LECTURES AND ESSAYS. 475 



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The colt should be weaned when about five months old, and it is essential 

 at this time that you should have a roomy box-stall to keep him in. I would 

 say in this connection, that you will find several box-stalls in your horse barn 

 excellent things to have, as they make a good place to turn a horse that is 

 sick or lame, or if he is not at work it will be much to his advantage to be 

 loose in a stall. The colt should be halter-broke and handled the first winter 

 as it can be done much easier now than when he is older and stronger. We 

 usually feed oats the first winter, or sometimes feed two parts oats and one 

 of bran. The right age to commence working colts depends largely on the 

 colt. Some are as well developed and as able to work at two years of age as 

 others are at three. As a general rule, however, they should not be worked 

 till three years of age. If possible, they should be given light farm work 

 the first year, as there is less danger both from overwork and accident. A 

 great deal of patience is necessary in breaking colts. Most men expect too 

 much of a colt, and think he should go just as well as an old horse the first 

 time he is hitched up, and if he does not they punish him. This is all wrong, 

 for you should remember that he has everything to learn. Two things are 

 essential in breaking colts, and will apply equally well to breaking boys, and 

 these are, gentleness and firmness. First try and make the colt understand 

 what you want him to do, and then be sure and make him do it, if possible ; 

 but in all this you should exercise judgment, and not ask or expect him to 

 do too much. It is said that the Arabs never strike or whip a horse, and 

 they are very successful in the management of horses. There are many colts 

 that never ought to be struck a blow with the whip, and there are others that 

 it is almost impossible to successfully manage without punishing at times. 

 Never punish a colt without good reason for believing that he understands 

 what the punishment is for. 



Study the disposition of the eolt and you will find that no two have dis- 

 positions just alike. Just as two children will not have dispositions alike, 

 so you can safely reason that the kind of treatment for one colt may not be 

 just the thing for another. As a general rule gentle treatment makes 

 gentle horses. 



There will always be a demand for roadsters, draft and coach horses. 

 The last class named, however, will probably come the nearest to what the 

 farmer most needs for a general purpose horse. The man who would mnke 

 horse-raising the most profitable must study the market to know which class 

 there is a demand for. 



I would breed Cleveland Bays of about 1,300 weight. We have young 

 Normans. 



Prof. Cook: I like the idea of box-stalls, and suggest wire gauze for 

 windows to keep flies out. It would seem to me that oats and bran in the 

 winter would be better for brood mares than corn. 



Mr. Strong : So should I if I had oats. 



Prof. Cook : I like best to have half of my colts come in the fall and 

 half in spring, so that you will always have animals ready for work. If 

 they were all to be at one season I would prefer fall to spring. As to breed, 

 I think it a great mistake for farmers to choose the trotters. I am inclined 

 to favor the Percherons. 



Mr. Strong: There is always a demand for both heavy draft horses like 

 Percherons and for general purpose horses like Cleveland Bays. We like 

 to have colts come about the middle of May. 



