In the Stable, Field, and on the Road. 17 



sore, and when once a colt Las a sore mouth it is sure to 

 become hard-mouthed. When you have' accomplished 

 bitting and leading the colt, you next prepare a caversoon 

 and lounging rein. Make sure it will fit the colt without 

 hurting it, as this is a powerful apparatus intended to 

 confine the nose. This should be used very gently, as 

 instances have been known of the bones and gristle of the 

 nose becoming diseased irom harshly pulling the caversoon. 

 It must now be led round a ring oq soft ground, and 

 taught to walk and trot both ways and round also. Caress 

 it whenever it does right, and do not let it run round the 

 circle too long, as it produces giddiness. We next use it 

 to the roller, and afterwards to the dumb jockey. Thanks 

 to Mr. Black well, the old clumsy wooden jockey has 

 become a thing of the past, and his whalebone and gutta- 

 percha jockey, with their indiarubber reins, have done 

 away with the cruel unyielding side rein. These jockeys 

 are admirably adapted to teach the colt to bend its head, 

 and at the same time to insure the colt having a light 

 even mouth. When the colt has become tractable to all 

 its lessons, loose straps may be hung upon the jockey to 

 accustom it to the flapping of various parts of its harness, 

 and prevent it becoming restive. A few days will suffice 

 to teach it all it is required, and make it endure it 

 patiently, for as it finds that it is not hurt by them, it 

 soon becomes reconciled to them, and the more gentle and 

 kind we are the less trouble they give, for as they gain 

 confidence in us the more they will let us do to them, 

 Powell, in his work, published in the beginning of this 

 century, gives us the following as his system of approach- 

 ing a colt. I record it here, as it may be useful to those 

 B 



