Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1881 — Training Circus Horses. [ARTICLE]

Training Circus Horses.

“How long,” asked the reporter, “does it take to break a horse in?” , “From eighteen months to two years, for gbod anil i.ure pad-riding. Care has to b<‘ taken that he does not shy or break his gait, but goes round the circus ring at an even pace, so that the performer can do whatever he wants, by time. If this is not secured the performer can never tell where he is going to jump. Much, however, depends u|M>n what the horse is being trained for, all the best horses being used only for a special performance. Ln most cases. the riders, if they are experienced, train their own animals, and thus, when they are ridd n, they understand much better what is required of them. Ducrow, Madame Dou krill, Melville, Sebastian, Stickney, Cooke, Reed and the like all train their own horses and own them. This system of private training has only been in practice a few years. Managers of a circus, under the old customs, were always expected to furnish pad-horses, and those required for two and four-act performances, so that a performer going from one company to another w’ould always find a horse ready for him to mount, and in*a short time horse and rider would be able to understand each other. Nowadays some of the crack stars have as many as eight or ten horses of their own, most of them trained for a special, performance. They are very valuable, most of them being full-blooded, and imported from, England and France. Great care has to oe taken of them, as they are extrenriely liable to take cold after a ring performance.”