Jump to content

The Modern Art of Taming Wild Horses/Chapter 2

From Wikisource
The Modern Art of Taming Wild Horses
by John Solomon Rarey
Chapter 2: How to succeed in getting the Colt from Pasture
206970The Modern Art of Taming Wild Horses — Chapter 2: How to succeed in getting the Colt from PastureJohn Solomon Rarey



HOW TO SUCCEED IN GETTING THE COLT FROM PASTURE.


Go to the pasture and walk around the whole herd quietly, and at such a distance as not to cause them to scare and run. Then approach them very slowly, and if they stick up their heads and seem to be frightened, hold on until they become quiet, so as not to make them run before you are close enough to drive them in the direction you want them to go. And when you begin to drive, do not flourish your arms or halloo, but gently follow them off, leaving the direction free for them that you wish them to take. Thus taking advantage of their ignorance, you will be able to get them into the pound as easily as the hunter drives the quails into his net. For, if they have always run in the pasture uncared for (as many horses do in prairie countries and on large plantations), there is no reason why they should not be as wild as the sportsman's birds, and require the same gentle treatment, if you want to get them without trouble; for the horse, in his natural state, is as wild as any of the undomesticated animals, though more easily tamed than the most of them.