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All kinds of theories have been formed in relation to the peculiar method of subduing the wild spirit of horses, so successfully practised in Europe by Mr Rarey, who is generally known as the " American Horse Tamer" At first many attributed his power to such a system of force as should strike terror into the animal, and thus render him more liable to be influenced by his master; but since the declaration of Sir Richard Airey that " there is nothing in the treatment but what any horseman would approve of," it is generally conceded that this influence is obtained solely through some mode of appealing directly to the more generous impulses of the horse, and thus conciliating his affection and confidence It is well known that animals generally have an almost instinctive passion for certain odors, which appear to have a subduing influence over them The most familiar illustration of this fact is the power in this respect exercised on horses by the rank and musty smell emitted by the goat, which enables the latter animal to enter the stall and pass between the legs of the most vicious of them The ammoniacal effluvia concentrated in the warts or excrescences formed on the fore and hind legs of horses, appears to have the same attractive and subduing influence The oils of cumin and rhodium have tiiese peculiar properties in a more marked degree, and as soon as the horse scents the odor of either of these substances he is instinctively drawn towards them Mr Rarey has intimated that his power over the horse is obtained solely through herbs or drugs which operate on the senses of smell and taste, and we have no doubt but that the herbs or drugs employed by him, if not the same, are of an analogous nature to those we have mentioned The following directions ure given for the taming of horses by the system suggested: Procure some finely grated horse castor, and oils of cumin and rhodium, and keep the three separate in airtight vessels Rub a little of the oil of cumin upon your hand, and approach the horse on the windward side, so that he can smell the odor of the csmin The horse will then suffer you to approach him without any trouble Immediately rub your hand gently on the horse's nose, getting a little of the oil on it, and you can lead him anywhere Give him a little of the castor on any substance for which he has a taste, and in the most suitable manner manage to get eight drops of the oil of rhodium upon his tongue, and he will at once become obedient to the most exacting commands with which horses are capable of complying BB kind and gentle to him, and yo'ur permanent supremacy will be established, no matter what may have been his previously wild and vicious character We understand that Mr Rarey, has been challenged by D Sullivan, also a horse tamer, (grandson of the celebrated " Sullivan, the Whisperer,") to a trial of his powers in Cork, Ireland MK
