BREAKING TO HARNESS 213 



plough between two other horses, but the pull at this work is too dead 

 for well-bred colts, and many jibbers are produced in this way. Every 

 high-couraged horse has a tendency to jump forward on the first impulse 

 to do so, and feeling the restraint of the collar he is irritated to increase his 

 pull, whereby his shoulders are galled, causing him to dislike his work 

 from the pain which he suffers. It is quite possible to break in a colt 

 of average good temper for single harness without putting him first into 

 double, but the plan is always attended with danger to both horse and 

 driver, and I should strongly caution my readers against it. Even after 

 two or three lessons in the double break, which have been quietly sub- 

 mitted to, the colt often turns restive when put in by himself, but still 

 by that time he knows what he has to do, and is not made sulky by 

 being punished without cause. 



The apparatus necessary for breaking to harness consists of, 1st, a 

 set of strong double and single harness, made in the ordinary way, 

 except that the crupper for the colt should buckle on one side; 2ndly, 

 a double break of the ordinary construction ; but it is a safe plan to have 

 the whole space between the fore-carriage and the splinter-bar made up 

 with iron rods so close together that if a horse kicks he cannot get his 

 legs hung over the bar ; 3dly, a single bi-eak, to be hereafter described. 



Before the colt is put to draw he should be accustomed to the pressure 

 of the harness, and as a matter of course in any case he must have this 

 put on him. Every groom ought to know how to do this, but at the 

 same time, in a colt he should be cautioned to proceed slowly and quietly 

 so as not to frighten him. Mr. Rarey's plan of showing the horse every- 

 thing which is to be put on him is a very good one, and taking advantage 

 of it, before the collar is slipped over the head a little time may be allowed 

 for the future wearer of it to smell it and examine it with his eyes also. 

 Many breakers, to avoid the danger of alarming their pupils by putting 

 the collar over their heads, have this part made to open at the withers, 

 where a buckle secures it after it has been slipped up under the neck ; 

 but collars made in this way are not so firm as when constructed in the 

 ordinary mode, and are more liable to punish the shoulders, so that what 

 is gained in one way is lost in the other. A quiet and handy man can 

 always slip a collar over a horse's head if he will take time, and especially 

 if he has previously handled the animal and made him accustomed to his 

 presence. As soon as this part of the harness is in its place the pad and 

 crupper must be gently put on the back, and then quietly raising the tail 

 with every hair gathered and firmly grasped in the left hand, the right 

 slips the crupper under it ; as soon as this is done the left drops the tail 

 and assists the right to buckle the two parts together. In the previous 

 breaking the colt has been accustomed to the crupper, so that there is no 

 occasion for extra care in this part now. The pad is then drawn forward 

 to its place, the bellyband buckled, and the rest of the harness being put 

 on in the ordinary way, the colt is allowed to feel it for a few minutes, and 

 should then be led out in a yard or other convenient place for an hour. 

 The general practice is after this to put him to at once, but it is far better, 

 if the colt is at all shy, to take off the harness and postpone the com- 

 mencement of actual breaking till the next day. 



The actual putting to is managed differently in double and single 



