A long time ago, Melissa asked who knew the technique the ancient Urdus
used to break a horse from rearing. After prodigious original research and mastering the dead language Koptic, I can reveal this secret!Some thousands of years ago, give or take a couple thousand, there lived among the Urdus a great horse trainer named Erudite who orginated the equine gospel of "Make the good thing easy and the bad thing hard". Being literal folk way back when, he - assisted by his first wife, Urpassee' and his two newer, nubile wives, Urfersal and Ursillee- took a rearing horse to one of his caves which was just tall enough so the horse had a foot or so of space above his head. Urfersal or Ursillee would mount, the horse would rear and whack his head! Eventually, when the horse had whacked enough sense into his head, Erudite allowed the innumerable kids, who'd do *anything* to ride .. like 4-Her's today, to test their training outside.
This, incidentally is why the Arabian has a dished head today... in a resounding victory for LeMarkian theory (evolution is guided by use NOT survival of fittest)- the arabian internalized this training by being born with a dished head signifying their acceptance of training and being broken of rearing; whereas, the predecessor of the Thoroughbreds developed a roman nose signifying their refusal to accept training and a vain effort to fit the curvilinear surface of the cave ceiling.
Have Fun!
Bob Griffith and Panache
"...white knight with a warm heart, soft touch, fast horse"