TACHYHIPPODAMIA;
OR,
THE NEW SECRET OF

T A M I N G   H O R S E S.

GIVING FULL DIRECTIONS

HOW TO BREAK AND RIDE COLTS; TO TAME THE MOST VICIOUS HORSES AND
GENTLE THEM TO ALL KINDS OF VEHICLES OR WORK; TO BREAK THEM
OF KICKING OR ANY OTHER BAD TRICKS; TO TEACH THEM ANY
KINDS OF TRICKS OR ACTIONS; ETC., ETC.

WITH NUMEROUS VALUABLE RECEIPTS FOR DISEASES OF HORSES, MULES, COWS,
ETC.; HOW TO FATTEN HORSES, COWS, ETC., HOW TO TEACH TURKEYS
AND ANIMALS TO DANCE, HOW TO TAME DEER, ETC., ETC.

BY
W I L L I S   J.   P O W E L L.

TO WHICH IS ADDED

THE BREAKING, TRAINING, AND TAMING HORSES.

B Y   J.   S.   R A RE Y.

With Numerous Illustrations.

Image unavailable: colophon

PHILADELPHIA
W.   R.   C H A R T E R
611 & 613 SANSOM ST.
1872.
 

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by
W.   R.   C H A R T E R,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

TO THE READER.

Gentle Reader: The work you are going to peruse is not a voluminous one, neither did I take any pains whatever as to the elegance of the style. I wrote to make myself understood by the unlearned as well as the learned. The price of the work may seem high, on account of the small number of pages it contains: but it must be recollected that it encloses the revelation of a secret that has filled thousands of the wise and unwise with astonishment. I have received, as a gratification, more than two thousand dollars, from several Mexican gentleman, for breaking a single horse, in this manner, in their presence. I shall always feel grateful for the kind and generous reception I every where met with, when travelling through their country. From Louisiana to Mexico—from the Californias to Guatemala—and all over the Mexican states, when I have been travelling, I never asked for lodging without its being immediately granted—I never asked for a meal of victuals and was refused: the proprietor of a private house would feel himself injured, if you should offer him money for receiving you. You may except from this rule some poor Indian, who sometimes will admit of your offer, when you insist on his receiving some trifle; but a wealthy farmer, or one a little at his ease, would spurn the idea of selling his hospitality. I speak of none of their qualities but that of hospitality, which by the by, is a great one, and very much recommended by St. Paul. It is true, I lost nearly twenty thousand dollars, which were deposited in a store, by a revolution: but, in what country is a man’s property safe in revolutionary times?

Several Mexican gentleman solicited me to publish this secret in their country, but I constantly refused to do it; for I always intended doing it in my own native country—not doubting but that I should meet with encouragement from my own countrymen. I was always jealous of having the honor of being the first that ever made it known to the world. It is probable that the famous Irish “whisperer,” Sullivan, who died in 1810, possessed the same secret, or some other very much like it, as it appears from the astonishing things related of him, concerning what he did upon horses. The reader will, however, observe, that Sullivan lived in a country where horses were raised as they are in England and in the Northern states: that is, among men and familiar to man. But the horses which I have generally had to deal with, (though I have had every kind,) had been running wild, in the plains and woods, for four, five, six and even ten years, and which, during that time, had never had a rope on them. And besides, the horses of New Spain have always been noted for being remarkably fiery and unmanageable. I have gentled a horse in Texas, which, before that day had, in all probability, never seen a man—a stud of eight or nine years of age, as wild as a deer when taken an hour before. I began the operation, and in one hour made him follow me without pulling him by the halter, and little boys got upon him bare-backed, and saddled and rode him about: in a word, he was a gentle horse. Those horses are called in Spanish Mestenos, (pronounced Mestaneyos and not Mustangs.) What makes me think that Sullivan, as well as he that did the same in England a hundred years ago, made use of the same means as I do, is, that when I was now and then breaking a horse, (which generally took me three or four hours, although, as I said above, I have done it even in half an hour, though rarely,) and afterwards went into a town, the people flocked about to see me, saying to their friends, “This is the man that breaks a horse in half an hour.” Now the same has been published of Sullivan: most probably they mentioned the shortest space of time he had done it in, for it is likewise said of him, that sometimes he shut himself up with the horse all night.

Sometimes I have met with an extremely wild horse, which seemed to be gentled, as by enchantment, in a few minutes. I have gentled one of this description in ten minutes, so as to lead him, make him follow me everywhere I pleased, and ride him with as great safety as if he had been gentled twenty years before. But this is not a general rule.

The reader is here presented, in the explanation of this secret, with a specimen of the wonderful powers of the tact upon animals, and at the same time, with a moral lesson of patience and gentleness—virtues as necessary to get along through life among men, as they are when used in taming horses; and the exception to the general rule—I mean those that are to be treated with rigor—is not, perhaps, less rare. I am fully persuaded, that almost every class of people will reap some benefit or pleasure from the perusal of these pages. The naturalist sees in it a lesson of Nature itself. The moralist admires in it the display of gentleness, patience and perseverance; and every man who rides a horse may some day or other find some advantage in consulting it.

I have endeavored to render this little work as useful as possible, on three accounts. Firstly, on account of the profits arising from the sale of a useful work; secondly, for the credit one gets as the author of something good; and lastly, on account of the satisfaction every generous mind must feel in becoming useful to his fellow creatures. I have been most generously encouraged by the inhabitants of Attakapas, where I had resided so many years. As soon as I began my subscription they almost universally became subscribers. In the town of St Martinsville, only three or four individuals refused to subscribe. In Opelousas I met with a kind reception from most of the people to whom I presented the list for subscription. At Fausse River, Pointe Coupe, Plaquemine, and down to New Orleans, they almost universally subscribed. I shall always feel grateful for their kind reception. Encouragement is the deepest and dearest debt that a writer can incur.

I never declared myself to be the discoverer of this secret till the year 1824, when I arrived in the Mexican states. I had my reasons for so doing. Never did a people express more surprise and astonishment at any extraordinary event, than the Mexicans did at my first performance on my arrival among them; and more especially on account of my being a foreigner; for it is well known that the Mexicans, rich and poor, high and low, pride themselves upon being the best horsemen in the world. And I think there is no foreigner that ever travelled among them, and observed them as I have, but will readily agree in ranking them among the first as to agility, skill and elegance, when mounted upon their beautiful Andalusian steeds. If the Mexican ladies are admired by all foreigners for their natural, easy, unaffected, genteel carriage—surpassing, if possible, in that respect, the elegant Louisiana ladies—so does the Mexican, when mounted on a fine Xaral steed, equal, if not surpass, any other rider in the world. For this very reason, I was every where received with the greatest cordiality and applause, for no people knew how to appreciate better than they a discovery of so surprising a nature.

I wish the reader to observe, that in explaining the operation of the secret of gentling a horse, I have always supposed the horse to be one that required the whole secret, in order to be gentled, though a man meets with many that do not require one-third of what I there lay down: but it is better to do too much than too little in this case, so I shall say no more about it here. Vale, ya es tarde, buenas noches tenga usted senor caballero.

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS.

TACHYHIPPODAMIA.

In the year 1811, whilst residing in Georgia, I read an account of a man who lived more than a hundred years ago, who would take any wild horse, and shut himself up with him in a small yard or stable, and at the end of a few hours, come out with the horse perfectly gentle. Nothing was ever known about the means he employed in gentling him, for he died without ever communicating his secret to any one. I always possessed a great share of curiosity: therefore, as well to gratify it as to become useful to myself and others, I made a great many experiments upon young horses, but without success. I ran great risks in these experiments, but the danger, far from discouraging me, animated me the more to make new trials. At the end of the year 1811, I came to Louisiana, where there were many wild horses. I renewed my experiments. After having met with many difficulties, I discovered a secret in 1814, on my plantation in the Attakapas, by which I broke a horse in three hours. The horse always remained gentle. By the same method, I broke another; but two days after, I found him almost as wild as ever. This perplexed me very much—why one horse should remain gentle and the other not. I broke two more, and undertook a fifth, which I abandoned after several trials. This took place between seven and nine o’clock in the morning. I then thought the application of the secret ought to be varied. Accordingly, after having adopted and rejected a great many ways of applying it, I fell upon one which proved to be the best. At eleven o’clock, I went in again to the horse; but when he saw me, he reared and pitched and kicked in a most terrific manner. I stopped, notwithstanding, stood still a few minutes, and then began the operation, and saw, with pleasure, that at half past four he was perfectly gentle, and always remained so; for I had already discovered this last most important part of the secret—of having them always remain gentle—and I never have revealed it to any living person.

To give an idea of this mode of gentling horses, I will relate a few circumstances of the last mentioned horse. He was going on eight years old, had always run in the prairie since he had been branded, was a stud of a most fiery, ferocious disposition, and had never been roped from the time he had been branded. To get him into the yard where I gentled him, we were obliged to tie his legs and drag him in, and no one durst go into the yard where he was let loose. He ran at any one, when confined in the yard, with as much fury as a lion or tiger would have done, and he used his teeth and fore feet with as much dexterity as if he had been trained up to it from a colt. After I led him out, I let the saddle fall over his heels, girted him tight and cruppered him. Several boys got upon him, rode him about the yard, tied a dry ox-hide to his tail, and rode him out in this manner into the prairie, without his showing the least sign of fear, either at the rattling of the hide, or at any other object he met with in the prairie. The next day, they rode him to the town, in the midst of a great concourse of people; for it was a holiday. He passed among them with as little fear as if he had been raised in the town. When he came home, he followed any one without pulling him by the halter. He let any one handle his feet, and take them up with as much ease as they could those of any plough horse. I declare that, in thus gentling this animal, I made use of no intoxicating beverage, or smell, or any other means whatever, that might tend to stupify him, or diminish his natural vigor or spiritedness in the least: but, on the contrary, horses thus gentled are fit for immediate use, with all their vigor, as they do not become poor and broken down by length of time and bad usage, as it happens with spirited horses gentled in the common way, with much cost and danger. This is not the only advantage of the secret. It enables the most timid man to break a horse, without danger or fear; for it consists in gentling him completely, before you attempt to get on him.

I have broken an immense number of wild horses, in the Mexican provinces, of the most fiery and spirited dispositions; and have certificates from the President, Vice-President, and many of the most respectable citizens of that Republic, who have been eye-witnesses to this performance. In the City of Mexico, General Maison, Captain Hotchkiss and others, strangers, then in Mexico, have seen me perform.

This secret, though simple, requires a clear explanation, and how to be applied according to the three different kinds of horses: for, though a man should discover enough of the secret to break some of the common horses of this country, he still would meet with many, even here, that he could not break, and would completely fail among the high blooded Spanish studs. But, by perfectly knowing the secret, he will find them even easier to be gentled than almost any others.

There are three kinds of wild horses. The first of these appear to fear nothing, and when confined will run at a man with incredible fierceness. The second appear only to fear man. The third class appear to be afraid of every thing they meet with, when separated from the rest of the horses. Many of the Spanish horses belong to the first class, and frequently suffer themselves to be killed before they can be broken in the common way, and yet they are easily gentled by my secret. Now, it is positively necessary to vary the application of the secret according to the disposition of the horse to be gentled; all of which will be clearly and extensively explained in the publication of this work. The work will, besides, contain some few observations upon horses in general, and in what part of the Mexican provinces the best race of horses is to be found, &c., and an easy manner of fattening a horse in a short time. Likewise, the Mexican mode of preventing horses from breaking their bridles—and how to prevent a horse’s back from getting sore even on long journeys: all of which I have proved by experience. How to teach a horse, so that in a few days he will not suffer a person dressed in a certain manner to ride him or come near him. To teach one, so that in a few days he will suffer no one to ride him but his master.

At the time I discovered this secret, I was teaching, (and had been for some time,) the public school or college of Attakapas on my plantation, close to the town, and in my own buildings; for the edifice designed for that purpose had been burnt down some time before. I received, besides what each student paid me for board and tuition a compensation for the use of my buildings, as well as the annual pension from the government of the state of Louisiana; and as I taught the Latin and Greek languages, as well as the French, English and Spanish, I had a great number of students, from different parts of the state, and from other states, which rendered my business pretty lucrative. This was one reason why I did not turn my attention at that time to the gain I might expect to reap from this discovery.

In 1815, I met with a man by the name of Thomas Drinnen, who appeared to me rather eccentric in some respects, but an active, intelligent man, and very fond of horses. I told him I had discovered a secret to break them in a few hours. He wanted me to reveal it to him. I told him I would let him know enough of it to astonish the public, if he would go to Attakapas with me; for it was in the time of vacation, and I was on the Mississippi, on my way home. He said he could not, but would come there some time afterwards, if I would give him some of the ingredients to make trials with where he was then going. I accordingly supplied him with certain materials, (the better to disguise the real secret,) one of which was that callous substance growing upon a horse’s fore legs, called the spur; likewise, the sweat taken from under a man’s arm was to be used; the sweat of a horse, mare’s milk, &c. Said Drinnen really believed that these materials were efficacious in gentling a horse. I now declare to the world, that I had heard of some of them, and made use of the others in my experiments, but found them without the least effect.

In 1819, Drinnen came to Attakapas. I never had mentioned to any one that I knew such a secret. On the contrary, I came into Mr. Grigg’s inn, then and still existing at St. Martinsville, distant from my (then) plantation a half a mile, pretending to be astonished at what Drinnen was relating concerning horses, and at the same time incredulous, offering him a gratification of one hundred dollars, to see him break one of the wild horses of this country in so short a time. Mr. Gabriel Fuselier told him that he would do the same, if he should succeed in his essay upon any one of the wild horses upon his plantation, which was about two miles from the town. He accepted the offer, and the following day was decided upon for the trial; at which time he performed, and to the satisfaction of every one. But I had given him no further insight into the secret than this first part of it, more to see what impression it would have upon the public, than for any thing else, as my employment and standing in society were such that I did not like to appear before such a multitude of my acquaintances as a horse-breaker. This was, however, a foolish prejudice; for Fulton by the discovery of the means of making a boat advance with more velocity by the application of steam power, was not, on that account, looked upon as a common boatman.

After these experiments of Drinnen, to whom I had communicated so small a part of the secret, I was fully convinced that a large fortune might be made in almost any country with the secret, such as I knew it; and, as I understood the Spanish language, I agreed with Drinnen to go first to Havana and then to New Spain, and take him with me. Accordingly, I sent him to New Orleans, to fit out a small schooner we had bought in Newtown. But he took the fever and died, and I continued my occupations with success for several years, till I had accumulated a handsome property. Shortly after, I became security for several persons, three of whom left me to pay for them: at the same time, I had been robbed of six thousand three hundred dollars in the city of New Orleans, and had lost one thousand nine hundred dollars upon the steam-boat Teche. As property had fallen to almost nothing, I sacrificed every thing, to pay other people’s debts, and in 1824 went by land through Texas to Tamaulipas, where I received a splendid gratification from the governor of the state, Don Bernardo, Gutierrez de Lara, Don Felipe de la Garza, general of division, and from several other gentlemen who were present at a performance which took place in the town and sea-port of Soto la Marina. From thence I went to Mexico with my family, where I performed before the President, Vice President, the Marquis of Vivanco, Count de Regla Y Jala, General Guerrero, and several of the first characters of Mexico, in 1825, in the month of July. Our Envoy, Mr. Joel R. Poinsett, whom I had the honor of knowing personally at that time, can bear witness of the veracity of the signatures of the above-named gentlemen, as well as of their standing, all of whom gave me certificates which I have now in my possession, and some of which I shall publish in this work.

Here must be inserted the following extracts, the originals of which I have in my possession: as a confirmation of which I will first put down Mr. Poinsett’s:

[TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH.]

OBSERVATIONS UPON HORSES IN GENERAL: AND WHAT LED ME TO THE DISCOVERY OF BREAKING THEM IN A SHORT TIME.

The first experiments I made upon wild horses, in order to break them in a shorter time than that usually employed to that end, consisted in the application of different kinds of smells, such as opium, the oil of cummin, assafœtida, that callous substance called the spur which grows upon the inside of a horse’s fore-legs, the sweat from a man’s arm-pit, mare’s milk, &c., &c. Opium has but little effect upon a horse, even if he smells it a considerable time. But of all these substances, no one tends so much to intoxicate, and even sicken, not only a horse but a man, as that taken from the horse when smelled of for any length of time. Any one who may doubt the veracity of what I here assert, can be easily convinced by experience, if he will. In the next place, the sweat from the arm-pit has a tendency to render a horse sleepy, if smelled for an hour or two. Some horses, thus rendered sleepy, can be handled; but on most horses it has no effect, or very little. Now, as I was determined to publish this secret some day or other, in its true light, I never revealed any other till now, but that accompanied with some one of these substances, with certain directions how to apply them. These directions contained enough of the true secret to tame a horse, so as to astonish the most penetrating. Now and then, a horse would remain gentle that had been thus tamed; but five out of ten would become wild again. Whenever I broke one myself, he always remained gentle. Drinnen sincerely thought that some of these substances were necessary to gentle a horse. I solemnly declare, before God and man, that I do not believe that a horse can be tamed, even for a short time, by the application of any of these substances, without applying to him more or less of the true secret; and furthermore: I declare, that all and every one of them are entirely useless, and of no effect. God is my witness, that if ever this secret was known before, I never learnt it from any man; I discovered it myself, and brought it, as I believe, to its greatest perfection.

A horse is gentled, by my secret, in from two to sixteen hours. The time I have most commonly employed, has been from four to six. After my