the cause may be bad will, fear, confusion, or fatigue.
When fear is the cause, the terrifying object may be seen, heard, or, very rarely, smelt. The cure is to reestablish the animal's confidence, by proving to him that the object is inoffensive.
If the horse resists because he is confused, the fault is the rider's own. He should, therefore, distract the horse's mind until the confused images have faded from its memory. Then he should begin again, avoiding his former error.
If fatigue is the cause of the resistance, the remedy is to proceed with moderation, and to ask only such work as is proportionate to the horse's age, strength, and training.
But if the fault is in the horse's evil will, the rider should first make perfectly certain that all his signals meet the same resistance, without the smallest sign of any return to submission. This done, he should punish, with severity, but without passion. Only thus can the horse be made to understand that its will is to be submitted to the rider's control.
Veterinary science is no doubt correct in the opinion that there are defects in the horse's brain, analogous to those in the brain of a man, which cause obstinacy, if not insanity. My own experience, nevertheless, goes to show that the cause of resistances, refusals, and similar difficulties have their basis in ordinary physical defects, which can be cured by moderate and proper education.
