Part 5

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.