i8 THE HORSE 



trust a colt to the man who opens the stall door with 

 a whip in his hand, and at whose approach the colt 

 retreats to the further side of his box. A colt accus- 

 tomed to kind treatment will come up without fear and 

 put his nose in your hand. Some men have a foolish 

 practice of scaring their colts, when they are in pasture 

 or paddock, so as to make them show their speed. 

 I knew one man who used to set a dog on his colts for 

 this purpose with the result that the best colt he ever 

 had was driven over a stone wall and broke a leg. 

 Another man used to bring out the family umbrella, 

 and scare the colts into a fast trot by rapidly opening 

 and shutting it. Needless to say, his horses were always 

 afraid of umbrellas, and at least one bad accident was 

 the natural result. 



COLT TRAINING 



It is to the honor of American horse-trainers that 

 they have substituted the word "gentling" for "break- 

 ing." English writers about horses commonly agree 

 that our harness horses are better broken and safer 

 than theirs, and they ascribe the difference to this fact 

 that we educate or "gentle" them instead of breaking 

 them. 



Colts should not be played or fooled with; nothing 

 could be worse than that, but they should be handled, 

 their feet should be picked up, and they should be 

 taught to lead and to back — and all this before they 

 are six months old. Yearlings should be bitted, har- 

 nessed, and driven a little to some light vehicle. 



Colts should always be broken in an open bridle, and 



