BREEDING THE TROTTER 



should not fit too tightly nor too loosely and 

 should be kept on the colt till time to harness- 

 break it. 



After the halter has been placed on the colt's 

 head snap a strong leather halter strap into the 

 lower ring of the halter. This strap should be 

 one and one-quarter inches wide and two and one- 

 half feet long. Leave this hanging to the halter 

 so that you can enter the stall at any time and 

 take hold of the colt without frightening it. As 

 the weanling walks around the stall, and when 

 nibbling at the hay, it will step on the halter strap 

 from time to time and find that it cannot raise its 

 head. In this way the colt soon learns that the 

 halter is an instrument of restraint. When the 

 halter has remained on the colt for about a week 

 the youngster will be about two-thirds halter- 

 broken. Its education in this direction may then 

 be completed by leading it from the stall. Ordi- 

 narily you will find the colt willing to go anywhere 

 you lead it. 



Some men halter-break colts in the open with- 

 out preliminary wearing of the halter in the stall, 

 but I do not approve of this. I have seen too 

 many colts frightened and injured by rearing 

 away from the halter, to the use of which they 

 have not become accustomed. 



If you have a large main barn, with a wide hall- 

 way, the best place to lead a colt, after it has worn 

 a halter in its stall for a week, is the hallway of 

 the barn. The attendant should lead the colt up 

 and down the hallway a great many times. When 



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