The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-25 00:00:00

THE AIIEBIC'AN HORSB-TAMER.

On Saturday Mr. }Laren an American, now on
a visit to this country, whose skill in taming the
horse and completely subjecting him, however
wild, vicious or intractable, to his will and mastery
is beginning to attract public attention, was afforded
an opportunity of exhibiting his peculiar powers in
this capacity before the Queen, the Prince Consort,
the Princess Royal, Prince of ales, Prince Alfred,
and other members of the Royal family, with the
ladies of the Court and most of the foreign Princes
and distinguished visitors now in London, includ-
ing Prince Frederick William of Prussia, the
Prince of Prusda, Prince Frederick Charles of

Prussia, Prince Albert of Prussia, Prince Adalbert
of Prussia, Prince Hohenzollern Sigmaringen, the
Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the Duke of Bra-

bant, the Count of Flanders, Prince William of
Baden, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, and Prince
Julius of Holstein Glucksburg. The performances
of Mr. Rarey, which were of great interest, and.
elicited the amazement of all who witnessed them,
took place in the Riding-school attached to the
Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace. The Duke
of Wellington, Major-General Sir R. Airey, Lord
A. Paget, Clerk Marshal; Col. Hood, Clerk Mar-
shal to the Prince Consort; and Major Groves,
Crown Equerry, were also present. Tuis was the
second occasion on which Mr. Rarey had had the hon-
our of exhibiting his skill before her Majesty and
Prince Albert. The first was at Windsor, a week or
ten days ago, when the feats of the horse-tamer,

seen by them under the influence of novelty, occa-
sioned so high a degree of interest and astonishment
to the Royal party as to lead to a wish on the part

of the Queen and the Prince Consort to have the
exhibition repeated. On that occasion the subjects
on which Mr. Rarey operated were three in number.
One was a fine spirited black horse, of high nervous
temperament, which had been returned to Mr. A-
nderson, of Piccadilly, of whom he had been bought
for a large sum of money,lon the grovnd of his being
restiff and all but unmanageable. This animal, it
is but right to say, had been seen and handled by
Mr. Rarey, at Mr. Anderson's stables, previous to
his being taken to Windsor. At the first interview
with the horse in Piccadilly he was placed in a loose
box, which Mr. Rarey entered, cracking a whip.
Startled by this unusual exhibition of violence,
'he animal struck out with both his hind legs, and
uttered a kind of savage yell. The company wile
had assembled to witness the experiment were
then asked to withdraw, and Mr. Rarey was left
alone with the horse. On being called in again in
leas than a quarter of an hour, they were amazed
to find the animal prostrate on his side among tbe
straw in the stall, with his head slightly raised, and
Mr. Rarey, whom be was eyeing without the least
symptom of alarm, lying beside him. Mr. Rarey
remained with him in this position for some time,
during which he knocked the horse's fore and hind
hoofs together, made a pillow of his thighs, and
finally got up and ran a heavy wheelbarrow up to
and
around the still prostrate creature, without pro-
ducing in him the slightest sensation of fear. On a
subsequent day, in the presence of another company,
the mastery of Mr. Rarey over this same horse,
which he had seen in the interval, had become
so complete that when laid on his side in a
loose box a plank was placed against his shoulder
In sight of the horse and a barrow run up
it. He never moved. A drum was also beaten
on his back, and an umbrella opened in his
very face ; but he remained stock still, and
evinced no sign of apprehension. The same
horse was afterwards put through a course of
similar treatment at Windsor before the Queen.
The next subject on which Mr. Ram, experi-
mented before the Court on that occasion was a
young unbroken colt, br ought from a farm of Prince
Albert in the vicinity, which had neverbeen handled
in any way, and which Mr. Rarey had never before
seen. This colt was led into the riding-school at
Windsor in a halter, and left alone with the horse-
tamer, who intimated
.a wish that the company
should xetire for a few minutes to the further end
of the building. This request, it ought to be stated,
was not dictated by any feeling on his part that
the treatment to which he was about to subject the
animal was of a kind which the spectators would
not witness without , emotion or pain, but simply
because, for the present, and for purposes of his
own, Mr. Rarey wishes to preserve his own secret.
After a lapse of about a quarter of an hour the
Royal party were summoned to return, and then
they saw as in the former case this wild colt lying
on the ground, and the horse tamer by his side,
who sat upon him and handled his legs, feet,
and every other part by turns—a process during
which the creature remained wholly passive.
After Mr. Rarey had parted with the colt a
handsome bay charger, belonging to the Prince Con-
sort, was brought to him in the riding school. This
horse, one of high spirit, which has always shown
great restlessness while being mounted and a con-
stant tendency to take fright would, it was thought,
almost defy Mr. Rarey's attempts to tame him ;
but the result was as successful as in each of the
previous instances. In a short time the horse-tamer
had him down also, as submissive as all the rest,
and was seen orawling anung his legs, sitting upon
his sliculders and hips, and knocking his hoofs to.-
gether. Then, bidding the horse rise, which he did
instantly, Mr. Rarey jumped upon his back and,
held by turns an umbrella over his head, and beat
a tat-too on a drum, the hitherto proud, restless
animal, now owning subjection to a new master,
remaining the while almost as motionless as a statue.
All this, of course, made a great impression on the
spectators, but among some of them a question
naturally arose whether Mr. Rarey's treatment was
capable of being communicated to others and prac-
tised by them with equal success, or whether it
was a thing peculiar to himself, for in the latter
case the public benefit to accrue from it would be
comparatively limited. 'lt is said that Sullivan,
the horse-whisperer, as he was designated, from the
extraordinary power he acquired over the animal,
either could not or would not impart his secret to
any one, and the inference among horsemen has
long been that it was incomrnunicale.
To show that Mr. Rarey's power is not a thing
personal to himself, he has since his exhibition of
it at Windsor communicated the se 'vet
of it to
Major-General Sir Richard Airey, Lord Alfred
Paget, and Col. Hood, under the most stringent
obligations, of course, that they will not disclose it
to others; and Lord Alfred Paget, who is now as
much a horse-tamer as Mr. Ilarey, on Saturday
Consort,
his. skill. before her
and their august visi-
tors, taking for his subject a beautiful dapple gray
thecess
Princec u l exemcp
oh:::
was left alone with the pony for a fe w minutes in the
pony belonging to the Prince of Wales.
.Lord Alfred
riding-school, and on admission of the. Royal p irty it
gMaavjeeas tsyd,c
was prostrate on the ground with his lordship
sitting, caressing it, handl ng its feet and I,gs,
resting on its haunches, and in ad respects treating
it in a manner proving its complete subjection to
him. That over, M. Rarey. appeared with the
black horse from Anderson's in Piccadilly, to which
reference has been made, and his mastery over
which be showed in a varivy of ways. Placing
himself at one end of the riding school, he called
to the animal, which he had left at the other, and
it immediately cantered towards him in a play ful
manner. It lay down at his bidding, or followed
him like a dog round the building. When down,
a plank was laid upon its shoulder, up which Lord
Alfred Paget ran a wheelbarrow. Finally, when
the hor-e had regained his legs, he was mounted
by Mr. Rarey, who sat on the animal's crupper with
his back to the head, beating a drum and cracking
a whip over him, this treatment resulting in
neither motion nor fear on the part of the horse.
One of the fine stud of cream-coloured horses
belonging to her Majesty was next subjected to
the manipulation of Mr. Rarey, with an equally
successful and surprising result, so far as laying the
animal, which is an entre horse, down was con-
cerned, and handling him all over with the most
perfect freedom, the horse-tamer not deeming it
desirable, on so short an acquaintance, to carry
the familiarity to the extent of opening an umbrella
in his face, or cracking a whip, or beating a drum
over him. Besides the frequent display of some
vicious propensities, this particular animal of late
has never permitted any one to ride him ; but he
allowed Mr. Rarey to mount him without offering
the least resistance. With this the exhibition ter-
minated, and the Queen and her illustrious visitors,
by whom it was witnessed with the most evident
tokens of interest and wonder, took their departure.
It ought to be stated that Sir Richard Airey,
Lord Alfred Paget, and Col. Hood, to eaoh of whom
Mr. Rarey has communicated his swot, are under-
stood to declare that there is nothing in the treat-
ment in the smallest degree painful or improper
towards the horse subjected to it, or which would
offend the susceptibilities of a bystander sensitively
alive to anything partaking in the least of cruelty
to a dumb animal. They also assert that it consists
of no trickery of any description, nor of the use of
any drug, or mesmeric or other similar influence
whatever. Mr. Rarey's theory is that hitherto all
our treatment of this noble animal—at least, in the
preliminary stages sf breaking, and so forth—has
proceeded on ideas of his nature altogether errone-
ous and cruel, has been invariably characterised by
unnecessary violence, which has provoked the dis-
play of resistance and other kindred qualities on his
part, and so the evil has been perpetuated. The
principle on which Mr. Rarey goes, on the other
hand, is one of extreme kindness and tenderness to.
the animal, the object being to convince him
that man is his natural master and friend, and to
elicit his confidence and kindly regard. Mr. Rarey
appeals to what he calls "the intellect and affec-
tions of the horse," and states that this is'the secret
of all his success. He is a slightly made man about
30 years of age; the son 'of a stock farmer' and
breeder of horses, who lived in Franklin county