RAREY, THE HORSE'S MASTER AND FRIEND   - 3

HE TAMES CRUISER. Seeing what Mr. Rarey did was quickly followed by speculation as to how he did it. Sir Richard Airey and the others to whom the information had been given at once testified that in the treatment that had not been seen, there was nothing of cruelty, of tricks, of drugs, of mesmerism or any other similar influence; that his treatment was one of extreme kindness and tenderness toward the animal, the object being to convince him that man is his natural master and friend, and to elicit his confidence and kindly regard. His appeal, they declared, was, as he said, to "the intellect and affections of the horse." But that did not dispose of all the doubters.

"If Mr. Rarey would set criticism at naught," wrote Lord Dorchester, "let him come down to Murrell's Green with a few of his aristocratic friends and try Cruiser. If he can ride him as a hack, I guarantee him immortality and an amount of ready money that would make a British bank director's mouth water."That was a challenge, indeed!

Cruiser Bridled and Untamed
Cruiser, one baaad dude!

Cruiser, sired by Venison, dammed by Little Red Rover, was bred by Lord Dorchester in 1852, and from a foal had been considered vicious; he was always troublesome to handle, and showed temper on every opportunity. On the road from Danebury to Greaywell, he went on his knees and tore the ground up with his teeth. Dorchester had seen him lean against the wall of his box and kick and scream for ten minutes together.

For days he would allow no one to enter his box and, on one occasion tore an iron bar, one inch thick, in two with his teeth. But he was of great racing stock and had himself made one appearance, as a two-year-old, at Newmarket, when he was beaten a neck, after a close finish, by the Duke of Bedford's Para. In consequence of going amiss, Cruiser never started again, but at the time of the challenge, six colts and seven fillies were to his credit. However, he was the torment and menace of all who had him in charge, and his value had depreciated from $15,000 to $10,000; it had even been proposed, for the safety of his keepers to deprive him of his sight. At Rawcliffe, he was always exhibited by a groom with a bludgeon in his hand, and few were bold enough to venture into his yard, the cordial wish of every visitor apparently being that some friendly bullet would lay him low.

Mr. Rarey promptly accepted the challenge and asked that Cruiser be sent to him in London, but Lord Dorchester replied that Mr. Rarey must come to the horse. So it was done, Mr. Rarey finding Cruiser a prisoner in a brick stable with a solid oak door. For three years the horse had worn an eight-pound muzzle of iron with a bar in front of his mouth so that he could eat only by licking the feed up with his tongue. The quarters were cramped for successful operation but the situation had to be accepted and, accompanied by Lords Dorchester and Burleigh, Mr. Rarey set about the task which was to make or mar his English fame.

Halter, Iron-bound Muzzle and Gag Worn by Cruiser before He as Tamed
Cruiser had to be restrained with these devices.

Twice Cruiser flew at the trainer with a fierce bellow, but the latter escaped only to return to the attack and at length succeeded in tying Cruiser's head to the rack. This sense of restraint maddened the horse, the blood vessels of his head, dilated and his frenzy for nearly twenty minutes was such that Lord Dorchester begged Mr. Rarey not to peril his life and to think no more of the one hundred pound bond which he had entered into to return the horse cured in three months. But Mr. Rarey knew the game better than did either Dorchester or the horse. Gradually the latter's fury was spent and the way was opened to other proofs to the animal that he had met his master.

At the end of three hours Cruiser bore Lord Dorchester up and down the straw yard, as he had previously borne Mr. Rarey. Later, he trotted, led behind a cart, to Virginia Water for the night. The next day, Cruiser was led to London behind an open buggy, where he became the chief exhibit in proof of the trainer's prowess. Queen Victoria was delighted and she and the royal children were frequent visitors, caressing Cruiser in regret for the hard usage to which he had been subjected. Four times she witnessed exhibitions by Mr. Rarey, asserting that for her there could be no better amusement.

Now began a period of triumph for the American. A class of two thousand persons was formed, headed by the Queen and the Prince Consort and including princes, dukes, earls, duchesses, marchionesses and other representatives of the nobility, each subscriber paying a fee of $52.50. Mr. Rarey's popularity ran high, due not only to his marvelous successes but also to his quiet, gentlemanly deportment and unassuming manners. Verses and music were composed and dedicated to him. There was the Rarey Waltz, written by his highly gratified pupil, Matilda Langen and played at Her Majesty's state ball by Mr. Weippert's band.
One of the literary tributes follows:

 

A SONNET

TO MR. RAREY, THE HORSE TAMER.

If it be great to conquer with the sword
   And bend unwilling captives to our will;
If it be great, by utterance of a word,
   To cause destruction and death’s empire fill;
If, when the young, bold Macedonian king
   First rode the horse, companion of his fame,
None else dare ride, the very air did ring
   With long-continued plaudits of his name,
And his delighted father called aloud,
   "My kingdom is too small for such a son!"
Hast thou not reason to be truly proud
   Who all such feats of triumph hast outdone,
For none are like to thine, since they embrace
   The noblest triumphs in the noblest race!

- Catherine.

Another who lauded the American in verse was Mr. Hamilton McCarthy, sculptor, who also added to Johnson's Dictionary the word, "Rareyfy," which he defined as a verb, active, meaning "to tame a horse by kindness; to win by love; to mollify by the oil of kindness; to reclaim a badly broken horse; to cure madness by excessive kindness." The sculptor's poem runs:

RAREY, THE EQUINE KING.

"’mongst all the wonders known of late
   Is Rarey's rising fame,
How he subdues the vicious Horse
   And can the wildest tame.

The hopeless Cruiser he has tamed
   And savage Stafford---they
Have winced their spirit to his eye
   And owned his gentle sway.


The fearless Zebra he's subdued,
   Despite his tameless fame,
To own there's one Creation's lord
   Has more than the mere name.

My lord, His Grace of Wellington,
   Master of the Horse is called,
Rides with the Queen in times of state,
   By patent right installed.

The Horse's master Rarey is,
   And noble proofs has shown
In presence of illustrious hosts
   Who all his genius own.

Yea, e'en the Queen -Prince Albert, too -
   Paid tribute to his fame,
Welcomed the Hero of the Horse
   And saw how he could tame.

Cruiser, who late like maniac
   Amongst the tombs long dwelt,
Is now so meek that e'en the Queen
   His gentle head has felt.

That high-blood class, Aristocrat,
   The nobles of the land,
Came boldly to the Equine Chief,
   Nor spared the generous hand.

That noble race knew no distrust,
   Nor grudged the laborer's fee,
But thought it small comparison
   The coming boon to see.

Ten guineas they two thousand times,
   Or e'en ten thousand more,
Most gladly would have handed down
   To know what was in store.

The charmed power, at length revealed,
   Reproved the proud surmise -
Proved 'twas no drug, mesmeric art,
   Concealed by specious guise.

The Equine Chief, of gentle sway,
   By mind o'er mind prevails,
Not force ‘gainst force or brute 'gainst brute
   To triumph never fails.

Love in the Horse's King begets
   Love in the creature, too
Affection's greetings there are seen,
   Most genuinely true.|

By gentle means the wildest colt
   Yields to the master mind,
Submits his noble spirit tip
   And finds that man is kind.

No cruel goad, relentless spur,
   Contortion hobbled, jocked---
Abstaining from those coward tricks,
   His noble heart is shocked.

In all the world no country is
   So fine a Horse can show;
For beauty, symmetry and strength
   We need no further go.

Till Rarey came we could not tame,
   Save by the cruel thong
And hosts of dire contrivances,
   As futile as they're strong.

The breaker-in has now no place
   For cruel treatment more,
But now must train himself to see
   The better plan in store.

Yea, more! Let legislators learn
   To Rareyfy the law
And take a page from Rarey's book
   And from its morals draw.

Let breakers, grooms and owners all,
   With skill if they would tame,
Learn their unbridled hearts to rule
   And keep subdued the same.

Let gospel teachers learn to show
   How love begets its kind ;
Deal not so much damnation round,
   But Rareyfy mankind.

What human Cruisers they'd reclaim,
   And two-legged zebras turn
To ornament society
   And peaceful laurels earn.

If you have got a tameless wife
And fain would have a strifeless life,
   Of patience be not chary;
Show her that you're her kindest friend,
Sincerely proving 'tis your end
   To treat her a la Rarey.

Wife-beating then will cease to be
The sin that shames society,
   So rife in our day;
Wives then will know the Rarey charm|
Has no intent to do them harm,
   And joy beneath its sway.

How shall that good Society,
   Known as the Animals' Friend,
Acknowledge Rarey's patronage
   Or see when it shall end ?

He comes, a Legion to their aid,
   A rich donation pays;
He brings a principle to work
   The marvel of our days.

A living principle, I say,
   A beacon----point of sight---
A proof there needs no cruelty
   To train a Horse aright."


 

 

Autographs of Some of Mr. Rarey's Pupils [click to see full-size]
Click to see full-size
 This is worth preserving, if not for its literary excellence, at least as evidence that Mr. Rarey had captivated the English public. His performances, which were closely observed, not only worked a complete transformation in the methods of horse-training in a land proud of its horses, but, as the sculptor-poet indicates, set people thinking of the power of kindness, generally too much held in reserve.

As Mr. McCarthy, in his verses, indicates, Mr. Rarey tamed a zebra as he did the horses, and for the first time in the history of the world, his audience one day had the pleasure of seeing this hitherto untamable animal quietly ridden into the arena by a groom. At a dinner given by the coach proprietors, horse-dealers and livery stable-keepers of England, at Willis' rooms, King street, St. James, in aid of a provident fund belonging to their associated trades, the chair was occupied by the Earl of Shelbourne, who was supported by the Earl of Cork, Lord Edward Thynne, Hon. Sydney Pierrepont, Count Bathyany, Mr. H. Baring, M. P., Mr. Rarey, Mr. Tattersall and others.

Grace having been said and the usual loyal and patriotic toasts duly honored, the Hon. S. Pierrepont said that he took credit to himself for being the oldest horse-breaker in England; that more horses had passed through his hands during the three score years he had been in the profession than through those of any other man in the United Kingdom; but there was now present a gentleman whose great ability as a horse tamer had given him a general notoriety. He referred to Mr. Rarey who had tamed Cruiser and the zebra and he would now call upon them to drink to Mr. Rarey's health. The latter, responding, expressed his appreciation of the compliment and said that, having been at all times fond of horses, he had made their habits his study. It was from what he considered a correct understanding of those habits and the temper of the animals that he derived the power that he had over them. He said he had no desire to play the charlatan and at the very moment of his arrival in England, he had waited on Sir Richard Airey and other gentlemen and had offered, as a proof of his humane mode of treatment, to lodge a large sum of money in their hands. Interested, as he was, in everything that concerned the horse, he could not but approve of the fund, in the interest of which the dinner was given, and hope it would enjoy uninterrupted prosperity.

In August, 1858, Mr.Goodenough, the Toronto merchant who had accompanied Mr. Rarey to England, returned home, their partnership not having been profitable to Mr. Rarey, as he did not assist in any way in the exhibitions.

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