COLT TRAINING. "25 



after the umbrella test, he will pay but little attention 

 to the top. We use the umbrella first because it is eas- 

 ier to raise and lower than the top. All of this pro- 

 cess should not require more than twenty or thirty 

 minutes when properly done. Once getting your colt 

 accustomed to having the top behind it, all is done, and 

 he will never show any fear of it afterwards. Continue 

 driving and teaching the colt for fifteen or twenty days, 

 one hour per day, and at the expiration of that time 

 you will have all of these early impressions thoroughly 

 fixed upon the brain; so that your colt could stand in 

 the stable a month, or even six months, and it would 

 not forget its education. In fact it would never for- 

 get its early training. Early impressions are strong 

 and lasting in the horse as well as in man. Who is 

 there among men that does not well remember things 

 that he was taught while young, and the impressions 

 that were made then are seldom if ever forgotten. It 

 is the same with the horse. ISTo animal has memory 

 equal to that of a horse. Hence the importance of giv- 

 ing him a systematic course of handling. Men as a 

 rule have too little patience in the training of their 

 colts, and they very often expect to accomplish more 

 in a short time than can possibly be performed. Yet 

 it is surprising to see what a short time it requires to 

 educate a colt according to this system, when we meas- 



