Citizen Willis J. Powell, a naturalist, and native of New York, of whose astonishing dexterity in gentling wild horses in a few hours, I had already been informed, (from several respectable gentlemen, who had been eye-witnesses to the same in the city of Mexico,) arrived in this city on the 20th of the present month. I immediately sent for him, offering him a handsome gratification to give us a proof of his ability. He verified the same by putting it in practice on the 27th, at the mine of Rayas, with a wild colt, chosen on purpose from among the wildest and fiercest of a party of forty of them, which had just arrived there to be gentled for the service of the said mine, in one of the stables of which he began the operation at three quarters past ten in the forenoon: and myself, as well as several other spectators of this performance, were struck with amazement at beholding this horse at two o’clock so gentle, that after having been led around in every direction by the halter, suffered himself to be rode both by men and boys, as well bare-backed as saddled, tightly girted and cruppered—permitting them to get upon him on either side. After a short time, being let loose, he followed any one who went before and motioned to him with gentleness, without pulling him by the halter—proceeding to where several persons were standing without showing any signs of fear at coming up to them, and passing in the midst of them, permitting any one to lift up his feet and handle him with as much ease as they could handle the gentlest plough-horse. Being put into a large yard, he ate with the rest of the wild horses, his companions, and in going a second time to catch him, there was no need of throwing the rope upon him, he letting any one come up before him and put the halter upon him. The third day, he was rode down from the mine to this city, where he was shod all around, standing perfectly still when the blacksmith took up his feet, and never flinching at the stroke of the hammer. Being shod and led out before a great number of people, the servant threw the saddle over his head, then let it fall over his heels and on either side, and under his belly, without frightening him in the least. To the above relation I was an eye-witness, since I was present from the beginning to the end, without any interruption to all the simple and progressive operations used in breaking this fiery, wild and hitherto untameable animal: being astonished above all to see, that in them this dexterous manager made no use of spurs, whip, clamor or exclamation; but, on the contrary, gentleness and caresses were the only means he put in practice to bring, as it were by enchantment to obedience, this wild animal, whose tractability, even at this time, is doubtless much greater than that which is observed in horses of a gentle nature, tamed at the end of a year or more, with much cost, labor and danger, often losing a great part of their natural spirit by the hard usage they undergo whilst one is breaking them—and more especially those of a noble and spirited nature. As a proof of my being present to all herein related, and wishing to encourage such an extraordinary discovery, I sign this declaration, which I make in Guanajuato, capital city of the state of the same name, &c., &c., August 30th, 1825.
The Marquis of San Juan de Rayas.
OBSERVATIONS UPON HORSES IN GENERAL: AND WHAT LED ME TO THE DISCOVERY OF BREAKING THEM IN A SHORT TIME.
The first experiments I made upon wild horses, in order to break them in a shorter time than that usually employed to that end, consisted in the application of different kinds of smells, such as opium, the oil of cummin, assafœtida, that callous substance called the spur which grows upon the inside of a horse’s fore-legs, the sweat from a man’s arm-pit, mare’s milk, &c., &c. Opium has but little effect upon a horse, even if he smells it a considerable time. But of all these substances, no one tends so much to intoxicate, and even sicken, not only a horse but a man, as that taken from the horse when smelled of for any length of time. Any one who may doubt the veracity of what I here assert, can be easily convinced by experience, if he will. In the next place, the sweat from the arm-pit has a tendency to render a horse sleepy, if smelled for an hour or two. Some horses, thus rendered sleepy, can be handled; but on most horses it has no effect, or very little. Now, as I was determined to publish this secret some day or other, in its true light, I never revealed any other till now, but that accompanied with some one of these substances, with certain directions how to apply them. These directions contained enough of the true secret to tame a horse, so as to astonish the most penetrating. Now and then, a horse would remain gentle that had been thus tamed; but five out of ten would become wild again. Whenever I broke one myself, he always remained gentle. Drinnen sincerely thought that some of these substances were necessary to gentle a horse. I solemnly declare, before God and man, that I do not believe that a horse can be tamed, even for a short time, by the application of any of these substances, without applying to him more or less of the true secret; and furthermore: I declare, that all and every one of them are entirely useless, and of no effect. God is my witness, that if ever this secret was known before, I never learnt it from any man; I discovered it myself, and brought it, as I believe, to its greatest perfection.
A horse is gentled, by my secret, in from two to sixteen hours. The time I have most commonly employed, has been from four to six. After my
first experiments, I reflected upon the nature of horses in general, many of which, when confined, appeared to fear nothing: notwithstanding this, the result of my reflections was, that fear, much more than any thing else, was the cause of their resistance; of the resistance even of the fiercest; for, although these latter would run at a man, as well as at any other thing, when confined, yet, if they were let loose, and turned out into a field, they would leave him and scamper away. Being once convinced that fear was the only cause of the obstinacy seen in horses taken to be gentled by force, it now remained to discover by what means that fear might be taken away. To take away fear, is, to inspire confidence; or, inspiring confidence, is taking away fear. I believe there is no person, who does not experience a more agreeable sensation, when another person combs his hair, than when he combs it himself. To be vulgar, who is there, that has not found a pleasure in having another rub his legs or arms, hands or feet, if he felt a pain in them, much more than if he rubbed them himself. We all know what pleasure it gives a parrot to have one scratch or rub him upon the head. Now, of the five senses, the sense of feeling possesses something more, as to its influence of materiality, than the other four. It has a similar effect upon animals as upon men. Whereas, the sense of hearing, and that of seeing, have, in many respects, a very different influence upon the human species to what they have upon animals. Animals, in general, are almost or quite insensible to that pleasure, which the human species enjoy, in contemplating beautiful or magnificent objects, though they frequently express great fear at others. They experience the same sensation of fear at sudden or disagreeable sounds, whilst they appear almost insensible to soft and melodious ones. The sense of feeling, in horses, seems to be as exquisite as in men; and in some cases, more so. A horse feels a lively pain at the stroke of a whip, or the prick of a pin. He feels a pleasure in being curried, rubbed and handled. It is well known, that an object that frightens a horse, at first sight, will become familiar to him in a short time—even in a few minutes. The same may be said of those sounds which frighten him at first: such as the explosion of a gun or cannon; to all of which he soon becomes familiar, provided they are not accompanied with any thing that operates upon the sense of feeling; but he will never become familiar to the crack of a whip, so as not to be afraid of it, if he has been accustomed to experience its effects, when vigorously applied to his back. To conclude: Take away Fear—Inspire Confidence—Familiarize.