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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



a kind word, gentle them a little, and then turn them 

 back to the left, by the same process. You will 

 have them under your control by this time, and as 

 you turn them again to the right, steady them in 

 the collar, and you can take them where you please. 



There is a quicker process that will generally 

 start a balky horse, but not so oure. Stand him a 

 little a-head, so that his shoulders will be against 

 the collar, and then take up one of the fore-feet in 

 your hand, and let the driver start them, and when 

 the weight comes against his shoulders, he will try 

 to step; then let him have his foot, and he will go 

 right along. If you want to break a horse from 

 balking that has long been in the hibit, you ought 

 to set apart a half-day for that purpose. Put him 

 by the side of some steady horse; have check-lines 

 on them; tie-up all the traces and straps, so that 

 there be nothing to excite them : do not rein them 

 up, but let them have their heads loose. Walk 

 them about together for some time as slowly and 

 lazily as possihle ; stop often, and go up to your 

 balky horse and gentle him. Do not take any whip 

 about him, or do anything to excite him, but keep 

 him just as quiet as you can. He will soon learn to 

 start off at the word, and stop whenever you tell 

 him. 



As soon as he performs rightly, hitch him in an 

 empty waggon ; have it stand in a favoui-able j)osi- 

 tion for starting. It would be well to shorten the 

 staychain behind the steady horse, so that if it is 

 necessary he can take the weight of the waggon 

 the first time you start them. Do not drive but a 

 few rods at first ; watch your balky horse closely, 

 and if you see that he is getting excited, stop him 

 before he stops of his own accord, caress him a 

 little, and start again. As soon as they go well, 

 drive them over a small hill a few times, and then 

 over a larger one, occasionally adding a little load. 

 This process will make any horse true to pull. 



TO BREAK A. HORSE TO HARNESS. 



Take him in a light stable, as you did to ride 

 hira ; take the harness and go through the same 

 process that you did with the saddle, until you get 

 him familiar with it, so that you can put it on him, 

 and rattle it about without his caring for it. As 

 soon as he will bear this, put on the lines, caress 

 him as you draw them over him, and drive him 

 about in the stable till he will bear them over his 

 hips. The lines are a great aggravation to some 

 colts, and often frighten them as much as if you 

 were to raise a whip over them. As soon as he is 

 familiar with the harness and lines, take him out 

 and j)ut him by the side of a gentle horse, and go 

 through the same process that you did with the 

 balking horse. Always use a bridle without bhnds 

 when you are breaking a horse to harness. 



HOW TO HITCH A HORSE IN A SULKY. 



Lead him to and around it ; let him look at it, 

 touch it with his nose, and stand by till he does 

 not care for it ; then pull the shafts a little to the 

 left, and stand your horse in front of the off wheel. 

 Let some one stand on the right side of the horse, 

 and hold hira by the bit, while you stand on the 

 left side facing tlic sulky. This will keep him 

 straight. Run your left hand back, and let it rest 

 on his hip, and lay hold of the shafts with your 



right, bringing them up very gently to the left 

 hand, which still remains stationary. Do not let 

 anything but your arm touch his back, and as soon 

 as you have the shafts square over him, let the 

 person on the opposite side take hold of one of 

 them, and lower them very gently to the shaft- 

 bearers. Be very slow and deliberate about hitching; 

 the longer time you take the better, as a general 

 thing. When you have the shafts placed, shake 

 them slightly, so that he will feel them against each 

 side. As soon as he will bear them without scaring, 

 fasten your braces, &c., and start him along very 

 slowly. Let one man lead the horse, to keep 

 him gentle while the other gradually works back 

 with the lines till he can get behind and drive him. 

 After you have driven him in this way a short dis- 

 tance, you can get into tlie sulky, and all will go 

 right. It is very imjiortant to have your horse go 

 gently when you first hitch him. After you have 

 walked him awhile, there is not half so much danger 

 of his scaring. Men do very wrong to jump up 

 behind a horse to drive him as soon as they have 

 him hitched. There are too many things for him 

 to comprehend all at once. The shafts, the lines, 

 the harness, and the rattling of the sulky, ail tend 

 to scare him, and he must be made familiar with 

 them by degrees. If your horse is very wild, I 

 would advise you to put up one foot the first time 

 you drive him. 



HOW TO MAKE A HORSE LIE DOWN. 



Everything that we want to teach the horse must 

 be commenced in some way to give him an idea of 

 what you want him to do, and then repeated till he 

 learns it perfectly. To make a horse lie down, 

 bend his fore leg and slip a loop over it, so that he 

 cannot get it down. Then put a circingle around 

 his body, and fasten one end of a long strap around 

 the other fore leg, just above the hoof. Place the 

 other end under the circingle, so bs to keep the 

 strap in the right direction ; take a short hold of it 

 with your right hand ; stand on the left side of the 

 horse, grasp the bit in your left hand, pull steadily 

 on the strap with your right ; bear against his 

 shoulder till you cause him to move. As soon as 

 he lifts his weight, your j)ulling will raise the foot, 

 and he will have to come on his knees. Keep the 

 strap tight in your hand, so that he cannot 

 straighten his leg if he rises up. Hold him in this 

 position, and turn his head towards you; bear 

 against his side with your shoulder, not hard, but 

 with steady equal pressure, and in about ten 

 minutes he will lie down. As soon as he lies down, 

 he will be completely conquered, and you can 

 handle him as you please. Take oflT the straps, 

 and straighten out his legs ; rub him lightly about 

 the face and neck with your hand the way the hair 

 lies ; handle all his legs, and after he has lain ten 

 or twenty minutes, let him get up again. After 

 resting him a short time make him lie down as be- 

 fore. Repeat the operation three or four times, 

 which will be sufficient for one lesson. Give hira 

 two lessons a-day, and when you have given him 

 four lessons, he will lie down by taking hold of one 

 foot. As soon as he is well broken to lie down in 

 this way, tap hira on the opposite leg with a stick 

 when you take hold of his foot, and in a few days 

 he will lie down from the mere motion of the stick. 



