TRAINING THE YOUNG HORSE 67 



event you will have the same ground to go over again, and it 

 always takes longer to reassure a horse that has once been 

 upset than it takes to get one quiet in the first instance. Until 

 a horse comes into hard work on the road he is just as well 

 without his hind shoes, even if you shoe him in front. The 

 farrier who has the shoeing of young horses must be a very 

 steady man, who thoroughly understands his business and goes 

 about it quietly, taking his time over it. It would be far 

 cheaper in the end to pay him by time than to give him so 

 much per shoe and have the job hurried. There is not the 

 slightest doubt that many horses are rendered difficult to shoe 

 for the remainder of their lives through having the business 

 improperly performed at first. Very often the horse is abused 

 for ignorance of what is required of him the first time he is 

 shod ; yet how can he possibly understand ? 



By the time all this has been done the horse should be 

 accustomed to being tied up in his box. I would recommend 

 for this purpose a common leather stall collar, without a brow- 

 band, one that has been in use some time is preferable, as 

 it will be softer and more pliable than a new one. The reason 

 for not having a brow-band is because I think (particularly with 

 nervous horses) that when the brow-band shifts or works up, 

 as it is liable to do, it is very irritating to the horse's ears. It 

 is quite useless to keep the collar on the horse's head. The 

 only use of the brow-band in the stable is to prevent the collar 

 from working back and rubbing the mane, which it may do if 

 too loose. To prevent that, in my opinion, is not of so much 

 consequence as to prevent the brow-band from working up to 

 his ears and annoying him. He should at first only be tied up 

 for a short time in the daytime, when some one is near to see 

 that he does not get into any mischief. He will very likely 

 hang back and try to get away from the confinement, but if his 

 groom is handy to coax him, and he is not tied too short, he 

 will soon reconcile himself to it. 



The rein should be of leather or hemp. I strongly object 

 to chains. They make too much noise, and are apt to frighten 



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