64 



fire. The cords of the rope are hard and cutting ; 

 this makes him raise his head, and draw on it, and 

 as soon as he pulls, the slip-noose (the way the rope 

 halters. are always made) tightens and pinches his 

 nose, and then he will struggle for life. Who would 

 run the risk of a fine horse breaking his neck rather 

 than pay the price of a leather halter ? If you have 

 a horse that, from mismanagement, has acquired the 

 habit of pulling at the halter, place your leather hal- 

 ter on his head ; the strap you hitch with, have it 

 twenty feet in length. You may hitch him in a stall 

 or to a post outside, or any place where he is in the 

 habit of pulling. If in a stall, run the end of your 

 rein through the hole in the manger, then back 

 through the ring of the halter, and, as j^ou pull it 

 through the ring, bring his head within two feet of 

 the manger, then between his forward legs, and make 

 fast to the ankle of his left fore foot. I think you 

 can see clearly there is no possible chance for him to 

 break his halter, or get loose. If he makes an at- 

 tempt to pull back, he brings his left hind foot for- 

 ward under the body, is fearful he will fall, and steps 

 forward in a moment. After he has made the at- 

 tempt to break his halter, three or four times, you 

 may take any object, however frightful, and hold it 

 in a position to frighten him, and he will not make 

 an effort to pull back. I have seen the worst of 

 the kind effectually broken of the vice in thirty 

 minutes. 



