io86 Rural School Leaflet. 



Fitting the collar. — The fitting of the collar. Is not only of much im- 

 portance, but also a rather difficult task. The collar is very stiff and firm 

 and slow to adjust itself to the shoulders. A good way to adjust the 

 collar is as follows: Select the most perfect fitting collar available, place 

 in three inches of water, and let it remain over night. In the morning 

 put the collar on the horse and work moderately through the day. After 

 being soaked in this way the collar will adjust itself to every inequality 

 of the shoulder and the horse will seldom be troubled with soreness. 



Fitting the crupper. — The crupper is a frequent source of sore tail, 

 and a horse with a sore tail is often difficult to manage. This soreness 

 is often caused by the back strap being too short, thus drawing the 

 crupper up tight against the tail, which soon becomes abraded. To 

 avoid this, see that the back strap is of the proper length, in which 

 case there will be little likelihood of the tail being made sore. 



Care of the harness. — Harness should receive proper care, as this will 

 increase the length of usefulness and lessen the liability of its injuring 

 the horse. The bearing parts should be kept scrupulously clean at 

 all times. This applies particularly to the collar, saddle, and crupper. 

 It is not possible to prevent sore shoulders, sore back, and sore tail 

 if these parts are pennitted to become dirty. On account of the sweat 

 and dandruff these parts should be carefully cleaned immediately 

 after removing the harness from the horse's back. 



Learning the various parts of the harness. — Perhaps the best way to 

 learn the various parts of the harness and where each part belongs is 

 to unbuckle and take the harness all apart. As this is done note how 

 each part is attached and where it comes from. Name the parts thus 

 separated. See whether you can put each part back into its proper 

 place again. 



HORSE TRAINING 

 M. W. Harper 



The profit and pleasure to be derived from the use of a horse depends 

 on his being subservient to his master's will. The more complete his 

 training the better horse he will be. The problem is then so to train the 

 horse as to bring him to his maximum usefulness. 



A horse seems to have rather limited reason but rather remarkable 

 memory. These facts must be taken advantage of in training the animal. 

 To begin with there are two factors more or less opposite that must be 

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



