view of the general acceptance of the day that violence and extreme force was the only to "break" a horse.

Rarey became a rich man after he demonstrated his method for Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. He traveled the world teaching the Rarey method, to France, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Norway, Egypt, Turkey, and the Arab countries. In one demonstration he took four hours taming a wild zebra to be ridden like the most docile horse. Newspaper articles were written about him and poems were composed extolling his virtues. In dictionaries of the time the verb "rarefy" appeared, meaning "to win by love, to mollify with oil of kindness, to reclaim a badly broken horse, to tame a horse by kindness." Ralph Waldo Emerson said of Rarey that he "turned a new leaf in civilization." His method was adopted as the official training procedure of the U. S. Army from 1862 until the advent of the Jeep. The English magazine Punch suggested that the Rarey method be practiced on obnoxious politicians, and Harper's Weekly recommended it as a cure for wayward husbands.

Click here for the text and illustrations of John Solomon Rarey's book, "The Complete Horse Tamer," in which he details his famous method. This edition, an inexpensive reprint of his book in cardboard cover, was probably published in the 1870's after his death, though it carries no date. He wrote the original manuscript in 1862, but I have not been able to locate an earlier edition. In this edition the first half of the book is Rarey's writing, and the second half, "The Complete Farrier, or Horse Doctor," is written by John C. Knowlson. Only Rarey's half is presented here.

On their personal webpage, Rich Rarey, of National Public Radio, and his wife, Kerry Thompson, have published the fine biography of John Solomon Rarey written in 1916 by his niece, Sara Lowe Brown.

---

This website was created by Damon Rarey, whose great-great grandfather, George Solomon Rarey, was uncle to John Solomon Rarey.

 

The Complete Horse Tamer

by John Solomon Rarey

 

INTRODUCTION

SINCE issuing our former editions of Mr. Rarey’s book on Horse Taming, some new facts have been published by him, which are embodied in these pages, and make the work still more complete. A careful perusal of the instructions here given, will show how any cool and determined person may break or tame a colt in a manner that will make him docile, stand at the word of command, and obey the voice with as much certainty as ordinarily trained horses will answer the reins. In contrast with the usual mode of training by harsh words, a sharp whip, and cruel worrying, Mr. Rarey demonstrates how easily, quietly and safely horses may be tamed by kindness. For training colts, breaking horses into harness, curing vicious horses, such as kickers and baulkers, this system is invaluable. Indeed, it will give to every courageous, calm-tempered horseman not only the power to conquer any horse, however refractory, but to make the animal affectionate in disposition and ready at all times to he mounted and put in harness, without trouble or waste of time. One great value of Mr. Rarey's system consists in the fact that it may be taught to, and successfully practiced by, persons of little strength - even by boys of fourteen - except where the horse is extremely vicious and powerful. It requires patience, and the habit of dealing with horses, as well as coolness; but the real work is rather a matter of skill than muscle. Not only have boys of eighty pounds weight become successful horse-tamers in England, but even English ladies have perfectly subdued and reduced to calmness fiery blood-horses. Therefore, in dealing with Mr. Rarey's plan we are not wasting our time about a trick for conquering incurably savage horses, but are elucidating the principles of a universally applicable system for taming and training horses for man's use, with a perfection of docility rarely found except in aged pet horses, and with a rapidity heretofore quite unknown.

John S. Rarey is about thirty years of age, of middle height, and well-proportioned figure, wiry and active rather than muscular - his complexion is almost effeminately fair, with more color than is usually found in those of his countrymen who live in cities. He was a citizen of Groveport, Ohio, when he began his successful mode of horse-taming. His walk is remarkably light and springy, yet regular, as he turns round his horse; something between the set-up of a soldier and the light step of a sportsman. Altogether his appearance and manners are eminently gentlemanly. Although a self-educated and not a book-educated man, his conversation, when he cares to talk (for he is rather reserved), always displays a good deal of thoughtful originality, relieved by flashes of playful humor.

Mr. Rarey's system of horse-taming will infallibly supersede all others for both civil and military purposes, and his name will take rank among the great social reformers of the nineteenth century.

HORSE TAMING, &c

THE HORSE is so constituted by nature that he will not offer resistance to any demand made of him which he fully comprehends. He has no consciousness of his strength beyond his own experience, and can be handled by man without force, after a little study of his habits and disposition. Being deficient in reasoning powers, he has no knowledge of right or wrong, of free will and independent government, and knows not of any imposition practiced upon him, however unreasonable it may be. Consequently, he cannot easily decide what he should or should not do. But being naturally of willing and gentle disposition, it remains for man to instruct him in a manner suited to his nature.

The horse is a timid animal; but easily becomes familiar with objects and sounds that are at first disagreeable or frightful. We must therefore accustom him to such as he will be apt to meet with in his daily service. To do this effectually, he should be allowed to examine closely and leisurely such objects as would inspire terror, and to smell them and touch them. A log or stump by the road-side may be, in the imagination of the horse, some great beast about to pounce upon him; but after you take him up to it, and let him stand by it a little while, and touch it with his nose, and go through his process of examination, he will not care anything more about it. And the same principle and process will have the same effect with any other object, however frightful in appearance, in which there is no harm.

I thus establish three principles on which my system of taming the horse is founded, viz.:

First. That any horse may be taught to do any thing that a horse can do if taught in a systematic and proper manner.

Second. That a horse is not conscious of his own strength until he has resisted and conquered a man, and even in cases where he has temporarily triumphed he may yet be subdued ; - that by taking advantage of man's reasoning powers a horse can be handled in such a manner that he shall not find out his strength.

Third. That by enabling a horse to examine every object with which we desire to make him familiar, with the organs naturally used for that purpose, viz., seeing, smelling and feeling, you may place or display the object around, over, and on him, provided that it does not actually hurt him or make him feel disagreeable.

With this introduction to first principles, I will endeavor to teach you how to put them into practice, and whatever instructions may follow, you can rely on as having been proven practical by my own experiments. Knowing from experience just what obstacles I have met with in handling bad horses, I shall try and anticipate them for you, and assist you in surmounting them, by commencing with the first steps to be taken with the colt, and accompanying you through the whole task of breaking.

HOW TO GET THE COLT FROM PASTURE.

Go to the pasture and walk around the whole herd quietly, and at such a distance as not to cause them to scare and run. Then approach them very slowly, and if they stick up their heads and seem to be frightened, hold on till they become quiet, so as not to make them run before you are close enough to drive them in the direction you want them to go. And when you begin to drive, do not flourish your arms or halloo, but gently follow them off leaving the direction free for them that you want them to take. Thus taking the advantage of their ignorance, you will be able to get them in the pound as easily as the hunter drives the quails into his net. For if they have always run in the pasture uncared for, (as many horses do in prairie countries and on large plantations,) there is no reason why they should not be as wild as the sportsman's birds, and require the same gentle treatment, if you want to get them without trouble; for the horse, in his natural state, is as wild as any of the undomesticated animals, though more easily tamed than the most of them.

 

HOW TO STABLE A COLT.

The next step will be to get the horse into a stable or shed. This should be done as quietly as possible, so as not to excite any suspicion in the horse of any danger befalling him. The best way to do this, is to lead a broken horse into the stable first and hitch him, then quietly walk around the colt and let him go in of his own accord. Be extremely deliberate and slow in your movements, for one wrong move may frighten your horse, and make him think it necessary to escape at all hazards for the safety of his life - and thus make two hours' work of a ten minutes' job ; and this would be all your own fault, and entirely unnecessary for he will not run unless you run after him, nor will he try to break away unless you attempt to force him into measures. If he does not see the way at once, and is a little fretful about going in, do not undertake to drive him, just give him a little less room outside, by gently closing in around him. Do not raise your arms, but let them hang at your side, for you might as well raise a club: the horse has never studied anatomy, and does not know but they will unhinge themselves and fly at him. If he attempts to turn back, walk before him, but do not run; and if he gets past you, encircle him again in the same quiet manner, and he will soon find that you are not going to hurt him; and then you can walk so close around him that he will go into the stable for more room, and to get farther from you. As soon as he is in, remove the quiet horse and shut the door. This will be his first notion of confinement - not knowing how he got into a place, nor how to get out of it. That he may take it as quietly as possible, see that the shed is entirely free from dogs, chickens, or anything that would annoy him. Then give him a few ears of corn, arid let him remain alone fifteen or twenty minutes, until he has examined his apartment, and has become reconciled to his confinement. And now, while your horse is eating those few ears of corn, see that your halter is ready and all right, and reflect upon the best mode of operations; for, in horse-breaking, it is highly important that YOU should be governed by some system.

 

THE KIND OF HALTER, AND HOW TO PUT IT ON.

Never use a rope halter. The cords of the rope are hard, and appear to aggravate and excite distrust rather than confidence; but by all means procure a leather halter made of bridle leather, so it will feel soft and pliable to the touch, and to fit tolerably tight on the head, so as not to feel uncomfortable. Before putting a halter upon the colt, he must be rendered familiar with it by caressing him and permitting him to examine the article with his nose. Then place a portion of it over his head, occasionally giving it a slight pull, and in a few minutes he will be accustomed to these liberties, and then the halter may be fastened on properly. To teach him to lead is another difficulty. Stand a little on one side, rub his nose and forehead, take hold of the strap and pull gently, and at the same time touch him very lightly with the end of a long whip across his hind legs. This will make him start and advance a few steps. Repeat the operation several times, and he will soon learn to follow you by simply pulling the halter. The mouth of the colt should be frequently handled, after which introduce a plain snaffle between his teeth and hold it there with one hand and caress him with the other. After a time he will allow the bridle to be placed upon him. The saddle can now be brought in and rubbed against his nose, his neck and his legs; next hang the stirrup strap across his back, and gradually insinuate the saddle into its place. The girth should not be fastened until he becomes thoroughly acquainted with the saddle. The first time the girth is buckled it should be done so loosely as not to attract his attention; subsequently it can be tightened without inspiring him with fear, which if fastened immediately it would most certainly do. In this manner the wildest colt can be effectually subjugated by such imperceptible degrees that he gives tacit obedience before he is aware of his altered condition.

 

HOW TO PROCEED AFTER HALTERING.

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 two 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 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 more 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 knows nothing about his strength, and if you don’t do anything to make him pull, he will never know what he can do in that way. 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 to 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 to him and caress him, and then pull him again, repeating this operation until you can pull him 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, but rather likes you. After you have given him a few lessons of this kind, at proper intervals, he will be so tame that if you turn him out to pasture he will come up to you to be caressed every opportunity he gets.

While training him in the stable, you should lead him about 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 then 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 his neck, holding to his mane. Do not allow anyone to be present or in sight, during your operations, either in or outside the stable. If you are entirely alone, and manage your colt rightly, you will soon be able to lead and hold him as easily as you could a horse already broken.. 

      

               HOW TO PROCEED IF THE COLT IS STUBBORN.

If the animal you are operating upon seems to be a stubborn or mulish disposition rather than wild; if he lay back his ears as you approach him, or turns his heel 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 do 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 about the legs, and the crack of the whip will affect him as much as the stroke; besides, one sharp cut about the legs will affect him more than two or three over the back, the skin in the inner part of the legs or about his flanks being thinner, and 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 go to scare him at all, you must do it at once. Never go into a pitched 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 harm, to strike him, unless you can frighten him; but if you can succeed in frightening 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; thus you will excite the two controlling passions of his nature, love and fear; he will love, and fear you too; and, as soon as he learns what you require, will obey quickly.

If the colt is of too mulish a disposition to yield to careful and gentle treatment, as here given, you must resort to the several measures recommended for taming vicious horses, as explained elsewhere in these pages.

HOW TO LEAD A COLT WITH A BROKE HORSE.

If you should want to lead your colt by the side of another horse, you must first put the horse into a stable with the colt. You now 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 the martingale, (if he has any on,) holding it in your left hand. This will prevent the colt from getting back too far; besides, you 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 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, and then let someone start the colt out, and as the colt comes out, turn your horse to the left, and you will have them all right. You can manage any kind of a colt in this way, without trouble; for, if he tries to run ahead, or pull back, the two straps will bring the two horses facing each other, so that you can very 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. 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 THE COLT INTO A STABLE.

You should lead the broken 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 hand so that you can tap him on the opposite side with your switch; bring him up facing the door, tap him slightly 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 in at once in this way, turn him about and walk him around a while 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 soon walk in of his own accord. 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 do not want him to know anything about pulling on the halter. If you want to tie up your colt, put him in a tolerably wide stall, which should not be too long, and should be connected by a bar or something of that kind to the partition behind it; so that, after the colt is in he cannot go far enough back to take a straight, backward pull on the halter; then by tying him in the center of the stall, it would be impossible for him to pull on the halter, the partition behind preventing him from going back, and the halter in the center checking him every time he turns to the right or left. In a stall of this kind you can break any horse to stand tied with a light strap, anywhere, without his ever knowing anything about pulling. For if you have broken your horse to lead, and have taught him the use of the halter (which you should always do before you hitch him to anything), you can hitch him in any kind of a stall, and if you give him something to eat to keep him up to his place for a few minutes at first, there is not one colt in fifty that will pull on his halter, or ever attempt to do so. This is an important feature in breaking the colt, for if he is allowed to pull on the halter at all, and particularly if he finds out that he can break the halter, he will never be safe.

 

The Complete Horse Tamer, Part 2

by John Solomon Rarey

POWELL'S MANAGEMENT OF WILD HORSES.

Cause your horse or colt 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 belongs to that class which only appears 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 towards 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 - in a quarter or half an hour. I never knew one to be much longer without turning his head 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 make 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. If the horse makes the least motion when you advance towards 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 almost imperceptible manner. If the horse then stirs again, 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 some exceptions. He generally keeps his eyes steadfast upon 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 thence rapidly to where you had already arrived, always gaining ground a considerable distance further on every time this happens. The head, ears, neck, and body being thus gentled, proceed from the back to the root of the tail. This must be managed with dexterity, as a horse is never to be depended 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, &c., speaking now and then to the horse. Begin by degrees to descend to the legs, always ascending and descending, gaining ground every time you descend, until you get to his feet.

Talk to the horse while you are thus taming him; 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," you will say, at the same time lifting up his foot with your hand. He soon becomes familiar with the sounds, and will hold up his foot at command. Then, proceed to the hind feet, and go on in the same manner; and in a short time the horse will let you lift them, and even take them up in your arms.

All this operation is no magnetism, no galvanism; it is merely taking away the fear the horse generally has of 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 very marked attachment to his keeper.

THE KIND OF BIT TO BE USED, AND HOW TO USE IT.

In first accustoming a colt to the bit, you should use a large, smooth snaffle, so as not to hurt his mouth, with a bar at each side to prevent it from pulling through either way. This should be attached to the head-stall of your bridle, and put it on your colt without any reins to it, and let him run loose in a large stable or shed, some time, until he becomes a little used to the bit, and will bear it without trying to get it out of his mouth. Repeat this several times, before you do anything more with the colt; and as soon as he will bear the bit, attach a single rein to it, without any martingale. You should also have a halter on your colt, or a bridle made after the fashion of a halter, with a strap to it, so that you can hold or lead him about without pulling much on the bit. Farmers often put bitting harness on a colt the first thing they do to him, buckling it on as tight as they can draw it, to make him carry his head high, and then turn him out in a lot, to run half a day at a time. This is one of the very worst punishments they can inflict on a colt and is very injurious to a young horse that has been used to running in pasture with his head down. I have seen colts so injured in this way that they never got over it.

A horse should be well accustomed to the bit before you put on the bitting harness, and when you first bit him you should only rein his head up to the point where he naturally holds it, let that point be high or low; he will soon learn that he cannot lower his head, and that raising it a little will loosen the bit in his mouth. This will give him an idea of raising his head to loosen the bit; and then you can draw the bitting a little tighter every time you put it on, and he will still raise his head to loosen it. By this means you will gradually get his head and neck in the position you want him to carry it, and give him a nice and graceful carriage without hurting him, making him mad, or causing his mouth to get sore. Horses that have their heads drawn up tightly, should not have the bitting on more than fifteen minutes at a time.

HOW TO SADDLE A COLT.

Any one man who has this theory, can put a saddle on the wildest horse that ever grew, without any help and without scaring him. The first thing will be to tie each stirrup strap into a loose knot, to make them short and prevent the stirrups from flying about and hitting him. Then double up the skirts and take the saddle under your right arm, so as not to frighten him with it when you approach. When you get to him, rub him gently a few times with your hand, then raise the saddle very slowly, until he can see it, and smell, and feel it with his nose. Then let the skirts loose, and rub it very gently against his neck the way the hair lays, letting him hear the rattle of the skirts as he feels them against him; each time a little further backward, and finally slip it over on his back. Shake it little with your hand, and in less than five minutes you can rattle it about over his back as you please, and pull it off and throw it on again, without his paying much attention to it.

As soon as you have accustomed him to the saddle, fasten the girth. Be careful how you do this. It often frightens the colt when he feels the girth binding him, and making the saddle fit tight on his back. You should bring up the girth very gently, and not draw it too tight at first, just enough to hold the saddle on. Move him a little, and then girth it as tight as you choose, and he will not mind it.

You should see that the pad of your saddle is all right before you put it on, and that there is nothing to make it hurt him, or feel unpleasant to his back. It should not have any loose straps on the back part of it, to flap about and scare him. After you have saddled him in this way, take a switch in your right hand to tap him up with, and walk about in the stable a few times with your right arm over your saddle, taking hold of the reins on each side of his neck with your right and left hands, thus marching him about in the stable until you teach him the use of the bridle and can turn him about in any direction, and stop him by a gentle pull of the rein. Always caress him, and loose the reins a little every time you stop him.

You should always be alone, and have your colt in some light stable or shed the first time you ride him; the loft should he high, so that you can sit on his back without endangering your head. You can teach him more in two hours' time in a stable of this kind, than you could in two weeks in the common way of breaking colts, out in an open place. If you follow my course of treatment, you need not run any risk, or have any trouble in riding the worst kind of horse. You take him a step at a time, until you get up a mutual confidence and trust between yourself and horse. First teach him to lead and stand hitched; next acquaint him with the saddle, and the use of the bit; and then all that remains is to get on him without scaring him, and you can ride him as well as any horse.

HOW TO MOUNT THE COLT.

First gentle him well on both sides, about the saddle and all over, until he will stand still without holding, and is not afraid to see you anywhere about him. As soon as you have him well gentled, get a small block about one foot or eighteen inches in height, and set it down by the side of him, about where you want to stand to mount him; step up on this, raising yourself very gently. Horses notice every change of position very closely, and if you were to step up suddenly on the block, it would be very apt to scare him; but by raising yourself gradually on it, he will see you, without being frightened, in a position very near the same as when you are on his back. As soon as he will bear this without alarm, untie the stirrup strap next to you, and put your left foot in the stirrup, and stand square over it, holding your knee against the horse, and your toe out, so as to touch him under the fore-shoulder with the toe of your boot. Place your right hand on the front of the saddle, and on the opposite side of you, taking hold of a portion of the mane and reins (they hang loosely over his neck), with your left hand, then gradually bear your weight on the stirrup, and on your right hand, until the horse feels your whole weight on the stirrup; repeat this several times, each time raising yourself a little higher from the block, until he will allow you to raise your leg over his croup, and place yourself in the saddle. Another, and in some cases a better way of mounting, is to press the palm of your right hand on the off-side of the saddle, and as you rise lean your weight on it. By this means you can mount with the girth loose, or without any girths at all.

There are three great advantages in having a block to mount from. First, a sudden change of position is very apt to frighten a young horse that has never been handled; he will allow you to walk to him, and stand by his side without scaring at you, because you have gentled him to that position; but if you get down on your hands and knees and crawl towards him, he will be very much frightened: and upon the same principle, he would frighten at your new position if you had the power to hold yourself over his back without touching him. Then the first great advantage of the block is to gradually gentle him to that new position in which he will see you when you ride him. Secondly, by the process of holding your weight in the stirrups, and on your hand, you can gradually accustom him to your weight, so as not to frighten him by having him feel it all at once. And, in the third place, the block elevates you so that you will not have to make a spring in order to get on the horse’s back, but from it you can gradually raise yourself into the saddle. When you take these precautions, there is no horse so wild but what you can mount him without making him jump. I have tried it on the worst horses that could be found, and have never failed in any case. When mounting, your horse should always stand without being held. A horse is never well broke when he has to be held with a tight rein when mounting; and a colt is never so safe to mount as when you see that assurance of confidence, and absence of fear, which cause him to stand without holding.

HOW TO RIDE THE COLT.

When you want him to start, do not touch him on the side with your heel, or do anything to frighten him and make him jump. But speak to him kindly, and if he does not start, pull him a little to the left until he starts, then let him walk off slowly with the reins loose. Walk him around in the stable a few times until he gets used to the bit, and you can turn him about in every direction and stop him as you please. It will be well to get on and off a good many times until he gets perfectly used to it before you take him out of the stable. After you have trained him in this way, which should not take more than two or three hours, you can ride him anywhere you choose without ever having him jump or make an effort to throw you.

When you first take him out of the stable, be very gentle with him, as he will feel a little more at liberty to jump or run, and be easier frightened than he was while in the stable; but you will nevertheless find him pretty well broke, and will be able to manage him without trouble or danger.

When you first mount a colt, take a little the shortest hold on the left rein, so that if anything frightens him, you can prevent him from jumping by pulling his head around to you. This operation of pulling a horse's head around against his side will prevent him from jumping ahead, rearing up, or running away. If he is stubborn and will not go, you can make him move by pulling his head around to one side, when whipping him would have no effect. And turning him around a few times will make him dizzy, and then by letting him have his head straight, and giving him a little touch with the whip he will go along without any trouble.

Never use martingales on a colt when you first ride him; every movement of the hand should go right to the bit in the direction in which it is applied to the reins, without a martingale to change the direction of the force applied. You can guide the colt much better without it, and teach him the use of the bit in much less time. Besides, martingales would prevent you from pulling his head round if he should try to jump.

After your colt has been ridden until he is gentle and well accustomed to the bit, you may find it an advantage, if he carries his head too high or his nose too far out, to put martingales on him.

You should be careful not to ride your colt so far at first as to heat, worry, or tire him. Get off as soon as you see he is a little fatigued; gentle him and let him rest; this will make him kind to you, and prevent him from getting stubborn or mad.

TO BREAK A HORSE TO HARNESS.

Take him in a tight stable, as you did to ride him; take the harness and go through the same process that you did with the saddle, until you get him familiar with them, so you can put them on his back and rattle them about without his caring for them. As soon as he will bear them, put on the lines, caress him as you draw them over him, and drive him about in the stable till he will bear them over his hips. The lines are a great aggravation to some colts, and often frighten them as much as if you were to raise a whip over them. As soon as he is familiar with the harness and lines, take him out and put him by the side of a gentle horse, and go through the same process that you did with the balking horse. Always use a bridle without blinds when you are breaking a horse to harness.

 

HOW TO HITCH A HORSE IN A SULKY.

Lead him to and around it; let him look at it, touch it with his nose, and stand by it until he does not care for it; then pull the shafts a little to the left, and stand your. horse in front of the off wheel. Let some one stand on the right side of the horse and hold him by the bit, while you stand on the left side, facing the sulky. This will keep him straight. Run your left hand back and let it rest on his hip, and lay hold of the shafts with your right, bringing them up very gently to the left hand, which still remains stationary. Do not let anything but your arm touch his back, and as soon as you have the shafts square over him, let the person on the opposite side take hold of one of them, and lower then very gently to the shaft bearers. Be very slow and deliberate about hitching; the longer time you take the better, as a general thing. When you have the shafts placed, shake them slightly, so that he will feel them against each side. As soon as he will hear them without scaring, fasten your braces, &C, and start him along very slowly. Let one man lead the horse to keep him gentle, while the other gradually works back with the lines till he can get behind and drive him. After you have driven him in this way a short distance, you can get into the sulky, and all will go right. It is very important to have your horse go gently when you first hitch him. After you have walked him awhile, there is not half so much danger of him scaring. Men do very wrong to jump up behind a horse to drive him as soon as they have him hitched. There are too many things for him to comprehend all at once. The shafts, the lines, the harness, and the rattling of the sulky, all tend to scare him, and he must be made familiar with them by degrees. If your horse is very wild, I would advise you to put up one foot the first time you drive him.

 

Continued

The Complete Horse Tamer, Part 3

by John Solomon Rarey

TAMING A HORSE WITH VICIOUS HABITS.

Having given full instructions relative to my system of dealing with young colts, I will now proceed to detail the plan of operations for taming or subduing wild or vicious horses. The principles of the method are the same as those in managing colts - kindness and gentleness - but the practice differs. When you desire to subdue a horse that is very wild, or has a vicious disposition, take up one fore-foot and bend his knee till his hoof is bottom upwards, and nearly touching his body; then slip a loop over his knee, and shove it up until it comes above the pastern-joint, to keep it up, being careful to draw the loop together between the hoof and pastern-joint with a second strap of some kind to prevent the loop from slipping down and coming off This will leave the horse standing on three legs; you can now handle him as you wish, for it is utterly impossible for him to kick in this position. There is something in this operation of taking up one foot, that conquers a horse quicker and better than any. thing else you can do to him; and there is no process in the world equal to it to break a kicking horse, for by conquering one member, you conquer, to great extent, the whole horse.

You can do anything you wish with the horse in this condition, as when he becomes convinced of his incapacity to cope with man, he will abandon all antagonistic demonstrations, and become willing to obey, and generally docile. Operate on your horse in this manner as often as the occasion requires, and you will soon find him as gentle as his nature will permit him to be. By these means the most vicious, uneasy, unruly or fretful horse may be cured, though it depends upon the age and disposition of the animal how long it will take to make him amiable. When you first fasten up a horse's foot, he will sometimes get very mad, and strike with his knee, and try every possible way to get it down; but as he cannot do that, he will soon give up.

Conquering a horse in this manner is better than anything else you could do, and leaves him without any possible danger of hurting himself or you either; for after you have tied up his foot, you can sit down and look at him until he gives up. When you find he is conquered, go to him, let down his foot, rub his leg with your hand, caress him, and let him rest a few minutes; then put it up again. Repeat this a few times, always putting up the same foot, and he will soon learn to travel on three legs, so that you can drive him some distance. As soon as he gets a little used to this way of traveling, put on your harness and hitch him to a sulky. If he is the worst kicking horse that ever raised a foot, you need not be fearful of his doing any damage while he has one foot up; for he cannot kick, neither can he run fast enough to do any harm. And if he is the wildest horse that ever had harness on, and has run away every time he has been harnessed, you can now hitch him to a sulky and drive him as you please. If he wants to run, you can let him have the lines, and the whip too, with perfect safety; for he can go but a slow gait on three legs, and will soon be tired and ready to stop; only hold him enough to guide him in the right direction, and he will soon be tired and willing to stop at the word. Thus you will effectually cure him at once of any further notion of running off. Kicking horses have always been the dread of everybody; you always hear men say, when they speak about a bad horse, "I don't care what he does, so he don't kick." This new mode is an effectual cure for that worst of all habits. There are plenty of ways by which you can hitch a kicking horse, and force him to go, though he kicks all the time; but this don't have any good effect towards breaking him, for we know that horses kick because they are afraid of what is behind them, and when they kick against it and it hurts them, they only kick the harder; and this will hurt them still more and make them remember the scrape much longer, and make it still more difficult to persuade them to have any confidence in anything dragging behind them ever after. But by this new method you can harness them to a rattling sulky, plow, wagon, or anything else in its worst shape. They may be frightened at first, but cannot kick or do anything to hurt themselves, and will soon find that you do not intend to hurt them, and then they will not care anything more about it. You can then let down the leg and drive along gently without any further trouble. By this new process a bad kicking horse can be learned to go gentle in harness in a few hours' time.

HOW TO MAKE A HORSE LIE DOWN.

Everything that we want to teach the horse must be commenced in such a way as to give him an idea of what we want him to do, and then be repeated till he learns it perfectly. To make a horse lie down, bend his left fore-leg and slip a loop over it, so that he cannot get it down. Then put a surcingle around his body, and fasten one end of a long strap around the other fore-leg, just above the hoof. Place the other end under the before-described surcingle, so as to keep the strap in the right direction take a short hold of it with your right hand; stand on the left side of the horse; grasp the bit in your left hand, pull steadily on the strap with your right; bear against his shoulder till you cause him to move As soon as he lifts his weight, your pulling will raise the other foot, and he will have to come on his knees. Keep the strap tight in your hand, so that he cannot straighten his leg if he rises up. Hold him in this position, and turn his head towards you; bear against his side with your shoulder, not hard, but with a steady, equal pressure, and in about ten minutes he will lie down. As soon as he lies down, he will be completely conquered, and you can handle him as you please. Take off the straps, and straighten out his legs; rub him lightly about the face and neck with your hand the way the hair goes; handle all his legs, and after he has lain ten or twenty minutes, let him get up again. After resting him a short time, make him lie down as before. Repeat the operation three or four times, which will be sufficient for one lesson. Give him two lessons a day, and when you have given him four lessons, he will lie down by taking hold of one foot. As soon as he is well broken to lie down in this way, tap him on the opposite leg with a stick when you take hold of his foot, and in a few days he will lie down from the mere motion of the stick.

RECAPITULATION, AND MINUTE DIRECTIONS.

In practicing the foregoing method upon a colt, he should be first accustomed to be handled, and taught to lead easily. In approaching a spiteful or vicious horse, you had better make your advances with a half-opened door between you and him; gradually make his acquaintance, and teach him that you do not care for his open mouth; but a regular biter must be gagged with a wooden bit made for the purpose, so large that he cannot close his mouth.

Here is the kind of bit to be used.

Of course there is no difficulty in handling the leg of a quiet horse or colt, and by constantly working from the neck down to the fetlock, you may do what you please. But many horses, and even colts, have a most dangerous trick of striking out with their fore-legs. There is no better protection against this than a cart-wheel. The wheel may either be used loose, or the animal may be led up to a cart loaded with hay, when the horse-tamer can work under the cart through one of the wheels, while the colt is nibbling the load.

Having, then, so far soothed a colt that he will permit you to take up his legs without resistance, take the strap No. 1, pass the tongue through the loop under the buckle so as to form a noose, slip it over the near fore-leg and draw it close up to the pastern-joint, and fasten it as represented in the engraving. But you must not be rash in lifting the leg, and employ but little force in doing so. It is better to wait until he lifts it willingly by the use of gentle means. Do not get out of temper if you have to make a dozen ineffectual attempts to raise it. The near fore-leg being securely strapped, and the horse secured from biting, if necessary, with the wooden bit, (described elsewhere,) you will then make him hop about as before stated. This he will learn to do easily. The trainer must, however, take care to keep behind his horse's shoulder and walk in a circle, or he will be likely to be struck by the animal’s head or strapped up leg.

A horse can hop on three legs for two or three miles, if you give him his own time, and no plan that has ever been tried is equal to this for curing a kicking or balky horse. After you have tired him out pretty well in this manner, you proceed to make him lie down, which process requires considerable patience and skill. For this purpose take strap No. 2, and making a loop with it put it round the off fore-leg. With a very quiet horse this can easily be done; with a wild or vicious horse you may have to make him step into it; at any rate, when once the off fore-leg is caught in the noose it must be drawn tight round the pastern-joint. Then put a stout glove on your right hand, pass the strap through the belly part of the surcingle, take a firm short hold of it with your gloved right hand, standing close to the horse behind his shoulders, and with your left hand take hold of the near rein; by pulling the horse gently to the near side he will be almost sure to hop; if he will not, he must be led.

The moment he lifts up his off fore-foot, you must draw up strap No. 2 tightly and steadily. The horse will then go down on his knees, for if you hold the strap tight he will not be able to stretch out his foot again. As soon as a horse recovers from his astonishment at being brought to his knees, he begins to resist; that is, he rears up on his hind legs, and springs about in a manner that will sometimes alarm the trainer.

During these struggles you must not try your strength against the horse's strength, but merely follow him about, holding the strap just tight enough to prevent him from putting out his off foreleg.. As long as you keep close to him and behind his shoulder, you are in very little danger. The bridle in the left hand must be used like steering lines, by pulling to the right or left as occasion requires: the horse turning on his hind legs, may be fatigued by being forced to walk backwards. The strap passing through the surcingle keeps, or ought to keep, the trainer in his right place - he is not to pull or in any way fatigue himself more than he can help, but, standing upright, simply follow the horse about, guiding him with the bridle so he will not precipitate himself against the side of the stable or room in which you are exercising him. When held and guided properly, he will soon sink down. Corn-fed horses will hold out longer than grass-fed o