Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Rarey, John S.

RAREY, John S., horse-tamer, b. in Franklin county, Ohio, in 1828; d. in Cleveland. Ohio, 4 Oct., 1866. At an early age he displayed tact in managing horses, and by degrees he worked out a system of training that was founded on his own observations. He went to Texas in 1856, and, after experimenting there, gave public exhibitions in Ohio, and from that time was almost continuously before the public. About 1860 he went to Europe and surprised his audiences everywhere by his complete mastery of horses that had been considered unmanageable. In England particularly the most vicious were brought to him, and he never failed to control them. One of the greatest triumphs of his skill was the taming of the racing-colt “Cruiser,” which was so vicious that he had killed one or two grooms, and was kept under control by an iron muzzle. Under Mr. Rarey's treatment he became perfectly gentle and submissive, and was brought by Rarey to this country. In 1863 Mr. Rarey was employed by the government to inspect and report upon the horses of the Army of the Potomac. He was the author of a “Treatise on Horse-Taming.” of which 15,000 copies were sold in France in one year (London, 1858; new ed., 1864).