HOW TO TRAm A COLT. 157 



the right thing ; and then step forward, and repeat the 

 slight pressure and the kind command. In many cases 

 I have found this enough ; and the colt was ^' halter- 

 broke " before you knew it, as one might say. But more 

 often, as soon as the little fellow felt the pressure of the 

 pull upon the halter, alarmed, and vexed too, perhaps, 

 at this (as he regards it) rude interference with his 

 liberty, he would "set back" upon the halter, resisting 

 the pressure with all his strength. When this is the 

 case, stand firm: simply hold your oivn. Don't twitch 

 him, or "yank "him about, or drag him forward vio- 

 lently. Let Mm pull Every moment is exhausting his 

 strength, and increasing the pain he feels by reason of 

 the halter-bands being drawn into him ; and, after a few 

 seconds of resistance, discouraged, and unable to endure 

 the pain his own effort is causing him, he will give 

 one great Avrench, rear up, and plunge toward you. 

 The pressure and the pain are remitted; and standing by 

 your side, your arm over his moistened neck, and hand 

 kindly patting him, he learns this sweet lesson, — that 

 nearness to the one that is leading him means absence of 

 pain. This once understood by the colt, he is thoroughly 

 halter-broJce. With this he has also got another idea, — 

 that you are stronger than he. Had you tied him to 

 a post, and let him "pull it out" as the phrase is, he 

 would have got no such idea: the post or tree, not 

 man, would have been his master. Or, had you waited 

 until he was a year or even six months old, he would 

 have been stronger than you ; and he would have found 



