MANAGEMEiXT WITH THE BIT. 21 



a time. This is one of the very worst punishments 

 they can inflict on a colt, and is very injurious to a 

 young horse that has been used to running- in pas- 

 ture with his head down. I have seen colts so 

 injured in this way that they never got over it. 



A horse should be well accustomed to the bit be- 

 fore you put on the bitting harness, and when you 

 first bit him you should only rein his head up to the 

 point where he naturally holds it, let that point be 

 high or low ; he will soon learn that he cannot lower 

 his head, and that raising it a little will loosen the 

 bit in his mouth. This will give him an idea of 

 raising his head to loosen the bit ; and then you can 

 draw the bitting a little tighter every time you put 

 it on, and he will still raise his head to loosen it. 

 By this means you will gradually get his head and 

 neck in the position you want him to carry it, and 

 give him a nice and graceful carriage without hurt- 

 ing him, making him mad, or causing his mouth to 

 get sore. Horses that have their heads drawn up 

 tightly, should not have the bitting on more than fif- 

 teen minutes at a time. 



HOW TO SADDLE A COLT. 



Any one man who has this theory, can put a saddle 

 on the wildest horse that ever grew, without any 

 help, and without scaring him. The first thing will 

 be to tie each stirrup strap into a loose knot, to make 

 them short and prevent the stirrups from flying about 

 and hitting him. Then double up the skirts and take 

 the saddle under your right arm, so as not to frigliten 



