Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1909-05-11
Controlling the Frightened Horse.

Controlling the Frightened Horse.
A writer in the Country Gentleman, in
discussing the subject OF frightened
horses, gives some interesting points on
the subject of cause of fear in horses
and control of same.
He says:
The best horsemen have been puzzled
| to understand why an animal 80 inteili-
gent as the horse manifestly is in most
things, should at other times show so
much foolishness and unreason. Why,
for instance. does horse shy at harm
less stump? The answer to such ques-
tions is found in paleontology and psy-
chology. The practical horseman may
smile at the long words, but he will,
nevertheless, find much that is helpful
and interesting in an attempt to inter-
pret the familiar facts of horse training
in the light thrown upon the horse by
these sciences.
Paleontology may be loosely translat-
ed as the science of the earliest origins !;
it has to do with fossil remains and with
the tracing of the evolutionary develop
ment of animals. One thing which we
learn from this science is that animals
frequently contrived to preserve them
selves as race by developing specialties
in which they excelled their enemies.
When horse SHES at q stump he does
not do so because he is foolish and un-
intelligent, but because the nervous i'm
pulse to Jump away from dark object
lurking by the roadside, which was once
so strong in his ancestors and so neces-
sary to the preservation of his race, still
fingers. He does not think the stump is
bear, as some would say, he doesn't
think anything about it. His ancestors
had time to think on similar occasions
if they stopped to think they, ran the
risk of being pounced upon and eaten.
They jumped without thinking, at the
first glimpse of lurking object, then, if
the thing still seemed dangerous, they
lashed out at it with their heels and ran
away as fast as they could. The pitch
ing and bucking of bronco are not
reasoned attempts to dismount the
rider, but yielding to inherited impulse
which enabled the bronco's ancestors
to rid themselves of mountain lions or
other beasts of prey which had sprung
upon their backs.
The movements of horse are control
led absolutely by his nerves. If the
master can control those nerves he can
make the horse do just as he chooses.
The most effective way of getting in
control of the nervous system OF the
horse is through his ears. The mechan-
ical devices of bit and bride and the rest
of the harness, which act in part on the
nervous system and in part directly on
the muscular system, are comparatively
clumsy. In order to control the nervous
system of the horse effectively it is
necessary to make the desirable brain
paths as plain and as easily followed as
possible, and to see to it that the old and
dangerous over-grown paths are never
opened up again. Too many drivers de-
pend altogether too much on the harness
and the whip. Much can be done by
skillful driver with an unruly and fright
eued horse "as long as the rigging
holds" but the nervous "rigging" OF the
horse, once properly developed, is much
more certain to hold than the best ar
rangement of buckles and straps ever de-
vised.
In breaking a colt, or in rebreaking
horse who is not as safe as he might be,
the secret of success is repetition. Every
time nerve impulse runs over given
path, the more certain that path is to re-
main open. Do not expect to stop your
horse by the word whoa" only, when
you have dropped or broken line.
Teach him to stop at the command and
without pulling the rein, and then al
ways stop him that way. In time 1T will
be practically impossible for him not to
stop when he hears that word, no matter
what his excitement.
A colt should be handled and trained
from the first day of his life. He should
be touched and rubbed on all parts of
his body, should be accustomed to have
straps fastened here and there in every
place, should be taught to let you take
up his foot and tap it vigorously. A
very young colt resents these things
little or not at all, and if the proper
handling is begun in his infancy, and
kept up until the usual breaking age, he
will give no trouble. A great many use
full modern brain paths will have been
opened up aud a great deal of reversion
TO primitive instincts will be avoided.
Accustom the colt OF the horse to do
as many things as possible at your word
of command without assistance from
harness or whip, both of which are
necessary instruments of instruction,
but which should be discarded as much
as possible in everyday use. Through
the thousands of years during which
man and the horse have been associated,
the horse has learned to depend on the
tones of the mans voice for certain
kinds of information. If the tone is the
tone of fear the horse feels, because his
ancestors heard that tone in many bat
ties with human enemies and with wild
beasts in which they shared, that 1t be-
tokens danger. If the tone is that OF
GOODNESS and confidence, the horses
nervous system is soothed. For this
reason we say that horse knows when
his driver is afraid, or that he knows
who is driving him.
Accustom the colt and horse to as
many different things as possible, 10
brooms, umbrellas, engines, farm ma
chinery, automobiles, street cars, bands,
Tapping canvas, everything that you can
think of which might frighten him.
But in accustoming him to these things,
do il gradually; never let him hurt him
self or get severe fright during the
lesson.