Art of Taming Horses

John Solomon Rarey (1827-1866) was one of the nineteenth century horse whisperers and an important figure in the rehabilitation of abused and vicious horses during the 1850s. An excerpt from The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans says Word of his gift spread and in 1858 he was summoned to Windsor Castle in England to calm a horse of Queen Victoria. The Queen and her entourage watched astonished as Rarey put his hands on the animal and laid it down on the ground before them. Then he lay down beside it and rested his head on its hooves. The queen chuckled with delight and gave Rarey a hundred dollars. He was a modest, quiet man, but now he was famous and the press wanted more. The call went out to find the most ferocious horse in all England.