THE TROTTING-HORSE OF AMERICA. 57 



chief. There is a kind of magnetic touch which the horse 

 no sooner feels than he seems inspirited and animated with 

 new life ; and this is especially the case when he is a little 

 tired. The right kind of touch and movement of the reins 

 and bit is worth more in an emergency than all the whip- 

 cord and whalebone in the world. 



As the training, or rather breaking, of the two-year-old 

 goes on, and his growth advances with the season, his feed 

 may be increased. He may have six quarts of oats, or even 

 eight, if he is large and a good worker, with as much good 

 hay as he will eat up clean. This, however, is to be reduced 

 when there is occasion to stop his work and exercise ; for 

 instance, when he has been let up after having been going 

 with a broken gait. He ought to be allowed to nibble a lit- 

 tle fresh grass night and morning, and should sometimes 

 have two or three carrots sliced up with his feed. Some will 

 say, " When he has been let up, there is a fine chance to 

 physic him : " but my maxim is, that, if the colt is in good 

 bodily health, and the operations of the internal organs are 

 going on right, he does not need physic ; and there is no use 

 in a violent interference with the course of nature. In the 

 morning, before the colt is hitched up to go to work, give a 

 slight feed, say a quart and a pint of oats, and let him 

 drink about two quarts of water. On days that his work is 

 not to be done early, his feed in the morning may be in- 

 creased ; but its quantity should be regulated by the hour at 

 which he will be driven. At night, he is always to have all 

 the water he wants. His temper and disposition are to be 

 carefully watched, and so are those of the lad who takes care 

 of him. The boy ought to have a pride in, and an affection 

 for, a colt in his charge ; and, if he has not, he shall not be 

 long about a colt of mine. A lad who does not show an 

 active liking for the horse he looks after almost always neg- 

 lects him ; and, wherever I detect the absence of this feeling 

 in one about my stables, I change his occupation, or send 

 him away altogether. But, as a general rule, the boys are 



