The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1894-11-16
THE MANEGE.
Training Of Trick Horses For the sawdust
Arena. .

AAoAoSS N~N"HS
There is not in English apparently q
word that exactly expresses its mean
ing, and SO it is coming to be used in
this country and in England. The Sc"
is pronounced like long "a" and the
"g" like ~" in azure. r. H. Dockrill,
the famous trick horse trainer, explains
the meaning of manege as follows: 1.-THE
manege is the exhibition Of a trained
horse under the saddle with q rider"
In an interview in the Chicago Tribune
Mr.. Dockrill explained his methods
thus:
To teach a horse the steps of waltzes,
galops, etc., and to take the cross foot
steps SO unnatural are the hardest. Trick
horses, who are taught to pick up q
certain handkerchief or several differ
ent colored ones at the trainers behest;
who stand upon their hind feet, lie
down, kneel and do countless other
thugs, can easily be trained in a few
weeks, as they simply obey signs and
words. But, while I have trained count
less trick horses and ponies, l have in
the thirty odd years of my career turned
out only 30 or 40 manege horses. ! be-
gan as a boy Of IL years in Paris "a
years ago at the Cirque d'Imperatrice
as a rider, and until l was 81 years old
l did little except as a rider. l then be-
gan a course of instruction under Pro.
fessor Bonsche of the Cirque d'Ete, who
was certainly the finest manege and high
school riding artist in the world. He
soon saw hat l had been an observer Of
his methods, as l had, for I had trained
and broken two or three horses before I
began studying with him. l did not give
up riding at first, but devoted myself to
my new work when other performers
were asleep.
My methods? Well. I never use
brutality in training a horse. That is
the worst way to begin. Many horses
are wild and must be subjugated and
be compelled to acknowledge their mas
ter. Gentle force is necessary in subdu-
ing a wild or vicious horse, and you
must take all the fight out of the ami
NAL, Or lie is liable to kill or badly in
jure you when you are not expecting ali
attack. The fiery Trachene stations and
Orloffs from Russia and many of the
full blood Arabian horses are among the
hardest to tame. l attack the horse
gently from the outset, beginning with
the front feet. With the whip I touch
him smartly on one leg. He begins to
paw with his hoof and finally raises it
in the air. Then the groom lifts it up
as / want the horse itself to do.
This process is repeated until the
horse learns what is wanted of it, and
after that it is easy. The animal will
obey the motion Of the whip or even Of
the hand or a gesture with the head.
To change tempo" or time comes next,
and here the work begins to get hard.
To teach horses to take steps, crossing
one foot over the other, to make them
acquire gaits which nature eve in
tended that they should learn, and to
teach them such accomplishments as
dancing, marching, ETC., are all done in
a similar way with spur, whip and
bride hand for guides.
I never hurt O horse with q spur,
though I use spurs even after the ami
NAL has become thoroughly trained. My
spurs are as blunt as your knuckles, and
they are never used to punish a horse,
but simply to give him the right 'cue,"
which he must have the same as an
actor in making his speeches in a play.
The right spur gives the horse the ''cue''
to use his left leg, and vice versa. In
case l need to correct a horse I use the
whip, never severely, but merely to give
him o switching and show him he has
not done we'll. When he has behaved
admirably, I pet and reward him, and
he is then ever ready to repeat his clever
act. In riding I play to the audiences
with my bride. which, however, does
little in directing the horses move
ments, the feet and motions of the body
being Of principal Importance. The
most difficult feat Of training I ever 40.
complished was teaching a horse to take
o live fish out of a bucket of water with
his mouth. 1t took me eight months to
do 1t, beginning, Of course, with o
dummy" fish. The trick was not worth
the time expended upon it, and I I believe
no other horse was ever trained to do
it, though many have been educated to
pick up a silver dollar from a bucket Of
water. 3