212 THE HORSE 



SUPERIORITY OF THE ORDINARY METHOD 



It will readily be gathered from what I have already written that 

 for breaking the average colt I greatly prefer the methods which have 

 been in use for many years in this country. Mr. Rarey is entitled to 

 every credit for introducing a novel mode of controlling a vicious horse, 

 which is also of service in training cavalry and circus horses. Beyond 

 these departments, however, his plans effect no good as far as my judgment 

 goes, and instead of improving the mouth they have a tendency to injure 

 it. I have shown that time and patience are grand elements of success 

 in horsebreaking, and that it is a disadvantage to hasten the process, 

 rthich is all that Mr. Rarey pretends to effect. We do not want to 

 manage our horses without reins, but on the contrary to guide them and 

 stop them with the slightest possible touch consistent with the equi- 

 librium to be maintained in the saddle. Hence the first object is the 

 formation of a good mouth, and as this requires a considerable time to 

 develop, there are ample opportunities for gradually accustoming the colt 

 to the presence and control of his master while it is being produced. If 

 sevei-al breakers were to be pitted against each other as to which should 

 first ride a high-spirited, unbroken colt, undoubtedly Mr. Rarey would come 

 off victorious ; but, on the other hand, I would back against any horse 

 broken by his method, another which had been submitted to a good 

 breaker on the old English plan, if the palm was to be given to that one 

 which should prove to have the most perfect mouth and action. 



The use of long reins run through the stirrup irons is advocated 

 by Capt. Hayes and other correspondents in the Field of recent date, 

 and it undoubtedly possesses some advantages — young horses can be thus 

 made to jump without unnecessary weight upon their backs. 



BREAKING TO HARNESS 



The early proceedings in breaking a colt to harness are exactly the 

 same as for the saddle, and indeed it is well in all cases to make him 

 handy to ride before he is put into the break. We may therefore assume 

 that this has been done, or at all events that a good mouth has been made, 

 and the colt handled and accustomed to bear the hip-straps hanging 

 loosely over his sides prior to putting him in harness. 



There is some difference of opinion among breakers as to the best 

 plan of conducting this operation. Some contend that for every kind of 

 harness the horse ought to be put in with another, who wi31 compel him 

 to move or stop at the will of the driver. Others assert that, on the 

 contrary, every young horse should be put in first by himself, and then if 

 he refuses to move he can be allowed to wait till he is tired of inactivity, 

 which practically he soon is. My own opinion is founded upon moi^e 

 than twenty years' experience with all sorts of horses, and I am persuaded 

 that by far the safest and best method is to put every horse into double 

 harness first. Many farmers break their colts in by putting them to 



