CHAPTER III 



TRAINING THE YOUNG HORSE 

 BY ROBERT WEIR 



'*!- 



HANDLING, LONGEING AND BACKING 



THE first things to be 

 considered in beginning 

 with a young horse are the 

 age, strength, and con- 

 dition of the animal you 

 are going to break, how 

 he has been previously 

 used, and his natural dis- 

 position. Some young 

 horses are from the first 

 so even tempered, quiet, 

 intelligent, and ready to 



do what is required of them, that you can scarcely make them 

 do wrong. Others, again, are naturally nervous and suspicious, 

 and require the greatest care in going about them. The main 

 thing at first is to gain their confidence, and to get them to 

 understand that you are not going to hurt them. When the 

 young horse is first taken up from grass, or the strawyard (or 

 wherever he may previously have been), to be broken, he 

 should if possible be placed in a large loose box by himself, 

 and a quiet steady man be selected to look after him. He 

 must have plenty of ventilation, and not be too highly fed : 



