Chapter 4

When we remember that we are dealing with dumb brutes, and reflect how difficult it must be for them to understand our motions, signs and language, we should never get out of patience with them because they don't understand us, or wonder at their doing things wrong. With all our intellect, if we were placed in the horse's situation, it would be difficult for us to understand the driving of some foreigner, of foreign ways and foreign language. We should always recollect that our ways and language are just as foreign and unknown to the horse as any language in the world is to us, and should try to practice what we could understand, were we the horse, endeavoring by some simple means to work on his understanding rather than on the different parts of his body. All balked horses can be started true and steady in a few minutes time; they are all willing to pull as soon as they know how, and I never yet found a balked horse that I could not teach him to start his load in fifteen, and often less than three minutes time.

Almost any team, when first balked, will start kindly, if you let them stand five or ten minutes, as though there was nothing wrong, and then speak to them with a steady voice, and turn them a little to the right or left, so as to get them both in motion before they feel the pinch of the load. But if you want to start a team that you are not driving yourself, that has been balked, fooled and whipped for some time, go to them and hang the lines on their hames, or fasten them to the wagon, so that they will be perfectly loose; make the driver and spectators (if there is any) stand off some distance to one side, so as not to attract the attention of the horses; unloose their checkreins, so that they can get their heads down, if they choose; let them stand a few minutes in this condition, until you can see that they are a little composed. While they are standing you should be about their heads, gentling them; it will make them a little more kind, and the spectators will think that you are doing something that they do not understand, and will not learn the secret. When you have them ready to start, stand before them, and as you seldom have but one balky horse in a team, get as near in front of him as you can, and if he is too fast for the other horse, let his nose come against your breast; this will keep him steady, for he will go slow rather than run on you; turn them gently to the right, without letting them pull on the traces, as far as the tongue will let them go; stop them with a kind word, gentle them a little, and then turn them back to the left, by the same process. You will have them under your control by this time, and as you turn them again to the right, steady them in the collar, and you can take them where you please.

There is a quicker process that will generally start a balky horse, but not so sure. Stand him a little ahead, so that his shoulders will be against the collar, and then take up one of his fore feet in your hand, and let the driver start them, and when the weight comes against his shoulders, he will try to step; then let him have his foot, and he will go right along. If you want to break a horse from balking that has long been in that habit, you ought to set apart a half day for that purpose. Put him by the side of some steady horse; have check lines on them; tie up all the traces and straps, so that there will be nothing to excite them; do not rein them up, but let them have their heads loose. Walk them about together for some time as slowly and lazily as possible; stop often, and go up to your balky horse and gentle him. Do not take any whip about him, or do any thing to excite him, but keep him just as quiet as you can. He will soon learn to start off at the word, and stop whenever you tell him.

As soon as he performs right, hitch him in an empty wagon; have it stand in a favorable position for starting. It would be well to shorten the stay chain behind the steady horse, so that if it is necessary he can take the weight of the wagon the first time you start them. Do not drive but a few rods at first; watch your balky horse closely, and if you see that he is getting balky, stop him before he stops of his own accord, caress him a little, and start again. As soon as they go well, drive them over a small hill a few times, and then over a large one, occasionally adding a little load. This process will make any horse true to pull.

TO BREAK A HORSE TO HARNESS.

Take him in a tight stable, as you did to ride him; take the harness and go through the same process that you did with the saddle, until you get him familiar with them, so that you can put them on him and rattle them about without his caring for them. As soon as he will bear this, put on the lines, caress him as you draw them over him, and drive him about in the stable till he will bear them over his hips. The _lines_ are a great aggravation to some colts, and often frighten them as much as if you were to raise a whip over them. As soon as he is familiar with the harness and line, take him out and put him by the side of a gentle horse, and go through the same process that you did with the balking horse. Always use a bridle without blinds when you are breaking a horse to harness.

HOW TO HITCH A HORSE IN A SULKY.

Lead him to and around it; let him look at it, touch it with his nose, and stand by it till he does not care for it; then pull the shafts a little to the left, and stand by your horse in front of the off wheel. Let some one stand on the right side of the horse, and hold him by the bit, while you stand on the left side, facing the sulky. This will keep him straight. Run your left hand back and let it rest on his hip, and lay hold of the shafts with your right, bringing them up very gently to the left hand, which still remains stationary. Do not let anything but your arm touch his back, and as soon as you have the shafts square over him, let the person on the opposite side take hold of one of them and lower them very gently on the shaft bearers. Be very slow and deliberate about hitching; the longer time you take, the better, as a general thing. When you have the shafts placed, shake them slightly, so that he will feel them against each side. As soon as he will bear them without scaring, fasten your braces, etc., and start him along very slowly. Let one man lead the horse to keep him gentle, while the other gradually works back with the lines till he can get behind and drive him. After you have driven him in this way a short distance, you can get into the sulky, and all will go right. It is very important to have your horse go gently, when you first hitch him. After you have walked him awhile, there is not half so much danger of his scaring. Men do very wrong to jump up behind a horse to drive him as soon as they have him hitched. There are too many things for him to comprehend all at once. The shafts, the lines, the harness, and the rattling of the sulky, all tend to scare him, and he must be made familiar with them by degrees. If your horse is very wild, I would advise you to put up one foot the first time you drive him.

HOW TO MAKE A HORSE LIE DOWN.

Every thing that we want to learn the horse must be commenced in some way to give him an idea of what you want him to do, and then be repeated till he learns it perfectly. To make a horse lie down, bend his left fore leg, and slip a loop over it, so that he cannot get it down. Then put a circingle around his body, and fasten one end of a long strap around the other fore leg, just above the hoof. Place the other end under the circingle, so as to keep the strap in the right hand; stand on the left side of the horse, grasp the bit in your left hand, pull steadily on the strap with your right; bear against his shoulder till you cause him to move. As soon as he lifts his weight, your pulling will raise the other foot, and he will have to come on his knees. Keep the strap tight in your hand, so that he cannot straighten his leg if he raises up. Hold him in his position, and turn his head toward you; bear against his side with your shoulder, not hard, but with a steady equal pressure, and in about ten minutes he will lie down. As soon as he lies down he will be completely conquered, and you can handle him as you please. Take off the straps, and straighten out his legs; rub him lightly about the face and neck with your hand the way the hair lays; handle all his legs, and after he has lain ten or twenty minutes, let him get up again. After resting him a short time, make him lie down as before. Repeat the operation three or four times, which will be sufficient for one lesson. Give him two lessons a day, and when you have given him four lessons, he will lie down by taking hold of one foot. As soon as he is well broken to lie down in this way, tap him on the opposite leg with a stick when you take hold of his foot, and in a few days he will lie down from the mere motion of the stick.

HOW TO MAKE A HORSE FOLLOW YOU.

Turn him into a large stable or shed, where there is no chance to get out, with a halter or bridle on. Go to him and gentle him a little, take hold of his halter and turn him towards you, at the same time touching him lightly over the hips with a long whip. Lead him the length of the stable, rubbing him on the neck, saying in a steady tone of voice as you lead him, COME ALONG BOY! or use his name instead of boy, if you choose. Every time you turn, touch him slightly with the whip, to make him step up close to you, and then caress him with your hand. He will soon learn to hurry up to escape the whip and be caressed, and you can make him follow you around without taking hold of the halter. If he should stop and turn from you, give him a few cuts about the hind legs, and he will soon turn his head toward you, when you must always caress him. A few lessons of this kind will make him run after you, when he sees the motion of the whip--in twenty or thirty minutes he will follow you about the stable. After you have given him two or three lessons in the stable, take him out into a small lot and train him; and from thence you can take him into the road and make him follow you anywhere, and run after you.

HOW TO MAKE A HORSE STAND WITHOUT HOLDING.

After you have him well broken to follow you, stand him in the center of the stable--begin at his head to caress him, gradually working backward. If he move, give him a cut with the whip and put him back in the same spot from which he started. If he stands, caress him as before, and continue gentling him in this way until you can get round him without making him move. Keep walking around him, increasing your pace, and only touch him occasionally. Enlarge your circle as you walk around and if he then moves, give him another cut with the whip and put him back to his place. If he stands, go to him frequently and caress him, and then walk around him again. Do not keep him in one position too long at a time, but make him come to you occasionally and follow you round in the stable. Then stand him in another place, and proceed as before. You should not train your horse more than half an hour at a time.

THE HORSEMAN'S GUIDE

AND

FARRIER.

BY JOHN J. STUTZMAN, WEST RUSHVILLE, FAIRFIELD COUNTY, OHIO.

I will here insert some of the most efficient cures of diseases to which the horse is subject. I have practised them for many years with unparalleled success. I have cured horses with the following remedies, which, (in many cases,) have been given up in despair, and I never had a case in which I did not effect a cure.

CURE FOR COLIC.

Take 1 gill of turpentine, 1 gill of opium dissolved in whisky; 1 quart of water, milk warm. Drench the horse and move him about slowly. If there is no relief in fifteen minutes, take a piece of chalk, about the size of an egg, powder it, and put it into a pint of cider vinegar, which should be blood warm, give that, and then move him as before.

ANOTHER.--Take 1 ounce laudanum, 1 ounce of ether, 1 ounce of tincture of assafoetida, 2 ounces tincture of peppermint, half pint of whisky; put all in a quart bottle, shake it well and drench the horse.

CURE FOR THE BOTS.

Take 1-1/2 pint of fresh milk, (just from the cow,) 1 pint of molasses. Drench the horse and bleed him in the mouth; then give him 1 pint of linseed oil to remove them.

FOR DISTEMPER.

Take mustard seed ground fine, tar and rye chop, make pills about the size of a hen's egg. Give him six pills every six hours, until they physic him; then give him one table spoonful of the horse powder mentioned before, once a day, until cured. Keep him from cold water for six hours after using the powder.

LONG FEVER.

In the first place bleed the horse severely. Give him spirits of nitre, in water which should not be too cold, for it would chill him. Keep him well covered with blankets, and rub his legs and body well; blister him around the chest with mustard seed, and be sure to give him no cold water, unless there is spirits of nitre in it.

RHEUMATIC LINIMENT.

Take croton oil, aqua ammonia, f.f.f; oil of cajuput, oil of origanum, in equal parts. Rub well. It is good for spinal diseases and weak back.

CUTS AND WOUNDS OF ALL KINDS.

One pint of alcohol, half ounce of gum of myrrh, half ounce aloes, wash once a day.

SPRAINS AND SWELLINGS.

Take 1-1/2 ounces of harts-horn, 1 ounce camphor, 2 ounces spirits of turpentine, 4 ounces sweet oil, 8 ounces alcohol. Anoint twice a day.

FOR GLANDERS.

Take of burnt buck's horn a table spoonful, every three days for nine days. If there is no relief in that time, continue the powder until there is relief.

SADDLE OR COLLAR LINIMENT.

One ounce of spirits of turpentine, half ounce of oil of spike, half ounce essence of wormwood, half ounce castile soap, half ounce gum camphor, half ounce sulphuric ether, half pint alcohol, and wash freely.

LINIMENT TO SET THE STIFLE JOINT ON A HORSE.

One ounce oil of spike, half ounce origanum, half ounce oil amber. Shake it well and rub the joints twice a day until cured, which will be in two or three days.

EYE WATER.

I have tried the following and found it an efficient remedy. I have tried it on my own eyes and those of others. Take bolus muna 1 ounce, white vitrol 1 ounce, alum half ounce, with one pint clear rain water: shake it well before using. If too strong, weaken it with rain water.

LINIMENT FOR WINDGALLS, STRAINS AND GROWTH OF LUMPS ON MAN OR HORSE.

One ounce oil of spike, half ounce origanum, half ounce amber, aqua fortis and sal amoniac 1 drachm, spirits of salts 1 drachm oil of sassafras half ounce, harts-horn half ounce. Bathe once or twice a day.

HORSE POWDER.

This powder will cure more diseases than any other medicine known; such as Distemper, Fersey, Hidebound, Colds, and all lingering diseases which may arise from impurity of the blood or lungs.--Take 1 lb. comfrey root, half lb. antimony, half lb. sulphur, 3 oz. of saltpetre, half lb. laurel berries, half lb. juniper berries, half lb. angetice seed, half lb. rosin, 3 oz. alum, half lb. copperas, half lb. master wort, half lb. gun powder. Mix all to a powder and give in the most cases, one table spoonful in mash feed once a day till cured. Keep the horse dry, and keep him from the cold water six hours after using it.

FOR CUTS OR WOUNDS ON HORSE OR MAN.

Take fishworms mashed up with old bacon oil, and tie on the wound, which is the surest and safest cure.

OIL FOR COLLARS.

This oil will also cure bruises, sores, swellings, strains or galls. Take fishworms and put them in a crock or other vessel 24 hours, till they become clean; then put them in a bottle and throw plenty of salt upon them, place them near a stove and they will turn to oil; rub the parts affected freely. I have cured knee-sprung horses with this oil frequently.

SORE AND SCUMMED EYES ON HORSES.

Take fresh butter or rabbit's fat, honey, and the white of three eggs, well stirred up with salt, and black pepper ground to a fine powder; mix it well and apply to the eye with a feather. Also rub above the eye (in the hollow,) with the salve. Wash freely with cold spring water.

FOR A BRUISED EYE.

Take rabbit's fat, and use as above directed. Bathe freely with fresh spring water. I have cured many bloodshot eyes with this simple remedy.

POLL-EVIL OR FISTULA.

Take of Spanish flies 1 oz., gum euphorbium 3 drachms, tartar emetic 1 oz., rosin 3 oz.; mix and pulverize, and then mix them with a half lb. of lard. Anoint every three days for three weeks; grease the parts affected with lard every four days. Wash with soap and water before using the salve. In poll-evil, if open, pulverize black bottle glass, put as much in each ear as will lay on a dime. The above is recommended in outside callous, such as spavin, ringbone, curbs, windgalls, etc. etc.

FOR THE FERSEY.

Take 1 quart of sassafras root bark, 1 quart burdock root, spice wood broke fine, 1 pint rattle weed root. Boil in 1-1/2 gallons of water; scald bran; when cool give it to the horse once a day for 3 or 4 days. Then bleed him in the neck and give him the horse powder as directed. In extreme cases, I also rowel in the breast and hind legs, to extract the corruption and remove the swelling. This is also an efficient remedy for blood diseases, etc., etc.

TO MAKE THE HAIR GROW ON MAN OR BEAST.

Take milk of sulphur 1/2 drachm, sugar of lead 1/2 drachm, rose water 1/2 gill, mix and bathe well twice a day for ten days.

CHOLERA OR DIARRHEA TINCTURE.

1 oz. of laudanum, 1 oz. of spirits of camphor, 1 oz. spirits of nitre, 1/2 oz. essence of peppermint, 20 drops of chloroform; put all in a bottle, shake well, and take 1/2 teaspoonful in cold water once every six, twelve and twenty-four hours, according to the nature of the case.

CURE FOR THE HEAVES.

Give 30 grains of tartar emetic every week until cured.

PROCESS OF CAUSING A HORSE TO LAY DOWN.

Approach him gently upon the left side, fasten a strap around the ancle of his fore-foot; then raise the foot gently, so as to bring the knee against the breast and the foot against the belly. The leg being in this position, fasten the strap around his arm, which will effectually prevent him from putting that foot to the ground again. Then fasten a strap around the opposite leg, and bring it over his shoulder, on the left side, so that you can catch hold of it; then push these gently, and when he goes to fall, pull the strap, which will bring him on his knees.

Now commence patting him under the belly; by continuing your gentle strokes upon the belly, you will, in a few minutes, bring him to his knees behind. Continue the process, and he will lie entirely down, and submit himself wholly to your treatment. By thus proceeding gently, you may handle his feet and legs in any way you choose.

However wild and fractious a horse may be naturally, after practicing this process a few times, you will find him perfectly gentle and submissive, and even disposed to follow you anywhere, and unwilling to leave you on any occasion.

Unless the horse be wild, the first treatment will be all sufficient; but should he be too fractious to be approached in a manner necessary to perform the first named operation, this you will find effectual, and you may then train your horse to harness or anything else with the utmost ease.

In breaking horses for harness, after giving the powders, put the harness on gently, without startling him, and pat him gently, then fasten _the chain_ to a log, which he will draw for an indefinite length of time. When you find him sufficiently gentle, place him to a wagon or other vehicle.

NOTE.--Be _extremely_ careful in catching a horse, not to affright him. After he is caught, and the powders given, rub him gently on the head, neck, back and legs, and on each side of the eyes, the way the hair lies, but be very careful not to whip, for a young horse is equally passionate with yourself, and this pernicious practice has ruined many fine and valuable horses. When you are riding a colt (or even an old horse), do not whip him if he scares, but draw the bridle, so that his eye may rest upon the object which has affrighted him, and pat him upon the neck as you approach it; by this means you will pacify him, and render him less liable to start in future.

MEANS OF LEARNING A HORSE TO PACE.

Buckle a four pound weight around the ancles of his hind legs, (lead is preferable) ride your horse briskly with those weights upon his ancles, at the same time, twitching each rein of the bridle alternately, by this means you will immediately throw him into a pace. After you have trained him in this way to some extent, change your leaded weights for something lighter; leather padding, or something equal to it, will answer the purpose; let him wear these light weights until he is perfectly trained. This process will make a smooth and easy pacer of any horse.

HORSEMANSHIP.

The rider should, in the first place, let the horse know that he is not afraid of him. Before mounting a horse, take the rein into the left hand, draw it tightly, put the left foot in the stirrup, and raise quickly. When you are seated press your knees to the saddle, let your leg, from the knee, stand out; turn your toe in and heel out; sit upright in your saddle, throw your weight forward--one third of it in the stirrups--and hold your rein tight. Should your horse scare, you are braced in your saddle and he cannot throw you.

INDICATION OF A HORSE'S DISPOSITION.

A long, thin neck indicates a good disposition, contrariwise, if it be short and thick. A broad forehead, high between the ears, indicates a very vicious disposition.

CURES, &C.

_Cure for the Founder._--Let 1-1/2 gallons of blood from the neck vein, make frequent applications of hot water to his forelegs; after which, bathe them in wet cloths, then give one quart Linseed Oil. The horse will be ready for service the next day.

_Botts._--Mix one pint honey with one quart sweet milk, give as a drench, one hour after, dissolve 1 oz. pulverized Coperas in a pint of water, use likewise, then give one quart of Linseed Oil. Cure effectual.

_Colic._--After bleeding copiously in the mouth, take a half pound of raw cotton, wrap it around a coal of fire in such a way as to exclude the air; when it begins to smoke, hold it under the horse's nose until he becomes easy. Cure certain in ten minutes.

_Distemper._--Take 1-1/2 gallons blood from the neck vein, then give a dose of Sassafras Oil, 1-1/2 ounces is sufficient. Cure speedy and certain.

_Fistula._--When it makes its appearance, rowel both sides of the shoulder; if it should break, take one ounce of verdigris, 1 ounce oil rosin, 1 ounce copperas, pulverize and mix together. Use it as a salve.

RECEIPT FOR BONE SPAVIN OR RING-BONE.

Take a table-spoonful of corrosive sublimate; quicksilver about the size of a bean; 3 or 4 drops of muriatic acid; iodine about the size of a pea, and lard enough to form a paste; grind the iodine and sublimate fine as flour, and put altogether in a cup, mix well, then shear the hair all off the size you want; wash clean with soap-suds, rub dry, then apply the medicine. Let it stay on five days; if it does not take effect, take it off, mix it over with a little more lard, and add some fresh medicine. When the lump comes out, wash it clean in soap-suds, then apply a poultice of cow dung, leave it on twelve hours, then apply healing medicine.

TEMPERANCE BEVERAGE.

One quart of water, three pounds of sugar, one teaspoonful of lemon oil, one table-spoonful of flour, with the white of four eggs, well beat up. Mix the above well together, then divide the syrup, and add four ounces of carbonic soda in one-half, and three ounces of tartaric acid in the other half; then bottle for use.

SARSAPARILLA SYRUP.

One ounce Sarsaparilla, two pounds brown sugar, ten drops wintergreen, and half pint of water.

"THE MOST WONDERFUL BOOK EVER WRITTEN."

ESOTERIC ANTHROPOLOGY

INTERIOR SCIENCE OF MAN.