When you feel impatient you had better leave off

When you feel impatient you had better leave off

Remember you must not hurry, and you must not chatter. When you feel impatient you had better leave off, and begin again another day. And the same with your horse: you must not tire him with one lesson, but you must give him at least one lesson every day, and two or three to a nervous customer; we have a striking example of patience and perseverance in Mr. Rarey’s first evening with Cruiser. He had gone through the labour of securing him, and bringing him up forty miles behind a dog-cart, yet he did not lose a moment, but set to work the same night to tame him limb by limb, and inch by inch, and from that day until he produced him in public, he never missed a day without spending twice a day from two to three hours with him, first rendering him helpless by gag-bit, straps and hobbles, then caressing him, then forcing him to lie down, then caressing him again, stroking every limb, talking to him in soothing tones, and now and then, if he turned vicious, taking up his helpless head, giving it a good shake, while scolding him as you would a naughty boy. And then again taking off the gag and rewarding submission with a lock of sweet hay and a drink of water, most grateful after a tempest of passion, then making him rise, and riding him making him stop at a word.

Fonte: Tamming Horses