Breaking (horse)

“ The ordinary method of breaking.—The usual method of rendering horses docile by early and continued handling, followed by patient and skilful riding, answers fairly well with men who regard breaking as a pleasure, and have plenty of spare{36} time to indulge their taste in this respect. It is, however, inapplicable to circumstances under which the number of animals to be broken is out of proportion to the supply of labour ”

“ If the animal is dangerous to handle, only, behind; the breast-band may be put on, and the breachen attached to it, in the manner just described, but without putting it over the quarters. A rope can now be fixed to the D in the centre of the breachen, which, by the aid of the rope, can be pulled over the croup into its proper position, by an assistant from behind. Before doing this, the traces should be let out, to be pulled tight, the moment the breachen slips over the tail. ”

“ A horse may, also, by stretching his head out, get the mouth-piece off the bars, and on to the corners of the mouth. It is needless to say that such actions on his part, are done with the object of “saving” the mouth. As they are opposed to the possession of proper control over the horse, the breaker should teach him to abandon, if he has learnt, these tricks, and to acquire the habit of bending his neck to the rein, and slackening his speed, as his sole defence against the pressure of the mouth-piece. ”

“ The horse should then be saddled; a man or boy put{195} up, without giving him, at first, any reins to hold; and the horse driven over the fences, as before. When the breaker finds that the animal jumps as well with the man up as he did without him, he may take off the long reins, put on the ordinary ones, and hand them to the rider, who should then take the horse over the fences as before; the breaker using the crack of the whip, as a stimulus, if required. The rider should not be given spurs, unless he is a fine horseman, and unless the horse requires them to make him more lively ”

“ An expert breaker can always manage to pull round a horse that rushes at him, while the animal is being driven on foot. Even when the horse backs and kicks, as well as attempts to savage, the driver can easily keep him in control, by pulling him round, alternately, with each rein. One has, naturally, to be quicker when a horse rushes at one than when he backs. ”

“ The rough and ready style of breaking.—The method of reducing a horse to discipline, by forcibly securing him, getting on his back, and sticking on until he bucks himself to a standstill, is applicable only to unbroken animals of a more or less mature age, whose owners demand nothing further, than to have them made “quiet to ride.” The objections to this method, as far as I can see, are: that it is not{38} always possible to obtain the services of a rider of sufficient pluck and adhesiveness; that some horses, by “throwing themselves over,” can get rid of any man off their back ”

“ In breaking a colt to single harness, he must first have a couple of days’ tuition to get him used to his harness, as before mentioned under the head of breaking-in to double harness. The harness is best when so constructed that the tugs open from above, allowing the shafts to drop into them, and every man who is [122] in the habit of breaking young horses to single harness should have a set so made. It is not difficult to place the shafts quietly through the ordinary tugs, but when the horse is being loosed they are very apt to strike the animal and frighten him ”

“ The breaker’s task, therefore, as regards the carriage of the horse’s head and neck, will simply be to teach him to carry them in a perfectly natural way.
How the mouth-piece should act.—If an impetuous, hard-pulling horse gets his head up and tries to “break away” with a good rider, the man will ease the reins, “drop his hands,” and wait till the animal lowers its head, before he takes a pull: a rule that is followed by all our best horsemen. When the animal finds its head released, he will quickly bring it “down.” ”

“ If the horse resolutely sulks, the breaker, to expedite matters, may make it lie down with the proper tackle and hold it down, with its head turned round (see page 158) , until it, apparently, gives in; after which it may get another trial at circling. If it still resists, it should be put down again, and, so on, for three, or four times. This change of discipline is most efficacious for the jibber, who quickly seems to recognise the fact, that the irksome constraint on the ground is a punishment for its misbehaviour. ”

“ All cow-horses have ever afterwards a holy dread of the rope, never forgetting its power and effect experienced during the breaking process. Thus, in roping a broken horse on the open or in a corral, if your rope simply lies over his neck, and yet not be round it, he will probably stop running and resign himself to capture. Even the commonly-used single rope corral, held up by men at the corners, they will not try to break through. Bronco-busters only last a few years, the hard jarring affects their lungs and other organs so disastrously. ”

“ If we have got a rider that does not mind the chance of a fall, we may omit the head and tail business, and have the horse saddled and mounted with the long reins on him, when he recovers his feet after undergoing his discipline on the ground. The breaker who holds the long reins, should pull the horse round, from side to side, the moment the assistant gets into the saddle ”

“ In breaking for harness, and, especially, for fast trotting on level ground, the necessity for teaching the horse to{178} bend his neck, to get his hind-quarters under him, and to moderate his speed in response to a pull on the reins, is not nearly so imperative, as in educating the charger, hunter and steeple-chaser, who must have always a “spare leg,” ready for any emergency. ”

“ With skittish{179} animals that jump about much when being mouthed, and with horses that rear, the standing martingale is of great service in preventing the rein getting over the back, and in giving the breaker command over these refractory subjects. Besides this, I find that the presence of the driving pad and rein-bearers is of great use in allowing me to shift the rein up and down as I like.
The breaker should avoid driving the horse on foot, straight in front of him, more than he can help; for, if he does so, he can hardly escape, at times, from keeping a “dead pull” on the animal’s mouth. ”

“ Without using any forcible methods, which, as a rule, would not be required with a valuable horse, the breaker ought not to need more than a week to make any ordinary horse thoroughly fit for all the usual requirements of saddle or harness. ”

“ To them that only sees a wild horse roped and rode and don't know the insides of the game, horse breaking might seem a little rough; but I'm here to say that it's not near as rough as it is necessary, and in the long run it's the rider that gets treated the roughest. ”

“ In the great majority of cases, the horse will quickly learn to regard the falling down as a punishment for his unsteadiness, which he cannot resist; and will accordingly give in, and stand quietly. After he does so, we may gradually slacken out the traces of the strait-jacket, until we can remove this apparatus altogether. We may tie up the leg, or employ the rope-twitch, as may be advisable. For safety sake, in single harness, we should use a kicking-strap. ”

“ When the off-side leading-rein is on, the breaker can, with perfect safety, catch it while the horse is turning round; for, at that time, it swings entirely clear of the fore-limb, and in a convenient position for the breaker to lay hold of it. If a man mounts a horse tied head and tail, with the cord unconfined by girth or surcingle, he is placed in the uncomfortable dilemma of riding without any “grip” on the saddle, by having his left leg pulled upwards and outwards by the cord, or of having this limb imprisoned between the cord and the animal’s side ”

“ The cart-horse, being of a duller temperament, does not require so much previous breaking-in before being put in harness, and a great many which have never been first broken to the saddle will take no [114] notice whatever if a man jumps on their backs and rides them; but it is always best to break them in a little to riding at first, as a good mouth is in that way best obtained. ”

“ Necessity for obtaining control over the Horse.{22}—In order to fulfil the necessary conditions of safety for himself, the breaker should be able, by the system under which he works—to quote the words of that admirable horse-master, Professor Sample—to make the animal rideable and driveable before he is either ridden or driven. The breaker who employs the ordinary methods, is not alone exposed to danger when mounting, or even driving his pupils for the first few times ”

“ It was a matter of infinite importance to the rider, for every part of the load was subjected to desperate pulls and [Pg 106] wrenches, and the breaking of a strap, at a critical moment in crossing a river or climbing a steep, might precipitate both horse and rider to destruction.
On the back of the horse was laid, first of all, a soft and thin blanket, which protected the animal in some degree against the venomous insects that abounded on the prairies, the attacks of which could sometimes madden the gentlest horse. ”

“ If required, an upward pull is given with the left arm, and the foot is caught with the right hand as the horse lifts it up. I may add, that the muscles against which the man’s elbow presses assist in raising the foot from the ground. By this plan the breaker can stand at the side of the leg that has to be raised, and a little away from it, thus keeping out of danger, as much as possible. If{95} ”

“ Thereupon, striking the flank of his courser with the flat of his axe, he caused the animal to clear with an enormous leap both the bodies and mounts of the fallen horsemen who lay between us. The leap was so violent that when his horse touched ground again, the animal's head and chest struck the head and chest of my own mount. At the heavy shock the two animals were thrown upon their haunches and both fell over. Dazed at first by my fall, I quickly disengaged myself, took my stand firmly upon my feet and drew my sword, my mace having slipped from my hands with my fall. ”

“ When he begins, however, to slack in his course, the foremost spearsman, couching his lance, and aiming obliquely at the lower part of the spine, above the haunches, spurs his horse to his utmost speed, and, passing the bull, inflicts a wound, which, being exceedingly painful, makes him wince, lose his balance, and come down with a tremendous fall. The shock is so violent that the bull seems unable to rise for some time. ”

“ Horsemen, buggies, buck-boards, wagons, as far either way as one can see—and prairie schooners, too, lumbering and pitching in the rear. Away over the rolling prairie they speed, disappearing finally on the distant hills like a lot of scared jackrabbits, now well strung out. Suddenly a trained race-horse goes down—he has learned his first lesson in badger holes. A bullet from his master's gun ends the animal's suffering, and with him goes his master's last chance. ”

“ The horses, as they near, display as much enthusiasm as their riders, and seem to scorn the very earth. They are now upon them. The herd, frantic and dismayed, begin to scatter. The horse now sees his victim and bounds with the most reckless impetuosity. The horseman, now rising in his saddle, throws his weight into the left stirrup, and with his right hand swings the lasso until the coil is sufficiently open, when it flies with the velocity and precision of an arrow, taking effect around the horns or neck of the victim. ”

“ Just as all believed the horse would be gored to death, the skilful rider wheeled him out of harm’s way, spurred him alongside of the bull, and, leaning from his saddle, drove his sword to the hilt into the great brute’s side. ”

“ Whilst violently kicking with the naked shanks, and retaining the stirrup in the grasp of the great toe, they tug violently at the cruel and barbarous bit to urge the horse to speed; and the blood is presently to be seen streaming from the mouth, as the tortured animal tosses its head in agony. ”

“ The mode by which those wretched animals had been conveyed to the fair was truly horrible. The four legs of each being bound, a rope connecting the poor creatures together by their tortured limbs was passed over the back of the horse, keeping them in equilibrio, and with the heads hanging downwards in agony, while the ligatures confining the legs by which they were suspended were impressed, by the weight of the body below, into the very bone! ”

“ Being, perhaps, among rushes, &c. even those parts are not discernible, or, if in an open expanse, may be easily mistaken for clods of mud; for the horns lie back towards the false ribs. On a sudden, the whole herd sometimes rise, and at the least frighten the horse, whatever the rider’s heart may be made of: such a surprize, and from animals that, according to the old saying, ‘give but a word and a blow, and the blow comes first,’ is far from pleasant. In such situations, all depends on the conduct of the leading bull; if he snorts, shakes his horns, and 150advances, the danger is imminent. ”

“ It is a dreadful instrument of torture, putting immense leverage in the rider's hands, and enabling him at will to tear the mouth of his horse to pieces; indeed, the horse on which it is used is guided entirely by pressure on the opposite side of the neck from that in which one seeks to turn him. ”

“ If, on the contrary, we stop the horse by making the hand move first, the hocks remain far in the rear of the plumb-line; the shock is violent, painful for the animal, and especially injurious to his physical organization. Horses that are thus stopped, set themselves against the bit, extending their neck, and require an arm of iron and a most violent opposing force. ”