654 DR. CHASE'S RECIPES. 



the horse is, generally, kind, no one can doubt; therefore, if he receives kind- 

 ness, and only kindness, in return, he will become more, and stiU more kind to 

 his master and associate, which the master thus becomes, rather than an austere, 

 rough, harsh and abusive one, which the naturally kind animal will soon learn 

 to fear, and the next thing is to hate, and consequently kick or bite, or both, in 

 self defense or to prevent your coming near enough to abuse him, when this is 

 the custom of the master; and no one can honestly blame them for it, either. 

 Learn then, to give the kindness you expect in return, and there will soon be a 

 lasting friendship established that will end only with the life of one or the 

 other. 



How Long a Horse Ought to Work. — It is now claimed by our 

 best horsemen, that, with our many labor-saving machines, a horse ought not 

 to be worked over 9 hours a day; at any rate he should have two hours at noon 

 for eating, and to allow the digestion of his food, by which his strength will be 

 greatly aided in his afternoon's work. See the digestion of the horse compared 

 with that of the ox, showing how each should be fed. 



Raising and Breaking Colts.— A correspondent of the Practical Far- 

 iiur, who says he has had considerable experience in handling colts, gives 

 his views and practice upon this subject, also such examples of docility, 

 after his manner of handling them, which are so consistent with what I con- 

 sider the right thing to do in raising and breaking colts that I believe it will 

 carry more force, or be more likely to be followed, than what I might be able 

 to say, without corresponding examples, which I could not give. He says: 



" I have adopted the rule of haltering my colts at 10 days old, and lead it 

 at its mother's side whenever I drive her. I have never found any trouble in 

 teaching a colt to lead in this way, and long before it is weaned it will be per- 

 fectly halter-broken. I have just brought up from the pasture a colt that was 

 2 years old in April, to give it a little training. This colt was halter-broken and 

 led at the side of its mother when sucking, and it is now as docile as any horse 

 on the farm. A boy 16 years old, who is living with me, harnessed it a few 

 days ago, and, after driving it round the yard for a short time, hitched it to a 

 spring wagon and went off a)one with it. I should not have allowed it had I 

 known what he was about, but he came back with the colt as gentle as my old 

 carriage horse This has been about my experience with colts that have been 

 taught to lead and handle when young. It is easy to accustom a colt to have 

 the harness thrown on it, and chains wrapped around its legs, or to have some- 

 thing fall from its back, without its being frightened, and if these things are 

 ever learned it must be when the animal is young. I believe that it is easy to 

 so train a colt that if the hold-backs come loose on a hill, and let the buggy 

 against it, instead of being frightened and running away, it will brace itself 

 and stop the buggy. I remember twice being placed in a position of great dan- 

 ger, with a spirited mare that I had trained from a colt, and if I had not accus- 

 tomed her to just such treatment as I recommend, I should undoubtedly have 

 been seveiely injured or killed. The instances were these: I was approaching 

 the Miami river, on a turnpike, and had just started down a long, winding 

 ■ hill, over a fourth of a mile long, when one of the bolts by which the shafts 

 were attached to the buggy, dropped out. 'That side of the shafts dropped on 

 to the mare's heels, and whenever I attempted to rein her in to stop her, the 

 buggy would run against her. I went fully 300 yards down the hill before I 

 could get her checked so that it was safe for me to jump out and catch the 

 wheel and stop the buggy, but the mare made no attempt to kick or nm. The 



