712 Reading-Course for Farmers. 



horse is being trained, are factors that will have much influence on 

 the methods of training. No attempt is made here to discuss the various 

 training methods, or to go into the matter in detail ; only a few brief 

 suggestions are given in the hope that they will clarify the mysteries of 

 so-called " horse breaking/' for entirely too much is ordinarily made of 

 training the horse, particularly the heavy types. 



As stated, there is a vast difference among breeds, the draft breeds as 

 a rule being much more easily trained than the lighter breeds. There 

 are two reasons for this: (i) The draft breeds are larger, quieter, not 

 so active nor so high strung as the lighter types; (2) the work that draft 

 breeds are called on to perform does not require the training that the 

 work of the lighter breeds requires. Individual horses vary much in the 

 training necessary to impress a given lesson on them. Some will take to 

 the task readily, others must be called on to do it over and over again to 

 fix it in their minds. Again, aside from the individuality of the horse, 

 the individuality of the trainer must be taken into account. Not every 

 person is fitted to train and care for horses, as the large number of vicious 

 and spoiled horses indicates, and many of the ailments of horses are due 

 not so much to bad breeding as to faulty training and ignorant, brutal 

 driving. Successful horse training is an art which cannot be acquired 

 by lectures or from books, but must in large measure be born with the 

 horseman. The objects for which the horse is being trained are to be 

 considered. The tasks which the heavy draft horse is ordinarily called 

 on to perform are not numerous nor difficult to learn, whereas the saddle 

 or coach horse may be called on to do a number of tasks, each of which 

 is hard to learn and requires long and severe training. 



In training the horse there are two factors more or less opposite that 

 must be impressed : the horse must be led to underestimate certain of his 

 powers and be made to believe that there is no limit to certain others. 

 For example, the first time the horse is tied up by the head, see to it that 

 he is fastened securely and that the halter will hold in case he pulls. If 

 the horse pulls and fails to free himself in the first few attempts there is 

 little likelihood of his trying it later, while if he succeeds in freeing him- 

 self at first he will never cease trying to repeat what he once accomplished. 

 On the other hand, it is important not to Overload horses that are being 

 trained, with a view of creating in them the notion that they can pull 

 anything. The main principle, however, is true that by exaggerating 

 the horse's idea of those powers that are useful to man and by deceiving 

 him as to certain others, we promote his usefulness. 



