1. To obtain control over the animal.
2. To prove to him that he has nothing to fear from us, or from the surroundings in which we place him: in other words, to give him “confidence” and cure him of “nervousness.”
3. To teach him to understand the meaning of the indications by which we desire to convey our orders to him.
4. To make him obey our orders in the most implicit manner, in the event of his offering deliberate resistance to them.
5. To instruct him how to use his powers to the best advantage.
6. To make, by repetition, these acts of obedience and “cleverness” thus taught, into confirmed habits; so that the horse, who is, essentially, an animal of habit, may become a permanently useful servant.
As an illustration, I may say that we should conduct the education of a colt or filly, according to the principles we should adopt with a recently-caught young savage whom we desired to make a useful servant. While shewing him that we had complete control over him, we should prove to him that he had nothing to fear from us, and, in doing so, would gain his confidence and affection. We should teach him our language, and, according as he understood our words, so should we demand implicit obedience to our orders, and would, thus, quickly establish the desired habit.
CHAPTER II.
PRINCIPLES OF MOUTHING.
Making a horse obey the rein—Manner in which a horse should carry his head and neck, when in motion—Suitability of the horse to the bridle—How the mouth-piece should act—Teaching the horse to bend his neck to the rein—Proper direction for the pull of the reins—The running martingale—Bearing reins, side reins, and running reins—Teaching the horse to turn—Reining back—Lunging—Good hands—Snaffles and curbs—Elastic reins on dumb jockeys—The standing martingale—Nose-bands.
Making a Horse obey the rein.—In mouthing, we should act on the principle I have advocated, in the preceding chapter, of making our equine servant accord ready obedience to the lawful commands of his master; after we have taught him to understand our wishes expressed by the proper “indications.” The breaker will do well always to bear in mind the old maxim, that “a horse should never get the chance of pulling successfully against the bit, or unsuccessfully against the collar.” As a man on foot has as thorough command over a horse, as the animal has over its rider—supposing that both know how to exercise their respective powers—the breaker should, naturally, commence his mouthing lessons on foot, and should, as a rule, refrain from giving the horse the advantage of having him in the saddle, until the habit of obedience to rein, leg, and, if need be, to voice, is fully confirmed. In all this, we act on the retentiveness of the horse’s memory, which is his strongest mental quality, in guarding ourselves from the ill consequences that might ensue from the exercise of the animal’s reasoning powers, which, luckily for us, are comparatively feeble, or from his natural impatience of control.