The Arabian Art of Taming and Training Wild & Vicious Horses

by P. R. Kincaid; John J. Stutzman

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.

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 colts, out in an open place. It 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 Colt.

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 any where about him.

As soon as you have him thus gentled, get a small block, about one foot or eighteen inches in height, and set it down by the side of him, about where you want to stand to mount him; step up on this, raising yourself 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 when 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 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 croop, 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 towards him, he will be very much frightened, and upon the same principle, 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 yourself 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 mounting; 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 the 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.