HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 201 



the practice of good ones. And it is with the driving 

 of colts that we will begin. 



We will suppose that your colt is so far familiar with 

 the harness and wagon, that it is safe to drive him on 

 the public highway. In the first place, avoid driving a 

 colt in a two-wheeled sulky. No matter how well it is 

 balanced, the pressure on his back will be variable ; and 

 before you are aware, by the spring of the shafts up and 

 down, unsteadiness of gait will be the result. A four- 

 wheeled wagon, light as circumstances will permit, is 

 far preferable. In such a vehicle his stride will be 

 steadier, and his confidence in himself far greater. 

 Another great advantage is found in the fact, that, in a 

 four-wheeled vehicle, you are seated so far back, that 

 you can watch the movements of his limbs, and observe 

 whatever is wrong in their action. This is a source of 

 great satisfaction to a driver. The first lesson to incul- 

 cate in your colt is, that he is to start off slowly. For 

 the first quarter of a mile, let him walk. It is well to 

 have him start into a trot of his own accord. This a 

 sprightly colt will naturally do ; and his gait will soon 

 become, without his being urged, fast enough for the 

 road. If he is two years of age, you can jog him from 

 four to ten miles three times a week for the first month, 

 with decided benefit to him. This distance is sufficient 

 to take the friskiness out of him, and make him under- 

 stand that it means business. Some advocate only two 

 or three miles every day ; but I think that a longer dis- 

 tance, with a day of rest between the exercises, is far 



