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ORIENTAL OR ARABIAN ART

OF

CHARMING HORSES

AND

BREAKING COLTS.

CONTAINING

FULL INSTRUCTIONS FOR RAISING, TRAINING, RIDING,
DRIVING, STABLING, FEEDING, AND

ef DOCTORING HORSES. : ;
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Bec. 1.0, NESS-M.D.,
VETERINARIAN AND TRAINER.

CINCINNATI, OHIO:
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR.
1861.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861, by
C. I. H. NESS, M.D.,

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of Ohio.

STEREOTYPED AT THE FRANKLIN TYPE FOUNDRY, CINCINNATI, O,

fi Po eo ge

Wrightson & Co., Printers,
167 Walnut Street,
Cincinnati, O.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

THE Horse is the most noble and the most useful of
the domestic animals. It is only in a few localities,
and under a few circumstances, that any other beast of
burden can compare with him for usefulness ; while for
gracefulness and speed of motion, and for beauty and
symmetry ef ferm, the ox, the camel, the ass, the mule,
the elephant, are all completely and forever eclipsed.

I need offer no other apology, then, for presenting
to: the public this little volume—the result of over

twenty years’ experience in the raising, breaking, train-

ing and educating of this animal. Also, some ten
years’ experience in medicine and surgery on this noble
animal.

Let none say I have misled them by my title. I
shall give you all there is of the Oriental or Arabian
art of charming horses. If what they call magic is
only the practice of scientific principles, that is no fault
of mine. It is the fault or the blindness of the Orientals
themselves, in attributing to magic, or supernatural
agency, that which can be, and is performed by natural
means; and it is our fault if we believe such antiquated
superstitions.

Nor is it any deception to designate the method of
training vicious horses and colts, as set forth in this
pamphlet, by the term charming, (or power of mind.)
Charming may be practiced by natural, as well as
supernatural means; and there is no doubt but the
Arabians and other Orientalists did all their charm-
ing on precisely the principle herein set forth, though

(iii)

rh INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

they pretended it was done by supernatural means,
and though they might have been innocent in the
belief that their success in taming the wild and vicious
horse committed to their charge depended on the par-
ticular terms of jargon which they whispered in his
ear.

Nor do I practice any unwarrantable deception when
I promise to teach you the Oriental or Arabian art of
taming wild and vicious horses. I will not only do
this, but I will rob it of its antiquated mysticisms,
absurdities, and difficulties.

I will show you what has heretofore been considered
difficult and complicated, can be explained on natural
principles, and is easy to the comprehension and prac-
tice of every owner of a horse.

The truth is, that noble animal (the HORSE) has been
misunderstood and much abused. By many he has
not been treated as an animal, but rather as a stick of
timber, which could be hewn with an ax, or molded by
the chisel into any desirable shape; or as a block of
marble, tumbled along through the streets to the work-
shop of the artist, to be by him hammered, chiseled,
cut, and carved into an equestrian statue.

If we succeed in establishing the claims of the horse
to an animal nature, and show how he may be most
successfully subdued and rendered useful to man, we
shall claim, whether we receive it or not, more credit
than the charmers of the Orient received, who shrouded
the science in a vail of mystery, while they left the
astonished beholders of their performances untaught
and unenlightened in the modus operandi of their pre-
tended divinations.

THE AUTHOR.

Evie t.

THE ORIENTAL ART THE TRUE PHILOSOPHY.

WE have often read of the wonderful power which
the Arabs and other Orientals have over the horse;
of their taking them wild from the native forests, and,
by supernatural, or magic influence, training them not
only to the common purposes of usefulness, but teach-
ing them the greatest possible variety of feats, tricks,
and wonderful performances; of their whispering to the
horse, as if he possessed the spirit of some departed
worthy, and they were in confidence consulting and
communicating with him. We have read, too, of the
“Black Art,” and the astounding miracles said to be
performed by its means. We have seen persons, even
in this enlightened age, who profess to believe in it;
nay, more, we once met a livery-stable loafer who un-
dertook to palm himself off on us as a thorough prac-
titioner of this art, (?) and offered his services, at a
round price, in the business of charming, conquering
and subduing the wildest and most ungovernable horses
that might be brought to him for that purpose. Those
who will believe such wild and superstitious notions,
need themselves to be tamed and instructed into the

(5)

ey,

6 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

first principles of modern science, and they deserve
no pity if they are occasionally most essentially hum-
bugged.

But that the Arabians, and many Europeans and
Americans, have been wonderfully successful in break-
ing colts, taming vicious and ungovernable horses, and
teaching them a great variety of tricks and perform-
ances, is an undisputed truth; and that the manner
of doing this is well worthy of being called an art, is
equally true.

Who that has witnessed the astonishing perform-
ances of this noble animal in the cireus, but has, at
times, almost attributed it to the possession of the
human intellect; and all will admit that the instinct
and tractability of the horse are of the highest order
of the brute creation. Yet such power over the
horse—and we had almost said any horse, but there
is as much difference in horses as in men—can be
possessed by any one who will practice a few plain
and simple rules.

What, then, is the Arabian or Black Art of charm-
ing horses? We think it may be summed up in a
few words, kindness, patience, and perseverance. The
Arabian has all these, and, in addition, what too many
in this country of luxury and extravagance do not
have—an abundance of time. The Arabian, and those
who have pretended to practice the Black Art, are in
the habit of spending much time in the company of
the horse. They ride, brush, curry, caress, fondle,
talk, whistle, and sing to the horse, and, what too
many are never known to do, love this noble animal.
By these various and continued means, they obtain a
wonderful power over any one of the race that may

OF MANAGING HORSES. %

be placed under their charge. It matters but little to
the horse whether his master whistles Yankee Doodle,
or the tune the old cow died on, as long as he appears
pleasant. Yet we think, in speaking to a horse, we
should speak plain and distinct; also, with a gesture,
that he may understand what we want, if not what we
say, not forgetting our mind influences his; although
I believe the horse understands many words spoken to
or about him, quite as readily as a small child.

We assert, then, and without fear of contradiction,
that the whole secret of training horses, whether prac-
ticed by Arabians, Gipsies, Black Art performers,
livery-stable loungers, or the worthy and honorable
horseman, lies in perseverance, kind and patient in-
struction, not forgetting the power that man has over
the brute creation. Use, but not abuse it. We will
try to throw more light on this subject as we progress
with our little work.

How to make a Horse Pace.

Take some lead balls, weighing from two to three
ounces, with a hole through each; string enough on a
cord to go round the fetlock. Tie a string around the
right fore-foot and the left hind-foot; ride him slow;

when he becomes used to this, change them, putting -

them on the opposite feet. Patience and perseverance
wil move mountains.

How to cure a Horse from interfering.

Pare the inside of the hoof the lowest, and make
the inside of the shoe the heayiest; if this does not
cure him, I do not know of anything that will, as I
have tried many others in vain. 3

8 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

How to Shoe Horses.

A saddle horse should be shod with a smooth, spring
heel shoe; a buggy horse with heel corks, while the
coach horse should have toe corks as well as heels on
his hind feet; heels with no toe corks on the forward
feet. In shoeing your dray, cart, or wagon horse, do
not forget to have low but heavy corks all round, toes
and heels. Blacksmiths generally make their nails too
large; do not pare the heels much, as it will tend to
strain the heel cords; make the shoe to fit the foot,
not pare the foot to fit the shoe; let the rim of the
hoof rest on the shoe; do not cut the front of the hoof
so as to make the foot stump-toed; let the hoof be as
flat as possible; if the shoe rests on the pith, it will
cause corns; if there are any corns, cut them out, and
dress with spirits turpentine; fill the cavity with tar
or resin, melt in with a hot iron; be careful not to
point your nail in; and, as you may lame the horse,
be careful your nails do not break, and the stub turn
in while the paint may come out; if this should occur,
it would be very painful to the horse.

Early Training.

As horses are mainly valuable for their utility to
man, it is apparent that the full development of the
physical system of the animal is not all that needs to
be secured, though that is necessarily the primary de-
partment, upon which all else is to be based. The
best-developed animal might be so vicious as to be en-
tirely valueless; though it is a rule, that development
of form and of disposition correspond to each other.

OF MANAGING HORSES, 9

Yet the horse being one of the most intelligent of the
animal creation, gnd easily trained into objectionable
as well as desirable habits, it behooves every one
having the care of youngghorses and colts, to guard
carefully the influences brought to bear upon their dis-
position. The usual custom throughout the West has
been to let them run wild almost, until three or four
years old, and then put them through—not a regular
system of “ breaking,”—but such exercises as the dis-
position of the master might dictate at the moment,
and which often exhibited far more of the spleen and
irritability, impatience and violence of temper of the
man, than of care for the horse. Almost the first ex-
perience of life the colt gets, after he has learned the
use of his legs, is a pelting with small stones, clods,
sticks, or switches, from mischievous boys, who delight
in his infantile antics to avoid his persecutors; and
thus, from the first, he learns to look upon man as an
enemy to be dreaded and avoided, while evil disposings
to kick, strike, etc., and ill-nature generally, are forced
upon him. Age and strength accumulate, and with
them ill-treatment, (for the amusement of its masters
it may be, or by virtue of their thoughtless disregard
of causes and effects,) until, when large and old enough
to become serviceable, the diffictlt and dangerous pro-
cess of “breaking” becomes necessary. And it too
often happens, that when this is well done, as all admit
it should be, the horse is really broken, and has lost
all that spirit and nobleness so much admired in this
truly noble animal. The whole idea of “breaking”
implies, in fact, a necessary evil, is part of the same
philosophy which once made our school-houses deposi-
tories of birch, and theaters of tragic cruelty; a phi-

10 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

losophy which, thanks to enlightened progress, is rapid-
ly passing away.

The colt should be accustomed to kindness, and gen-
tle, yet firm handling, from ghe first, and in this manner
learn perfect obedience to his master’s will. The halter |
may, indeed should be, placed upon him when quite
young, and he should learn to be guided by it in any
direction, and with ease; and as he grows up, one
lesson after another may be added, as the owner’s
wishes or fancy may dictate, until, when the time comes
that his services are demanded, he is ready trained for
the service, educated inthe way he should go, and will
walk therein. The whole process should be one of care-
ful avoidance of influences tending to create bad habits,
teaching the animal what it will be required to know,
before that requisition comes, and by education super-
sede the necessity for the unphilosophical and often
brutal “ breaking.”

The advantages of careful training during growth
are many and important. It affords the best possible
means of developing the animal in every respect; keeps
him under the constant care of the owner, and induces
him to think and reason upon what he does; creates a
sympathy, so to term it, between them, which elevates
the character of both. It prevents the vicious habits
usually engendered from carelessness of the owner, and
which cannot always be eradicated, and avoids the
cruelty and abuse of “breaking.” The horse may be
made tractable, reliable, and safe, without having his
energy and spirit crushed out of him; and he may be
noble, active, and proud in his movements, without being
restive, irritable, and treacherous, and, as a consequence,
will be more easily kept in fine condition and good

OF MANAGING HORSES. Ii

health. It is only a continuation of the principles of
breeding, extended to the full development of the ani-
mal, here advocated; and, while all cannot be equally
successful in this, as in any other of the pursuits of life,
all will be more successful, and richly rewarded for
their efforts to attain it. The principal reasons for the
general untrained character of horses, seems to be the
lack of any systematic effort at training, and the un-
controlled passions of those who have the handling and
care of horses. It is no uncommon thing to see angry
bipeds venting their passion upon unoffending animals,
as the most convenient recipient of their ire. And
such scenes are not confined to the street, the highway,
or the farm; but are found in all. The effects are mis-
chievous, and ruinous to the best interests of the owner,
because injuring and depreciating in value his property
in the market. Horse education, really, is a market-
able commodity, and may be, indeed always is, estimated
in dollars and cents.

Taming a Vicious Horse.

In nine cases out of ten, those who undertake to
tame a vicious horse do the very things they ought
not to do, while the things they ought to do they do
not.

While in the city of Boston, in the year 1848, I was,
in company with several others, shown a beautiful
spotted horse, about eight years old, and well worth,
if faultless, one hundred and fifty dollars, which it was
said by the honest salesman no man could ride, or
drive in a chaise, (a two-wheel vehicle much used

formerly at the east.) Mr. A said he would try

12 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

him, and gave sixty dollars for the noble animal, which
could not have been purchased for twice that sum, had
he borne a reputation for good behavior.

He led the horse home, about eight miles from the
city, by the side of another, put him in the stable, fed
him, and retired for the night. The next morning he
went te the stable “to break the d d horse, or his
own neck,” touse his ownexpression. As he approached
the horse, he remarked, in a somewhat triumphant and
defiant tone: ‘So, ho! you are the fellow that allows
no one to straddle your back, are you? Well see
whether you can shake me off as easy as you have
some others; if you do, you will be the first horse that
ever shook me from his back.”

It really seemed as if the horse knew the substance
of the remarks made in his hearing, by the motion of
his head, the manner in which he stepped from one
side of the stall to the other, and various other indi-
cations of uneasiness and suspicion. At any rate,
whether he comprehended the language of his new
master or not, he evidently did not like the tone of
his voice, nor the swaggering of his person. A horse
learns the different inflections of the human voice sooner
than many a school-boy.

Our hero now led the horse from the stable, put a
saddle upon his back, buckled it with uncommon tight-
ness, and after trying the stirrups to see that all was
sound and right, with a single bound was in the saddle.

Now commenced a scene of rearing, and springing,
and pitching unlike anything I ever before witnessed.
In retaliation, the rider commenced using the cowhide
freely over the rump, about the sides and legs of the
animal, and, at length, over his head, eyes, ears, and

OF MANAGING HORSES. 3

mouth. It was evidently a battle between two equally
determined, but unequally powerful opponents—a trial
of animal strength—an exhibition of dexterity on the
part of the animal, to throw off the disagreeable load;
on the part of the disagreeable load—the man—to con-
quer, to subdue, to maintain his position. But the
horse, being the stouter of the two, was the victor, and
would have thrown his load a rod at least from his
back, but for the rider’s foot having caught in the
stirrup; and in the plight, the horse would soon have
kicked his brains out, if he had any, but for the inter-
ference and assistance of the bystanders, who soon
liberated the prisoner from his critical situation.

But was this horse broken? No. But the owner
was, from any future attempts to ride a vicious horse.

One of the spectators of this scene asked the owner
of the animal what he would take for him. Being
taken in just the mood for sellmg cheap, he rephed:
“Anything you please.” <A bargain was soon struck
up, and the horse changed hands for fifty dollars. The
crowd was making tracks to follow the horse to the
stable of the new owner, but the latter observed that
he should make no attempt to ride him at present, and
when he did, he should by no means allow any one to
be present on the occasion. |

Three weeks after this, I, with many others in the
village which was now the new home of this “vicious
horse,” had the pleasure of seeing this gentleman (for
though he was what is termed a horse-jockey, he was a
gentle-man in his treatment of horses) pass through the
place gracefully riding the back of this noble, but here-
tofore proscribed animal, with apparently as much
pleasure to the horse as to the rider. There was no

14 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

springing, rearing, or whipping; but the horse and the

rider moved up and down the main thoroughfare of the
village, in the presence of hundreds of excited specta-
tors, as if they were a part of each other.

How was this miraculous change brought about? I
will give you the horse tamer’s own account of the
matter, as nearly as my memory will serve at this dis-
tant period of time; which, however, is uncommonly
distinct, for the circumstance made an indelible im-
pression on my mind, as it constituted my first valuable
lesson in the “Oriental Art of Charming Horses.”

“T took my horse home,” said he, “and spent several
days in forming an acquaintance with him. I might
have succeeded in riding him sooner, but then, I am
very formal about such matters—I want to be regularly
introduced to a horse—a coquettish, shy, non-committal,
bashful, nervous, excitable, egotistical, joking, frolick-
some, quick-tempered, vicious, or lazy horse, (for horses
have as great a variety of characteristics as men, or
women either,) as regularly introduced as to one whom
I might choose for a partner in business, or a partner
at the altar. I want then to become intimately
acquainted—go through a regular courtship—that we
may love each other; for I will never own a horse that
I can not love.

“But, as 1 was saying, I took my horse home, put
him in a clean, nice stable, fed him with the best I
had, brushed him, combed him, conversed with him,
caressed him myself—I never have a servant to do my
courting for me. We soon became the best of friends.
I can always tell when I am getting the right side of
a horse. At first he was shy—treated me with cool-
ness—then became too familiar by half. I put on my

a a ee | a

OF MANAGING HORSES. 15

best countenance, and talked to him in my most woo-
ing tones; I succeeded in making him know me, love
me, and fear me. I's say fear me, for I whipped him—
I whip horses as I do children—never in anger, always
from a sense of duty; and I take immediate steps to
let the animal know why I whip him, and how painful
it is for me to do so.

“‘ At length I led him into the center of the stable,
placed a saddle gently across his back, and then went
to his head and caressed him. I was a long time
adjusting the saddle to suit me, for my time was prin-
cipally occupied in winning the affection of the horse.
At length, all things ready, I crawled shyly upon his
back, setting down so easily that he could scarcely
distinguish the time when I was fairly fixed; my head
mean time, and for some time afterward, aie to his.
I made no motion for him to go, but slipped off, and
went for a pair of mittens, though it was July; put on
the mittens and again mounted his back cautiously—
no, not cautiously, for it will never do to be cautious,
but in a friendly, familiar manner, as much as to say,
I have a right to a place on your back, but, then, it is
with your leave, sir. After turning him around once
by the bridle, I was again off to get my hat, then my
whip, etc., and finally took off his saddle and put him
back into his stall. This I did several times, perhaps
more times than was necessary, but I was in no hurry.

“T next took him into the yard, and jumping upon
another horse, rode several times around hin, then left
that and mounted him, and rode several times around
the first horse. This was a great feat—it was ‘glory
enough for one day;’ I therefore put the horse up and
left him for a day.

16 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

“The next day I tried both horses again, but rode
a longer time than the first day. Again, I ventured
still further, riding around my house, then down the
road to the brook and back, until, finally, I can take a
journey on the best saddle horse I ever owned, which
cost me but fifty dollars.”

Now who will say that horses have not sense?
Who will say that they must not be treated, at least
as we would treat a dog, or a cat, or a bird, that we
would wish to tame and instruct?

Teaching a Horse various Tricks.

Almost any horse can be taught to perform tricks,
but some horses are more tractable than others. You
must select a good shaped, bright-eyed, nimble, playful
horse, not too large, nor too stoutly built. Some
horses are made only to work, and others only to be
lazy. Neither of these should be selected as a trick
horse. If you are any judge of horses, your own
judgment, better than a page of directions, will enable
you to pick out your horse. He should also be healthy ;
it is waste time to teach a cripple that which he can
not perform well, if at all.

Now, presuming you have the right kind of a horse,
observe strictly the following rules all through:

1st. Never treat your horse with anything but kind-
ness. You may have a whip, and crack and snap it;
occasionally use it to good purpose around your horses’
legs. He will soon learn whether you do it because
you are his master, have a right to use it, and do not
use it with cruelty, or whether you are unreasonable,
bad tempered, and impatient.

OF MANAGING HORSES. - 17

2d. Never allow any one to feed, curry, or take any
other care of your horse; or, if you must occasionally
commit him to other hands, they should be charged
not to notice lum, or play with him, but be as indif-
ferent as possible in their treatment of him. Your
horse should learn that no one loves him or cares for
him but yourself. You should endeavor, by every pos-
sible method, to impress him with the idea that he is
your horse, your pet, your friend, and must do all these
things which you are teaching him just for your
gratification alone.

od. Never allow any other horse, animal, child, or
man to be present while you are giving instruction.
After he has become familiar with his lessons and per-
forms them well; after you are satisfied and he is satis-
fied, that the thing is well done, then you may venture
to introduce one spectator, then two, a dozen, or a
thousand. But undertakeeno new trick in presence
of spectators. F

4th. Never undertake more than one thing at a time.
However simple that thing may be, let your horse
become familiar and dexterous in that before confusing
him with anything else.

5th. When your horse has performed well, always
caress, fondle, and feed him. Put your head up to his,
and your arm around his neck, and tell him he is a
fine boy, and shall have the best oats that can be had
in market. He may not know the meaning of your
words, but you can not say all this to a horse, without
doing it in just the manner which indicates to him
your affections, interest, and approval. This is just
the very thing wanted. This is precisely the Oriental
art of charming horses. It is to win his favor, excite

2

18 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

his pride and ambition, enlist his affections. A horse,
and, indeed, for that matter, nearly all animals, have
all the affections and instincts of man, and they only
want to be appealed to, and enlisted in your behalf,
when they will be ten times more obedient to your
wishes, and subservient to your demands, than the
most abject office-seeker is to the President, the Goy-
ernor, or the “Dear People.”

Now, if you have picked out your horse, and will
observe the above rules, you may begin by taking a
handkerchief, and placing it in a certain part of the
stable; then, pointing to the handkerchief, say, “ Bring
me that handkerchief, sir,” leading the horse to it, (first
presuming, however, that he has seen and smelled of it
twenty times before,) bearing his head toward it, and,
at the same time, lifting it up to his mouth. Put it
into his mouth; if he is disposed to drop it, hold it to
his mouth, and lead him to the other side of the stable
and putit down. Now take the handkerchief and carry
it back to where you put it first, then come back to the
horse and say as before, (in fact, always use the same
expression and in the same tone of voice,) “ Bring me
that handkerchief, sir ;” if he does not start for it, lead
him as before, and pass through the whole ceremony
precisely as the first time. The third or fourth time,
you can venture to snap your whip and manifest some
signs of displeasure, but finish with a friendly gesture
and word, and again lead him to the object, and go
through the whole round of ceremony. He will, at
length, go so far as to go and take the handkerchief
in his mouth, and then, from pure mischief, perhaps,
shake it about, or carry it anywhere else but where
you want him to. Then snap your whip, and again

OF MANAGING HORSES. 19

make him carry it to the place where you were stand-
ing or sitting. Follow this up and you will soon learn
your horse to bring your handkerchief to you without
your moving from your position ; then your hat, gloves,
or any other object.

If it is a pail, and he takes hold of it by its side
instead of the handle, go to him, take it from his
mouth, and put the handle in his mouth, saying, “ That
is not right, sir; this is the way!” Some such expres-
sion as this should be always used, and always in
precisely the same way, when he does not perform
correctly, and he will soon learn what is meant by it, if
applied to any other transaction improperly performed,

You can now go on and teach your horse anything
you please. You can teach him to go and bring your
cows or sheep for you; and though he will not learn it
as readily, nor be as serviceable for that purpose as a
well-trained dog, yet the novelty of the transaction well
repays for the extra trouble that is taken.

It is by such means that a circus horse is taught to
lie down.or sit up; hold up one foot or the other at
command; shake his head, as if to say No, and nod his
head as if to say Yes, to any question; to turn half way
or all the way around, and remain in that position un-
til he hears a certain word. To pick out the letters of
the alphabet, and spell, not any word, but such words
as he has been taught to spell. There is, in fact noth-
ing which you may not teach a horse to do, if you will.
But you must observe strictly the above rules. Any
one else tampering with your horse, and directing him
in a little different way, causes him to mistake, and he
is as sensitive of the mistake as a man would be, and
will not like to try it again.

20 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

How to make a Horse lie down.

Everything that we want to teach the horse must be
commenced in some way to give him an idea of what
you want him to do, and then be repeated till he learns
it perfectly. ‘T’o 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 circingle 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 circingle, so as to keep the strap in the 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 raises up. Hold him in his
position, and turn his head toward 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 lays; 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

.
OE EE

OF MANAGING HORSES. 21

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.

How to make a Horse follow you.

Turn him into a large stable or shed, where there
is no chance to get out, with a halter or bridle on. Go
to him and gentle him a little, take hold of his halter
and turn him toward you, at the same time touching
him lightly over the hips with a long whip. Lead him
the length of the stable, rubbing him on the neck, say-
ing, in a steady tone of voice, as you lead him, ComE
ALONG, BOY! or use his name instead of boy, if you
choose. Every time you turn, touch him slightly with
the whip, to make him step up close to you, and then
caress him with your hand. He will soon learn to
hurry up to escape the whip and be caressed, and you
can make him follow you around without taking hold
of the halter. If he should stop and turn from you,
give him a few cuts about the hind legs, and he will
soon turn his head toward you, when you must always
caress him. A few lessons of this kind will make him
run after you, when he sees the motion of the whip—
in twenty or thirty minutes he will follow you about
the stable. After you have given him two or three
lessons in the stable, take him out into a small lot and
train him; and from thence you can take him into the
road and make him follow you anywhere, and run after
you.

Breaking Colts.

There is a great difference in colts, and consequently
some will, of necessity, be harder to break than others.

yay 4 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

But the methods are the same in nature with all colts,
Some will require much more time and patience than
others; but whatever the amount of time, it is of no
use for you to fret, worry, swear, and rave at them.
For every minute spent in raving at them, you will
have to spend ten in gentleness, kindness, and patience
afterward. It is seldom that a colt must be tamed on
the very day you at first select, and when you or they
are likely to get out of patience, it is better to postpone
operations till another time.

The first thing is to approach hin, in the stable, or a
small inclosure, in a familiar, friendly manner, with
nothing in your hand, and no person or animal in sight.
As you approach, extend one hand toward him and
commence talking to him in a low tone of voice. Speak
plain and pleasant, keep talking; a horse loves a per-
son that has much to say, if he is good-natured; call
him by some endearing name, as you can not do this
without showing your friendship for him.

As you draw near the horse or colt, if he turns from
you, stop until he stops and has taken another look at
you. He will then allow you to approach still nearer.
If he again starts, stop yourself again. It is of no use
to follow him while he is in motion. He can move
faster than you can, and will only widen the distance
between you. When he finds you have not hurt him
by being within two rods of him, he may let you come
within a rod and a half. If you can not get up to his
head and take hold of it within fifteen or twenty min-
utes, better postpone the attempt for an hour or two,
or longer, at convenience.

When you have succeeded in-reaching his head, pat
him on the neck, put your head close to his, and talk

OF MANAGING HORSES. 23

to him, and he will soon be pleased with the familiarity.
If you are not in too great haste, it is better to do this
with him frequently, before approaching him with any-
thing in your hand.

So much being accomplished, you can now approach
him with a halter, whip, or anything else ; but if he turns
from you, do not follow him up. Leave him and again
go with nothing in your hand. Be exceedingly careful
you do not lose favor with him; if you do, you must
begin all over again. Once his friend, never let him
suppose you are or can be his enemy.

After you have fondled with him several times with
a whip, halter, harness, or anything else you please,
take a leather halter (in no case use a rope halter) and
put it to his nose, then rub it on his neck, around his
head, mouth, and nose, being careful always not to ap-
proach too near his eyes. Do this frequently before
putting it over his head. When you get ready, put it
over his head so easily and with so much unconcern,
that he will not know you have any designs in doing it.
Do not attempt now to fasten it, unless he is very tame
and submissive. ‘Take another opportunity.

After your colt has become used to the feeling of the
halter, you can then lead him about; but if he falls
back, go up to him and pat him on the neck. Don’t
let him have a chance to try his strength; if you do,
he will find out that he is stronger than youare. This
neither a colt nor a horse ever ought to know. When
you have succeeded thus far with him, and you and he
have had no “ falling out,’ you can go on step by step,
making him familiar, by degrees, with every kind of
service to which he is liable to be called.

Every colt should be made familiar with drums, fifes,

24 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

horns, railroad cars; and with various colors and
objects. But never approach them or look at them
while making any uncommon noise for the purpose of
breaking them. Whatever you do in this line, should
be done, at first, at a distance, until the colt cares
nothing about it; then approach a step nearer. Avoid
all sudden frights. I once knew a young horse to be
so badly frightened at the noise and sudden motion of
a company of children coming out of a school-room,
that he would shy off the track for months if two or
three children passed him on the road. I have known
horses to be equally frightened at a rail car. It is
better to pasture them, if possible, near, but not too
near, a railroad track, and then in a lot adjoining a
track. If you can not do this, the first opportunity
you can have, take them near, but again, not too near,
a railroad track. Next time a little nearer, always
letting them see the cars as they pass. Colts that are
properly trained to familiarity with all such things as
they are likely to see and hear, will never afterward
be frightened while in the harness. Of course most
of the above applies only to colts that are very skittish.

Kicking.

This is generally brought on by boys tampering with
the legs of the horse, or by poultry running around
his legs and annoying him, or by the reins, etc., getting
under his tail or around his legs while on the road.
Prevention here, as in all other bad habits, is worth
more than cure. It is a very difficult matter to break
a horse of the habit of kicking at every little annoy-
ance, when once the habit is confirmed.

OF MANAGING HORSES. 25

Kicking against the sides of the stall can generally
be prevented by attaching thorns to the sides of the
stall, or anything that will prickle without injuring the
feet. Kicking in the harness is best conquered by
stout straps, so adjusted as to prevent his raising his
hind feet. The strap must be very strong and a little
springy, and then, it must be resorted to more for the
purpose of preventing the horse from breaking the
carriage, than with any expectation of reforming him.

The best plan is to begin early with your colt; or,
if your colt is already a horse, then begin at once a
thorough system of training, to get him used to vari-
ous annoyances by degrees, and with kind treatment,
as in the manner herein recommended for putting on
the bridle. Any horse can be taught to disregard the
reins getting under his tail, or the foot-board coming
up against him, just as easily as he can be reconciled
to the saddle or the bits. All such things are an
annoyance to the horse or colt, when first submitted to.
The drum and fife, and other musical instruments are
an annoyance; so also the railroad car and the steam
whistle. We train our horses to such things—then
why not train them to everything with which they are
likely to be annoyed. Any man who does not love a
horse well enough, or who does not take enough pride
in him to guard him in the first four years of his life
against the dangers of the future, should never own a
horse. He should at once adopt some branch of busi-
ness that will enable him to get along without a horse,
and forever afterward resort to the railroad car and
the steamboat.

3

> aa DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

How to catch Colts in the Pastures or Prairies,

If they are very wild or shy, two or even three
should be employed to go on all sides and gradually
approach them. Do not look directly at them, nor
approach in a direct line, nor raise the hands as if to
head them off. You must not let them mistrust that
you want to catch them. Let one who is on a horse
approach slowly, and if your horse will nibble the
grass, let him do so a minute, and then take a step
nearer; by such means you can soon go in among them,
and after your horse has smelled of them and they of
him, then turn toward your home, and in most cases
they will follow into the barn yard. If they will not
do it at first, perseverance will always succeed. It is
sometimes well, but not always necessary, to feed them.

Avoid all haste, noise, flurry, and excitement. If you
get out of patience, do not let your colts know it; if
you do, you will have lost all your labor thus far. If
you can not control yourself in this matter, it is doubtful
whether you can control the colts after you catch them.
I firmly believe that the wildest prairie colt may be
caught without the lasso or the trap, if one has suffi-
cient patience, and exercises a little dexterity and pru-
dence.

Slipping the Halter.

Some horses are very dexterous at this, and almost
always succeed in getting loose in the stable, keeping
other horses awake, and endangering their own limbs to
the kicks of others, besides other evils.

The web of the halter should be made so as to slip
only one way; or a strap may be buckled around the

OF MANAGING HORSES. ~ 27

neck, and attached to the halter just tight enough not
to injure or annoy him, but to prevent his slipping it
off.

Restlessness while being shod.

If a young horse is unwilling to be shod, he should
be allowed to see several others go through the opera-
tion before taking his turn. This, with other means
of gentleness, will generally succeed. But if not, then
it will be necessary to put your horse through a regular
course of training—to do, in fact, what should have
been done before he was ever sent to be shod at all.

Take his foot up frequently and hold it as the smith
does, until he cares nothing about it, then hammer it,
and do whatever else will be an imitation of the process
of shoeing. By such means your horse will be pre-
pared for an operation which would otherwise be strange
to him. A horse does not refuse to be shod from mere
bad temper ; it is because he does not know what you
want to do with his foot, or he has been roughly handled,
badly trained, or previously maimed by some careless
smith.

To prevent rolling in the Stall.

This is a very dangerous habit, and can be prevented
only by tying the horse so that he can lie down, but
not touch his head to the floor. This is very tiresome
to the horse, and hence, if you care enough for his
comfort and health, build a narrow platform, eighteen
to twenty-four inches in width, slanting at an angle of
thirty to forty degrees, so that it will form a pillow for
his head and neck ; then adjust a rope so that as he lies
down, his head will naturally rest on the platform or

28 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

pillow. He will not roll, unless he can get his head as
low as the floor of the stable.

How to break Horses from balking.

In the first place never teach your horse to balk, by
giving him a greater load than he can carry, or requir-
ing him to go up too steep a hill without permitting
him to stop. If you tell him to stop, in going up a steep
hill, it is better than to allow him to do it of his own
accord. If he finds he can stop of his own will, and
start when he pleases, he will soon learn to do it when
he ought not to. If at any time he stops without your
stopping him, give him a sharp cut, and make him go
on, even if you think he ought to stop at that very
place; but soon yourself give him an opportunity to
stop. This will teach him that he is to stop only at
your will, and that you are not unreasonable in your
demands. I believe that all balky horses are in the
first instance taught to balk by their careless and incon-
siderate owners, who overload them, and allow them to
stop or go according to their own will. Once a -horse
finds he can stop at will without reproof, he will stop,
perhaps on a smooth road, or in the middle of a village,
or on the street of a city, where you will be mortified ‘as
well as discommoded. ra

But what shall we do with a horse who has thor-
oughly learned to balk, and whom whipping only hard-
ens? Desperate remedies should sometimes be used
for desperate cases, and you may in such cases either
kill your horse as not being worthy the oats you give
him, or you may fasten him to a strong carriage, put
22 a strong harness and reins, and seating yourself

OF MANAGING HORSES. 29

firmly in the vehicle, drive on; if he balks, set fire to
a bunch of shavings or a newspaper at his heels, or a
bunch of fire-crackers ; he is bound to go in such case—
perhaps too fast for you—but of this you must run
your risk. It is a desperate remedy, but when kind-
ness and good treatment do not succeed, such a remedy
will succeed better, and is more humane than beating,
unmerciful whipping, etc., which seldom succeed at all.

Crib Biting.

This is a bad habit, and very annoying to the owner
of a horse. Various remedies have been tried, such as
ironing the manger, partitions, etc. 1 know of no cer-
tain cure but an iron muzzle, with bars just wide enough
apart to allow the horse to pick up his grain and draw
out his hay with his tongue, but not to get hold of any-
thing with his teeth. If this habit is not broken it will
soon be imitated by every horse in the stable.

To make a Horse lie down at Night.

Horses that never lie down when they sleep will not
do as well as those who are in the habit of it. They
perhaps are afraid of being caught by the halter, or they
have already been cast in the night, and do not like to
try it again. Such horses should be let loose in a stable
at night, or in a large stall, without being tied, and fur-
nished with a tempting bed, until the habit of lying down
is acquired, and the fear of it removed.

Unwillingness to be mounted.

In some this is mere playfulness, while in others it
is a decided unwillingness to be driven. Give such

30 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

horses as the former more hay and less oats, and never
let them start immediately on your mounting them or
getting into the carriage. A systematic and persever-
ing course of such treatment will, in the end, usually
teach the horse that you are not ready for him to go
the instant you touch your foot to the stirrup, but you
have gloves or mittens to put on, or your reins to adjust,
and it is useless for him to be in a hurry.

But if it is because he does not want to go, then it
may be he wants more oats and less hay; or he has
been perhaps badly used when out on former occasions.
In either case, however, whipping does no good; indeed
I am satisfied that for all viciousness in horses, whip-
ping does no good, but only aggravates the evil. An
occasional sharp crack with the whip, followed by tones
of friendship familiar to the horse, will generally do
good; but if your horse has never heard you use such
tones, then you had better sell him at once, and get a
horse without bad habits—some drone which has not
life enough in him to be restless, and not strength
enough to kick.

Running away.

The best way to cure this, if it is a settled habit, is
to get your horse on a good road, and if he starts, let
him go, and the moment he slacks give him a sharp cut
with the whip, until he has had as much running as he
wants.

Restiveness.
This is one of the worst manifestations in the horse.
It is the result of bad management in the early train-
ing of the horse, and when once a settled habit, it be-

OF MANAGING HORSES._ 31

comes dangerous to any but the best rider or driver to
attempt his management. Whipping, hallooing, jerking
and yanking with the bridle only make the matter worse.
If you can not soothe such a horse by kind treatment,
you had better give him up as a hopeless case.

Biting.

This is generally the result of allowing boys to “fool ”
with a horse, by pointing sticks at him; though some-
times the cause is in the natural disposition of the horse.
Here again, whipping is of no use. Stewart says, he
has seen horses whipped till nearly dead, but to no
effect. If you can obtain something exceedingly dis-
agreeable to the taste of a horse, as some very bitter
herb, saturate a piece of cloth and wind it around a
stick for him to bite at; it will often, in connection with
kind treatment, have a tendency to break him. A
single sharp cut of the whip across the mouth on the
instant, will sometimes do good; but unmerciful whip-
ping, raving, swearing—never.

The Author’s fancy for a Trick Horse.

Color is quite immaterial, otherwise than to please
the eye; a thorough-bred is best—a half-blood will do—

about fifteen or sixteen hands high. Be sure he or

she is sound in body, limbs, and wind; head, neck, and
withers high; wide between the eyes; large and red
nostrils; top of the neck small; ears small and well
set forward; active; eyes large and full; countenance
bright and intelligent; mane and foretop good length;
tail medium and natural length, carried up well when
he or she moves; medium-sized and sound dark hoofs ;

32 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

fetlock joints springy; proud and bold in look and
movement; clean taper limbs, with good muscle; a
mare or stallion would be preferable; the less he or she
has been handled the better; age, two or three years.

[I have spoken on this subject before, but owing to
a request of some of my friends, I have here given a
more perfect description, so one not being a judge of
horses can select a trick horse—Tue Avruor.]

A FEW REMARKS ON THE COLT,

TAKEN FROM OTHER AUTHORS.

How to Succeed in Getting 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 until they become quiet, so as not to make
them run before you are close enough to drive them
in the direction you want 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 wish them to take. Thus taking 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 into the pasture
uncared for, (as many horses do in prairie countries

OF MANAGING HORSES. 33

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 most of them.

How to stable a Colt without Trouble.

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 gentle horse into the stable first and hitch him,
then quietly walk around the colt and let him go in
of his own accord. It is almost impossible to get men
who have never practiced on this principle, to go slow
and considerate about it. They do not know that in
handlmg a wild horse, above all other things, is that
good old adage true, that “haste makes waste ;” that is,
waste of time, for the gain of trouble and perplexity.

One wrong move may frighten your horse, and make
him think it is 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, and that would not be good
policy, unless you knew that you could outrun him;
or you will have to let him stop of his own accord after
all. But he will not 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, but give him a little

84 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

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 fiy 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 you can soon walk so close
around him that he will go into the stable for more room,
and to get further 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 to
get in such 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,
let him remain alone fifteen or twenty minutes, until
he has examined his apartment, and has become recon-
ciled to his confinement.

Time to Reflect.

And now, while your colt is eating those few ears
of corn, is the proper time to see that your halter is
ready and all right, and to reflect on the best mode of
operations; for, in the horse-breaking, it is highly im-
portant that you should be governed by some system.
And you should know, before you attempt to do any-
thing, just what you are going to do, and how you are
going to do it. And, if you are experienced in the art
of taming wild horses, you ought to be able to tell,
within a few minutes, the length of time it would take
you to halter the colt, and teach him to lead.

OF MANAGING HORSES: ~ . a

The Kind of Halter.

Always use a leather halter, and be sure to have it
made so that it will not draw tight around his nose if
he pulls on it. It should be of the right size to fit
his head easily and nicely; so that the nose band will
not be too tight or too low. Never put a rope halter
on an unbroken colt under any circumstances whatever:
They have caused more horses to hurt or kill them-
selves, than would pay for twice the cost of all the
leather halters that have ever been needed for the
purpose of haltering colts. It is almost impossible to
break a colt that is very wild with a rope halter, with-
out having him pull, rear, and throw himself, and thus
endanger his life; and I will tell you why. It is just
as‘ natural for a horse to try to get his head out of
anything that hurts it or feels unpleasant, as it would
‘be for you to try to get your hand out of a fire. The
cords of the rope are hard and cutting; this makes
him raise his head and draw on it, and, as soon as he
pulls, the slip noose (the way rope halters are always
made) tightens, and pinches his nose, and then he will
struggie for life, until, perchance, he throws himself;
and who would have his horse throw himself, and run
the risk of breaking his neck, rather than pay the price
of a leather halter. But this is not the worst. A
horse that has once pulled on his halter, can never be
as well broke as one that has never pulled at all.

Remarks on the Horse.

But before we attempt to do anything more with the
colt, I will give you some of the characteristics of his

36 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

nature, that you may better understand his motions.
Every one that has ever paid any attention to the horse,
has noticed his natural inclination to smell of every-
thing which to him looks new and frightful. This is
their strange mode of examining everything. And,
when they are frightened at anything, though they
look at it sharply, they seem to have no confidence in
this optical examination alone, but must touch it with
the nose before they are entirely satisfied; and, as soon
as this is done, all is right.

Experiments with the Robe.

If you want to satisfy yourself of this characteristic
of the horse, and learn something of importance con-
cerning the peculiarities of his nature, ete., turn him
into the barn-yard, or a large stable will do, and then
gather up something that you know will frighten him ;
a red blanket, a buffalo robe, or something of that kind.
Hold it up so that he can see it; he will stick up his
head and snort. Then throw it down somewhere in the
center of the lot or barn, and walk off to one side.
Watch his motions, and study his nature. If he is
frightened at the object, he will not rest until he has
touched it with his nose. You will see him begin to
walk around the robe and snort, all the time getting a
little closer, as if drawn up by some magic spell, until
he finally gets within reach of it. He will then very
cautiously stretch out his neck as far as he can reach,
merely touching it with his nose, as though he thought
it was ready to fly at him. But after he has repeated
these touches a few times, for the first (though he has
been looking at it all the time) he seems to have an

{

OF MANAGING HORSES. 37

idea what it is. But now he has found, by the sense
of feeling, that it is nothing that will do him any harm,
and he is ready to play with it. Andif you watch him
closely, you will see him take hold of it with his teeth,
and raise it up and pull at it. And, in a few minutes,
you can see that he has not that same wild look about
his eye, but stands like a horse biting at some familiar
stump.

Yet the horse is never as well satisfied when he is
about anything that has frightened him, as when he is
standing with his nose to it. And, in nine cases out
of ten, you will see some of that same wild look about
him again, as he turns to walk from it. And you will,
probably, see him looking back very suspiciously as
he walks away, as though he thought it might come
after him yet. And, in all probability, he will have to
go back and make another examination before he is
satisfied. But he will familiarize himself with it, and,
if he should run into that lot a few days, the robe that
frightened him so much at first, will be no more to him
than a familiar stump.

Suppositions on the Sense of Smelling.

We might very naturally suppose, from the fact of
the horse’s applying his nose to everything new to him,
that he always does so for the purpose of smelling
these objects. But I believe that it is as much or more
for the purpose of feeling; and that he makes use of
his nose or muzzle, (as it is sometimes called,) as we
would of our hands ; because it is the only organ by which
he can touch or feel anything with much susceptibility.

I believe that he invariably makes use of the four

38 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling, in all of
his examinations, of which the sense of feeling is, per-
haps, the most important. And I think that in the
experiment with the robe, his gradual approach and
final touch with his nose, was as much for the purpose
of feeling, as anything else, his sense of smell being
so keen, that it would not be necessary for him to touch
his nose against anything in order to get the proper
scent; for it is said that a horse can smell a man the
distance of a mile. And, if the scent of the robe was
all that was necessary, he could get that several rods
off. But, we know from experience, that if a horse
sees and smells a robe a short distance from him, he
is very much frightened, (unless he is used to it,) until
he touches or feels it with his nose; which is a positive

proof that feeling is the controlling sense in this case.

Prevailing Opinion of Horsemen.

It is a prevailing opinion among horsemen generally,
that the sense of smell is the governing sense of the
horse. And Foucher, as well as others, have, with
that view, got up recipes of strong smelling oils, etc.,
to tame the horse, sometimes using the chestnut of his
leg, which they dry, grind into powder, and blow into
his nostrils; sometimes using the oil of rhodium,
origanum, etc., that are noted for their strong smell;
and sometimes they scent the hands with the sweat
from under the arm, or blow their breath into his
nostrils, ete. All of which, as far as the scent goes,
have no effect whatever in gentling the horse, or con-
veying any idea to his mind; though the works that
accompany these efforts—handling him, touching him

OF MANAGING HORSES. 39

about the nose and head, and patting him, as they
direct you should, after administering the articles, may
have a very great effect, which they mistake to be the
ingredients used. And Faucher, in his work entitled,
The Arabian Art of Taming Horses, page 17, tells us
how to accustom a horse to a robe, by administering
certain articles to his nose; and goes on to say, that
these articles must first be applied to the horse’s nose
before you attempt to break him, in order to operate
successfully.

Now, reader, can you, or any one else, give one single
reason how scent can convey any idea to the horse’s
mind of what we want him to do? [Hf not, then, of
course, strong scents of any kind are of no account in
taming the unbroken horse. For everything that we
get him to do of his own accord, without force, must
be accomplished by some means of conveying our ideas
to his mind. I say to my horse, “Go “long ;” and he
goes; “Ho!” and he steps; because these two words,
of which he has learned the meaning by the tap of the
whip, and the pull of the rein that first accompanied
them, convey the two ideas to his mind of go and
stop. y

Faucher, or no one else, can ever teach the horse a
single thing by the means of a scent alone.

How long do you suppose a horse would have to
stand and smell of a bottle of oil before he would learn
to bend his knee and make a bow at your bidding, “go
yonder and bring your hat,” or “come here and lay
down?” ‘Thus you see the absurdity of trying to break
or tame the horse by means’ of recipes for articles to
smell of, or medicine to give him, of any kind what-
ever.

40 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

The only science that has ever existed in the world,
relative to the breaking of horses, that has been of any
account, is that true method which takes them in their
native state, and improves their intelligence.

Powel’s System of Approaching the Colt.

But, before we go further, I will give you Willis J.
Powel’s system of approaching a wild colt, as given by
him in a work published in Europe, about the year
1814, on the Art of Taming Wild Horses. He says:
“A horse is gentled by my secret in from two to six-
teen hours.” The time I have most commonly em-
ployed has been from four to six hours. He goes on
to say: “Cause your horse 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 appears only to fear man, you must intro-
duce yourself gently into the stable, room, or yard
where the horse is. He will naturally run from you;
and frequently turn his head from you; but you must
walk about extremely slow and softly, so that he can
see you whenever he turns his head toward you, which
he never fails to do in a short time, say in a quarter
of an hour. I never knew one to be much longer
without turning toward me.

“At the very moment he turns his head, hold out
your left hand toward him, and stand perfectly still,
keeping your eyes upon the horse, watching his mo-
tions, if he makes 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

OF MANAGING HORSES. 4]

your left hand, without any other ingredient in it than
that what nature put in it.’ He says: “I have made
use of certain ingredients before people, such as the
sweat under my arm, etc., to disguise the real secret,
and many believed that the docility to which the horse
arrived in so short a time, was owing to these ingre-
dients; but you see, from this explanation, that they
were of no use whatever. The implicit faith placed in
these ingredients, though innocent of themselves, be-
comes ‘ faith without works.’ And thus men remained
always in doubt concerning this secret. If the horse
makes the least motion when you advance toward him,
stop, and remain perfectly still until he is quiet. Re-
main a few moments in this condition, and then advance
again in the same slow and imperceptible manner. Take
notice: if the horse stirs, 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 exceptions. He generally keeps his eyes steadfast
on 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 pos-
sible. Ifthe horse flinches, (as many will,) repeat with
great rapidity these light strokes upon the forehead,
going a little further up toward 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 fore-
head, 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
4 |

42 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

horse’s ears, coming down now and then to his fore-
head, which may be looked upon as the helm that
governs all the rest.

“Having succeeded in handling his ears, advance
toward 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 from 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 upward 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 like-
wise the ears, breast, neck, etc., speaking now and then
to the horse. Begin by degrees to descend to the legs,

OF MANAGING HORSES. 43

always ascending and descending, gaining ground every
time you descend, until you get to his feet.

“Talk to the horse in Latin, Greek, French, English,
or Spanish, or in any other language you please; but
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, ‘ Levez le pied, ‘ Alza el
pie,’ ‘ Aron ton poda,’ etc., at the same time lift his foot
with your hand. He soon becomes familiar with the
sounds, and will hold his foot up at command. Then
proceed to the hind feet, and go on in the same man-
ner, 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 a horse generally has
of a 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 a very marked attachment to his keeper.”

Remarks on Powel’s Treatment hew to govern
Horses of any Kind.

These instructions are very good, but not quite suffi-
cient for horses of all kinds, and for haltering and lead-
ing the colt ; but I have inserted it here, because it gives
some of the true philosophy of approaching the horse,
and of establishing confidence between man and horse.
He speaks only of the kind that fear man.

To those who understand the philosophy of horse-
' manship, these are the easiest trained; for when we
have a horse that is wild and lively, we can train him

44 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

to our will in a very short time; for they are gen-
erally quick to learn, and always ready to obey. But
there is another kind, that are of a stubborn or vicious
disposition, and, although they are not wild, and do not
require taming, in the sense it is generally understood,
they are just as ignorant as a wild horse, if not more
so, and need to be taught just as much; and, in order
to have them obey quickly, it is very necessary that
they should be made to fear their masters; for, in order
to obtain perfect obedience from any horse, we must
first have him fear us, for our motto is, fear, love, and
obey ; and we must have the fulfillment of the first two
nefore we can expect the latter, and it is by our philoso-
phy of creating fear, love and confidence, that we govern,
to our will, every kind of a horse whatever.

Then, in order to take horses as we find them, or all
kinds, and to train them to our likings, we will always
take with us, when we go into a stable to train a colt,
a long switch whip, (whale-bone buggy whips are the
best,) with a good silk cracker, so as to cut keen and
make a sharp report, which, if handled with dexterity,
and rightly applied, accompanied with a sharp, fierce
word, will be sufficient to enliven the spirits of any
horse. With this whip in your right hand, with the
lash pointing backward, enter the stable alone. It is a
great disadvantage in training a horse, to have any one
in the stable with you; you should be entirely alone,
so as to have nothing but yourself to attract his atten-
tion. If he is wild you will soon see him in the oppo-
site side of the stable from you; and now is the time
to use a little judgment. I would not want for myself
more than half or three-quarters of an hour to handle
any kind of a colt, and have him running about in the

OF MANAGING HORSES. 45

stable after me; though I would advise a new beginner
to take more time, and not be in too much of a hurry.
If you have but one colt to gentle, and are not particu-
lar about the length of time you spend, and have not
had any experience in handling colts, I would advise
you to take Mr. Powel’s method at first, till you gentle
him, which he says takes from two to six hours. But,
as 1 want to accomplish the same, and, what is much
more, teach the horse to lead in less than one hour, I
shall give you a much quicker process of accomplishing
the same end. Accordingly, when you have entered
the stable, stand still and let your horse look at you a
minute or two, and as soon as he is settled in one place,
approach him slowly, with both arms stationary, your
right hanging by your side, holding the whip as directed,
and.the left bent at the elbow, with your hand project-
ing. As you approach him, go not too much toward
his head or croop, so as not to make him move either
forward or backward, thus keeping your horse station-
ary; if he does move a little forward or backward, step
a little to the right or left very cautiously ; this will
keep him in one place; as you get very near him, draw
a little to his shoulder, and stop afew seconds. If you
are in his reach he will turn his head and smell at your
hand, not that he has any preference for your hand, but
because that it is projecting, and is the nearest portion
of your body to the horse. ‘This all colts will do, and
they will smell of your naked hand just as quick as
they will of anything that you can put in it, and with
just as good an effect, however much some men have
preached the doctrine of taming horses by giving them
the scent articles from the hand. I have already proved
that to be a mistake. As soon as he touches his nose

46 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

to your hand, caress him as before directed, always
using avery light, soft hand, merely touching the horse,
always rubbing the way the hair lays, so that your hand
will pass along as smoothly as possible. As you stand
by his side you may find it more convenient to rub his
neck or the side of his head, which will answer the same
purpose as rubbing his forehead. Favor every inclina-
tion of the horse to smell or touch you with his nose.
Always follow each touch or communication of this kind
with the most tender and affectionate caresses, accom-
panied with a kind look, and pleasant word of some sort,
such as: Ho! my little boy, ho! my little boy, pretty
boy, nice lady! or something of that kind, constantly
repeating the same words, with the same kind, steady
tone of voice; for the horse soon learns to read the ex-
pression of the face and voice, and will know as well
when fear, love, or anger, prevails as you know your
own feelings; two of which, fear and anger, a good
horseman should never feel.

How to proceed if your Horse is of a Stubborn
Disposition.

If your horse, instead of being wild, seems to be of a
stubborn or mulish disposition ; if he lays back his ears
as you approach him, or turns his heels 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 be 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 around his legs, and the crack of the
whip will affect him as much as the stroke; besides, one
sharp cut about his legs will affect him more than two

OF MANAGING HORSES. 47

or three over his back, the skin on the inner part of his
legs, or about his flank 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 dis-
position out of him. But whatever you do, do quickly,
sharply, and with a good deal of fire, but always with-—
out anger. If you are going to scare him at all you
must do it at once. Never go into a pitched battle with
your horse, and whip him till 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 resent-
ment, hatred, and ill-will. It will do him no good, but
an injury, to strike a blow, unless you can scare him ;
but if you succeed in scaring 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;
then you will excite the two controlling passions of his
nature, love and fear, and then he will fear and love
you too, and as soon as he learns what to do, will quickly

obey.
liow to halter and lead the Coit.

As soon as you have gentled the colt a little, take the
halter in your left hand and approach him as before,
and on the same side that you have gentled him. If he
is very timid about your approaching closely to him,
you can get up to him quicker by making the whip a
part of your arm, and reaching out very gently with

48 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

the butt end of it, rubbing him lightly on the neck, all
the time getting a little closer, shortening the whip by
taking it up in your hand, until you finally get close
enough to put your hands en him. If he is inclined to
hold his head from you, put the end of the halter strap
around his neck, drop your whip, and draw very gently ;
he will let his neck give, and you can pull his head to
you. Then take hold of that part of the halter which
buckles over the top of his head, and pass the long side,
or that part which goes into the buckle, under his neck,
grasping it on the opposite side with your right hand,
letting the first strap loose, the latter will be sufficient
to hold his head to you. Lower the halter a little, just
enough to get his nose into that part which goes around
it, then raise 1t somewhat, and fasten the top buckle,
and you will have it all right. 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 hal-
ter that goes around his neck, then, with your 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 of 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 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 toward gentling him
than if you had the power to snub him right up, and
hold him to one spot; because he does not know any-
thing about his strength, and if you don’t do anything

OF MANAGING HORSES. 49

to make him pull, he will never know that he can.
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 tolera-
bly short strap, and step up to him without flying back,
you ean begin to give him some idea about leading.
“But to do this, do net 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 up to him
and caress him, and then pull him again, repeating
this operation until you can pull him around 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, and you always caress him
when he comes up to you, and he likes that, and would
just as leave follow you as not. And after he has had
a few lessons of that kind, if you turn him out in a lot
he will come up to you every opportunity he gets.
You should lead him about in the stable 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
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

5

50 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

left hand, while the right is resting on the top of the
neck, holding to his mane. After you are out with
him a little while, you can lead him about as you please.
Don’t let any second person come up to you when you
first take him out; a stranger taking hold of the halter
would frighten him, and make him run. There should
not even be any one standing near him to attract his
attention, or scare him. If you are alone, and manage
him right, it will not require any more force to lead
or hold him than it would to manage a broken horse.

How to lead a Colt by the Side of a broken Horse.

If you should want to lead your colt by the side of
another horse, as is often the case, | would advise you
to take your horse into the stable, attach a second
strap to the colt’s halter, and lead your horse up along-
side of him. Then get on the broken horse and take
one strap around his breast, under his martingale, (if
he has any on,) holding it in your left hand. This
will prevent the colt from getting back too far; besides,
you will 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 run-
ning ahead; then turn him about a few times in the
stable, and if the door is wide enough, ride out with
him in that position; if not, take the broken 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, then let
some one start the colt out, and as he comes out, turn
your horse to the left, and you will have them all right.
This is the best way to lead a colt; you can manage

OF MANAGING HORSES. 51

any kind of a colt in this way, without any trouble;
for, if he tries to run ahead, or pull back, the two
straps will bring the horses facing each other, so
that you can 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. And 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 a Colt into the Stable and hitch him
Without having him pull on the Halter.

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
arm, so that you can tap him on the opposite side with
your switch; bring him up facing the door, tap him
lightly 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

52 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

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
can not walk him in at once this way, turn him about
and walk him round in every direction, 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 walk in in
less than ten minutes. 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 don’t want
him to know anything about pulling on the halter.
Colts are often hurt, and sometimes killed, by trying
to force them into the stable; and those who attempt
to do it in that way, go into an up-hill business, when
a plain, smooth road is before them.

If you want to hitch 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 im he can
not get far enough back to take a straight, backward
pull on the halter; then, by hitching 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 left or right. In a state of
this kind you can break every horse to stand hitched by
a light strap, anywhere, without his ever knowing any-
thing about pulling. But 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,

OF MANAGING HORSES. 53

and give him something to eat to keep him up to his
place for a few minutes at first, and there is not one
colt in fifty that will pull on his halter.

The kind of Bit and how to accustom a Horse to it.

You should use a large, smooth, snaffle bit, so as not
to hurt his mouth, with a bar to each side, to prevent
the bit from pulling through either way. This you
should attach 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. It would be well, if con-
venient, to repeat this several times before you do any-
thing more with the colt; as soon as he will bear the
bit, attach a single rein to it, without any martingal.
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 without pulling on
the bit much. He is now ready for the saddle.

How to saddle a Colt.

Any one man, who has this theory, can put a saddle
on the wildest colt 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 as you approach. When you get to him, rub
him gently a few times with your hand, and then raise

54 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

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 getting a little
further backward, and finally slip it over his shoulders
on his back. Shake it a little with your hand, and
in less than five minutes you can rattle it about over —
his back as much 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 a 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 cnough 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 the 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 learn 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.

OF MANAGING HORSES. 55

You should always be alone, and have your colt in
some tight stable or shed the first time you ride him;
the loft should be high, so that you can sit on his back
without endangering your head. You can learn him
more in two hours’ time, in a stable of this kind, than
you could in two weeks, in the common way of breaking
-eclts, 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 a horse. You take him a
step at a time, until you get up a mutual confidence and
trust between yourself and horse. First learn 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 Coit.

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 thus gentled, get a small
block, about one foot or eighteen inches in hight, and
set it down by the side of him, about where you want
to stand to mount him: step up on this, raising your-
self 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
while 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

56 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

into the stirrup, and stand square over it, holding your
knee against the horse, and your toe out, so as to
touch him under the 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 the reins, as 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 saddle;
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.

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 up 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 toward him, he
will be very much frightened, and, upon the same prin-
ciple, 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 leaning 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 to the
horse’s back, but from it you can gradually raise your-

OF MANAGING HORSES. 57

‘ self 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 while mount-
ing; and a colt is never so safe to mount, as when you
see that assurance of confidence, and absence of fear,
which causes him to stand without holding.

How to ride a 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, and 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 would 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 you more than one or two hours, you can ride
him anywhere you choose, without ever having him
jump or make any 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 a little easier frightened than
he was while in the stable. But after handling him
so much in the stable, he will be pretty well broke,

58 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

and you will be able to manage him without trouble -
or danger.

When you first mount him, take a little the shortest
hold on the left rein, so that if anything frightens him
you can prevent him jumping by pulling his head around
to you. This operation of pulling a horse’s head around
against his side will prevent any horse 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 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 martingals 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 martingal to change the direction of
the force applied. You can guide the colt much better
without them, and learn him the use of the bit in much
less time. Besides, martingals would prevent you from
pulling his head around if he should try to jump.

After your colt has been rode 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 martingals 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.

OF MANAGING HORSES. 59

The proper way to Bit a Colt.

Farmers often put bitting harness on a colt the first
thing they do to him, buckling up the bitting as tight
as they can draw it, to make him carry his head high,
and then turn him out in a lot to run a half day at a
time. This is one of the worst punishments that they
could inflict on the colt, and 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 that point
where he naturally holds it, let that be high or low;
he will soon learn that he can not lower his head, and
that raising it a little will loosen the bit in his mouth.
This will give him the 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.

If you put the bitting on very tight the first time,
he can not raise his head enough to loosen it, but will
bear on it all the time, and paw, sweat, and throw him-
self. Many horses have been killed by falling backward
with the bitting on; their heads, being drawn up, strike
the ground with the whole weight of the body. Horses
that have their heads drawn up tightly should not have
the bitting on more than fifteen or twenty minutes at
a time.

60 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

How to drive a Horse that is very wild and has
any vicious habits.

Take up one fore foot and bend his knee till his
hoof is bottom upwards, and merely touching his body
then slip a loop over his knee, and up until it comes
above the pasture joint, to keep it up, being careful to
draw the loop together between the hoof and pasture
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 impossible for him to
kick in this position. There is something in this oper-
ation of taking up one foot that conquers a horse
quicker and better than anything else you can do to
him. There is no process in the world equal to it to
break a kicking horse, for several reasons. First, there
is a principle of this kind in the nature of the horse;
that by conquering one member you conquer, to a great
extent, the whole horse.

You have, perhaps, seen men operate upon this prin-
ciple by sewing a horse’s ears together, to prevent him
from kicking. I once saw a plan given in a newspaper
to make a bad horse stand to be shod, which was to
fasten down one ear. There were no reasons given
why you should do so; but I tried it several times, and
thought it had a good effect—though I would not re-
commend its use, especially stitching his ears together.
The only benefit arising from this process is, by dis-
arranging his ears we draw his attention to them, and
he is not so apt to resist the shoeing. By tying up
one foot we operate, on the same principle, to a much
better effect. When you first fasten up a horse’s foot,

OF MANAGING HORSES. 61

he will sometimes get very mad, and strike with his
knee, and try every possible way to get it down; but
he cannot do that, and will soon give it up.

This will conquer him better than anything you could
do, and without any possible danger of hurting himself,
or you either, for you can tie up his foot and sit down
and look at him until he gives up. When you find
that he-is conquered, go to him, let down his foot, rub
his leg with your hand, caress him, and let him rest a
little, 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 can not 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 hitched, you
can now hitch him in a sulky and drive him as you
please. And, if he wants to run, you can let him have
the lines, and the whip too, with perfect safety, for he
can not go but a slow gait on three legs, and will soon
be tired and willing 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 method is an effec-
tual cure for this worst of all habits. There are plenty

62 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

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 toward 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 will only kick the harder, and
this will hurt them still more, and make them remember
the scrape much longer, and make it more difficult to
persuade them to have any confidence in anything
dragging behind them ever after.

But by this new method you can hitch them to a rat-
tling sulky, plow, wagon, or anything else in its worst
shape. They may be frightened at first, but can not
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.

Further remarks on Balking.

Horses know nothing about balking, only ag they are
brought into it by improper management, and when a
horse balks in harness it is generally from some mis-
management, excitement, confusion, or from not know-
ing how to pull, but seldom from any unwillingness to
perform all that he understands. High-spirited, free-
going horses are the most subject to balking, and only
so because drivers do not properly understand how to
manage this kind. A free horse in a team may be so
anxious to go, that when he hears the word he will start
with a jump, which will not move the load, but give him

OF MANAGING HORSES. 63

such a severe jerk on the shoulders that he will fly back
and stop the other horse; the teamster will continue
his driving without any cessation, and by the time he
has the slow horse started again he will find that the
free horse has made another jump, and again flew back,
and now he has them both baldly balked, and so con-
fused that neither of them know what is the matter, or
how to start the load. Next will come the slashing and
eracking of the whip, and hallooing of the driver, till
something is broken, or he is through with his course
of treatment. But what a mistake the driver commits
by whipping his horse for this act. Reason and com-
mon sense should teach him that the horse was willing
to go, but did not know how to start the load. And
should he whip him for that? If so, he should whip
him again for not knowing how to talk. A man that
wants to act with any rationality or reason, should not
fly into a passion, but should always think before he
strikes. It takes a steady pressure against the collar
to move a load, and you can not expect him to act with
a steady, determined purpose, while you are whipping
him. There is hardly one balking horse in five hundred
that will pull true from whipping; it is only adding fuel
to the fire, and will make them more lable to balk
another time. You always see horses that have been
balked a few times turn their heads and look back, as
soon as they are a little frustrated. This is because
they have been whipped, and are afraid of what is behind
them. This is an invariable rule with balked horses,
just as much as it is for them to look around at their
sides when they have the bots; in either case, they are
deserving of the same sympathy, and the same kind,
rational treatment.

64 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

When your horse balks, or is a little excited, if he
wants to start quickly, or looks around and don’t want
to go, there is something wrong, and needs kind treat-
ment immediately. Caress him kindly, and if he does not
understand at once what you want him to do, he will
not be so much excited as to jump and break things,
and do everything wrong through fear. As long as
you are calm, and can keep down the excitement of the
horse, there are ten chances to have him understand
you, where there would not be one under harsh treat-
ment, and then the little flare up would not carry with
it any unfavorable recollection, and he would soon for-
get all about it, and learn to pull true. Almost every
wrong act the horse commits is from mismanagement,
fear, or excitement; one harsh word will so excite a ner-
vous horse as to increase his pulse ten beats in a min-
ute.

When we remember that we are dealing with dumb
brutes, and reflect how difficult it must be for them to
understand our motions, signs, and language, we should
never get out of patience with them because they do not
understand us, or wonder at their doing things wrong.
With all our intellect, if we were placed in the horse’s
situation, it would be difficult for us to understand the
driving of some foreigner, of foreign ways and foreign
language. We should always recollect that our ways
and language are just as foreign and unknown to the
horse as any language in the world is to us, and should
try to practice what we could understand, were we the
horse, endeavoring, by some simple means, to work on
his understanding rather than on the different parts of
his body. All balked horses can be started true and
steady in a few minutes time; they are all willing to

OF MANAGING HORSES. 65

pull as soon as they know how, and I never yet found
a balked horse that I could not teach him to start his
load in fifteen, and often less than three minutes time.

Almost any team, when first balked, will start kindly,
if you let them stand five or ten minutes, as though there
was nothing wrong, and then speak to them with a steady
voice, and turn them a little to the right or left, so as
to get them both in motion before they feel the pinch
of the load. But if you want to start a team that you
are not driving yourself, that has been balked, fooled,
and whipped for some time, go to them and hang the
lines on their hames, or fasten them to the wagon, so
that they will be perfectly loose; make the driver and
spectators (if there are any) stand off some distance to
one side, so as not to attract the attention of the horses;
unloose their check-reins, so that they can get their
heads down, if they choose; let them stand a few min-
utes in this condition, until you can see that they are a
little composed. While they are standing you should
be about their heads, gentling them; it will make them
a little more kind, and the spectators will think that you
are doing something that they do not understand, and
will not learn the secret. When you have them ready
to start, stand before them, and as you seldom have but
one balky horse ina team, get as near in front of him
as you can, and if he is too fast for the other horse, let
his nose come against your breast; this will keep him
steady, for he will go slow rather than run on you;
turn them gently to the right, without letting them
pull on the traces, as far as the tongue will let them go;
stop them with a kind word, gentle them a little, and
then turn them back to the left, by the same process.

You will have them under your control by this time,
6 .

66 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

and as you turn them again to the right, steady them
in the collar, and you can take them where you please.

There is a quicker process that will generally start
a balky horse, but not so sure. Stand him a little
ahead, so that his shoulders will be against the collar,
and then take up one of his fore feet in your hand, and
let the driver start them, and when the weight comes
against his shoulders, he will try to step; then let him
have his foot, and he will go right along. If you want
to break a horse from balking that has long been in
that habit, you ought to set apart a half day for that
purpose. Put him by the side of some steady horse ;
have check lines on them; tie up all the traces and
straps, so that there will be nothing to excite them; do
not rein them up, but let them have their heads loose.
Walk them about together for some time as slowly and
lazily as possible; stop often, and go up to your balky
horse and gentle him. Do not take any whip about
him, or do anything to excite him, but keep him just as
quiet as you can. He will soon learn to start off at the
word, and stop whenever you tell him.

As soon as he performs right, hitch him in an empty
wagon ; have it stand in a favorable position for starting.
It would be well to shorten the stay chain behind the
steady horse, so that if it is necessary he can take the
weight of the wagon the first time you start them. Do
not drive but a few rods at first; watch your balky
horse closely, and if you see that he is getting excited,
stop him before he stops of his own accord, caress him
a little, and start again. As soon as they go well, drive
them over a small hill a few times, and then over a
large one, occasionally adding a little load. This pro-
cess will make any horse true to pull.

OF MANAGING HORSES. 67

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 that you can put them on him and rattle them
about without his caring for them. As soon as he will
bear this, 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 aggra-
vation to some colts, and often frighten them as much
as 1f you were to raise a whip over them. As soon as
he is familiar with the harness and line, 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 hiteh a Horse in a Suiky.

Lead him to and around it; let him look at it, touch
it with his nose, and stand by it till he does not care
for it; then pull the shafts a little to the left, and stand
by 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 hand, 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

68 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

and lower them very gently on 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
bear them without scaring, fasten your braces, etc., 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 his 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, 1 would advise you to put up one
foot the first time you drive him.

How to make a Horse stand without holding.

After you have him well broken to follow you, stand
him in the center of the stable—begin at his head to
caress him, gradually working backward. If he moves,
give him a cut with the whip, and put him back in the
same spot from which he started. If he stands, caress
him as before, and continue gentling him in this way
until you can get round him without making him move.
Keep walking around him, increasing your pace, and

OF MANAGING HORSES. 69

only touch him occasionally. Enlarge your circle as
you walk around, and if he then moves, give him ano-
ther cut with the whip, and put him back to his place.
If he stands, go to him frequently and caress him, and
then walk around him again. Do not keep him in one
position too long at a time, but make him come to you
occasionally, and follow you round in the stable. Then
stand him in another place, and proceed as before.
You should not train your horse more than half an
hour at a time.

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THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE HORSE,

Breeding Horses.

ImPoRTANT and necessary as it is to secure the best
possible condition, make, and character of both sire and
dam, it is not sufficient to insure complete success. In
a world where briars, weeds, and poisonous grasses grow
spontaneously, and the fruits and grains which support
life are grown only by laborious cultivation, eternal
vigilance is the price of good life and ample sustenance.

The first conditions being settled, leave no recess for
slumbering. The mare needs constant care. She must
be kept in good health and condition, must be fed with
care, both as regards quantity and quality; must be
sheltered from storms and bad weather, must have
exercise and room for recreation, avoiding sudden,
violent exertion; must be kept free from the noxious
gases of foul and ill-ventilated stables; should be
combed and rubbed frequently, and, in short, every-
thing should be done which tends to cultivate and sus-
tain that condition of life, strength, action, and spirit
to be desired in the offspring. The forming animal
derives no elements of its being from other source than

(71)

72 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

the mother’s system. During gestation, her vital fluid
fills the foetal veins, and if, from any depressing or
exhausting influence, that blood is deficient in vitality,
it can not supply that life and energy, that perfection
of development to the new being, which a better con-
dition would impart. Every influence affecting injuri-
ously the mother’s health vitiates the life fountain of
the new being; hence the necessity and value of the
utmost care and attention during the period of ges-
tation.

All the attention requisite before foaling, is equally
important afterward. In the one case, the foetus
derives its nourishment direct from the blood of the
mother; in the next, the foal obtains its sustenance
from the milk made from that blood, and it is not less
important that the blood be healthy and pure to insure
the proper quantity and quality of nutriment to the
young animal. For this reason the mare should not
be put to hard work soon after foaling, nor, indeed, to
severe and constant toil during the time of suckling
her young. She should be well fed, and allowed good
pasturage, affording both food and room for exercise.
An idea that half-starved and stunted colts make tough,
hardy horses, has long existed among a portion of the
farming community, and so opposed is it to all facts,
so contrary to all the teachings of reason and philoso-.
phy, so absurd in itself, that its very existence is
astonishing. When every tissue of the organization
is made up from the nutriment taken into the system,
and from that only, as every one knows, it is not easy
to conceive how those tissues should be better formed
if only half supplied with forming materials; yet such
has been the idea. And, though a few good animals

OF MANAGING HORSES.. 73

have been raised in this manner, it needs but a mo-
ment’s thought to decide that they must have been
much better if well cared for, and fully fed. Observa-
tion, it is thought, will convince any one that such
horses are imperfectly developed, are more liable to
the encroachments of disease, are wanting in action
and spirit, and do not exhibit that symmetry and beauty
of form characteristic of well-fed animals.

Youatt, who has written much and sey
upon the economy of the horse, says:

“The breeder may depend upon it, that nothing is
gained by starving the mother and stinting the foal at
this time. It is the most important period of the life
of the horse; and if, from false economy, his growth
is arrested, his puny form and want of endurance will
ever afterward testify to the error that has been com-
mitted.”

There is no principle of greater importance than the
liberal feeding of the foal during the time of his growth,
and Setanta at the time of weaning. Bruised oats
and bran, or other nutritious and easily digestible
articles, should form a part of his daily food; and the
farmer may be assured that the money is well invested
which is expended on the liberal nourishment of the
growing colt. With liberal range, he should have
good shelter from storms and the inclemencies of the
weather. Too often, however, after weaning, he is left
to struggle on as he can, and becoming poor and dis-
pirited, may be seen shivering beside a fence, rheum
running from his eyes, his rough, shaggy, dirty coat a
habitation for vermin, and himself a sad specimen of
poverty and misery. Nota great number of such cases
may be found at this time compared with the past;

7

74 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

but there is far too much carelessness and inattention
to young animals of all kinds. The dictates of humane
feeling, and the demand of the owner’s purse, when
understood, will remedy the evil; and reform, in these
matters, as in most others, will come from a knowledge
of, and reasons for the better way. The agricultural
wealth not yet developed, both vegetable and animal,
may some day astonish the dull eyes of the present old
fogyish portion of young America.

The Horse in the Stabie.

If one would have a good horse on the road, he must
take care of him in the stable. ‘To the man who is
fond of that noble animal, the horse, the stable is no
mean place which is the home of his faithful servant.
A part of the secret of the differences among horses
may be found in the different ways they are treated in
the stable.

This building need not have the embellishment of
architecture, nor be made air-tight; but it should be
comfortable—made to promote the comfort of its occu-
pant. It should be well ventilated, by allowing a
draught of fresh air constantly to pass through it,
especially during the warmer months. Do not allow
the air of the stable to be made offensive and unhealthy
by the presence of ammonia escaping from the excre-
ments. Keep the air in your stable as sweet as it is
in your own house; for such is necessary for the health
of a horse.

Plaster of Paris used freely about the stable, is quite
desirable, both on the score of comfort and profit. It—
is cruel to foster a noble horse in a stable where the

OF MANAGING HORSES. 75

air is suffocating on account of noxious gases constantly
generating and escaping for want of a few quarts of
some absorbent.

The floor of the stall should not have much inclina-
tion, only enough to allow the water to pass off. The
more level the surface on which a horse stables, the
better.

It is said that “sprung knees” are occasioned partly
by standing on steep floors in the stable. That such
a floor is not pleasant for the horse, is clearly seen in
the fact that when such a stall is wide, the horse will
stand across his stall, in order to find the most level
position.

Let the horse feel as naturally as possible in the
stable. He has been furnished with a long neck in
order that he may reach down to feed, as he does in
the pasture, and not that he may reach up and pull
out a small lock of hay from the rack. Give a horse
a manger to feed out of, so that he can enjoy eating,
and do not oblige him to steal his fodder from a rack,
with narrow spaces, as though he did not deserve his
keeping. It is thought that a horse will waste his hay
if he is fed from a manger; but he will not, if he has
good hay, given in proper quantities.

Air.

The breathing of pure air is necessary to the exist-
ence and the health of man and beast. It is compara-
tively lately that this has been admitted, even in the
management of our best stables. They have been
close, and hot, and foul, instead of airy, cool, and whole-
some.

76 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

The stable should be as large, compared with the
number of horses that it is destined to contain, as cir-
cumstances will allow.

The stable with a loft over it should never be less
than twelve feet high, and proper ventilation should be
secured, either by tubes carried through the roof, or by
gratings close to the ceiling. These gratings or open- |
ings should be enlarged or contracted by means of a
covering or shutter, so that spring, summer, and autumn,
the stable may possess nearly the same temperature
with the open air, and in winter a temperature of not
more than ten degrees above that of the external
atmosphere.

If the stable is close, the air will not only be hot,
but foul. The breathing of every animal contaminates
it; and, when in the course of the night, with every
aperture stopped, it passes again and again through the
lungs, the blood can not undergo its proper and healthy
change; digestion will not be so perfectly performed,
and all the functions of life are injured. Let the owner
of a valuable horse think of his passing twenty or
twenty-two out of the twenty-four hours in this debili-
tating atmosphere! Nature does wonders in enabling
every animal to accommodate itself to the situation in
which it is placed, and the horse that lives in the stable-
oven suffers less from it than would scarcely be con-
ceived possible; but he does not, and can not, possess
the power and the hardihood which he would acquire
under other circumstances.

‘OF MANAGING HORSES. ~ 77

Grooming.

Many persons go at this business as if they were rub-
bing the skin of the rhinoceros, instead of that of one
of the most sensitive of the animal race. A comb with
part of the teeth gone should never be used; and what-
“ever be the condition of the comb, it should be handled
carefully about the legs and head of the animal. If a
horse is not thus handled, he will soon become restive,
and perhaps acquire the pernicious habits of kicking or
biting. Bad habits once being formed, the horse is
declared vicious, and is proscribed, when it is really the
hostler who is entitled to the epithet and the proscrip-
tion. )

If the horse is very tender, it is better to wash with
warm water, and use only a soft brush.

Much need not be said of this to the agriculturist,
since custom, and apparently without ill effect, has
allotted so little of the comb and brush to the farmer’s
horse. The animal that is worked all day, and turned
out at night, requires little more to be done to him than
to have the dirt brushed off his limbs. Regular groom-
ing, by rendering his skin more sensible to the altera-
tion of temperature, and the inclemency of the weather,
would be prejudicial. The horse that is altogether
turned out, needs no grooming. The dandruff, or
scurf, which accumulates at the roots of the hair, is a
provision of nature to defend him from the wind and
the cold.

It is to the stabled horse, highly fed, and little or
irregularly worked, that grooming is of so much conse-
quence. Good rubbing with the brush, or the curry-
comb, open the pores of the skin, circulates the blood

78 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

to the extremities of the body, produces free and heal-
thy perspiration, and stands in the room of exercise.
No horse will carry a fine coat without either unnatural
heat or dressing. They both effect the same purpose;
they both increase the insensible perspiration ; but the
first does it at the expense of health and strength, while
the second, at the same time that it produces a glow
on the skin, and a determination of blood to it, rouses
all the energies of the frame. It would be well for the
proprietor if he were to insist—and to see that his or-
ders are really obeyed—that the fine coat in which he
and his groom so much delight, is produced by honest
rubbing and not by a heated stable and thick clothing,
and most of all, not by stimulating or injurious spices.
The horse should be regularly dressed every day, in
addition to the grooming that is necessary after work.

Light.

This neglected branch of stable management is of far
more consequence than is generally imagined; and it is
particularly neglected by those for whom these treatises
are principally designed. The farmer’s stable is fre-
quently destitute of any glazed window, and has only a
shutter, which is raised in warm weather, and closed
when the weather becomes cold. When the horse is in
the stable only during a few hours in the day, this is
not of so much consequence, nor of so much, probably,
with regard to horses of slow work; but to carriage
horses and hackneys, so far, at least, as the eyes are
concerned, a dark stable is little less injurious than a
foul and heated one. In order to illustrate this, refer-
ence may be made to the unpleasant feeling, and the

OF MANAGING HORSES. 79

impossibility of seeing distinctly, when a man suddenly
emerges from a dark place into the full blaze of day.
The sensation of mingled pain and giddiness is not soon
forgotten; and some minutes pass before the eye can
accommodate itself to the increased light. If this were
to happen every day, or several times in the day, the
sight would be irreparably injured, or possibly, blind-
ness would ensue. Can we wonder, then, that the horse,
taken from a dark stable into a glare of light, feeling,
probably, as we should under similar circumstances,
and unable for a considerable time to see anything
around him distinctly, or that the frequently repeated
violent effect of sudden light should cause inflammation
of the eye so intense as to terminate in blindness?
There is, indeed, no doubt that horses kept in dark
stables are frequently notorious starters, and that abomi-
~nable habit has been properly traced to this cause.

Exercise.

The first rule we would lay down is, that every horse
should have daily exercise. The animal that, with the
usual stable feeding, stands idle for three or four days,
as is the case in many establishments, must suffer. He
is predisposed to fever, or to grease, or, most of all, dis-
eases of the foot; and if, after three or four days of
inactivity, he is ridden far and fast, he is almost sure
to have inflammation of the lungs or of the feet.

A gentleman’s or a tradesman’s horse suffers a great
deal more from idleness than he does from work. A
stable-fed horse should have two hours’ exercise every
day if he is to be kept free from disease. Nothing of
extraordinary, or even of ordinary labor, can be effected

80 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

on the road or in the field, without sufficient and regu-
lar exercise. It is this alone which can give energy
to the system, or develop the powers of any animal.

Litter.

No heap of fermenting dung should be suffered to
remain during the day in the corner, or in any part of
the stable. With regard to this, the directions of the
master should be peremptory.

The stable should be so contrived that the urine shall
quickly run off, and the offensive and injurious vapor
from the decomposing fluid and the litter will thus be
materially lessened; but if this is effected by means of
gutters and a descending floor, the descent must be
barely sufficient to cause the fluid to escape, as, if the
toes are kept higher than the heels, it will lead to lame-
ness, and is also a frequent cause of contraction of the
foot. Stalls of this kind certainly do best for mares;
but for horses we much prefer those with a grating in
the center, and a slight inclination of the floor on every
side toward the middle. A short branch may commu-
nicate with a large drain, by means of which the urine
may be carried off to a reservoir outside the stable.
Traps are now contrived, and may be procured at little
expense, by means of which neither any offensive smell
nor current of air can pass through the grating.

Food.

There are few horses that do not habitually waste a
portion of their hay; and, by some, the greater part is
pulled down and trampled under foot, in order first to

OF MANAGING HORSES. ~ 81

cull the sweetest and best locks, and which could not
be done while the hay was inclosed in the rack. The
observation of this induced the adoption of manger-
feeding, or of mixing a portion of chaff (7. e., eut feed)
with the grain and beans. By this means the animal
is compelled to chew his food; he ean not, to any
degree, waste the straw or hay; the chaff is too hard
and too sharp to be swallowed without sufficient masti-
cation, and, while he is forced to grind that down, the
oats and beans are ground with it, and yield more
nourishment; the stomach is more slowly filled, and
therefore acts better on its contents, and is not so likely
to be overloaded; and the increased quantity of saliva
thrown out in the lengthened maceration of the food
softens it, and makes it more fit fer digestion.

Chaff may be composed of equal quantities of clover
or meadow hay and wheaten, eaten, or barley straw,
cut into pieces of a quarter or half an inch in length,
and mingled well together; the allowance of oats or
beans is afterward added, and mixed with the chaff.

For the agricultural and cart horse, eight pounds of
oats and two of beans should be added to every twenty
pounds of chaff. Thirty-four or thirty-six pounds of
the mixture will be sufficient for any moderate sized
horse, with fair, or even hard work. The dray or
wagon horse may require forty pounds. Hay in the
rack at night is, in this case, supposed to be omitted
altogether. The rack, however, may remain, as occa-
sionally useful for the sick horse, or to contain tares or
other green feed. We would caution the farmer not to
set apart too much damaged hay for the manufacture
of the chaff. Much more injury is done by eating
damaged hay or musty oats than is generally imagined,

82 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

There will be sufficient saving in the diminished cost of
the provender, by the introduction of the straw and the
improved condition of the horse, without poisoning him
with the refuse of the farm. For old horses, and for
those with defective teeth, chaff is peculiarly useful, and
for them the grain should be broken down as well as
the fodder.

While the mixture of chaff with the grain prevents
it from being too rapidly devoured, and a portion of it
swallowed whole, and therefore the stomach is not too
loaded with that on which, as containing the most
nutriment, its chief digestive power should be exerted,
yet, on the whole, a great deal of time is gained by
this mode of feeding, and more is left for rest. When
a horse comes in wearied at the close of the day, it
occupies, after he has eaten his grain, two or three
hours to clear his rack. On the system of manger-
feeding, the chaff being already cut into small pieces,
and the beans and oats bruised, he is able fully to
satisfy his appetite in an hour and a half. ‘Two addi-
tional hours are, therefore, devoted to rest. This is a
circumstance deserving of much consideration even in
the farmer’s stable, and of immense consequence to the
post-rider, the stage-coach proprietor, and the owner
of every hard-worked horse.

Manger food will be the usual support of the farmer’s
horse during the winter, and while at constant or
occasional hard work ; but from the middle of April to
the end of July, he may be fed with this mixture in the
day and turned out at night, or he may remain out
during every rest day. A team in constant employ
should not, however, be suffered to be out at night
after the end of July.

OF MANAGING HORSES. 83

The farmer should take care that the pasture is thick
and good; and that the distance from the yard is not
too great, or the fields too large, otherwise a very con-
siderable portion of time will be occupied in catching
the horse in the morning. He will likewise have to
take into consideration the sale he would have for his
hay, and the necessity for sweet and untrodden pasture
for his cattle. On the whole, however, turning out in
this way, when circumstances will admit of it, will be
found to be more beneficial for the horse, and cheaper
than soiling in the yard,

Few grooms make good gruel; it is either not boiled
long enough, or a sufficient quantity of oatmeal has not
been used. The proportions should be, a pound of
meal thrown into a gallon of water, and kept constantly
stirred until it boils, and five minutes afterward.

Barley is more nutritious than oats, containing nine
hundred and twenty parts of nutritive matter in every
thousand. There seems, however, to be something
necessary beside a great proportion of nutritive matter
in order to render any substance wholesome, strength-
ening, or fattening; therefore it is that, in many horses
that are hardly worked, and, indeed, in horses generally,
barley does not agree with them so well as oats. They
are occasionally subject to inflammatory complaints,
and particularly to surfeit and mange.

When barley is given, the quantity should not exceed
a peck daily. It should always be bruised, and the
chaff should consist of equal quantities of hay and
barley-straw, and not cut too short.

Wheat contains nine hundred and fifty-five parts of
nutritive matter. Wheat contains a greater portion
of gluten, or sticky, adhesive matter, than any other

84 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

kind of grain. It is difficult of digestion, and apt to
eake and form obstructions in the bowels. This will
oftener be the case if the horse is suffered to drink
much water soon after feeding upon wheat. But a
horse that is fed on wheat should have very little hay.
The proportion should not be more than one truss of
hay to two of straw.

Bran, or the ground husk of the wheat, used to be
frequently given to benefit some sick horses, on account
of the supposed advantage derived from its relaxing the
bowels. There is no doubt that it does operate gently
on the intestinal canal, and assists in quickening the
passage of its contents, when it is occasionally given;
but it must not be a constant, or even frequent food.
Bran may, however, be useful as an occasional aperient
in the form of a mash, but never should become a
regular article of food.

Beans form a striking illustration of the principle
that the nourishing or strengthening effects of the dif-
ferent articles of food depend more on some peculiar
property which they possess, or some combination
which they form, than on the actual quantity of nutri-
tive matter. Beans contain but five hundred and
seventy parts of nutritive matter, yet they add materi-
ally to the vigor of a horse. There are many horses
that will not stand hard work without beans being
mingled with their food, and these horses whose ten-
dency to purge, it may be necessary to restrain, by the
astringency of the bean. ‘There is no traveler who is
not aware of the difference in the spirit and continuance
of his horse whether he allows or denies him beans on
his journey. They afford not merely a temporary
stimulus, but they may be daily used without losing

OF MANAGING HORSES. 85

their power, or producing exhaustion. They are indis-
pensable to the hard-worked coach horse.

The straw of the bean is nutritive and wholesome,
and is usually given to the horses. Its nutritive
properties are supposed to be little inferior to those of
oats. ‘The small and plump bean is generally the best.

Peas appear to be, in a slight degree, more nourish-
ing than beans, and not so heating. They contain five
hundred and seventy-four parts of nutritive matter.
For horses of slow work they may be used; but the
quantity of chaff should be increased and a few oats
added.

Linseed is sometimes given to sick horses—raw,
ground, and boiled. It is supposed to be useful in
cases of catarrh.

Hay is most in perfection when it is about a twelve-
month old. The horse would prefer it earlier, but it
is neither so wholesome nor so nutritive, and often has
a purgative quality. When it is about a year old, it
retains, or should retain, somewhat of its green color,
its agreeable smell, and its pleasant taste. It has un-
dergone the slow process of fermentation, by which
the sugar which it contains is developed, and its nutri-
tive quality is fully exercised. Old hay becomes dry
and tasteless, innutritive and unwholesome.

It is a good practice to sprinkle the hay with water
in which salt has been dissolved. It is evidently more
palatable to the animal, who will leave the best unsalted
hay for that of an inferior quality that has been moist-
ened with brine: and there can be no doubt that the
salt very materially assists the progress of digestion.
The preferable way of salting hay is to sprinkle it over
the different layers as the rick is formed.

- 86 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

Of the value of tares, as forming a portion of the
late spring and summer food of the stabled and agri-
cultural horse, there can be no doubt. They are cut
after the pods are formed, but a considerable time
before the seeds are ripe. ‘They supply a larger
quantity of food for a limited time than almost any
other forage crop. When surfeit-lumps appear on the
skin, and the horse begins to rub himself against the
divisions of the stall, and the legs swell, and the heels
threaten to crack, a few tares, cut up with the chaff, or
given instead of a portion of the hay, will afford con-
siderable relief. Ten or twelve pounds may be allowed
daily, and half that weight of hay subtracted.

Rye grass affords a valuable article of food, but it is
inferior to the tare. It is not so nutritive. It is apt
to scour, and occasionally, and late in the spring, it is
injurious to the horse.

Clover is inferior to the tare and the rye grass, but
nevertheless, is useful when they can not be obtained.
Clover hay is, perhaps, preferable to meadow hay for
chaff. It will sometimes tempt the sick horse, and may
be given with advantage to those of slow and heavy
work.

Carrots; this root is held in much esteem. There
is none better, nor perhaps so good. When first given
it is slightly diuretic and laxative; but as the horse
becomes accustomed to it, these effects cease to be pro-
duced. They also improve the state of the skin. They
form a good substitute for grass, and an excellent altera-
tive for horses out of condition.

Potatoes have been given, and with advantage, in
their raw state, sliced with the chaff; but, where it has
been convenient to boil or steam them, the benefit has

OF MANAGING HORSES. 87

been far more evident. Purging has then rarely en-
sued. Half a dozen horses would soon repay the
expense of a steaming boiler in the saving of pro-
vender, without taking into the account the improved
condition and capability for work.

The times of feeding should be as equally divided as
convenience will permit; and when it is likely that the
horse will be kept longer than usual from home, the
nose-bag should invariably be taken. The small stomach
of the horse is emptied in a few hours, and if he is
suffered to remain hungry much beyond his accustomed
time, he will afterward devour his food se voraciously
as to distend the stomach, and endanger an attack of
staggers.

Water.—This is a part of stable management little
regarded by the farmer. There is nothing in which
the different effect of hard and soft water is so evident,
as in the stomach and digestive organs of the horse.
Hard water, drawn fresh from the well, will assuredly
make the coat of a horse unaccustomed to it stare, and
it will not unfrequently gripe and otherwise injure him.
He is injured, however, not so much by the hardness
of the well-water as by its coldness—particularly by its
coldness in summer, and when it is many degrees below
the temperature of the atmosphere. ‘The water in the
brook and the pond being warmed by long exposure to
the air, as well as having become soft, the horse drinks
freely of it without danger.

There is a prejudice in the minds of many persons
against the horse being fully supplied with water.
They think that it injures his wind, and disables him
for quick and hard work. If he is galloped, as he too
often is, immediately after drinking, his wind may he

88 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

too often irreparably injured; but if he were oftener
suffered to satiate his thirst at the intervals of rest, he
would be happier and better. It is a fact unsuspected
by those who have not carefully observed the horse,
that if he has frequent access to water, he will not
drink so much in the course of the day as another
will do, who, to cool his parched mouth, swallows as
fast as he can, and knows not when to stop.

On a journey, a horse should be liberally supplied
with water. When he is a little cooled, two or three
quarts may be given to him, and after that his feed.
Before he has finished his corn, two or three quarts
more may be offered. He will take no harm if this is
repeated three or four times during a long and. hot day.

The Sense of Smell.

The sense of smell is so much used by the horse,
that many have supposed he could be charmed by cer-
tain compounds of peculiar odor. Fancher and others
used horse-chestnuts, origanum, rhodium, and various
Oriental mixtures concocted by quacks, for the purpose
of charming the horse.

No doubt anything that is pleasing to the sense of
smell in the horse, will please him; and so far as you
gratify this sense by the application of pleasing aro-
matics, so far you gain the confidence and favor of the
horse, just as you would do by giving him a good din-
ner; but that there is anything about this sense in the
horse that can be appealed to or made available by any
unnatural or unphilosophical means, is as great a hum-
bug as the celebrated “love powders” made into loz-
enges, which green ones are induced to purchase for

OF MANAGING HORSES. 89:

the purpose of making some favorite lass love them
against her will. Dismiss all such nonsense at once,
and act upon the hypothesis that there is true philoso-
phy in the mode of accomplishing anything.

The horse uses his nose, because he has not hands,
as we have, to feel of objects; just as the elephant
uses his trunk. }

But this continual use of the nose in the horse is not
to be overlooked or neglected. Since it is Ais mode of
detecting the harmlessness or hurtfulness of any object,
you must always submit everything to thistest. If you
know it is amere whim in your horse, and a very unsuc-
cessful way of detecting a steel trap from a coffee-mill,
still it is fis way, and you should always satisfy him
by letting him smell of every object he desires to,
except a steel trap or a pot of snuff.

Once his sense of smell tells him that a handkerchief,
a halter, a stirrup, a bed-blanket, or anything else that
attracts his notice and excites his fears, will not hurt
him, he will then go to it, or allow you to put it on
him. There need be no superstitious notions enter-
tained in regard to it—it is enough if such results are

produced by natural and philosophical principles.

Management of the Feet.

This is the only division of stable mangement that
remains to he considered, and one sadly neglected by
the carter and groom. The feet should be carefully ex-
amined every morning, for the shoes may be loose, and
the horse would have been stopped in the middle of his
work ; or the clenchers may be raised, and endanger the
wounding of his legs; for the shoe may begin to press

8

90 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

upon the sole or the heel, and bruises of the sole, or
corn, may be the result; and, the horse haying stood
so long in the stable, every little 3 increase of heat in the
foot, or lameness, will be more readily detected, and
serious disease may often be prevented.

When the horse comes in at night, and after the har-
ness has been taken off and stowed away, the heels
should be well brushed out. Hand-rubbing will be pre-
ferable to washing, especially in the agricultural horse,
whose heels, covered with long hair, can searcely be
dried again. If the dirt is suffered to accumulate in
that long hair, the heels will become sore, and grease
will follow; and if the heels are washed, and particu-
larly during the winter, grease will result from the cold-
ness occasioned by the slow evaporation of the moisture.
The feet should be stopped—even the feet of the far-
mer’s horse, if he remains in the stable. Very little
clay should be used in the stopping, for it will get hard
and press upon the sole. Cow-dung is the best stop-
ping to preserve the feet cool and elastic; but before
the stopping is applied, the picker should be run around
the whole of the foot, between the shoe and the sole,
in order to detect any stone that may have insinuated
itself there, or a wound on any other part of the sole.
For the hackney and hunter, stopping is indispensable.
After several days’ hard work it will afford very great
relief to take the shoes off, having put plenty of litter
under the horse, or to turn him, if possible, into a loose
box; and the shoes of every horse, whether hardly
worked or not, should be removed or changed once in
every three weeks.

OF MANAGING HORSES. 91

Points of a good Horse.

He should be about fifteen and a half hands high; the
head light, and clean made; wide between the nostrils,
and the nostrils themselves large, transparent, and open;
broad in the forehead, eyes prominent, clear and spark-
ling ; ears small, neatly set on; neck rather short, and
well up; large arm or shoulder, well thrown back, and
high; withers arched and high; legs fine, flat, thin, and
small boned; body round and rather light, though sufli-
ciently large to afford substance when it is needful;
chest, affording play for the lungs ; back short, the hind
quarter set on rather obliquely. Any one possessing
a horse of this make, and weighing eleven or twelve
hundred pounds, may rest assured he is a horse of all
work, and a bargain well worth getting hold of.

The Age of Horses after the Ninth year.

In relation to a new way of telling a horse’s age, the
Southern Planter says: “A few days ago we met a
gentleman from Alabama, who gave us a piece of in-
formation in regard to ascertaining the age of a horse,
after he or she has passed the ninth year, which was
new to us, and will be, we are sure, to most of our
readers. It is this: After the horse is nine years old,
a wrinkle comes on the eyelid at the upper corner of
the lower lid, and every year thereafter, he has one
well-defined wrinkle for every year over nine. If, for
instance, the horse has three wrinkles, he is twelve; if
four, he is thirteen. Add the number of wrinkles to
nine, and you will always get it. So says the gentle-
man; and he is confident it will never fail. A good

92 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD.

many people have horses over nine; it is easily tried.
If true, the horse dentist must give up his trade.”

The Age of Horses by the Teeth.

A horse has six teeth above and six below in the
fore mouth, which are called the cutting teeth. At two
and a half years old it changes, two on top and two on
the bottom, which are called the nippers; at three and
a half years old, it changes two others called the sepa-
rates; at four and a half, it changes the rook teeth; and
at five years old he has a full mouth, when the tusks,
or bridle-fangs, rise; at six years old the rook teeth are
a little hollow, and at seven, there is a black mark, like
the end of a ripe bean; at eight or nine the teeth wear
smooth on the end again.

PART IIT.

DISEASES AND THEIR CURE.

To Mix and Give a Ball.

A BALL should never weigh more than an ounce and
a half; it should be an inch in diameter, and two to
three inches long. Lard is the best to mix your med-
icine in. Inclose in stout, soft paper. Back the horse
in a stall, talk to him in a kindly tone, treat him gently;
have the ball in the right hand, with the left gently
draw out the tongue and hold it on the off-side of the
mouth, pressing the fingers against the side of the
lower jaw. Now, with the right hand pass the ball
down the throat, not losing your hold of it, nor letting
it touch the tongue or sides of the mouth until it
reaches the palate; then give it a toss, instantly with-
drawing the hand, and give the horse a slight tap under
the chin, and down it will go.

Glanders.

When you think your horse has this disease, sepa-
rate him from all other horses until you are sure. The
best cure I know of is to kill the horse and burn the

(93)

94 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

stable; or, at least, it might save others from taking
the disease. |

There should be much care taken to prevent this
disease, as I haye known men to take and die with it.

Diseases of the Teeth.

Of the diseases of the teeth in the horse, we know
but little. Carious or hollow teeth are occasionally, but
not often, seen; but the edges of the grinders, from
the wearing off of the enamel, or the irregular growth
of the teeth, become rough, and wound the inside of
the cheek. It is then necessary to adopt a summary,
but effectual mode of cure; namely, to rasp them
smooth. Many bad ulcers have been produced in the
mouth by neglect of this.

The teeth sometimes grow irregularly in length.
They should be reduced to the level of the others with
a saw, and occasionally looked to, because the difficulty
will return. Decayed teeth should be removed, to pre-
vent injury to the other teeth and to the jaw.

Fever, cough, catarrhal affections generally, disease
of the eyes, cutaneous affections, diarrhea, loss of ap-
petite, and general derangement, will frequently be
traced by the careful observer to irritation from teeth-
ing in the colt.

It is a rule scarcely admitting of the slightest devia-
tion, that, when young horses are laboring under any
febrile affection, the mouth should be examined, and,
if the tushes are prominent, and pushing against the
gums, a cut in the form of a cross should be made
upon them. Relief will often be immediate.

OF MANAGING HORSES. 95

Inflammation of the Eye.

Diseases of the eye in horses and mules, in this
country, are very numerous. Names to this are like
branches to a tree, almost from one common cause:
cold, exposure, sweat, and dust. The best remedy I
know of is, to take four ounces of golden seal, (hydras-
tine,) pour about six quarts of boiling water to it;
when cool strain, and add four ounces of sulphurate
of zinc, and one pint of laudanum; bathe the eye in
the above wash often, getting as much as possible in
the eye. If inflammation is very high, pack the head
with sponges wet with cold water. Re-wet often.

The above I have tried for many years, on both man
and beast, with great satisfaction and success.

Lung Fever.

This disease is but very little understood, or rather,
not understood at all; the common way of treating it
is to doctor the effect instead of removing the cause,
which is cold; costiveness, inflammation, and fever
being the effect. First give a ball, as follows:

Bayberry, . - + . One ounce.
Cayenne, . . . half ounce.
Ginger,. . ‘ . one ounce.
Aloes, . : F . one ounce,

The above is sufficient for two doses; repeat every
four hours. Always give your horse warm water, with
slippery elm bark, pulverized, and a little sweet spirits
nitre in it, todrink. Water with the above often; keep
your horse well wrapped in warm blankets; bear in

96 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

mind to give injections often; use all the above articles
steeped strong and sweetened well with molasses.

N. B.—Always guard against costiveness, in both
man and beast; wrap the legs in poultices made of
mustard and rye meal; change often, always washing
with Castile soapsuds.

Distemper, how Cured.

Use the balls as in lung fever; also smoke the head
and nostrils with tar and cotton.

Condition Powders.

One ounce of preventive being worth a pound of
cure, I will give you a recipe for keeping your horse
in good health; also, it may be used in slight cases of
disease :

Antimony, . ; . half pound.
Sulphur, 5 ©. : . half pound.
Resin, . ‘ ° . half pound.
Copperas. , : . quarter pound.
Aniseed, . 3 : . half pound.
Saltpetre, : quarter pound.

Give a table-spoonful in his feed every third day.

To prevent the mane and tail from falling off, also
to make them grow long and heavy:

Milk of sulphur, . . two ounces.
Sugar of lead, . . one ounce.
Rose water, ...». . two quarts.

Bathe night and morning.

Heaves.

This malady is thought by many to be incurable;
the reason why is, they do not know the cause. Heayes

OF MANAGING HORSES. 97

are caused by over-driving, taking cold, and inflamma-
tion, and dryness on the glands follows; not, as many
suppose, a defect in the lungs. To cure, you should
bathe and rub the part affected in some good liniment;
also give the following powder:

Black pepper, . . one pound.
Pleurisy root, . . three ounces.

Aniseed, . : . three ounces.
Black antimony, . three ounces.
Cubebs, <'9°4 . three ounces.
Golden seal, . . three ounces.

Pulverize and mix well together; give a table-spoonful in chop
every morning; also sprinkle his hay with lime-water.

LINIMENT FOR THE HEAYVES.

Alchohol, . ¢ . one pint.

Spirits ammonia, . two ounces.
Camphor, . : . half ounce.
Gum myrrh, . . half ounce.

After bathing with the above, grease the parts with olive oil.

String Halt.

This complaint is thought by some to run in the
blood; by others to be a sudden contraction of the
muscle, caused by a strain. I never knew a lazy, dull,
sluggish horse or colt to have the string halt. I have
known colts to bring it on by rearing, springing, slip-
ping, or falling. Horses sometimes have it from turn-
ing corners suddenly, or from a desperate effort to start
quick under the whip or spur. It does not injure a
horse so much to be driven fast, after once started, as
it does to be compelled to start quick, particularly if
he is drawing a load. To cure, use liniment for strains
and sprains, or liniment for heaves.

98 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

Caution.

Never start your horse suddenly, or by the use of
the whip or spur. It not only injures the horse, but
makes him restless and uneasy when you are getting
upon his back, or into the carriage; it may endanger
the lives of others, if not your own.

Poll Evil.

From the horse rubbing and sometimes striking his
poll against the lower part of the manger, or hanging
back in the stall and bruising the part with the halter,
or from the frequent and painful stretching of the liga-
ments and muscles, by unnecessarily tight reining, and,
occasionally, from a violent blow on the poll, inflamma-
tion ensues, and a swelling appears, hot, tender, and
painful. ;

The best way to cure it is to take a small strap of
leather, soak it in spirits of turpentine; take your needle
and insert it; the needle should enter at the top of the
tumor, penetrate through its bottom, and bring it out at
the side of the neck, a little below the abscess. Wash
often in warm water and castile soap, to keep clean, and
prevent the hair from coming off.

Strangles.

This is a disease principally incident to young horses.
It is preceded by a cough, and can not, at first, be dis-
tinguished from common cough; however, it soon
commences with a discharge from the nostrils, of a
yellowish color, mixed with pus, and generally without
smell,

OF MANAGING HORSES. 99

Mix a ball of saltpetre, . : . one drachm.
Black antimony, .. . - . one diachm.
Sulphur, . : - : . . one drachm.
Honey, . : F - . . one ounce.

To be given every other day. Food light; keep warm and dry.

Bots
Are caused by the egg of the gad-fly being licked
from the skin of the horse, and thus conveyed to the
stomach, where they are hatched, cling to the stomach,
and are, finally, evacuated.

Some writers contend they are incurable, while others
recommend fresh blood, sweetened milk, or anything
that will nauseate slightly. A writer in the Eastern
Agriculturist recommends giving a few sheaves of bar-
ley. .

I use one pint of molasses and one pint of sweet
milk, with the addition of half an ounce of alum, and
the same bulk of charcoal, pulverized, well shook to-
gether ; pour it down the neck of the horse; as soon as
you think the bots have filled themselves, follow with
one half pint of sweet spirits nitre, and the same quan-
tity of linseed oil, which will soon pass them off; then
give a ball of mustard-seed pulverized.

Tetanus or Lock-Jaw.

The horse, for a day or two, does not appear to be
quite well; he does not feed as usual; he partly chews
his food, and drops it; and he gulps his water. The
ears are erect, pointed forward, and immovable; if the
horse is spoken too, or threatened to be struck, they

100 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

change not their position. The treatment of tetanus
is simple. Take

Opium, . : . half draghm.
Copperas, ° : . half drachm.
Aloes. : : . four drachms.

Give, in the form of a ball, for three successive evenings.

Mange

Is a pimpled or vesicular eruption. After a while the
vesicles break, or the cuticle and the hair fall off, and
there is, as in obstinate surfeit, a bare spot covered
with scurf—some fluid oozing from the skin beneath,
and this changing to a scab, which likewise soon peels
off, and leaves a wider spot. This process is attended
with considerable itching and tenderness, and thicken-
ing of the skin, which soon becomes more or less fold-
ed, or puckered. The mange generally first appears
on the neck, at the root of the mane, and its existence
may be suspected even before the blotches appear, and
when there is only considerable itchiness of the part,
by the ease with which the short hair at the root of
the mane is plucked out. From the neck it spreads
upward to the head, or downward to the withers and
back, and occasionally extends over the whole carcass
of the horse.

One cause of it is neglected or inveterate surfeit.
Several instances are on record in which poverty of
condition, and general neglect of cleanliness, preceded
or produced the most violent mange. The most com-
mon cause is contagion. Amid the whole list of dis-
eases to which the horse is exposed, there is not one
more highly contagious than mange. If it once gets

OF MANAGING HORSES. 101

into a stable it spreads through it; for the slightest
contact seems suflicient for the communication of this
noisome complaint.

If the same brush and curry-comb is used on all the
horses, the propagation of mange is assured; and
horses feeding in the same pasture with a mangy one
rarely escape, from the propensity they have to nibble
one another.

The propriety of bleeding, in cases of mange, de-
pends on the condition of the patient. If mange is
the result of poverty, and the animal is much debili-
tated, bleeding will increase the evil, and will probably
deprive the constitution of the power of rallying.
Physic, however, is indispensable in every case. But
mange in the horse resembles itch in the human being;
medicine alone will never effect a cure. There must
be some local application. Sulphur is indispensable for
mange. In an early and not very acute state of mange,
equal portions of sulphur, turpentine, and train-oil,
gently but well rubbed on the part, will be applied with
advantage. A tolerably stout brush, or even a curry-
comb, lightly applied, should be used, in order to re-
move the dandruff or scurf. After that, the horse
should be washed with strong soap and water, as far
as the disease has extended; and, when he has been
thoroughly dried, the ointment should be well rubbed
in with the naked hand, or with a piece of flannel.

During the application of the ointment, and as soon
as the physic has set, an alterative ball or powder
should be daily given. If, after some days have passed,
no progress should appear to have been made, half a
pound of sulphur should be well mixed with a pint of
oil of tar, or, if that is not to be obtained, a pint of

102 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

Barbadoes tar, and the affected parts rubbed as before.
On every fifth or sixth day, the ointment should be
washed off with warm soap and water. The progress
toward cure will thus be ascertained, and the skin will
be cleansed, and its pores opened for the more effectual
application of the ointment.

It will be prudent to give two or three dressings
after the horse has been apparently cured, and to con-
tinue the alteratives for ten days or a fortnight.

Surfeit.

Large pimples or eruptions often appear suddenly
on the skin of the horse, and especially in the spring
of the year. The disease most frequently appears
when the skin is irritable, during or after the process
of moulting, or when it sympathizes with any disorder
of the stomach. It has been known to follow the eat-
ing of poisonous herbs or mow-burnt hay, but much
oftener it is to be traced to exposure to cold when the
skin was previously irritable, and the horse heated by
exercise.

If there is simple eruption, without any marked in-
flammatory action, alteratives should be resorted to.
There is no better alterative than that which is in com-
mon use—pulverized antimony, nitre, and sulphur.
They should be given on seyeral successive nights.
The night is better than the morning, because the
warmth of the stable will cause the antimony and sul-
phur to act more powerfully on the skin. The horse
should be warmly clothed, half an hour’s walking exer-
cise should be given, an additional rug thrown over
him, such green feed as can be procured should be used

OF MANAGING HORSES. 103

in moderate quantities, and the chill should be taken
from the water.

Should the eruption continue, or assume a more vio-
lent character, bleeding and aloes must be had recourse
to, but neither should be carried to any extreme. The
physic having set, the alteratives should again be had
recourse to, and attention should be paid to the com-
fort and diet of the horse.

Warts.

There are some caustics available, but frequently
they must be removed by an operation. If the root is
very small, it may be snipped asunder close to the skin
with a pair of scissors, and touched with the lunar
caustic. If the pedicle or stem is somewhat larger, a
ligature of wax silk should be passed firmly round it,
and tightened every day. ,

Rabies, or Madness.

This is a fearful disease of the nervous system. It
results from the bite of a rabid animal, and, most com-
monly, of the companion and friend of the horse, the
coach dog. The horse goes out to his usual work, and,
for a certain time and distance, performs it as well as
he has been accustomed to do; then he stops all at
once, trembles, heaves, paws, staggers, and falls.

When the disease can be clearly connected with a
previous bite, the sooner the animal is destroyed the
better, for there is no cure. If the symptoms bear con-
siderable resemblance to rabies, although no bite is
suspected, the horse should at least be slung, and the

r

/

104 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

medicine, if any is administered, given in the form of
a drink, and with the hand well protected; for if it
should be scratched in balling the horse, or the skin
should have been previously broken, the saliva of the
animal is capable of communicating the disease.

If a horse is bitten by a dog under suspicious cir-
cumstances, he should be carefully examined, and every
wound, and even the slightest scratch, well burned with
the lunar caustic, (nitrate of silver.) The scab should
be removed, and the operation repeated on the third
day. The hot iron does not answer so well, and other
caustics are not so manageable. The caustic must
reach every part of the wound; also give half an ounce
of spirits ammonia in some warm water sweetened;
repeat every thirty minutes until perspiration starts.

Galls on Horses.

Wash with Castile soap and warm water. The fol-
lowing is an excellent recipe for an ointment for
wounds and sores of all kinds, and for horses when
galled by the saddle or collar, and also for broken
chilblains. Take of

Honey, . : . twelve ounee.
Beeswax, : . four ounces.
Burgundy Pitch, . six ounces.
Sweet oil, : . half pint.

Melt them together over a slow fire; rub the parts affected; heat
it in with a hot iron.

Cracked Heels.

First soak in chamber-lye, then use the above oint-
ment. -

OF MANAGING HORSES. 105

ANOTHER OINTMENT FOR CRACKED HEELS OR OLD SORES.

Hog’s lard, . : . one pound.

Beeswax, j - . four ounces.
Turpentine, . : . half pound.
Burgundy Pitch, . - half pound.
Resin, . : 2 . half pound.
Honey, . : : . half pound.

Simmer together, then add four ounces spirits turpentine; stir
until cool. This is the best ointment for old sores I ever tried.

Colic.

The appearance of this disease may be known from
the coldness of the horse’s ears and legs, and by his
general uneasiness, getting up and laying down often,
looking around at his flanks, etc.

The aromatic spirits of ammonia, one or two ounces,
dissolved in a pint of warm water, is a good remedy ;
to be followed by linseed oil, half pint, sweet spirits
nitre, half pmt, in warm water, sweetened.

To prevent Contagion.

Nail a piece of asafcetida in the bottom of the manger ;
also put a little copperas in the water they drink.

Diarrhea, Dysentery, or Looseness.

Use a strong decoction of white-oak bark every six
hours, until relief is found; add black pepper, if you
choose.

Sweany.

Take a leather strap, a half inch wide, and two and
a half feet long, soak it in spirits turpentine, insert in

106 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

your needle, made for the purpose, about eighteen
inches long; put your needle at the top of the shoulder,
and run it down just under the skin, letting it come
out at the lower point of the shoulder; tie a large knot
in each end, move it twice a day, keeping the shoulder
washed with Castile soap and warm water; let it re-
main from six to ten days, then remove the strap;
bathe often in spirits turpentine; do not forget to
rub it.

Further remarks on Sweany.

Since I wrote the above I have learned, from ex-
perience, that sweany is caused, sometimes, by a strain.
The striffin becomes calloused to the bone, then the
shoulder begins to perish. In early stages put your
knife in the center of the perished place; be sure you
cut through the striffin to the bone, then remove the
knife and insert a quill, and blow sufficiently strong to
remove the striffin from the bone; get in as much wind
as possible. Three or four such operations will gener-
ally effect a cure.

N. B.—A horse or mule should not be worked while
curing the sweany.

Fistula.

Use your seton as in poll evil or sweany; do not for-
get your soap and water; always keep a sore clean.

Stoppage in the Bowels.

Take aloes one ounce, ginger one ounce; give in
the form of a ball, to be followed with half pint of cas-
tor oil. Use injections, if necessary, of the same articles.

OF MANAGING HORSES. 107

Stoppage of the Urine.

First cleanse your horse’s privates with warm water
and Castile soap, then oil with sweet oil; drench with
sweet spirits nitre, half pint, in warm water sweetened.
Repeat, if necessary, in six hours; if this should fail, use
the following ball:

White resin, . < ‘ : . one ounce.

Castile soap, . F ’ : . four drachms.
Oil of juniper, “ ; : . two drachms.
Camphor, ; . < : . two drachms.
Saltpetre, : : . four drachms

This is one dose. Repeat if necessary.

Strains and Sprains.

Take one gallon of good brandy or high wine, one
pound of gum myrrh, pounded fine, one ounce of cay-
enne, and put them into a stone jug. Let it stand five
or six days, shake it well every day, then it will be fit
for use. Bathe the parts affected, rubbing it in well.

N. B.—Never forget the rubbing.

LINIMENT FOR THE ABOVE.

Alcohol, 2» 5 : : : . one quart.
Turpentine, . : : : . one pint.
Corrosive sublimate, : ; - one ounce.
Blue stone, . : ; : . one ounce,
Camphor, “. : ‘ .-~ « One ounce:
Sweet oil, : § : : . half pint.

Shake well. Use with a brush, very carefully.

ANOTHER LINIMENT.

Take old bacon fat and white of eggs. Mix together.

108 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

Caneers, how Cured.

Take the heads of red clover, and fill a brass kettle,
and boil them in water for one hour; then take them out
and fill the kettle again with fresh ones, and boil them
as before, in the same liquor. Strain it off, and press
the heads to get out all the juice; then simmer it over
a slow fire till it is about the consistence of tar, when
it will be fit for use. Be careful not to let it burn.
When used, it should be spread on a piece of bladder,
split and made soft. It is good for cancers and all old
sores. If they are very bad, resort to the surgeon’s
knife; follow with salve made as follows: Take

Beeswax, . ' ; . one pound.

Salt butter, b : . one pound.
Turpentine, . . . one and half pounds.
Balsam fir, ‘ : . twelve ounces.

Melt and simmer them together; then strain it off into a basin,
and keep it for use. This ointment may be used for all fresh
wounds.

To relax the Muscles in setting a Bone.

This may be done by bathing the part with warm
water, and is much better than the method that is
generally practiced, of extending the muscle by the
strength of several persons, which weakens the part
so much that the bones are liable to get out of place
again; besides, the operation causes severe pain to the
patient, and much trouble to the operator, which is all
obviated by my method. In cases where a joint is put
out, or a bone broken, wrap the part in cloths wet with
water as hot as it can be borne, and pour on the warm
water for a short time, when the muscles will become
relaxed, so that the bones may be put in their place

OF MANAGING HORSES. 109

with little trouble. After setting, bathe in cold water,
to set the muscle, then put on your splinters and ban-
dages to suit your judgment, according to the locality.

Windgalis.

These are mostly on the hind legs; they are not
only eyesores, but sometimes lame the horse. The
reason why they are mostly on the hind legs is, he
usually stands lower behind in his stall; also, he does
the heft of his pulling with his hind legs.

CurE.—On the first appearance of a windgall, bathe
with vinegar and spirits turpentine, warm, and put a
tight bandage round it. If this does not remove it,
lay it open with a knife, and dress it as a common
wound.

A new mode to Cast a Horse.

Take two pieces of joist, five or six feet long, lay
them about four feet apart, then get some stout plank,
seven or eight feet long, and spike them to the joist; be
sure it is well done; stand it on its edge, then lead a well
horse along side; mark and bore holes, so as to pass a
strap through, buckling each and every leg to the plat-
form ; then the body, by the loins, and next, to the fore-
shoulders ; also, be sure to confine the head by a nose-
halter, so the animal can not raise his head when lying
on his side; now your board is fit for use ; now attach
the horse you intend to operate upon to this platform,
or surgeon’s board, as we call it; be sure he is firmly
confined; be sure to have help enough to lower the board
and horse with ease, or hold it in any position you wish
to have him in for the operation you intend to perform,

110 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

To Dock or Nick a Horse.

Set four posts in the ground, some taller than a
horse ; halve on your cap-pieces very firm; spike a few
planks to its sides; now lead your horse into the stocks
thus prepared; put a sling under him, so he can not
lie down; make him fast with the halter to the cap in
front; then strap each foot to the side planks below;
now lay a block of wood on his left hip, draw the tail
across it; place a sharp tool, made for the purpose,
across the tail, and, with one blow with a maul, sever
it; then stop the blood, by searing it with a hot iron.
If you wish to nick your horse, take your knife in the
right hand, and cut the cord on the right side of the
tail in several places; be careful you do not touch the
bone, cutting as small a hole in the flesh or skin as
possible; then take the knife in the left hand, cutting
the left cord, precisely as you have the right; then
release him from the stocks, and put him in the
pulleys; rest, wash, and anoint, as your judgment may
dictate. In case of broken legs, or severe lameness,
the sling is very beneficial.

Water-founder, how Cured.

Tie a cord around the tail of your horse, as tight as
possible; put a small boy on his back; let him move
in a slow trot, for an hour, or less; let the string re-
main on his tail for ten or twelve hours, then take the
string off ; in the course of three or four days you may
put him to work with safety. One might think this
an old woman’s whim. I only ask a trial; then no one
ean doubt.

OF MANAGING HORSES. 111

Corn, or Chest-founder, how Cured.

Take from four to six quarts of blood from the neck
vein, as soon as possible; then take one ounce of
cayenne, one ounce of gum myrrh, one ounce of gum
aloes, one ounce of fine bayberry bark; mix with lard;
divide in three parts; give one part immediately, an-
other in twelve hours, the balance in twelve more, in

.the form of balls. In two or three weeks your horse
will be fit to work.

Burst, Rupture, or Pus, how Cured.

After fastening the horse to the surgeon’s board,
Jay him in a position so as the bowels shall fall from
the part affected; have your threads made ten or
twelve inches long; cut the skin open; be very care-
ful not to cut the bowels; skiver each edge where the
flesh is torn; use a hooked needle; put your threads
in from the inside, leaving them until they are all in;
one inch apart will do; then commence and tie each
one by itself; let the ends hang out; proceed the same
way with the skin; set the stitches half way between
those in the flesh; cut the threads off, leaving them
about two inches long; be sure to hitch your horse so
he can not gnaw out the stitches; bathe with Castile
soap and warm water, night and morning; anoint with
the ointment until healed. (If insummer, put a plaster
over the wound, leaving a hole through it for the matter
to run out.)

112 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

Broken Leg, how Set and Cured.

First, put in place, then take some stout cotton cloth,
about two inches wide, any length; moisten in warm
tar, or resin; bandage well, then place your splints on
every side, laying a little cotton under, to prevent gall-
ing the leg; then strap them firmly; now take some
pieces of timber, shaped to the leg, strap them on so as
to let them run one inch below the hoof, so the horse
will rest on the timbers, and not on the hoof; hitch your
horse so he can not gnaw the lacings; sling him, if
necessary ; bathe with chamber-lye. |

Stifle, or Hip bone, how Set.

Relax the muscle with warm water, as previously de-
scribed, then let your assistant draw the foot back gen-
tly ; place your shoulder against the front part of the
bone, your hands each side of the thigh. Lift gently
until it comes into place; retain your hold until your
assistant brings the foot forward; de not back the horse
if you can help it. Bathe in cold water; put a rolling
shoe on the well foot, so he will stand on the lame one.

How to make a Roiling Shoe.

Take a common shoe and put two straps of hoop-iron
on the bettom, so it will be rounding on the bottom,
that the horse may not stand his whole weight on the
well foot. Do not forget to put this shoe on the well foot.

—_

Gravel, how Cured.

If your horse should get graveled, cut it out if pos-
sible, and fill the place with hot tar. If you can not get

OF MANAGING HORSES. 118

at it with the knife, it will work out itself in time; if
you find it is coming out at the top of the hoof, cut the
skin, for it is hard to work through it.

If the horse steps on an old nail, or other metal, and
lames himself, be sure and get it out; dress it with
spirits of turpentine; fill the cavity with hot tar; do
not forget to grease the nail, or other metal, and put it
in the fire, as it will save much pain; this may seem a
whim ; it is but a little trouble.

I once was called on to dress a man’s hand that was
sawed badly by an old saw. It pained him much; he was
cold, and chills ran over him. Some one suggested that
the saw should be brought in and greased, and laid by
the fire; when this was done, he got easy at once. I
have tried it often since, and find it has a good effect.

Hoof-bound, how Cured.

Soak the feet in chamber-lye, and press the heels of
the shoes apart with the tongs; some use the screw shoe,
and screw the heels apart; you can do as you please.

Hide-bound, how Cured.

Give your horse a little blood-root (fine) in his feed.
A table-spoonful once a day will do no harm.

How to Castrate or Guild a Horse.

First, fasten him to the surgeoh’s board, as described
in my new mode of casting. Place him in a position
to suit your convenience ; get directly behind him, take

the lower stone or testicle in your left hand, make the
10

114 DR. NESS'S NEW METHOD

incision with a knife, in your right hand; make it long,
for there is danger in its healing too quick; then peel
the meat of the stone or testicle out; do not cut it off
square or short, but scrape the string from the stone,
until you scrape it off; leave the string long, if you wish
the horse to retain the pride of the stallion; if you
cut the string short, he will be forever dull, sluggish,
and lazy. Now treat the other inthe same form. Wash
well with salt and water; keep him in a dry place, to
prevent his taking cold; if he should take cold and
maturate badly, syringe the wound with warm water and
molasses. This is very good in case of fly-blows.

Feed your horse on bruised oats, and the best of hay,
not forgetting to give bran mash once a day.

How to select and treat a Horse on a Journey.

First, select a horse that is well and hearty; not too
poor, for he will be weak, or too fat, as a fat horse will
not last; select one that has been fed on hard food, had
plenty of exercise, not too much ; do not drive him too
far the first day, or too fast when you first start; allow
your horse to wet his mouth often, not allowing him to
drink too much at a time; do not allow him to be fed
when too warm ; be sure and see that he is fed and pro-
perly attended; see that his stall is dry and well littered,
that he may rest well for the night; in cold or damp
weather, do not forget the blanket, and see he has it
on; hand rubbing is excellent to prevent his legs from
swelling; drive slow up hill, drive gently down hill ; if
you are in a hurry, press the horse on the plain, or
where the road is not too steep or too sloping; if you
discover your horse wishes to stop, do not let him stop

OF MANAGING HORSES. 115

of his own accord, but stop him yourself. Although he
may be half way up a steep hill, it is better for you to
stop the horse, than allow him to stop without the word.

Before I conclude this chapter, I will give you the
horse’s address to his rider, (from Mr. Bracken’s trea-
tise) which is well worth observation.

Up the hill, spur me not;

Down the hill, ride me not;
On the plain, spare me not;
To the ostler, trust me not.

To remove Fly-blows from a Sore.

Wash in molasses and warm water; you will be sur-
prised to see how soon it will have an effect. I once
saw. a young colt completely covered with fly-blows ; it
was thought, by those who saw him, that he would die;
I had him washed with molasses and water two or three
times in the course of the day; the next morning he
seemed to be perfectly well, and free from fly blows.

Cold, how Cured.

First, wrap with warm blankets, with a good litter;
feed light on bruised oats and long hay; water often;
give a table-spoonful of the following compound in
their oats, three times a day. Take of

Aniseed powder, . ; . four ounces.
Ferugreek, : : -: » four ounces.
Liquorice powder, . ; . four ounces.
Elecampane powder, . 3 . four ounces. °
Flour of brimstone, . ‘ . four ounces.

116 DR. NESS’S NEW METHOD

Seours, how Cured.

Take of
Rhubarb, in powder, ; . one ounce.
Gum myrrh, in powder, . - half ounce.
Saffron, . ; ; . . half ounce.
Ginger, in powder, . ; . two ounces.
Bayberry bark, in powder, . two ounces.

Make in ball, with lard. Give one-third every twelve hours.

Seratches, and their Cure.

This disease in a horse is like the itch on a person.
It sometimes causes lameness. Anoint with the fol-
lowing ointment. Take

Hog’s lard, ‘ ° - « one pound,
Burgundy Pitch, , . . two ounces.
Beeswax, . , d . . two ounces.
Flour of brimstone, . 2 - one ounce.
Red precipitate, : . - one ounce,

Simmer over a slow fire; then add two ounces spirits turpentine.
Stir till cold.

Lampas.

The palate of the young horse is more subject to
inflammation than the old. The bars of the mouth
sometimes swell below the surface of the teeth, and be-
come very painful when feeding, and. the horse loses
flesh. Every one has their own cure. Within the
last six years I have burned them out, with an iron
made for that purpose. ‘The horse should have mash
feed for a few days, then he can have hard food again.

OF MANAGING HORSES. ait

Harnesses.

We have said a great deal about horses, in this trea-
tise, both of our own experience and the experience of
others. I will say a few words concerning the harness
that holds this noble animal in subjection.

It has been the practice of our stables to wash and
oil harness so often as to rot it, and it becomes a use-
less thing. I will here give you a recipe for cleaning
harness, so it will last long, and will not catch the dust.
Take |

Castile soap, . : - » one pound.

Beeswax, . “ : “ . two ounces.

Gum arabic, . : : . two ounces.

Olive, or sweet oil, . : - one pint.

Alcohol, . - ; - » one pint.

Drop black, pulverized, . . one and a half ounces.
Indigo, ss half ounce.

Simmer the first four together; add the rest when partly cool.

Clean your harness with this preparation. Use no
oil. You may use warm water and Castile soap, if you
choose. Polish with a woolen rag.

Be cae ~£9'tf ettlt t+ eenet uy voila in ong

to »oootteta adh hae aegers a

ay ier ies ae eed EPA wey my

oiesitae of fection whctsde

« «

pti ine Of Sass. THO aah oi thaxicy

EN DEN.

PART I.

THE ORIENTAL ART THE TRUE PHILOSOPHY.

How to make a horse pace,
How to cure a horse from
PELETISTINE 5515-2 nan cssinoes
How to shoe horses,..
Disely iraeaing 5... ..2-- <0
Taming a vicious horse...
Teaching a horse various
tricks, Ae ee eee
To make a horse lie down...
How to make a horse fol-
low

Seer eeeesereeersesesere

Slipping the halter,..........
Restlessness while being
shod,
To prevent rolling in the
stall

Pees eorescessesteresseeereeee

ee eoeoeeess Seeeseesessreeng

balking, ......00seeeeersees -
Set DING |. on. eos es gnce aes
To make a.horse lie down
Bite PEND ced os aan sasemaesis

Unwillingness to be mount-

ed,
Running away,
Restiveness,.
Biting,
The author's fancy for a

trick horse,....... Sapa
How to succeed in getting

the colt from pasture,...
How to stable a colt with-

out trouble,
Time to reflect,
The kind of halter,...... make
Remarks on the horse,......

Seer eeeeeeeseeseeseetesesssese

Peer eeereorssevesese

Sees ees eeererersessessesesee

seme eee een eeeee

PAGE

7 | Experiments with the robe,

Suppositions on the sense of
ty Wee, Senet vc. soakenate aes
8 | Prevailing opinion of horse-

oy Pee HEN, 228. secu saved davon nears
11 | Powel’ sesystem of approach-
POET Pe COlb aos. anawatedasns

16} Remarks on Powel’s treat-

20| ment how to govern
horses of any kind........

21; How to proceed if your

21; horse is of a stubborn

24| disposition,....

26 | How to halter and lead the

P| FS Reon i erm aga
2
| side of a broken horse,...
27 How to lead a colt into the
stable and hitch him with-
8; out having him pull on
29| the halter,
The kind of bit and how to
accustom a horse to it,...
How to saddle a ee
29 | How to mount the colt,....
30 | How to ride a colt,...........
30 | The proper way to bit a colt,
31 | How to drive a horse that is
very wild and has any

xvPeeeeteserercereserse

29

SL}. -¥IGIOUS -DAbats, <> cncaneds
Further remarks on balk-
BOT) GP ULOG: aicenn couevmnenen a rust saree

To breaka horse to harness,
33 | How to hitch a horse in a

BEET 9 BULKY, «. .nasas candusne'ss eee
35 | How to make a horse stand
35| without holding,....... wha

(119)

PAGE

How to lead a colt by the ~

120 INDEX.

PART IL.

THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE HORSE.

PAGE PAGE
Breeding horses,............+: 11 Food;......... 2...geeees 80
The horse in the stable,..... 74) The sense of smell,........... 88
ANN osisseruitutonsercevere eae 75 | Management of the feet,... 89
GOING cs oo sseusinencasntes 77 | Points of a good horse,...... 91
Light, .:...:c. wt eget ae 78 | The age of horses after the
BPEBECISG, sik te navencerneencee 79 |. ninth ‘year, .,....2sneeeeeee 91
RIOT, onc elige nuance 80 | Age of horses by the teeth, 92

PART IIL
DISEASES AND THEIR CURE,

PAGE PAGE
To mix and give a ball,...... 93) Cancers, how cured,......... 108
rabery se) pov ocs oat pee 94} To relax the muscles in set-
Diseases of the teeth,........ 94| ting a bone) :s2::siszjeseemee 108
Inflammation of the eye,... 95 | Windgalls, ..............s00s0e. 109
Pa Teyer reste ccacee te 95 | A new mode to cast a horse, 109
Distemper, how cured,...... 96 | To dock or nick a horse,... 110
Condition powders,........... 96 | Water-founder, how cured, 110
eR ae alin Sie, A RIM A 96 | Corn, or chest-founder, how
String halt,........ of 4 ope 97 | . curéd, .o7 .a.0. bose 11
Catia fone oe cesetete oe 98) Burst, rupture, or pus, how
GAL Bases cosucer encores ass. 98| . cured; :..2.32.:3.4eeeeee 111
SPAIIES, cok. concnestenseeerass 98| Broken leg, how set and
eg leo mage an Sy cl 99) © cured ;...7.2;:4:2) eee 112
Tetanus or Lock-jaw......... 99 | Stifle, or hip bone, how set, 112
MBE, CO raupacotes cee cecneats 100 | How to make a rolling shoe, 112
pT CN Sos ape att oc aeetner oe 102 | Gravel, how cured.,............ 112
feo Rea W AAT VL, nr pal 103 | Hoof-bound, how cured,.... 113
Rabies, or madness,......... 103 | Hide-bound, how cured,..... 113
(Talis NOTSES, . 50.2.0 eneres 104| How to castrate or guild a
Cracked heels) .:.7...0.0.2:... 104) = horse,....-. |<... 113
Cea idee ee eiew ae ae es 105 | How to select and treat a .
To prevent contagion,....... 105| horse on a journey,....... 114
Diarrhea, dysentery, etc.,... 105 | To remove fly-blows from a
Wemay, ss: so eens 105) -'sore;........0..2. eee 115
Furtherremarks onsweany, 106 | Cold, how cured............... 115
Siegal oi, 2 eee 106 | Scours, how cured,........... 116
Stoppage in the bowels,..... 106 | Scratches, and their cure,.. 116
Stoppage of the urine,....... 107 | Lampas, -3:..3<:t.,2e<0eeeeee 116
Strains and sprains,...... ceo LOT | Harnesses) ..::sesstdecdenedevee aa

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