Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-06-24
HORSES.


II. Gleason and the vicious horses he |
handled at the Cosmopolitan Hall, New |
York, is very liable to divert the Rtten-
ton of spectators from much of the really
valuable Instruction he imparta verbally.
Here are some Of the hints dropped in
cidentally by the Professor.
"Neyer buy horAe that has long ears,
with long, straight hair inside them; is
marrow between the ears and between the
eyes. has fiat round eyes in snnken orbits
and whose nostrila are smnll and thick,
for ne will certainly prove TO be beast
Of small intelligence, hard to teach, in
capable OF remembering, and liable to be
ohstinAte, just ns stupid persona are.
And do not buy the horse that is narrow
a. the top of the head bullying between
the eyes and has n sunken, dishhke face
between them for he is SIRE 20 be vicious
and treacherous. But take the horse that
has short cara, with short, curly hair in
side them; that is broad between the ears
and eyes, with regular, straight face
and large, thin nostrils, for in him you
will find an intelligent, spirited, vet will
ing servant and faithful friend, # YOU will
only treat him rightly.
"When you begin TO train your young
horse, do II with mingled frmness and
Kindness. You must first make him fear,
then love You. Set him free in a
large box stall or other enclosure, and 90
into him with a whip in your hand.
When he turns his heels toward you lash
him. When he turns his head toward
you throw the whip back under your left
arm, extend your right hand toward him,
and say, Come herer When he comes to
you, pet him and speak approvingly and
encouragingly to him. Aud when you
caress him, do not pat his name forhe
doesn't like that. Pat his neck where il
Is free from the name, and the point of
his shoulder and his breast. When he
does well give him an apple or bit of
sugar or carrot. He likes those things
and will be grateful for them, and feel
encouraged to try to please you. You can
not make too much of pet of him. Do
not give your kindness TO him grudgingly,
but meet him full half way. Never
let him sec that you are afraid of him.
When you approach him do not do so
timidly, saying, whoa Whoa = over and
over, while he stands still staring at you
and wondering what the mischief is the
matter with you, but go straight and
promptly right up to his head When
you speak to him, giving an order, do so
in commanding tone of voice, and
always give exactly the same order for
thing let that order express clearly and
exactly what you mean, and Impress upon
his mind that whatever it is it must be
instantly obeyed. Never say 'Whoar to
him only when you want him to stop
motion instantly. If you only mean that
he should slacken his speed, say Easy
or Slow or Steady as you may prefer,
but always the same, whichever it is.
Never be unnecessarily cruel with him
even the smallest degree, and never lose
your temper.
"lf your horse has vices consequent
upon the bad handling somebody has
given him before you got him, break him
OF them, and remember that whenever
you undertake to break horse you must
go on 10 the finish and conquer him, or
your attempt will only do serious harm
instead of good.
"Do not use binder bride in training
your horse. 1t is not n sensible thing.
A horse-especially il he is neryous-is
much more likely to be alarmed by the
sounds or things he cannot see than by
the sight of things he does not under
stand. In fact, it is foolish thing 20
make horse wear blinders under any
circumstances without the bad habit of
them has been forced upon him
'Never bang horse over the bead or
on his shins with club or loaded whip.
II is never necessary, and the mnn WHO
would do it deserves to be treated in the
same way himself
Finely bred, intelligent horses are
very often nervous. They are quick to
notice, quick to take alarm, Quick TO do
what seems TO them in moments of sud-
den terror, necessary to escape from pos.
slble harm, from something they do not
understand. That is what makes them
shy, bolt, and run away We cannot tell
what awful suggestions strange things
offer TO their minds. For aught we can
tell, sheet of white paper in the road
may seem like yawning chnsm, the open
front OF baby carriage the jaws Of q dra,
gon ready to devour him, and man on
bicycle some terrifying sort of flying
devil without wings. But we find that
the moment he becomes familiar with
those things or any others that alright
him, and knows what they are, he grows
Indifferent to them. Therefore wher
your horse SHES at anything, make hin
acquainted with it let him smell il, toucl
it with his sensitive upper lip, and look
closely at IT. Remember, too, that you
must familiariZe both sides of him will
the dreaded object. II he only examines
it with the near nostril and eye, he viii
be very likely to scare ut ii when il ap
pears on his of side. So then rattle you
paper, beat your bass drum, fiutter YOU
umbrella, run your baby carriage ant
your bicycle, fire your pistol, and clntte
your tinware ON both sides of him and al
around him, until he comes to regard til,
noise simply as n nuisance and the mate
rial objects as only trivial things liable t,
get hurt if they are in the way He may
not learn all that in one lesson, but con
time the lessons and you will cure al
his nervousness.
Balkiness is the hardest Of equine vice
to cure. It seems inherent in some oh
stinate natures, and if allowed to be prac
ticed from time to time until the brut
becomes old, will cost ms much work
time and trouble 10 eradicate as tn
animal is worth The most practical ste
to be taken with an old balky horse is t
trade him of to somebody else. Whe
you cannot do that there are yariou
things to be tried on him-ontside of ref
cruelty-some one of which NAV COZ
vince him that baking is iniudicious an
likely to bring unpleasant consequence
to himself. Very often horse balkiu
when in double team can be starte
readily by putting slip noosed ror
around his loins and making il fast to Ii
collar of the true horse. Generally il
deed that pressure will start him. Som,
timesit ia very effective treatment to stau
before him and lash his forelegs sharpl
with a blacksnake whip, not angrily {
very severely, but persistently, patientl
for an hour if necessary, though
minutes are generally enough, until |
makes up his mind there is no comfort
staying there. In extreme cases it is not
bad idea to put slip noosed rope abor
his neck, hitch team to il, and sta
them. When he finds that his head
going he is apt to hasten his body alot
with it. Not infrequently one dose
that rough treatment will give him no
ror of baking forever after. If you a
working baking horse in team. NJ
cannot get rid of him, it would lie bett
to kill him than let him go on balkin
for his example will be certain TO event
ally demoralize the true horse, and W
will have balky team on Your hand
So you must, if you keep him, break hi
of baking. Still l would not advise Il
Western trick of building n straw ii
under him. Sometimes a handful
road dirt thrown in bulky horse
mouth, or a bunch of roughly brok
twigs under his tail will start him SIM
by giving him something else TO think
than the maintenance of his letermin
obstinacy, but such measures are like