Early Days 249 



not allowed to " fool " when they were being 

 handled. 



In his third year the youngster should be made to 

 carry about a sack with a certain weight in it, and 

 should be taught to take the bit, and, if intended 

 for a hunter, to negotiate small jumps at liberty. A 

 colt thus handled should give the trainer no trouble 

 when he has to mount him, and he will not, as Mr. 

 Browne wrote, " have to venture in God's name to 

 put over his leg," as if he were undertaking some- 

 thing altogether too perilous. 



Good large runs on undulating pasture and in- 

 cluding a certain amount of rough ground are every- 

 thing to the youngster, and teach him to use his 

 hocks and shoulders. Animals reared in small flat 

 paddocks, as are so many of our thoroughbreds, 

 start their education at a disadvantage from the 

 point of view of general utility. 



At Elvaston Castle, jumping-lanes (Plate 

 XXIII), with obstacles suited to the ages of the 

 young ones, connect Lord Harrington's paddocks 

 with the night sheds. When the colts are released 

 in the morning they reach the paddocks by way of 

 the jumping-lanes, and it is a pretty sight to see each 



