HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 16b 



man's servant is easily made subservient to his will. 

 Now, such a mouth — so tender and sensitive — must 

 not be rudely dealt with. It is easily cut and lacer- 

 ated ; or, if not this, so indurated and hardened under 

 pressure, that it loses its fine qualities, and grows com- 

 paratively insensible. It is very easy to so lacerate the 

 gums, tongue, and lips of a colt's mouth, as to destroy 

 or deaden the nerves that interpret pressure to the 

 brain ; and, indeed, to remove the sense of feeling 

 entirely, or next thing to it. When this sensibility, 

 wisely provided by Nature, is lost, the horse becomes 

 almost unmanageable ; because, the sense of feeling 

 being removed, he does not know, nor has he any means 

 of knowing, — seeing that the knowledge must reach him 

 through the mouth, — what the driver wishes him to do. 

 Perhaps one side only of the mouth becomes hardened, 

 while the other remains sensitive ; in which case the 

 horse feels the pressure of the bit only on one side of 

 the mouth, and is of all horses the most vexatious 

 to drive, from no fault of his own, remember, but from 

 his who "bitted" him. True it is, that it is necessary 

 to harden the mouth of a colt somewhat, lest he should 

 have what is called a "baby mouth ; " that is, one too 

 sensitive to the bit, so that he will not Avork up bravely 

 against it as he should do when called upon to go at 

 speed. But this hardening should be done slowly ; or, 

 rather, it should not be done at all by the trainer; but the 

 colt should do it himself, as he will gradually do day b/ 

 day in driving. He will learn to take the hit himself, and 



