BREAKING TO HARNESS. 183 
in horsebreaking, and that it is a disadvantage to hasten the process, 
which is all that- Mr. Rarey pretends to effect. We do not want to 
manage our horses without reins, but on the contrary to guide them and 
stop them with the slightest possible touch consistent with the equi- 
librium to be maintained in the saddle. Hence the first object is the 
formation of a good mouth, and as this requires a considerable time to 
develop, there are ample opportunities for gradually accustoming the colt 
to the presence and control of his master while it is being produced. If 
several breakers were to be pitted against each other as to which should 
first ride a high-spirited unbroken colt, undoubtedly Mr. Rarey would come 
off victorious; but, on the other hand, I would back against any horse 
broken by his method, another which had been submitted to a good 
breaker on the old English plan, if the palm was to be given to that one 
which should prove to have the most perfect mouth and action. 
BREAKING TO HARNESS. 
THE EARLY PROCEEDINGS in breaking a colt to harness are exactly the 
same.as for the saddle, and indeed it is well in all cases to make him 
handy to ride before he is put into the break. We may therefore assume 
that this has been done, or at all events that a good mouth has been made, 
and the colt handled and accustomed to bear the hip-straps hanging 
loosely over his sides prior to putting him in harness. 
THERE IS SOME DIFFERENCE OF OPINION among breakers as to the best 
plan of conducting this operation. Some contend that for every kind of 
harness the horse ought to be put in with another, who will compel him 
to move or stop at the will of the driver. Others assert that on the 
contrary, every young horse should be put in first by himself, and then if 
he refuses to move he can be allowed to wait till he is tired of inactivity, 
which practically he soon is. My own opinion is founded upon more 
than twenty years’ experience with all sorts of horses, and I am persuaded 
that by far the safest and best method is to put every horse into double 
harness first. Many farmers break their colts in by putting them to 
plough between two other horses, but the pull at this work is too dead 
for well-bred colts, and many jibbers are produced in this way. Every 
high-couraged horse has a tendency to jump forward on the first impulse 
to do so, and feeling the restraint of the collar he is irritated to increase his 
pull, whereby his shoulders are galled, causing him to dislike his work 
from the pain which he suffers. It is quite possible to break in a colt of 
average good temper for single harness without putting him first into 
double, but the plan is always attended with danger to both horse and 
driver, and I should strongly caution my readers against it. Even after 
two or three lessons in the double break, which have been quietly sub- 
mitted to, the colt often turns restive when put in by himself, but still 
by that time he knows what he has to do and is not made sulky by being 
punished without cause. 
THE APPARATUS necessary for breaking to harness consists of, Ist, a 
set of strong double and single harness, made in the ordinary way 
except that the crupper for the colt should buckle on one side; 2dly, 
a double break of the ordinary construction ; but it is a safe plan to have 
the whole space between the fore carriage and the splinter-bar made up 
with iron rods so close together that if a horse kicks he cannot get his 
legs hung over the bar; 3dly, a single break, to be hereafter described. 
Derorg THE cout is put to draw he should be accustomed to the pressure 
