HALTERINO THE COLT. 491 



shoulder, only taking hold of that part of the halter that goes around 

 his neck; then with your hands about his neck you can hold his 

 head to you, and raise the halter on it without making him dodge 

 by putting your hands about his nose. You should have a long 

 rope or strap ready, and as soon as you have the halter on, attach 

 this to it, so that you can let him walk the length of the stable with- 

 out letting go of the strap, or without making him pull on the hal- 

 ter; for it you only let him feel the weight of your hand on the 

 halter and give him rope when he runs from you he will never rear, 

 pull or throw himself, yet you will be holding him all the time and 

 doing more towards gentling him than if you had the power to curb 

 him right up and hold him to one spot ; because he does not know 

 anything about his strength, and if you don't do anything to make 

 him pull, he will never know that he can. In a few minutes you 

 can begin to control him with the halter; then shorten the distance 

 between yourself and the horse, by taking up the strap in your 

 hand. 



Leading As soon as he will allow you to hold him by a tol- 

 erably short strap, and step up to him without flying back, you caij 

 begin to give him some idea about leading. But to do this do not 

 go before and attempt to pull him after you, but commence by pull- 

 ing him very quietly to one side. He has nothing to brace eithet 

 side of his neck, and will soon yield to a steady, gradual pull of the 

 halter; and as soon as you have pulled him a step or two to one side, 

 step up to him and caress him, and then pull him again, repeating 

 this operation until you can pull him around in every direction, and 

 walk about the stable with him, which you can do in a few minutes; 

 for he will soon think, when you have made him step to the right or 

 left a few times, that he is compelled to follow the pull of the hal- 

 ter, not knowing that he has the power to resist your pulling; 

 besides, you have handled him so gently that he is not afraid of you, 

 and you always caress him when he comes up to you ; he likes that 

 and will easily follow you after he has had a few lessons of that 

 kind; if you turn him out in a lot he will come to you every oppor- 

 tunity he gets. You should lead him about in the stable some time 

 before you take him out, opening the door so that he can see out, 

 leading him up to it and back again, and past it. See that there is 

 nothing on the outside to make him jump when you take him out, 

 and as you go out with him try to make him go very slowly, catch- 

 ing hold of the halter close to the jaw, with your left hand, while 

 the right is resting on the top of the neck, holding to his mane. 

 After you are out with him a little while, you can lead him about as 

 you please. Don't let any second person come up to you when you 

 first take him out ; a stranger taking hold of the halter would 

 frighten him and make him run. There should not be even any 

 one standing near him, to attract his attention or scare him. If you 

 are alone and manage him right, it will require little more force to 

 *ead or hold him than it would to manage a broken horse. 



