Then, we can but come to the conclusion that, if a horse is not taken in a way at variance with the laws of his nature, he will do anything that he fully comprehends, without making any offer of resistance.
Second—The fact of the horse being unconscious of the amount of his strength can be proven to the satisfaction of any one. For instance, such remarks as these are common, and perhaps familiar to your recollection. One person says to another, “If that wild horse there was conscious of the amount of his strength, his owner would have no business with him in that vehicle: such light reins and harness, too—if he knew, he could snap them asunder in a minute, and be as free as the air we breathe;” and, “That horse yonder, that is pawing and fretting to follow the company that is fast leaving him—if he knew his strength, he would not remain long fastened to that hitching post so much against his will, by a strap that would no more resist his powerful weight and strength than a cotton thread would bind a strong man.” Yet these facts, made common by every-day occurrence, are not thought of as anything wonderful. Like the ignorant man who looks at the different phases of the moon, you look at these things as he looks at her different changes, without troubling your mind with the question, “Why are these things so?” What would be the condition of the world if all our minds lay dormant? If men did not think, reason, and act, our undisturbed, slumbering intellects would not excel the imbecility of the brute; we should live in chaos, hardly aware of our existence. And yet, with all our activity of mind, we daily pass by unobserved that which would be wonderful if philosophized and reasoned upon; and with the same inconsistency wonder at that which a little consideration, reason, and philosophy, would make but a simple affair.
Third—He will allow any object, however frightful in appearance, to come around, over, or on him, that does not inflict pain.
We know, from a natural course of reasoning, that there has never been an effect without a cause; and we infer from this that there can be no action, either in animate or inanimate matter, without there first being some cause to produce it. And from this self-evident fact we know that there is some cause for every impulse or movement of either mind or matter, and that this law governs every action or movement of the animal kingdom. Then, according to this theory, there must be some cause before fear can exist; and if fear exists from the effect of imagination, and not from the infliction of real pain, it can be removed by complying with those laws of nature by which the horse examines an object, and determines upon its innocence or harm.
A log or stump by the road-side may be, in the imagination of the horse, some great beast about to pounce upon him; but after you take him up to it, and let him stand by it a little while, and touch it with his nose, and go through his process of examination, he will not care anything more about it. And the same principle and process will have the same effect with any other object, however frightful in appearance, in which there is no harm. Take a boy that has been frightened by a false face, or any other object that he could not comprehend at once; but let him take that face or object in his hands and examine it, and he will not care anything more about it. This is a demonstration of the same principle.
With this introduction to the principles of my theory, I shall next attempt to teach you how to put it into practice; and whatever instructions may follow, you can rely on as having been proven practically by my own experiments. And knowing, from experience, just what obstacles I have met with in handling bad horses, I shall try to anticipate them for you, and assist you in surmounting them, by commencing with the first steps to be taken with the colt, and accompanying you through the whole task of breaking.
These three principles have been enlarged upon and explained in a fuller and more familiar manner by Mr. Rarey in his Lectures, of which the following are the heads.
“Principles on which horses should be treated and educated—not by fear or force—By an intelligent application of skill with firmness and patience—How to approach a colt—How to halter—How teach to lead in twenty minutes—How to subdue and cause to lie down in fifteen minutes—How to tame and cure fear and nervousness—How to saddle and bridle—How to accustom to be mounted and ridden—How to accustom to a drum—to an umbrella—to a lady’s habit, or any other object, in a few minutes—How to harness a horse for the first time—How to drive a horse unbroken to harness, and make go steady, single or double, in a couple of hours—How to make any horse stand still until called—How to make a horse follow his owner.”
In plain language, Mr. Rarey means, that—
1st. That any horse may be taught to do anything that a horse can do if taught in a proper manner.