Having thus shown how one must proceed, to break the second and third class of horses, I now retrocede to the first class, which appear to fear nothing. When this first kind of horses are let loose, after having been dragged by force into a pen or stable, it is very dangerous for any one to go in where they are; for, if you step back or try to get out of their way, when they run at you, they will be sure to bite, kick or stamp you under their feet. But if you stop, stand perfectly still, hold out your left hand, and look at the horse, he will stand still, likewise, before he arrives at where you are. This may appear very strange; but so it is, and I have experienced it very often. He will never come nigher than about five or six feet to you; and if he is in a yard, he will rarely come nigher than ten or twelve. Such a horse should never be put into too small a place. Here we must make use of a precaution, which is not necessary in the two other kinds of horses: and give me leave to say, that I am fully persuaded, that no horse of this description was ever gentled in a few hours by any one but myself, and by the secret which I had discovered. The precaution I speak of, is: to let no one come into the stable or yard with you, for it would be dangerous. His attention must be fixed upon you, and your hand alone. I once came near being killed, by a horse of this description, before I had discovered this part of the secret. Therefore, it is of the greatest importance, to put the horse where he can see no moving object, at the time you approach him. The case I mentioned was this: I was about to draw nigh the horse, after having entered the stable where he was, and after he had stood still some time, when, on a sudden, a hen flew down from a scaffold exactly over the stable where the horse stood, and where I was to perform the operation. The horse gave a jump at me, and struck his foot so nigh me, that he grazed my shoulder; then turned round almost as quick as lightning, and let fly a pair of heels, which knocked off my hat, but knocked a useful lesson into my head. From that day forward, I have never received the slightest hurt, or even run any risk, in breaking some of the fiercest and most ferocious horses of New Spain. But to come to the point. Hold out your left hand, keeping it high enough to touch him upon the forehead: keep this position for at least one whole hour, lowering your hand now and then, unless the horse should advance, after ten or fifteen minutes, a step or two towards you; in which case, let your hand be ready to meet his forehead, rather higher up than in the other two kinds of horses; and, if he should appear uneasy, repeat the strokes very fast between his eyes, fetching your hand partly over them now and then. Your position, at first, ought to be exactly before him. Then, by degrees, fall off towards the left side. Never flinch, or show any signs of fear, when you are gentling this kind of horses. You must remain a great deal longer about their heads, than in others. They will often flinch, and frequently show signs of resistance, whenever you advance an inch from the place you have already handled; so that it requires some judgment, and more patience, to know how to manage them. But, by going on, after you have once touched them, as you would do with the other two classes, though a great deal slower, you will never fail of making them as gentle as a lamb. I never employed more than ten hours but with one, which belonged to the Governor of San Louis Potosi, Don Jose Ildefonso Leon. This animal kept me between fifteen and sixteen hours, in gentling him; at the end of which time, men, women and children could ride him and handle him with as much ease as they could any old, gentle cart-horse, and ride him bare-backed through the streets of the city, as many did—five or six being mounted upon him at once. For he was a stud of ten years of age, of great strength, of the Arabian race, and very high spirited; and the governor himself, who possessed several thousands of wild horses—and was the best horseman and herdsman in America, always had thought, for the last four years, that it was not in the art of man to break him. He was offered a thousand dollars for him the same day I finished breaking him, by an English gentleman, by the name of Humstead, who was travelling through the country: a great price, in a country where you can get a good horse for thirty or forty dollars. I would always advise a man, that goes to break a horse, to have a watch with him; for the time will always appear long to him, when he undertakes a horse of this description. It is very uncommon to meet with a horse you cannot come up to, so as to touch him in the forehead with your left hand, in less than a half a quarter of an hour. Now, any person who may in the least doubt of his own capacity to perform the operation, according to the rules laid down here, can always have a halter, or what the Spaniards call a jaguima, (which is generally used in riding young horses, before the bridle is put on them,) put upon the wild horse, before he is let loose, with a long rope tied to it, dragging upon the ground. When he goes in to the horse thus haltered, he will take care to take the rope up gently in one hand, whilst he holds out the other; taking care that the rope may keep clear of all his feet, and lie before him, gathering it up as he approaches. Another precaution may likewise be used, by persons naturally afraid of horses, which is: to have a barrier placed between them and the horse, and the end of the rope on the side they stand, which they may take hold of, and proceed as above directed. The barrier, if made use of, must be open enough for the horse to have a full view of the person who is going to break him. It is always a considerable inconvenience; but, it has this advantage: it places the most timid out of the reach of all the harm he might fear from horses of this description, till he can handle their head, which is already a great point; but, as one can handle but a small part of the horse, in this manner, it is necessary to go in to him afterwards, when he is thus a little familiarized to you; for there is no danger, after you once handle his head, if you proceed according to the above directions; that is, always advancing by degrees. Whenever you can handle the horse in every part, you must handle him much more vigorously than at first, though without hurting him. Those horses which appear to fear nothing, but kick at every thing with a kind of spite, and run at men when confined in a close place, are not always the longest in becoming perfectly gentle. Though a man may sometimes be an hour before he can touch them, yet they frequently become reconciled to him, as soon as he can handle their head, and it is not infrequent to see them very easy to be saddled and ridden, and more especially if they have never been handled; because a horse that has once been taken, in order to be broken the common way, and has resisted with success; that is to say, has flung his rider and run away—or one that has been beaten, whipped, or badly used in any way, is a great deal worse than one that has never been touched; for it is more difficult to unlearn than to learn. It is necessary always to bear in mind, what I have said concerning first impressions.
To conclude: To which soever of the three classes horses belong, deal with them as with the third class; that is, those that fear every thing, with this difference: the first class, or those that appear to fear nothing, must not be approached so suddenly as the others. Take notice: Whenever a horse that you begin to handle, hangs down his head, or appears sleepy and careless, (and this will happen in some in less than an hour,) your business is half over. I have broken an extremely wild horse, so as to saddle him, bridle him, and make him follow me without pulling him by the halter, and so that men, women and children have ridden him, without the least danger, in the streets of one of the most populous towns of the United Mexican states: and this I have done in less than two hours from the time I went into the place where the horse was. I always carried a watch with me, when I broke a horse. I have now and then gentled one, so as to ride him with perfect safety, in less than one hour. However, these are rare cases. I never had but two that kept me ten hours, and one nearly fifteen hours and a half. I began him at two o’clock, and worked upon him till seven; and the next day I began at five, and finished him a little after one o’clock. This was the Governor of San Louis Potosi’s, and one of the highest spirited horses I ever saw. I have generally employed from four to six hours, and some times eight, in rendering a horse completely gentle and useful, and on which a man or woman might undertake a journey of a thousand miles, the very next day after being broken, without any kind of fear of his becoming refractory on the road.
To come now to the most important part of the secret. I observed, in the beginning of my discourse upon the experiments I had made, that I was surprised to find one of the horses I had gentled the day before, almost as wild as ever, and one of the others had remained perfectly gentle. I saw there was something lacking. I therefore broke another; and, after having finished, I tied him in a stable. I went to him at night, and made a little negro boy handle him a quarter of an hour: gave him half a spoonful of fine salt, and not more than about half as much as he would eat. Early in the morning, I went to him again, handled him in the forehead and all over, and took up his feet, &c., &c., for a quarter of an hour: took him to water; fetched him back; gave him another spoonful of fine salt, and plenty to eat afterwards. I rode him a couple of miles, and then let him loose. The next day, I caught him in the yard, amongst the other horses, without throwing the rope, and he remained gentle ever after. The first day you break a horse, it is always good to ride him two or three miles; if further, it will do him no hurt. The first time you ride him out, it will be well enough to accompany him with another horse, though this is not absolutely necessary; for many horses, especially high spirited ones, will often go as well as if they had been gentled for a long time; some others appear a little awkward at first, but in half an hour they will go well alone. At any rate, they will not be afraid of any object they meet.
I have here given the whole secret of taming, in a few hours, the most refractory wild horse.
Whilst residing in the city of Mexico, I wrote a grammar, in Greek, Latin, French and English, which I intend to publish, in order to simplify, in some measure, the study of the former. In it I begin by making the student acquainted with the most common names—such as fall under his immediate view. The names of birds, fish, plants, trees, the human body and its parts, &c., &c. In the declination of all these, will be found general rules; but all, or almost all of these rules, are subject to some one or more exceptions—as is the case with all general rules. Thence, perhaps, came our proverb: There is no rule without exception. Now, as gentling a horse, and writing a grammar, are two very different occupations, yet they have some things which are common to both: one of which is, this same exception to the general rule. I have given a detail of the method I use in breaking the three different kinds of horses: that is, horses in general; these general rules, however, are liable to some few exceptions. I have had horses that did not appear to belong to any one of the three kinds mentioned. I look upon them as exceptions. Among these, are horses that toss up their heads the very minute you touch them, and will not let you put your hand upon them. The first of these I met with gave me so much trouble, that I thought it would be impossible to break him. I tried to touch him upon the forehead, as the true standard, but could not. I therefore declared him to be an anomaly, and determined to decline him in some other way. I therefore endeavored to touch him upon the neck, which I succeeded in doing in less than five minutes. I proceeded on in handling him, as I did other horses. After having lifted up his feet, and handled him every where except about his head, I succeeded in gentling that part. He always remained gentle, and not in the least skittish about that part. To succeed in handling his head, I was obliged to begin at that part of the neck nighest to the ears, and continue on to them, and then to the upper part of his forehead, between his eyes; and so descend to his nose, in the same progressive manner as I ascend in other horses. I had tried every possible means to begin at that part, but found it utterly out of my power.
Another exception to the general rule, are those horses which, after having been begun, and already handled in the forehead, show an inclination to bite, as you proceed on, and would actually do so, without your taking some precaution. Now, as my general rule of gentling horses is all mildness, gentleness, &c., except from this rule horses of this latter description; and, whenever they show an inclination to bite, correct them by giving them a pretty smart slap with your hand, and they will never repeat it more than two or three times. I never knew this to happen with horses of the first description, which one would be naturally inclined to suppose more apt to do so than any others. As to the rest, proceed as in others. If you wish your horse to go in a cart, coach or plow, after having gentled him in this manner, harness him, put on lines, and at first make him go round before you several times: you will tie some light thing behind, for him to drag, and go on progressively, and in a very short time you may harness him to a cart, or plough, and he will go off without difficulty; especially if you do this immediately after having gentled him, for then is the best time to take away all caprices. It is well to give him a few days exercise.
Observation. If the horse you are going to break has received a blow upon his forehead, his ears, or about any part of his head, so that it is sore or painful when touched, it is useless to undertake to break him before he gets well: for the very touch which would give him pleasure being well, gives him pain in this situation, and the more you try to handle him the more you will irritate him. Let him get well, before you undertake to gentle him.
REFRACTORY HORSES GENTLED FOR A
LONG TIME IN THE COMMON WAY.
I begin first with those which are afraid of a gun, or the like. Cause a pen to be made, just big enough to put the horses in, and in such a manner as to be able to go round it in every direction, as well behind as before; and let the bars be far enough apart for you to handle him every where. Let him remain in his pen or cage from two o’clock in the afternoon till the next morning, without eating or drinking. The pen ought to be made so high, that the horse cannot reach his head over it, and with four strong posts in the ground, so that if he should fall back upon the bars, that traverse it behind, his weight will not be sufficient to break or derange them. Go to him in the morning. Handle him smartly a few minutes; then stand at a distance before him, with your gun in your hand, without moving it, but so that he can see it. If he is frightened at it, keep your position for some time, till he remains quiet, then flash it off. Repeat this, till he is in some measure reconciled to it. Draw nigher. Repeat the same: flash it off before him, very nigh. Handle him in the forehead, and hold the gun in one of your hands. Go on thus progressively, till you can load and fire it off over his head, with as heavy a charge as you wish to put in it, which you will be able to do in about two or three hours. When you have gone thus far, run suddenly up to him, with your gun in your hand. Handle him in the forehead, holding it still in your hand. Exercise him well in this way, till he does not flinch or show any signs of fear, when you thus approach him. Now, you suppose the work to be completed? If you do, you are very much mistaken; for you must recollect, that he has much to unlearn. Take away Fear—Inspire Confidence—Familiarize—are three great lessons to be taught, in the art of gentling a wild horse; and, to bring a rebellious horse to obedience, you must add, Unlearn. Repeat the same, unlearn, &c., till he is completely gentle.