Object of horse-breaking—Causes of faults which can be remedied by breaking—Vice in the horse—Distinction between nervousness and deliberate vice—Mental qualities of the horse—Association of ideas in breaking—Value and scope of breaking—On the possibility of overcoming any form of vice—Necessity for obtaining control over the horse—On the nature of the coercion to be applied to unruly horses—Punishment—Fatigue as a means of subjugation—Effect of the voice—Personal influence in breaking—Advisability of possessing various methods of breaking—A good mouth, the chief requirement—Permanency in the effects of breaking—Expedition in breaking—The ordinary method of breaking—Breaking by kindness alone—The rough and ready style of breaking—Summary of the principles of the art of rendering horses docile.
The object of horse-breaking is to teach the animal to obey the orders of his master in the best possible manner. Hence, this art includes instruction in the advantageous application of his powers, as well as methods for rendering him docile.
Causes of faults which can be remedied by breaking are:—1. Nervousness; or the unnecessary fear of the presence or handling of man, or of the effect of any of the horse’s other surroundings, which, however startling they might be to him in a wild state, he can find by experience will not hurt him.
2. Impatience of control, which frequently co-exists with nervousness, in the same animal.
3. Ignorance of the meaning of the indications used by man to convey his wishes to the horse.
4. Deliberate disobedience. There is no doubt that sulkiness of temper is, often, inherited.
5. Active hostility, which, as far as my experience goes, is, always, the result of bad treatment, whether brought on by cruelty, or by allowing a naturally fractious animal to get the upper hand.
It is evident that vices caused by disease, or infirmity, do not come within the province of the breaker.
6. The fact of having been taught some trick—for instance, kicking when touched behind the saddle—the practice of which constitutes a vice.
Vice in the Horse, from a breaking point of view, may be held to signify the practice, on the part of the animal towards man, of disobedience—wilful or otherwise—of any legitimate command; or want of docility.