Part 8 (1/2)
”Their work all depends on thethere's a knack in ju on the horse If a man lands aardly and jars the horse's back, the horse will get out of step and flinch at each ju horse e his pace; if you're up in the air, throwing a somersault, and the horse swerves from underneath you--where are you?”
”Some people think that horses take a lot of notice of the band--is that so?”
”Not that I know of If there are any horses in the shoith an ear for music, I haven't heard of the to learn this work?”
”Not long; a couple ofhorse; of course, some are better than others”
”First of all we teach them to come up to you, with the whip, like horsebreakers do Then we run the ti, we let them run with the rein loose, and the trainer can catch hold of it if they go wrong Then we put a roller on theoes round the horse's body--and the boys ju on to the roller, or standing up, lying down, and doing tricks till the horse gets used to it”
”Well?”
”Well, you give 'em a couple of hours of it, perhaps, and then dry the theet to knohat you want; but you can't break in horses on theand worry and noise and excitement put it all out of their heads We have a fixed camp where we break them in And a horse may know his work perfectly hen there is no one about, but bring hiht, and he is all abroad”
”Do you have to give them much whip?”
”Not much If a horse doesn't knohat you want him to do, it only ruins hi a few times, and then won't do it, then you must whip him”
”What about trick horses?”
”A trick horse rolls a barrel, or lies down and goes to bed with the clown, or fires a pistol--does any trick like that So work, but it isn't a good line A horse is all the better to have only one line of business--same as a man”
”How do you teach the tireat patience
Even to make a horse lie dohen he's ordered takes a couple of months so, and then pull his head round; after a while he gets so tired of the strained position that he lies down, after which he learns to do it at command If you want him to pick up a handkerchief, you put a bit of carrot in it, and after a while they know that you want thee hand in the ring will flurry theood active pony, with a bit of Arab blood in him, is the best for tricks”
”What's a school horse?”
”Ah, that's a line of business that isn't appreciated enough out here
On the Continent they think a lot of the, to change his feet at command, to move sideways and backwards; in fact, to drill Out here no one thinks hschools, they do The Ger German circus-proprietors have men to do all their business for the does it take to turn out a school horse?”
”Well, Chiarini was the best trainer out here, and he used to take two years to get a horse to his satisfaction For school horses, you hbreds, because their appearance is half their success We had a New Zealand thoroughbred that had raced, and was turning out a splendid school horse, and he got burnt after costing a year's training
That's the luck of the game, you know You keep at it year after year, and soet crippled--it's all in the luck of the gaive fifty pounds for a horse, and find that he can never get over his fear of the elephant, while you give ten pounds for another, and find hih the ghostly circus and thea lot of others, a tranquil-looking ani a placard, ”Tiger Horse”
”That's a new sort! What is he, ring, trick, or school horse?”
”Well, he's a class by hi horse