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I have but this remark to make on the castration of colts; should 

 the colt, at the usual period of performing the operation, namely two 

 or three years old, be low-conditioned and weak, or should the owner 

 be desirous of giving a colt the chance of rising to its full size of crest 

 and forehand, or of acquiring that full tone of strength and firmness, 

 which it is supposed, the retention of his masculine property will confer 

 upon him, castration may be deferred until the autumn, in which the 

 Horse is four years old off, allowing the Horse afterwards a winter's holi- 

 day. The operation is now performed with so much safety by skilful 

 farriers, that there is little danger at any age; and as to the objection 

 sometimes made, of Horses, late-cut, being inclined to obstinacy or 

 restiveness, it can have no real weight, since stallions are ridden with 

 equal safety as geldings. 



But the BREAKING, or training colts to their destined uses, in which 

 they perform their duty in that state of life wherein they have been 

 placed by nature, should on no account be deferred to a late period; not 

 only as it is then compassed Avith difliculty and often imperfectly, but 

 as it is ofttimes necessarily attended with circumstances of harshness and 

 barbarity. I have elsewhere expressed my surprize and regret, at 

 the custom, which yet prevails to a certain degree, in Devonshire, of 

 suffering their colts to run wild until five years old, when they are 

 two often reduced to obedience, and perhaps imperfectly, by very 

 cruel treatment. This bizarre, out of the way occurrence strikes us, 

 in the finest country upon earth for breeding Horses, but where, un- 

 accountably, very few are bred. Surely the old notion of this or that 

 being breeding countries, from an imagined exclusive adaptation, can- 

 not extend to Devonshire, which possesses every natural requisite: 

 soundness and hardness of soil, excellence of herbage, irregularity of 

 surface, purity of air and water. 



It will be sufficient in this place, to make a few general observations 

 on the subject of colt-breaking, since it will recur in a«more particular 

 form in treating of the manege. In truth, foals should be in a constant 

 state of preparation from the teat, by being handled, haltered and 

 occasionally led about, and always kindly used, that they may become 

 intirely familiar with their keepers, and so the less likely to be alarmed 



and 



